What does Raspberry smell like?
Perfumed raspberry is juicy and tart at first, then reveals a powdery facet close to violet, since the two share certain molecules. Depending on the dose it can suggest candy, jam or freshly picked fruit. On skin it brightens the first minutes of a fragrance before blending into flowers and woods; its violet, woody facet outlasts its sugary side. It adds instant colour.
Origin and production
Raspberry yields no usable essence. Its smell is rebuilt from raspberry ketone, or frambinone, with sweet jammy tones, and from alpha and beta ionones, which give the powdery, violet side. Fruity esters and green notes are often added. Ionones, discovered in the late nineteenth century, are also the basis of violet notes, which explains the olfactory kinship between the two notes in perfumery.
How perfumers use it
Usually in the top, raspberry adds a red, gourmand colour. It pairs with rose, blackcurrant, patchouli, leather and vanilla. Frédéric Malle's Portrait of a Lady sets it beside a dark rose and patchouli; Tom Ford's Tuscan Leather creates a striking contrast between raspberry and leather, and Yves Saint Laurent's Mon Paris pairs it with strawberry and pear in a fruity chypre.
How to wear it
Raspberry works all year, especially in spring and autumn. It appeals to people who like colourful, fruity, slightly gourmand fragrances.
