I discovered my favourite new fragrance in an Edinburgh shop, and it's strangely edible

The gourmand perfume trend is huge

Perfume brand Jo Malone recently launched something of a wild card.

Their new collection, Veggies, features three perfumes - Velvety Butternut (yep, like the soup), Scarlet Beetroot, which has notes of blackcurrant and patchouli as well as the purple veg, and Carrot Blossom. All three are lovely, and don’t smell at all like the bottom drawer of your fridge.

Anyway, I also had a recent conversation with a consultant at Lush, who was saying that there’s been a real trend towards gourmand smells. They sell a lot of their vanilla sweet Super Milk perfume, though there are some strange creations from other brands out there, with notes including basmati rice, pistachio, and bourbon.

For example, Pearfat Parfum’s I Broke My Own Heart blends hot chocolate and seaweed, for that cocoa on Portobello beach vibe, and Hexennacht’s Date Nights at Annapurna smells like yellow curry, jaffa rice, naan and coconut milk.

Scottish parfumeur Jorum makes an Arborist perfume that has notes of quince and honey, and I love Le Labo’s Thé Matcha 26.

I get the foodie thing. It’s comforting. Personally, I adore the ozone smell of tomatoes, summer strawberries and peaty whiskies. I also have a weird draw towards the iron-rich scent of butcher shops, though that might be because I’m slightly anaemic. The smell of feral cheese is a hard yes, especially Minger from the Highland Fine Cheeses. However, I would not want it as a perfume. The only food smell I really don’t like is nachos, and that’s because my husband once made them while I was recovering from a stomach bug. That was about five years ago, and I’m only getting over that aversion now.

Thankfully, there are currently no fragrances that smell like oven-cooked tortilla chips, though I feel it’s only a matter of time.