Hazelnut (Corylus avellana) is one of the best-selling and most popular types of nuts. It gives a slightly aromatic, nutty, woody and creamy note to perfumes, depending on which form it is used in, whether natural or synthetic. Due to its many faces, different but convincing roles it can play in perfumes, its sweet aroma, and its aphrodisiac effect, it is not surprising that it is on the fragrance notes list of many megapopular perfumes, in today’s culture obsessed with gourmet compositions.
Hazelnut has been known since ancient times and was considered a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, and fertility. It is often used in wedding traditions throughout Northern Europe. Even in ancient Greece, hazelnut is mentioned in the works of the most famous philosophers of the time for its medicinal properties.
Today, the most famous is the so-called hazelnut from Oregon. The origin of the Oregon hazelnut legend began in the small town of Scottsburg in 1856 when English sailor Sam Strickland retired from the Hudson Bay Company and settled in the small community of Douglas County, where he planted the first known hazelnut tree in the Pacific Northwest, a European species Corylus avellana.
Sam could not have guessed that more than 160 years later, Oregon’s tradition of producing the best hazelnuts in the world would follow from that first tree he planted. The perfect blend of the Willamette Valley with a temperate climate, land enriched with volcanic minerals, and waters flowing from the Cascade Mountains, enables the growth and production of the best hazelnuts in the world. However, the largest producer of hazelnuts in the world is Turkey.
Hazelnuts have long been used for medical purposes, as well as in alternative medicine, all thanks to the high percentage of protein, unsaturated fats, thiamine, and vitamin B6. From the earliest times, hazelnuts have been successfully used to treat coughs and bronchial problems, usually in combination with honey.
Apart from medicine, hazelnuts are also used in cooking as an indispensable part of many sweets, but also in aromatherapy and the perfume industry. Can anyone resist its gourmand, slightly woody scent with a dose of bitterness? Nutella is one of the most popular products with hazelnuts and has existed since 1806 and was first called Pasta Gianduja. It was made according to an old Italian recipe in the city of Turin, where residents were in love with a combination of chocolate and hazelnuts. Michele Prochet used the then bad timing of Napoleon’s bans to make a candy that is one of the best-selling in the world today, with the evidence that one jar of this fantastic cream is sold every 2.5 seconds.
Hazelnut, like many other nuts, is known as a powerful aphrodisiac. In combination with honey, it gives a passionate and irresistible scent.
Hazelnut essential oil is mainly used in perfumery. It is obtained by the cold squeezing of hazelnuts. The fragrant note of hazelnut is used as a delicate gourmet moment in oriental, woody, and of course, gourmand perfume compositions. This fragrant note generally represents the heart of the perfume or, depending on the origin of the aromatic oil, sometimes the base itself. There are several fragrant notes of hazelnuts in perfumes:
- Roasted hazelnut – this note is warm, opens the appetite, and evokes memories of cold winter days in which we seek solace in a cup of warm chocolate with hazelnut. The fragrant note of roasted hazelnuts is excellent in combination with vanilla or chocolate and makes a warm and seductive fragrance composition.
- Standard hazelnut – brings us back to childhood, its note is sweet, mild, creamy with a clear nutty tone.
- Hazelnut leaf – is a fragrant note that is mainly used as the top note in perfumes and, in addition to its green freshness, has the role of giving the fragrance only a hint of nutty scent.
Perfumers prefer hazelnuts in combination with cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, but also floral, citrus, and gourmand notes. For real hedonists, the most exciting combination is hazelnut with vanilla, chocolate, honey, caramel, and coffee.
Perfumes with fragrant note of hazelnut are:
- Akro Dark
- Anayake pour Lui
- Aqualina Chocolovers
- Baruti Perverso
- Boadicea the Victorious Hero
- Cacharel Noa Perle
- Carthusia Terra Mia
- Celine Celine
- Demeter Sugar Plum
- Diesel Loverdose Red Kiss
- Frapin 1270
- Givenchy Very Irresistible for Him
- Guerlain Habit Rouge L’Eau
- Hermes Vetiver Tonka
- Hermetica Sandalsun
- Jean Patou Que Sais Je?
- Jo Malone English Oak & Hazelnut
- Kenzo Aqua pour Homme
- Kilian Some Like It Hot
- L’Artisan Mechant Loup
- Liu Jo Liu Jo
- Mancera Choco Violet
- Mendittorosa South
- Mugler Wonder Bouquet
- Nez a Nez Immortelle Marilyn
- Nimere Fig and Nut
- Paco Rabanne One Million Lucky
- Profumum Roma Alba
- Ralph Lauren Woman
- Roberto Cavalli Just Cavalli Gold for Her
- Salvador Dali Ma Vie
- Tiziana Terenzi Al Contrario
- Valentino Uomo
- Votre Parfum Lady in Red
- Xerjoff Golden Dallah
- Xyrena Hellanut
- Zara Pineberry
Reading this I have a craving for Nutella 😊. Also I never knew they could be used in perfumes 😁