The New Vanilla

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There’s no doubt about it, vanilla is having a renaissance. Over the past few years, it has reemerged in luxury fragrance as a nuanced, complex and sensual note, cementing its place as one of perfumery’s most evocative and versatile raw materials. So, what’s Jo Malone London’s take on this delicious ingredient? We’re glad you asked…

‘I have always felt that it is a fantastic ingredient to use,’ says Céline Roux, Jo Malone London’s Global Head Of Fragrance and a longtime enthusiast of vanilla, hence its inclusion in some of the most loved and successful scents from the British fragrance house. The way in which Jo Malone London utilises vanilla is something of a revelation. Jasmine Sambac & Marigold is one of the surprising iterations of a scent that has incorporated vanilla into its profile. This, explains Mathilde Bijaoui, established collaborator and perfumer, ‘is a very floral scent with a solar aspect. Adding in vanilla added a kind of creaminess and gave it a level of sophistication.’ With Red Hibiscus – another solar scent, inspired by Hawaii – the dose of vanilla in the notes ‘gave it a kind of luminosity’. In Myrrh & Tonka, the inclusion of vanilla, in Mathilde’s words, was to add ‘an even deeper level of warmth’.

The way in which Jo Malone London utilises vanilla is something of a revelation.

‘It’s so interesting to see the reaction when you say that you are working on a vanilla fragrance,’ explains Céline with a smile, adding, ‘it is definitely very polarising, because people have a certain perception of this ingredient.’

‘It is a perception that is marred by an erroneous idea of what vanilla actually is,’ says Mathilde. ‘When we generally come across vanilla, what we are actually smelling is vanillin,’ she notes. Real vanilla, it turns out, is actually not steeped in sweetness. ‘I think the interesting thing about vanilla is that it has so many facets,’ explains Céline. ‘It's a complex ingredient and there are so many ways to use that ingredient and all of those elements can produce something completely different, which is what we do best.’

Even today, vanilla remains one of the most hands-on crops in the world – every pod hand pollinated, every bean hand harvested, then cured for months. It’s an artisanal product in the truest sense, and it shows.

Vanilla is truly multi-faceted, as Jo Malone London’s collection shows. It can be warm, spicy, woody, smoky, leathery – even boozy. There are whispers of tobacco, tendrils of incense, a velvet bitterness that lends mystery. Depending on the extraction – whether it’s vanilla absolute, CO₂ extract, or resinoid – and the part of the pod used, the result can veer wildly in tone and effect.

It’s this complexity that perfumers are now embracing. Part of the allure of vanilla is also its scarcity. With climate change and rising demand, natural vanilla is now rarer than ever. Madagascar, which produces about 80% of the world’s vanilla, has seen devastating cyclones and market disruptions that have only increased its value. In a world of mass-produced scent, vanilla has become a mark of discernment. Recalling her first visit to a Madagascan vanilla producer Jo Malone London has partnered with and supported for many years, Céline says, wistfully, ‘I remember when we were entering the room where they dry the vanilla. The smell was everywhere; so enveloping and warm and elegant. And the people who harvest it all write their initials on each vanilla pod. It is all meticulously done. So, when you experience this, you see the way it is harvested, that it is pollinated manually, that it is a lot of work. It is then you truly start to understand that the idea that vanilla, real vanilla, is cheap, is just not true. Vanilla is actually one of the most expensive ingredients in perfumery.’

Jo Malone London’s vanilla scents are at the forefront of this modern, more authentic and elevated take on the note. Vanilla, in its truest form, is complex, comforting… and definitely not about cupcakes.

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