Kiwi

Kiwi: A touch of crisp, exotic fruit for our summer fragrances. Kiwis were born from a vine-like tree at the far reaches of China, and the fruit long called Chinese gooseberry was brought to Europe as early as the 19th century… with no success at all! It was not until the 1970s that New Zealand, now a major producer of what came to be called kiwi, succeeded in establishing this small fruit, fresh, tangy and delightfully exotic. Like many of its fruity counterparts, cosmetics and perfumery set out to capture its scent...

Kiwi in perfumery

Like most of our fruits and despite every good intention, it is currently impossible to extract an essential oil or an absolute from kiwi to make a fragrance. And yet!

The delicate fruity and tangy scent of kiwi makes it an ideal raw material for light or fruity fragrances, thoroughly in step with the times. Through esters, perfumers have thus worked with synthesis to obtain a kiwi note that closely recalls the tangy, green facets of the small fruit.

The fine story of our summer fragrances and kiwi

For several years now, the major trend in perfumery has been to create summer fragrances, light and diaphanous variations on classic perfumes, or even entirely new creations designed and composed solely to diffuse evanescent, refreshing summer sillages.

The kiwi note is therefore particularly well suited to this trend, being as green as it is fresh, and it pairs as well with lush, grand florals as with precious fruity notes. However, fragrances featuring kiwi notes remain relatively rare and are mostly feminine, which does not stop great houses and famous perfumes from displaying this pretty note in their compositions.

Among floral-fruity fragrances, the kiwi note appears either as a top note or as a heart note, depending on the perfumers' choice of pairings. It is found, of course, in Aqua Allegoria – Tutti Kiwi by Guerlain, but also paired with watery fruits and musks in So by Oscar de La Renta, or again in Amour d'Amandier by Nina Ricci and Ralph Cool by Ralph Lauren.

Recently, the kiwi note also made a notable appearance as a top note in the lovely and famous ALIEN Sunessence Edition Or d'Ambre by Mugler, where the oriental blends for a summer with fruity, sparkling and sun-kissed notes to deliver its amber in a lighter form.

Thus, the kiwi note is rare but precious. It knows how to appear in the finest juices and at just the right moment, where its flavors and scents are shown to best advantage. The kiwi note has even made a few remarkable appearances in summer masculine fragrances, such as in the woody-aromatic Cool Water Deep by Davidoff, and more recently in L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme Summer 2013 by Issey Miyaké and Ibiza Playboy by PLAYBOY.