Celery

Can celery really be a raw material in perfumery?

A half-wild plant long seen as more decorative than appetizing, celery did not, at first glance, seem destined for a future in perfumed fragrances… And yet!

Wild celery (the ancient name for celery) was used as table decoration by the Greeks and in the famous laurel wreaths of the Romans. Its medicinal properties were then discovered, and finally, centuries later, attention turned to its taste and the major asset celery could bring to gastronomy.

Thanks to the essential oil made from its seeds, celery found a new path: perfumery! Indeed, its warm, powerful and spicy scent brings unique scents and deep sillage to fragrances. It would become, particularly during the year 2000, the ally of beautiful masculine woody fragrances.

The celery note in spicy masculine fragrances

As a heart note or a base note, celery settled into the spicy woody or aromatic woody fragrances of the new millennium.

With Oxygène pour Homme by Lanvin, celery appears as a base note paired with white musk to bring depth and originality to the composition's spices and marine notes. In Aura for Men by Jacomo, the same celery–white musk base accord is used to enhance spices and fig fruity notes.

In Romance pour Homme by Ralph Lauren, on the other hand, celery and basil are powerful, heady top notes that draw the fragrance toward spices and citrus, while establishing a sillage of white musk and powerful sandalwood.

Almost simultaneously, feminine fragrances offered two highly original compositions based on the celery note: the citrus floral IKKS Woman by IKKS and the fruity woody Purple Fantasy by Guerlain. In both fragrances, celery is placed directly in the base note and paired with strawberry and white musks for IKKS and with fig for Guerlain.

The least that can be said about celery in perfumery is that it remains relatively rare but stands out in absolutely unprecedented compositions, entirely creative pairings and fragrances that will certainly not be smelled everywhere! It is worth noting that a famous Quebec house, Monsillage, won a coveted award in the industry at the Art and Olfaction Awards in Los Angeles in 2015 thanks to its rather astonishing fragrance Eau de céleri. Yes, celery is a beautiful raw material in perfumery!