Soft Spicy

The soft spicy accord covers the gentler end of the spice cabinet — cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, mild clove and anise — handled so that they warm a fragrance without heating it. It is the quieter relative of the warm spicy and fresh spicy accords, and the distinction is one of volume rather than ingredient.

Where a warm spicy accord pushes cinnamon and clove forward until they are the first thing you notice, a soft spicy treatment keeps them diffuse. The spices sit behind the main structure, rounding edges and adding a faint powdery warmth. The effect is comfortable rather than dramatic, and it is one of the reasons a fragrance can smell cosy without smelling sweet.

Soft spicy works particularly well with woods, where it keeps a dry cedar or vetiver base from feeling severe, and with ambers and tonka, where it reinforces warmth already present. It also appears in aromatic and fougère compositions, where a little nutmeg or cardamom lifts herbal notes such as clary sage or lavender.

If you like spice but find cinnamon-forward fragrances overwhelming, this is the accord to follow. Browse the Redolia fragrances built on a soft spicy accord below.