Blackberry

Blackberry: black fruits to give wood to our floral and gourmand fragrances! Wild blackberry most certainly dates back more than 2000 years! Yet although hunter-gatherers were fond of these small wild and sweet forest berries, it was for a long time used far more in cooking and medicinal remedies than in perfumery. However, the many facets of blackberry emerged from their olfactory hiding places to burst into the open thanks to the very beautiful fragrance, still a classic of the genre, Mûre et Musc by L'Artisan Parfumeur. Today blackberry notes remain little used compared to other red fruit notes, yet paired with chypres or fruity florals they literally make scents explode!

Wild blackberry, one of the first fruits known to man!

Wild blackberry, a cousin of the raspberry bush, grows naturally in brambles during fine summer days. Thus, the first remains discovered from dwellings of our hunter-gatherer ancestors from 2000 years ago reveal traces of blackberry.

The Greeks consumed blackberry to treat sore throats while also enshrining it in their mythology as coming from the blood of the Titans, the famous tribe from the war of the gods. Over the centuries, wild blackberry was gradually brought to the West to be eaten as such or to serve as a remedy against stomach ailments or snake venom.

The appearance of blackberry in perfumery came relatively late for the simple and excellent reason that no essential oil or absolute can be extracted from it. Modern chemistry made it possible to develop synthetic molecules, thanks to various musks, capable of wonderfully reproducing the both sweet and delightfully woody scent of wild blackberry.

Floral and fruity fragrances in search of a wild blackberry note

As mentioned, one of the great classics among fragrances with blackberry notes is considered by many to be Mûre et Musc by L'Artisan Parfumeur, created in 1978. For some specialists, it would in fact be one of the first fruity fragrances. However, it remains above all one of the greatest successes of the L'Artisan Parfumeur house! This delicate citrus-chypre fragrance is also a staple among musky (synthetic) fragrances. Indeed, the white musk notes wrapped in blackberry notes and launched by citrus top notes are absolutely sparkling and delightfully enveloping with such a soft, cottony warmth!

Thus, following this great success of floral blends and wild blackberry notes, many floral fragrances drew inspiration from it to create sillages that were at once bucolic while being more forthright and more tenacious. Moreover, the trend of fruity florals, becoming almost an olfactory family in its own right, encouraged the creation of magnificent bottles built around blackberry notes such as the joyful J'Adore by Dior, Balenciaga Paris L'Eau Rose by Balenciaga, Amethyst Éclat by Lalique or indeed Daisy Dream by Marc Jacobs.

Sometimes a top note for its freshness and fruitiness, sometimes a heart note for its deep, woody aspects, wild blackberry inspires the creators of feminine fragrances! Florals, as seen above, but also chypres or even certain feminine woody fragrances draw on the pretty black fruit. The deep, forthright notes of blackberry never cease to develop and expand, and it is also often used in red fruit blends. As for masculine perfumery, however, there is not yet any sign of blackberry. Who knows, perhaps with the new desire for freshness among men, this deep, fruity fragrance will soon appear in their bottles?