What does fig smell like? Green leaves, milky sap and summer shade

Stand under a fig tree on a hot afternoon and you will notice something surprising: the smell is not really the fruit. It is the leaves, the bark and the milky sap. Green, creamy and a little woody, it smells like shade and summer holidays. Fig became one of the most loved notes in modern perfume in the 1990s, and it still feels fresh and unusual today.

What does it smell like?

Fig in perfume usually smells of the whole tree, not just the fruit. You might notice:

• Green leaves: sharp, sappy and bitter, like breaking a leaf in your fingers
• Milky sap: a creamy, slightly coconut-like softness
• Ripe fruit: a soft, jammy sweetness, like a sun-warmed fig
• Wood: dry, pale wood from the branches and bark
• Earth and dust: a faint dry, sunbaked earthiness in some fig scents

Most fig perfumes balance the green and creamy sides. A "fig leaf" scent is sharper and greener. A "fig fruit" scent is sweeter and jammier. Fig notes often last well on skin, because the creamy, woody parts are fairly heavy.

Where it comes from

The fig tree, Ficus carica, is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. It is native to the Middle East and western Asia, and it has been grown around the Mediterranean for thousands of years. Today figs grow in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Greece, Italy, Spain, Iran, India, California and many other warm, dry places.

The tree is famous in religion and myth. In the Bible, Adam and Eve cover themselves with fig leaves. In ancient Greece and Rome, figs were a staple food. The tree is also important in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, through its close relatives in the Ficus family.

How it's made

Here is the surprise: the fig fruit does not give a usable perfume oil. Its smell is too delicate and too tied up in water and sugar to survive extraction.

There is a natural material from the leaves, called fig leaf absolute. It is made by soaking leaves in a solvent to pull out their fragrant parts. It smells green, sappy and rich. But fig leaves contain furocoumarins, molecules that can cause severe skin reactions in sunlight. If you have ever had a rash after handling fig trees in summer, this is why. Because of these risks, fig leaf materials are tightly controlled under IFRA, the fragrance industry's safety rules, and are rarely used in perfume today.

So nearly every fig perfume is an accord: a smell rebuilt by the perfumer from several ingredients. Common building blocks include:

• Stemone: a synthetic molecule that smells like green, crushed fig leaves and stems
• Lactones (such as gamma-octalactone): creamy, coconut-like molecules that recreate the milky sap
• Coumarin: a sweet, hay-like molecule (also found in tonka beans) that adds warmth
• Green notes: such as galbanum or leafy molecules, for sharpness
• Woods: such as cedar, for the bark and branches
• Fruity notes: for the jammy flesh

A short history of fig in perfume

• Before the 1990s: fig was not a recognised perfume note. Perfumers had little reason to build it, and natural fig materials were limited.
• Premier Figuier (1994): perfumer Olivia Giacobetti created this for L'Artisan Parfumeur. The brand calls it the first fragrance built around fig. It was inspired by a fig tree in southern France and combined fig leaf, fig fruit and wood. It started a trend.
• Philosykos (1996): Giacobetti then created this for Diptyque. Its name comes from Greek words meaning "friend of the fig". It focuses on the whole tree: leaves, green wood, milky sap. It is still one of Diptyque's best-known perfumes.
• Un Jardin en Méditerranée (2003): Jean-Claude Ellena's scent for Hermès, inspired by a garden in Tunisia, made fig part of an airy Mediterranean landscape.

Since then, fig has become a regular note in niche and designer perfumes, home fragrance and candles.

Fig in modern perfume

Today fig appears in many styles:

• Green and airy: leafy, watery and fresh, for summer
• Creamy and woody: milky, soft and comforting
• Sweet and fruity: jammy figs, sometimes paired with vanilla or honey in gourmand perfumes
• Dark and spicy: fig paired with incense, spices or tobacco

What fig pairs well with

• Coconut: brings out the milky, creamy side
• Cedar and sandalwood: make fig feel like a whole tree
• Blackcurrant: shares fig leaf's green, tangy sharpness
• Citrus and bergamot: keep fig fresh and bright
• Vanilla, honey and tonka: turn it sweet and dessert-like
• Tea and green notes: for a calm, airy feel

Perfumes to try

• Philosykos by Diptyque (1996): green, creamy and woody. The best place to start.
• Premier Figuier by L'Artisan Parfumeur (1994): the fig perfume that started the trend.
• Un Jardin en Méditerranée by Hermès (2003): fig in an airy, watery Mediterranean garden.
• Fico di Amalfi by Acqua di Parma (Blu Mediterraneo line): bright fig with citrus. Fresh and sunny.

How to wear fig

• Fig is a great summer scent, but creamier versions work well in autumn too.
• It suits both men and women and almost any setting, from the office to the beach.
• Try it on skin. Fig often smells sharp and green at first, then softer and creamier after half an hour.
• If you like layering, fig works well under a simple citrus or a sandalwood scent.
• Be careful handling real fig trees on sunny days. The sap can cause skin burns in sunlight.

Who will love it

People who like green, natural-smelling scents. Fans of Mediterranean holidays, gardens and quiet afternoons in the shade. Anyone who finds floral perfumes too sweet and woody perfumes too heavy. And anyone looking for a perfume that smells calm, a little unusual and easy to wear.