Gourmand & Vanilla Perfumes

Sweet, warm and edible — gourmand perfume is the family that borrows from the kitchen. Vanilla, honey, spun sugar, tonka bean, cinnamon and ripe fruit, hand-blended in small batches in the Southern Highlands, NSW. If they like dessert, they'll like this shelf.

Home of Vanilla No. 313, our best seller by a distance, and the bottle this shelf is built around.

What is a gourmand perfume?

A gourmand fragrance is one built around notes you could eat — vanilla, caramel, honey, chocolate, sugar, coffee, almond, ripe fruit. The term was coined in the early nineties and the category has gone from niche curiosity to the fastest-growing corner of perfumery. It works because smell and appetite share wiring: a good gourmand doesn't just smell nice, it makes people want to lean in.

The line between a gourmand that's delicious and one that's cloying is drawn by what sits underneath the sugar. Every blend here is anchored on wood, resin or fruit acid so the sweetness has a floor to stand on rather than sitting on the skin like icing.

Where to start

  • Vanilla No. 313 — sweet passionfruit, orange zest and vanilla bean. The most-bought scent we make. Tropical fruit up top keeps the vanilla from going flat and powdery.
  • Amber No. 235 — lychee, amberwood and spun sugar. The glowing one. Sweet but grown up, and the closest thing here to a signature scent.
  • Honey No. 325 — acacia honey, white peach and wild jasmine. Golden and floral-sweet rather than dessert-sweet. The softest of the shelf.
  • Apple No. 341 — juicy apple, watermelon and Madagascar vanilla. The easy one. Bright, fruity and hard to dislike.
  • Cinnamon No. 425 — cinnamon bark, pink pepper and mahogany. Spiced rather than sugared, on a dark wood base. The winter end of the shelf.

If vanilla is too much for you but you still want something sweet, try Bergamot No. 353 over in Fresh — sweet citrus rather than sweet dessert.

Made at double strength

Gourmands live or die on longevity — a sweet scent that vanishes by lunch is just an expensive moment. Everything here is blended at 20–25% concentration, roughly twice most designer eau de parfums, so it's still there at the end of the day. Three formats: eau de parfum spray, alcohol-free spray, and roll-on perfume oil. From $35 for a 10ml Traveller, free shipping over $99.

Perfume oil is worth a thought for this family in particular. Sweet notes amplify in an oil base and stay closer to the skin, which is often what you want from a gourmand — intimate rather than announced.

Gourmand perfume for men

Every scent here is blended without a gender in mind, and gourmand has quietly become one of the most-worn categories in men's fragrance. Cinnamon No. 425 and Amber No. 235 are the ones that get picked up most by men at markets — both are sweet with a wood or spice spine rather than a sugar one.

Want more? Read the complete guide to vanilla perfumes, or browse the Amber & Spice shelf if you want the warmth without the sugar.

Gourmand & Vanilla Perfumes

Vanilla Perfume — Handmade in Australia

Stuga's vanilla and sweet perfumes are hand-blended in small batches in the Southern Highlands, built around warm, comforting notes — vanilla, tonka bean, cinnamon, spun sugar and ripe fruit. Vanilla No. 313 anchors the shelf: it carries the vanilla name in our register, and it outsells everything else we make. If you're hunting for the best vanilla perfume that's cosy and moreish without being sickly — and long lasting enough to still be there at the end of the day — this is your shelf. Every scent comes three ways: Eau de Parfum spray, alcohol-free spray, or roll-on perfume oil, at 20–25% concentration.

The vanilla & sweet range

  • Vanilla No. 313 — Sweet Passionfruit, Orange Zest & Vanilla Bean. The anchor of this shelf and our best seller across the whole range — sweet, fruity and warm.
  • Amber No. 235 — Lychee, Amberwood & Spun Sugar. Sweetness with saffron and amber under it — soft, warm and quietly opulent.
  • Apple No. 341 — Juicy Apple, Watermelon & Madagascar Vanilla. Fresh fruit meets soft sweetness.
  • Cinnamon No. 425 — Cinnamon Bark, Pink Pepper & Mahogany. Warm baking spice over dark wood — the grown-up end of this shelf.

Which vanilla perfume should I choose?

Start at Vanilla No. 313 — sweetest, fruitiest, and the one this shelf is built around. Prefer warmth and spice over dessert? Cinnamon No. 425 for cinnamon bark over dark wood. Want the sweetness golden and grown-up rather than fruity? Amber No. 235. After something lighter and fresher that only finishes sweet? Apple No. 341. If you like this shelf but want more wood under the sweetness, cross over to our Woods family; for sweetness with amber and resin, try Amber & Spice.

Buying vanilla perfume as a gift

Vanilla is the safest gift in perfumery — almost nobody dislikes it. If you're buying blind for someone who likes sweet things, candles, or dessert, Vanilla No. 313 is the one we hand across the stall. For a vanilla perfume for women it's the most-gifted bottle we make; for someone who'd want it less sweet and more grown-up, go Cinnamon No. 425. A roll-on vanilla perfume oil from $35 makes an easy, no-risk first gift.

What is a gourmand fragrance?

Gourmand perfumes borrow from the dessert trolley — vanilla, tonka bean, caramel, honey and warm spice — for scents that smell good enough to eat. Vanilla anchors the family: comforting, slightly powdery, and universally loved. Every Stuga vanilla perfume is unisex and wearable year-round, though they shine in cooler weather. New to notes? Read our guide to perfume notes and scent families.

Vegan, cruelty-free, small batch. Hand-blended and hand-poured in Australia, from $35 for a 10ml Traveller. Free shipping across Australia and worldwide on orders over $99.

Common questions

What is the best vanilla perfume in Australia?

We're obviously not neutral, so here's the useful version of the answer instead: what separates a good vanilla from a cloying one is what sits underneath the sugar.

Vanilla on its own goes flat and powdery within an hour. It needs an anchor — wood, resin or fruit acid — to give the sweetness a floor to stand on. Vanilla No. 313 uses passionfruit and orange zest for exactly that, which is why it reads as bright rather than heavy, and why it's the bottle we sell most of.

The other thing to check is concentration, because a sweet scent that vanishes by lunch is just an expensive moment. Most designer vanillas sit at 15–20%. Ours are 20–25%, and a 10ml is $35 — cheap enough to test properly before committing.

What perfume smells like vanilla without being too sweet?

Three ways to get vanilla warmth without the dessert:

  • Cinnamon No. 425 — spiced rather than sugared, on a dark mahogany base. The winter end of the shelf and the most grown-up of the four.
  • Amber No. 235 — lychee and spun sugar over amberwood. Sweet, but golden and resinous rather than edible.
  • Apple No. 341 — fruit-led, with the Madagascar vanilla only arriving at the end.

If even that's too much, Bergamot No. 353 over in Fresh gives you sweet citrus rather than sweet dessert.

Do men wear vanilla perfume?

Increasingly, yes — gourmand has quietly become one of the most-worn categories in men's fragrance, and vanilla has been a men's note in European perfumery for decades.

At markets, the two men pick up most from this shelf are Cinnamon No. 425 and Amber No. 235 — both sweet with a wood or spice spine rather than a sugar one. Every scent here is blended without a gender in mind; if it works on your skin, it's yours.