Every fragrance description contains a list of notes, meant to give an idea of what a scent will smell like.
While notes like Marshmallow, Vanilla and Grapefruit may sound familiar, not all of them come from natural extracts. Since you can’t distill a marshmallow, perfumers rely on synthetic accords to recreate its sweet, fluffy essence.
In this series, we’re breaking down specific notes so you can gain a better understanding of your fragrance—all from behind a screen.
Juicy, bright, and just the right amount of sweet, Strawberry calls to mind everything from peak-summer fruit stands to nostalgic candies and jams. But while the scent may feel familiar, the way it gets into fragrance might surprise you.
Natural Strawberry in Perfumery
Despite how vividly Strawberry comes through in fragrance, it doesn’t come directly from the fruit itself. Like many food-based notes, Strawberry is difficult to naturally extract.
Many of the juicy, mouthwatering qualities in fragrance come from molecules originally designed for food flavoring. Since most perfume houses work in both fragrances and flavors, they can literally extract the aroma molecules from foods. In the case of Strawberry, this can be done by upcycling water discarded from juice or even baby purées.
This water contains aroma molecules that are normally lost—but when captured, they offer a natural, fresh, and true-to nature scent.
And the creativity and possibility doesn’t stop there…
Synthetic Strawberry in Perfumery
Every scent—whether natural or synthetic—breaks down into individual aroma molecules.
Perfume creation often involves isolating one molecule (like Frambinon for Raspberry) or blending 15+ molecules to recreate a scent impression.
Reconstitutions are synthetic recreations of a smell (like Strawberry or Cassis) using a custom blend of molecules. This allows perfumers to amplify the most appealing notes (e.g., juicy, candy-like) and remove unpleasant ones (e.g., sulfuric, animalic).
Think of biting into a Strawberry: there’s the fresh, green quality, plus the juicy sweetness. A synthetic note combines multiple aroma molecules to capture a more dimensional, expressive strawberry. If you want a “green” or “crisp” strawberry, you’d include more sharp, leafy molecules. If you want “jammy” or “candy” strawberry, you’d pick sweeter, syrupy molecules.
While “synthetic” may sound clinical, it’s anything but. Synthetic notes are a helpful and creative tool in any perfumer’s arsenal.
Redefining Strawberry Fragrances
In the past year, there’s been an explosion in the popularity of red berry fragrances—but Juice was already working to redefine the category.
Our unconventional take layers Strawberry with Raspberry and Rhubarb, and modernizes it with the depth of Amberwood and breath of Rose and Cyclamen. Altogether, Juice becomes an explosive, multi-faceted twist on the juicy, fruity fragrance profile.
And it resonated. Just one year later, Juice has already become a fan-favorite and an award-winner.
Try Strawberry
If you’ve been curious about red berry scents—or just want to see what the buzz is about—our Juice trilogy is the best place to start:
Juice- Personal
Showcasing the lighter side of ripe red fruits, the skin scent version of Juice blends Strawberry, Rhubarb and Raspberry Pulp with ethereal Amberwood and fresh Violet Leaf.
Juice Expressive
Perfectly ripe Strawberry, Rhubarb and Raspberry Pulp are uniquely-balanced into a grounding base of Amberwood.
Juice+ Bold
A denser, deeper take that steeps Strawberry, Raspberry and Rhubarb in Vetiver and Patchouli.