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Have you ever ordered an Amazon package just to sniff the contents? I have*.
*A once-in-a-lifetime homage to the opening hook that characterized my 2007 writing style. Once-in-a-lifetime as in never again.
I’ve been on a perfume kick lately. I started collecting perfume samples after a Christmas sometime during my tween years. I had received a Macy’s Favorite Scents Sampler Discovery Set For Her from my grandmother, and I was so excited. The set included it-fragrances of the early 2000s like Lola and Daisy by Marc Jacobs, Viva La Juicy, Very Irresistable by Givenchy, and Versace Bright Crystal. Looking at the Macy’s website today, I see that the set is pretty similar, with new additions like Mugler Angel and Alien Goddess Intense.
Sephora also offers a similar sampler set with trendy options like YSL Black Opium, Carolina Herrera Good Girl, and Juliette Has a Gun Lust for Sun. Sephora’s also includes the elusive Phlur Missing Person, which I’m dying to try (thanks to the TikTok hype).
I’ve had this sampler set for over a decade and am finally rediscovering and finishing the samples that first got me into the perfume game. Last week during my research, I came across an unfamiliar term: a “tonka accord”.
I thought it was a typo and briefly wondered why sedans were being mentioned on Sephora’s website. An accord is a term for a perfume’s personality trait, the “vibe” achieved by a fragrance blend. An example is “iced accord”, one the top notes of Versace Bright Crystal. Ice has no scent, so we can interpret that there is something sharp and cool about the fragrance.
As for a “tonka accord”, I had vaguely heard of tonka beans before but never interacted with them. Let’s take a step back and define them:
A summary of the Wikipedia article on tonka beans:
The tonka “bean” is the seed of Dipteryx odorata, a flowering tree that generally grows in Central and South America. Tonka is similar to vanilla since both are not actually beans (vanilla is derived from its flower), and both carry a strong scent and bitter taste. Tonka’s strong scent comes from a chemical called coumarin, which is present in other fruits and flowers. Coumarin has been chemically altered into Coumadin, which is used in anticoagulant medications like warfarin. Unfortunately, coumarin is toxic in high doses and causes liver damage and hemorrhages (note that a high dose would be about 30 tonka beans consumed). Nevertheless, because of the risk, the FDA banned tonka beans for consumption in 1954.
Somehow, before having ever smelled tonka beans, I had associated the tonka bean scent with the deep, richness of YSL Black Opium. Perhaps it was a blog review or an old website, but I swear I saw it listed as a base note at some point in time. However, there’s no trace of tonka beans on the YSL website description, except for coumarin as an ingredient. However, most perfumes use traces of coumarin anyways.
My love affair with YSL Black Opium started in the summer of 2021 when an acquaintance recommended it to me. It smelled rich, intoxicating, and seductive on her. I went overboard, and 1 full-size and 2 travel-size bottles later (one being the overhyped Illicit Green) I actually can’t handle the scent anymore. It’s too overpowering and immediately takes me back to the distorted, dark side of that summer. Somehow the seductive became sour. I had always thought it was tonka that characterized the richness of Black Opium, but I was wrong.
I realized that I never actually smelled tonka before (unless the YSL website recently changed its base notes… unlikely). Naturally, I went straight to Ulta.com and created a list of perfumes to sample. My goal was to sample every perfume that listed tonka as a base note and try to suss out the common accord shared between them all.
Disclaimer: Perfumes themselves are so subjective, so naturally the following list/review will be as well. My personal favorite scent right now is one that was in the original ca. 2010 sampler set I mentioned. Many reviewers on Ulta.com describe it as an “old-lady scent”, which I strongly disagree with. Personally, I think Lola by Marc Jacobs is an old-lady perfume, yet I didn’t see the same sentiment in its reviews. I had tried it a few weeks ago and immediately developed a rash, probably from its awful sickly-sweet scent. The following is my personal opinion of the scents I tried:
- Coach Dreams Sunset: The pear and jasmine were a beautiful combo. I compared this to Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia, which had the same notes but without tonka bean. Gorgeous Gardenia had more of a floral scent; it wasn’t as deep as the former. I suspect it’s more floral because it features pear blossom instead of pear alone (as in Dreams Sunset). I wonder if the tonka bean note is what makes Dreams Sunset a gourmand and Gorgeous Gardenia more of a day scent.
- Chanel Allure Homme Sport: This smelled very familiar to me, citrusy and sharp. I didn’t get the sense that this was a gourmand.
- I swear that in person, Ulta labels Philosophy Fresh Cream Warm Cashmere as having a tonka bean note. There’s some sort of conspiracy going on, because it isn’t labeled as so on their website. Anyways, it was too sweet.
- Armani Code: Balanced but spice-forward. I could smell the sweetness of the iris and the bite of the bergamot. No tonka bean in sight.
I sampled about 10 other perfumes at Ulta for comparison. However, I thought these were labeled as tonka in person (but are not online), so I have omitted them from the list.
I also found on Fragrantica that Penhaligon’s The Tragedy of Lord George had a tonka bean accord. Coincidentally, I had picked up a Penhaligon sampler set as a souvenir from London last year. When I sprayed it, the initial scent was spicy and became creamy as it dried down on the sample paper (naturally, I borrowed some from Ulta. For science!). Lord George smelled somewhat medicinal, but something about it was delicious.
My conclusion is that there was no clear commonality between the perfumes I sampled. Some were spicy, while others were mellow and sweet. There was a certain “something” that I identified that made them each enticing to me, but it wasn’t clear. There was no fragrance that tied them together. The next step was to order tonka beans from Amazon. I’m surprised that the FDA hasn’t put any sort of restriction on Amazon. Nevertheless I’ll disclaim that I have no intention of eating these beans. This is for olfactory science.
I opened the envelope and took a deep breath in. It was nothing like what I had imagined. I was greeted by the scent of almond extract (without its somewhat strong medicinal quality), coupled with the creamy vanilla scent of marshmallows. To be honest, I was still hung up on my Black Opium conspiracy and was expecting the beans to smell just like it. However, this was something different altogether.
It was nothing like what I had imagined, and now that I know what it really smells like, I don’t think the fragrances do justice by its name. Perhaps the almondy flavor is what gives the fragrances that “oomph”, similar to how we add coffee to chocolate-flavored desserts to boost the cocoa-y flavor. I understand that there’s a huge tonka bean fragrance community, and I liked the scent of the tonka beans. However, I’m not sure that these perfumes are capturing it as a base note. Maybe I need to try making my own tonka bean perfume to get a true sense of what’s going on with the base notes… I’ll report back.