What does Coumarin smell like?
Coumarin smells like hay drying in the sun, with a soft almond and light vanilla sweetness. Think blond tobacco and biscuit too. On its own it feels flat. In a formula it rounds off everything nearby. Lavender gets softer and woods get warmer. It lasts a long time on skin and leaves a sweet, slightly powdery warmth that is easy to spot once you know it.
Origin and production
Coumarin was isolated in 1820 from the tonka bean, which gives it its name (cumaru is the tonka tree). It also occurs in sweet clover, sweet woodruff and cassia. In 1868 the English chemist William Henry Perkin synthesized it. It became one of the first synthetic materials in perfumery. Its use is now regulated by IFRA standards.
How perfumers use it
In 1882 Paul Parquet composed Fougère Royale for Houbigant using synthetic coumarin. That perfume named a whole family built on lavender, geranium, oakmoss and coumarin. The same skeleton runs through Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur du Mâle and Montblanc Legend. Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de l’Homme sets it under cardamom and cedar. On the feminine side, Mon Guerlain pairs it with lavender and vanilla.
How to wear it
Coumarin suits autumn and winter. Fougères built on it work anywhere, office to dinner. Three sprays on the chest give a clear trail without overdoing it.