14/10/2025
Celebrating 20 years of Coco Chocolate and The Sydney Chocolate School
Did you know …
r. My Tom Ford collaboration for Harvey Nichols London in the 90s xx my write up for the HN mag xx
CHOCOLATE AND FRAGRANCE TOM FORD & COCO CHOCOLATE PRIVATE BLEND
NOIR DE NOIR�A dark Chypre Oriental, this scent opens with an earthy mantle of richly woven Saffron, Black Rose and Black Truffle, with hints of floralcy. Underneath, Vanilla, Patchouli, Oud Wood and Tree Moss soften the intensity, making the scent a sensual experience.�TO***CO VANILLE�A modern take on an old world men’s club. A smooth Oriental, TO***CO VANILLE opens immediately with opulent essences of To***co Leaf and aromatic spice notes. The heart unfolds with creamy Tonka Bean, To***co Flower, Vanilla and Cocoa, and finishes with A Dry Fruit Accord, enriched with Sweet Wood Sap.
�Chocolate and Fragrance have so many wonderful similarities we at Coco are thrilled to be able to be a part of a project that for the launch is a marriage of the two.
�Both chocolate and fragrance are heaven to the senses and are a joy to the soul. Both entice us and are our tools for those we want to entice. The wonderful scent of both fragrance and chocolate with nuances of such as ginger, to***co, vanilla, rose and saffron allows us to play with our individual identity. The contrasting and intriguing flavours and scent of chocolate and perfume are the reason for their irresistible allure and perfect matching.
�Both chocolate and fragrance are products of luxury. We either savour them or use a little every day to ready ourselves for what lies ahead or take us away to where we would rather be! Both are wonderfully self indulgent – the most desirable chocolate to be savoured and opulent fragrance adorned is best to seduce yourself! Just as a dusting of cocoa powder perfects a sweet, so does a spray of perfume perfect oneself. Ones choice of chocolate and perfume are telling!
�Both fragrance and chocolate are sensual and seductive, used as capturing themes of enchanting stories.As in the novel Perfume, The Story of a Murder, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille illustrates perfumes emotional meaning. It is the ultimate portrayal that the fragrance you chose adds to your individual story of identity.
�In Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate; the character Tita is only able to express her passions and feelings through her cooking, which causes the people who taste it to experience what she feels. Foods and imperatively chocolate are object, metaphor, and a means of expressing a range of human emotions.�And of course we can all imagine Vivienne (Chocolat) sensually enticing Johnny Depp with her signature scent and bowl full of bittersweet, rich melted chocolate!
�Both fragrance and chocolate contain a chemistry set of effects on our biology. Theirpreparation, and the reactions—both physical and psychological– of the people who consume them are memorable. Pheromones are volatile chemical compounds in perfume. They act as chemical signals between individuals influencing physiology and behaviour in a manner similar to hormones. In chocolate the naturally occurring high of phenyl ethylamine increases serotonin levels in the brain inducing euphoria and energy.
�Chocolate and fragrance also have a strong history of literally being combined together, including Estee Lauder.�“Estée Lauder Youth Dew Amber N**e is an oriental fragrance based on amber and resins, including chocolate absolute. Much more than a new take on the classical Youth Dew, Youth Dew Amber N**e explores the novel direction of a gourmand theme—dark and mysterious, rather than sweet and pretty. Radiant and weightless, despite its dusky character, Youth Dew Amber N**e is a stunning beauty.”
�Both perfume and chocolate have been savoured for thousands of years and both have rich and intriguing histories. Perfume is thousands of years old – the word “perfume” comes from the Latin per fume “through smoke”. One of the oldest uses of perfumes comes form the burning of incense and aromatic herbs used in religious services, often the aromatic gums, frankincense and myrrh, gathered from trees.
The Egyptians were the first to incorporate perfume into their culture followed by the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. The earliest use of perfume bottles is Egyptian and dates to around 1000 BC. The earliest record of chocolate was over fifteen hundred years ago in the Central American rain forests. Created as a drink by the Mayans and Aztecs and regarded chocolate as an aphrodisiac.
�Chocolate’s reputation as an Aphrodisiac is exemplified by the Aztec emperor, Montezuma who drank fifty golden goblets of chocolatea day to enhance his sexual prowess . When chocolate was discovered by the Spanish Conquistadors and introduced to Europe by Cortez, it was natural that the Spanish, and eventually, the rest of the world, continued to associate it with love.
Perfume has also been used as an aphrodisiac from ancient times using aromas for bringing to attention to oneself. The name Aphrodisiac takes its roots from the name of the Greek goddess of beauty Aphrodite. According to legend, she had a wonderful belt, which shed a magic aroma, with the help of which she could tempt not only man but also god.
�Finally with our fragrance and chocolate exploration, I hope you enjoy the heady combination of Tom Ford’s private blend fragrances and Coco Chocolate’s complimenting chocolates – the dark finale for two ever intriguing elements of luxury – fragrance and chocolate.
Rebecca Knights
