MILKY NOTES

Milky notes describe a smooth, creamy quality within a fragrance. They can evoke milk itself or make flowers and woods seem softer and rounder. This overlaps with a milk accord, but the term can also describe a texture within a composition rather than a recognisable glass of milk. It need not turn the perfume into a sweet dessert.

Certain lactones help create these effects. Symrise describes Lactojasmone as adding creamy richness to flowers and milky accents to sandalwood; this is one example, not a universal recipe. Temperature impressions vary too: Commodity uses a cold milk accord alongside warmer sweet and woody notes. A milky note therefore does not automatically mean warm milk, sugar or actual dairy ingredients. The surrounding notes determine how creamy, fresh or sweet the result feels.