Fruit Cereal Scent

Layered parts, one impression

The accord is built in layers and each does something the others cannot. Bright fruit sits on top, usually a citrus and berry mixture standing in for the colored pieces. Underneath sits a sweet grain note, toasted and slightly starchy. Below them sits the lactic accord that supplies the milk, and that is the part doing the identifying. It is also why this reads as breakfast rather than as dessert.

• Fruit on top. Bright and immediate, and gone within the first half hour.
• Toasted grain in the middle. This is what separates cereal from candy.
• A lactic note underneath. Soft, creamy and slightly sour, and the reason the whole thing is recognizable.
• Not the same as cotton candy. That accord is pure sugar; the comparison is on the cotton candy scent page.

Why the base fat changes it noticeably

A lactic, creamy accord is unusually sensitive to the base underneath it. Laid over cocoa butter it gains a chocolate edge and moves toward a dessert reading. Over a neutral fat it stays closer to the intended breakfast impression. In a rinse-off scrub it registers briefly and leaves only a trace, and in a body oil it arrives fast and fades faster than it does in a butter.

• On cocoa it turns dessert. The base contributes its own smell, as set out on the cocoa butter page.
• On a neutral fat it stays true. Which is why the same scent can read differently from one jar to the next.
• In a scrub it is brief. Most of it rinses away and what remains is in the film left behind.
• In an oil it moves fast. A thinner carrier releases the top notes almost immediately.

The formats it covers

This accord spreads across enough formats to build a routine around. Some are lip products, which means the accord is also a taste, and that is a different judgment from wearing it on skin.

• Whipped butters. The richest, longest wearing way to carry it; the format has its own whipped body butter shelf.
• Scrubs and body oils. A wash-off and a leave-on version of the same accord.
• Lip products. Glosses and lip and cheek tints, where the scent is tasted rather than only smelled.
• Boxed pairings. Each pairs it with a different accord rather than repeating it.

Where to start with it

Because it reaches across so many formats, this accord can be as small or as complete a purchase as you want. There is a sensible entry point and a sensible order, and each depends on whether you want to wear it all day or just have it within reach.

• Start with a whipped butter. A generous jar is the easiest way to find out whether you want the scent on you all day.
• A body oil is the fast version. It arrives immediately and fades sooner, which suits an evening better than a working day.
• The lip products are the low commitment route. A gloss or a tint carries the accord without putting it on your arms.
• Pair it with a plain base. On a neutral fat it stays true to the cereal reading, while a cocoa base pushes it toward dessert.
• It reads young, and that is worth knowing. Somebody without the cereal association is simply smelling something sweet and creamy, which is a quieter and perfectly wearable thing.