What Does Jasmine Smell Like? Jasmine in Perfume Explained
Jasmine is a heady white flower with a green edge and, at times, an animalic undertone. Seven perfumes from our range show where houses place it and what it does there.
If you type “what does jasmine smell like” into a search bar, you are usually trying to picture a white flower that is sweet, heady and a little green all at once. Jasmine turns up in perfumes of many kinds, and its character changes with what stands beside it. This guide explains the note, the two species houses name most often and where jasmine sits in a perfume. Seven perfumes from our range, one for each house, serve as the examples.
What does jasmine smell like in perfume: the short answer
Jasmine smells sweet and floral, with a rich, heady warmth. Next to the sweetness there is usually a green, slightly sharp side, and in many jasmines a faint animalic undertone that gives the flower body. Perfumers commonly use it as an absolute, a concentrated extract of the blossoms, and one of the houses below names it that way.
Because the flower is so rounded, its effect depends on its neighbours. Beside bergamot and lavender it comes across as clean and bright. Beside honey, spice and tobacco it feels warm and dense. Beside hazelnut, cacao and caramel it joins a sweet, gourmand picture. The perfumes below show each of these pairings.
Jasmine sambac and grandiflorum jasmine
Some houses name the species they use, and two come up most often. Jasmine sambac is commonly described as rich and warm, with a tea-like, almost fruity edge. Grandiflorum jasmine is usually described as lighter and softer, with a fresher floral-green side. Both are white, heady flowers, and the difference is one of nuance, not of kind. Among the seven perfumes here, two list jasmine sambac, one lists grandiflorum jasmine and one names a jasmine absolute.
Where jasmine sits in a perfume
Jasmine commonly sits in the heart, the middle layer that shows once the opening has settled. It can also stand at the top, where it is the first flower you meet, or appear in a flat list that gives no tiers. In our seven perfumes it sits in the heart four times, at the top once and in a flat list twice. If top, heart and base are new terms, our guide to how to read a fragrance pyramid explains them, and the perfume glossary covers words such as absolute.
Jasmine perfume: how our seven perfumes use it
At the top
Pernoire Luvani is the only perfume here that lists jasmine at the top. The house places it beside moonflower, incense and tuberose, with hazelnut leaves, vanilla, guaiac wood, nutmeg and white flowers in the heart, and ambrostar, cedarwood, olibanum and white rose in the base. It is an Extrait de Parfum in 50 ml from the Odus line, made at 30% extrait concentration, and our tags call it strong, for autumn and winter evenings.
In the heart
Maison Margiela Replica Bubble Bath is the one perfume in this guide that our tags call light. A jasmine absolute sits in the heart with a lavender flower accord and a rose superessence, under a soap-bubble accord, pink pepper and bergamot, over patchouli, coconut milk and white musks. It is an Eau de Toilette in 100 ml, tagged fresh and floral, for spring and summer.
Xerjoff XJ 1861 Naxos names the species: jasmine sambac in the heart, beside honey, cinnamon and cashmere. Lemon, bergamot, lavender and incense from Oman come first, and vanilla, tobacco leaf and tonka bean close it. The house presents it as a tribute to Sicily. We list an Eau de Parfum in 100 ml with strong, aromatic and spicy tags for autumn and winter, so here the flower is warmed rather than brightened.
Jo Milano Paris Game of Spades Royale also lists jasmine sambac in the heart, next to cedar, under hazelnut and cacao and over caramel, ambroxan and moss. The species is the same as in Naxos, the picture is not: the house speaks of cosy indulgence with a touch of mystery. It is a Parfum in 30 ml, tagged strong and gourmand, for autumn and winter evenings.
Ex Nihilo Fleur Narcotique gives jasmine company in a floral heart: the house lists Petalia™, orange blossom and jasmine, over bergamot, lychee and peach, with musk, transparent wood and moss below. It calls the result a floral overdose with a Parisian edge. We list an Eau de Parfum in 50 ml, tagged strong, floral and fruity, for spring and autumn.
In a flat list
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait is the perfume that names grandiflorum jasmine. The house gives no tiers, only key ingredients: cashmeran, ambroxan, grandiflorum jasmine and saffron, and it says the jasmine carries the heart. We list it as an Extrait de Parfum in 70 ml, tagged strong, for autumn and winter evenings. An Eau de Parfum of the same perfume is listed too.
Diptyque Orphéon also lists four ingredients without tiers: juniper berry, cedar, tonka bean and jasmine. The house builds its story on a smoky Parisian bar and names jasmine as the richness in it. We list an Eau de Parfum in 75 ml, tagged moderate, woody and floral, for autumn and winter.
How to choose a jasmine perfume
Start with the frame you like around the flower. For jasmine in a clean, light picture, begin with Replica Bubble Bath. For honey and spice there is XJ 1861 Naxos, for hazelnut and caramel Game of Spades Royale, for white flowers with incense Luvani, for a wider bouquet Fleur Narcotique, and for a dense extrait Baccarat Rouge 540. Orphéon suits a taste for jasmine inside wood.
Concentration matters as well. Our seven are two extraits, one parfum, three eaux de parfum and one eau de toilette, and you can browse the Extrait de Parfum collection and the Eau de Parfum collection. The full list of jasmine perfumes is in our jasmine collection, and the floral perfumes show the wider family. For a note that comes from a root and not a flower, read our guide to iris in perfume.
Frequently asked questions
What does jasmine smell like in perfume?
Sweet, floral and heady, with a green edge and sometimes a faint animalic undertone. Bergamot makes it brighter, honey and spice make it warmer, and a gourmand frame makes it rounder.
What is the difference between jasmine sambac and grandiflorum?
They are two species. Perfumers commonly call sambac richer and warmer and grandiflorum lighter and softer. Naxos and Game of Spades Royale list sambac, and Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait lists grandiflorum.
Is jasmine perfume heavy or light?
Both are possible. Our tags call Replica Bubble Bath light, Orphéon moderate and Naxos strong, so the species, the concentration and the notes around the flower decide how it feels.
