Bitter almond

The almond, fruit of fertility in the Greek world

While the almond tree and its fruit, the almond, did not appear in France until the 16^th century, the Greeks, as was often the case, recognized in this tree, its nuts and the famous almond milk, a sacred existence linked to fertility. Conversely, Christians consecrated the almond as the fruit of the virginity of Mary. Nevertheless, whatever the beliefs, the almond has been a prized fruit for millennia.

Despite centuries of the almond tree's existence, bitter almond essential oil, which actually comes from plum or apricot pits, has only been produced in significant volumes for a short time. Indeed, bitter almond essential oil is obtained by distilling the pits, but it is absolutely necessary to work this substance with care to remove the highly toxic hydrocyanic acid component.

Fortunately, bitter almond can now be used in cosmetics and perfumes without any danger, and we thus enjoy its sweet scents with notes of cherry and hay in some of our greatest perfumes.

Feminine gourmand perfumery and bitter almond

One of the very first perfumes to showcase bitter almond, and more particularly its essence, was L'Instant Magic by Guerlain in 2007. The bitter almond base notes mixed with musks, vanilla and woody notes offer a floral, powerful juice that is nonetheless gourmand thanks to the almond note. And it is indeed thanks to the gourmand family, brilliantly opened by Angel by Mugler in 1992, that the return of bitter almond would prove successful.

Between feminine florals and orientals, bitter almond propels its slightly balsamic notes while offering delicate, powdery hints of cherry. A number of great perfumers and major successes in perfumery use the bitter almond note in their compositions.

As for orientals, bitter almond appears to bring sweetness and gourmand qualities to strong fragrances such as Hypnotic Poison by Christian Dior or the equally beautiful La Vie est Belle by Lancôme. In floral perfumes, on the other hand, bitter almond offers gourmand qualities and a cherry facet in heart or base notes for delightfully bucolic and sweet perfumes. Numerous examples of these gourmand perfumes currently perfume our senses: La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain, Mon Jasmin Noir L'Eau Exquise by Bulgari...

Thus bitter almond is a raw material that appeared relatively late in perfumery; nevertheless, the power of its scent and the incredible diversity of its facets propelled it very quickly onto the shelves of the great perfumers. On the men's fragrance side, however, bitter almond still has some way to go to win these gentlemen over. It is worth noting, though, that it is used in a Guerlain fragrance, L'Homme Idéal. Oriental, gourmand and spicy, L’Homme Idéal is highly innovative for a men's fragrance line!