- Latin name
- Gardenia jasminoides
- Family
- Madder family (Rubiaceae)
- Origin
- the scent is created in the laboratory (natural absolute is extremely rare)
- Parts used
- flowers
- Raw materials
- white-floral accords
- Extraction
- synthesis (rarely extraction)
- Olfactory group
- floral (white flowers)
- Position in the pyramid
- heart
- Synthetic substitutes
- methyl benzoate, lactones, benzyl acetate, mushroomy and green molecules
Gardenia is an evergreen shrub with glossy leaves and large waxy-white flowers that smell so strongly a single flower fills a room. Natural gardenia absolute is extremely rare, so in perfume it is recreated as an accord.
How it smells: lush, creamy and tropical: white flowers, coconut softness, a faintly mushroomy and green shade, honeyed sweetness. Gardenia sounds luxurious and a little vintage — like a corsage on an evening dress.
The gardenia accord is a real challenge for a perfumer: creamy whiteness, green leaves and an unusual mushroomy note that makes the flower realistic all have to be combined. That is why gardenias sound very different from one fragrance to another.
What it pairs with: with tuberose and jasmine — a luxurious white-floral bouquet, with coconut — tropical tenderness, with greens — a fresh garden gardenia, with musk — a clean skin-like one, with sandalwood — a warm creamy base.
Good to know: gardenia petals turn brown at the slightest touch — which is why in bouquets and buttonholes it is handled very carefully, by the stem.
