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Almond paste, powdered vanilla, warm cherry stone. Heliotrope smells like opening a tin of marzipan in a sun-warmed kitchen — powdery, sweet, and faintly narcotic.
Sweet, powdery, and warm, centred on almond paste and vanilla. A faint cherry-compote undertone sits beneath, less resinous than tonka, less caramelised than vanilla, with a clean cosmetic powderiness. Compared to anisaldehyde (which shares its heritage), heliotrope reads rounder and less liquorice-like. Compared to coumarin, it is softer, less herbaceous, with none of the hay-field dryness. The scent has a gentle, enveloping quality — like warm rice powder dusted over skin.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
After a few hours
After a few hours
After a few days
After a few days
Terroir & Origins
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens, Boraginaceae) is a small shrub native to the Peruvian Andes, introduced to European gardens around 1740 by the French botanist Joseph de Jussieu. Its clusters of tiny purple-blue flowers were nicknamed 'cherry pie plant' by English gardeners for their distinctive almond-vanilla-cherry scent. The name derives from Greek helios (sun) and tropos (turn) — the flowers orient toward sunlight.
The scent is powdery-sweet, dominated by almond and vanilla, with a faint cherry-stone undertone and a clean cosmetic finish. It was gourmand before the word existed in perfumery vocabulary. Drier and more powdery than straight vanilla, less green than tonka bean, less dark than coumarin. The key imitating molecule is piperonal (3,4-methylenedioxybenzaldehyde, CAS 120-57-0, C₈H₆O₃), first prepared in 1869 by Rudolf Fittig and Wilhelm Mielck through oxidative cleavage of piperine from black pepper. It entered perfumery in the 1880s. Crucially, piperonal does not occur in the actual heliotrope flower — it was named 'heliotropin' because its odour resembled the plant, not because it was derived from it. GC-MS headspace analysis of H. arborescens 'Marine' (Kays et al., HortScience, 2005) found the flower's actual volatile profile to be dominated by benzaldehyde, p-anisaldehyde, 2-phenylethanol, and benzyl alcohol. Joulain et al. (2007) confirmed heliotropin is undetectable in the flower's headspace via SBSE-GC-MS.
No commercially viable essential oil or absolute of heliotrope exists for fine fragrance. The flower's volatiles are too diffuse and chemically complex for practical extraction. In perfumery, the heliotrope accord is entirely reconstructed from piperonal, vanillin, coumarin, and anisaldehyde — four of the oldest synthetic materials in the perfumer's organ. Piperonal is classified as a DEA List I precursor chemical (due to its role as an MDMA precursor), which means perfumery suppliers must comply with documentation and reporting requirements.
The note occupies the heart-to-base range, contributing a warm, powdery-sweet character that bridges floral and gourmand territories. It is structural in powdery orientals and soft-gourmand compositions, offering a distinctive alternative to vanilla or tonka where a cleaner, more almond-like sweetness is needed.
Did You Know?
Did you know?
Piperonal is classified as a DEA List I precursor chemical because it can be converted to MDMA. Perfumery suppliers must file transaction reports with drug enforcement agencies when selling it. Fraterworks, a well-known aroma chemical supplier, sells it diluted to 20% in DPG partly to comply with US customs requirements for regulated precursors.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No commercially viable natural extraction exists for fine fragrance. The living flower's volatile emissions — dominated by benzaldehyde, p-anisaldehyde, 2-phenylethanol, and benzyl alcohol (Kays et al., 2005) — are too diffuse for steam distillation or solvent extraction to yield a usable material. Some niche suppliers offer a 'heliotrope absolute' via solvent extraction, but this product has no established role in professional fine fragrance formulation. All heliotrope accords in perfumery are synthetic reconstructions built primarily from piperonal (CAS 120-57-0), vanillin, coumarin, and anisaldehyde. Piperonal is produced industrially via oxidation of isosafrole or from catechol via the methylenedioxy intermediate.
complex mixture (heliotropin / piperonal C₈H₆O₃ as key note)
CAS Number
68917-44-2
Botanical Name
Heliotropium arborescens
IFRA Status
Piperonal: no IFRA restriction on use level. However, classified as DEA List I precursor (MDMA precursor) — subject to regulatory reporting and documentation requirements for suppliers.
Synonyms
CHERRY PIE PLANT · TURNSOLE
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Piperonal: white crystalline solid, mp 37°C
Specific Gravity
0.900 to 0.960 @ 25 °C (est)
In Perfumery
Heliotrope functions in the heart-to-base range as a powdery-sweet bridge between floral and gourmand registers. The note is always synthetic in modern perfumery, reconstructed from piperonal (heliotropin, CAS 120-57-0), vanillin, coumarin, and anisaldehyde. No commercially viable natural extract exists. Piperonal was first used in perfumery in the 1880s and became a defining molecule of early modern French perfumery. Heliotrope is structural in powdery orientals, soft-gourmand compositions, and vintage-inspired floral bouquets. It pairs with iris, violet, vanilla, tonka, and soft musks. The almond-powdery warmth creates a natural affinity with the powdery iris territory explored in Doppel Dancers (/products/doppel-dancers-iris-skin-perfume), where intimate notes predominate. The gourmand sweetness also connects to the truffle-and-vanilla warmth found in Albatre Sepia (/products/albatre-sepia-white-truffle-ink-perfume).
