Jasmine is a white floral note taken from the night-scented blossoms of Jasminum shrubs, chiefly Jasminum grandiflorum and Jasminum sambac. Rich, heady and slightly animalic, it smells sweet, fruity and faintly waxy, and it is one of the two great floral pillars of perfumery alongside rose.

What does Jasmine smell like?

Real jasmine is far more complex than the clean floral of soaps and candles. It opens honeyed and radiant, with a pear-like fruitiness from benzyl acetate. Underneath sits indole, a molecule that in isolation smells faintly of mothballs or the farmyard, and which gives jasmine its warm, skin-like, slightly narcotic depth. Grandiflorum, the classic French and Egyptian type, is round, fruity and sensual. Sambac, used across India and China, is greener and more tea-like, with an orange-blossom sweetness.

Where Jasmine comes from

Jasmine flowers open at night and are picked by hand before sunrise, when their scent is strongest. Because the blossoms are too delicate for steam distillation, they are extracted with solvent to make a waxy concrete, which is then washed with alcohol to give the absolute used in perfume.

• Also known as: Jasmin, Spanish jasmine (grandiflorum), Arabian jasmine (sambac)
• Fragrance family: Floral (white floral)
• Type: Natural and synthetic
• Main origins: India, Egypt, China; smaller volumes from Morocco, France (Grasse) and Italy
• How it's obtained: Solvent extraction to concrete and absolute; also CO2 extraction
• Key aroma molecules: Benzyl acetate, linalool, indole, cis-jasmone, methyl jasmonate, benzyl benzoate

Jasmine in perfume history

Jasmine was grown around Grasse from the sixteenth century and became one of the town's defining crops. It sits at the heart of twentieth-century classics such as Chanel No. 5 and Jean Patou's Joy. A turning point came in 1962, when Firmenich chemists isolated methyl jasmonate from jasmine; its airy cousin Hedione, launched soon after, gave Dior's Eau Sauvage (1966) its luminous freshness and changed how perfumers suggest jasmine.

Jasmine in modern perfumery

Jasmine appears in a huge share of feminine fragrances and many masculine ones, often as an invisible support rather than a starring note. Perfumers blend natural absolute with Hedione, benzyl acetate and jasmine lactones to control cost and indole levels. CO2 extracts offer a fresher, more flower-like profile.

How Jasmine wears and what it pairs with

Jasmine is a heart note with real staying power; its indolic, musky facets linger well into the drydown (the final stage of a scent on skin). It pairs naturally with rose, orange blossom, tuberose, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, vanilla, bergamot and musk.

Fragrances featuring Jasmine

• Chanel No. 5 (1921)
• Jean Patou Joy (1930)
• Serge Lutens A la Nuit (2000)

Safety and regulation

Jasmine absolute naturally contains EU-declarable allergens such as benzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, linalool and eugenol, which must be listed on cosmetic labels above set thresholds.