Floral · Accord · Top notes, Heart notes
White flowers
White flowers is an accord that gives a general impression of white blooms without naming a single flower. It is usually built from the scents of jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom, gardenia or other white flowers, so it smells sweet, creamy and clean. In perfume, white flowers usually sits in the heart notes.
· Written by the FRAG team
What do white flowers smell like?
White flowers smell sweet, creamy and bright, like a freshly picked bunch of white blooms. There is a clean, soapy side, and some blends have a warm, heady edge from indole, a compound also found in jasmine and orange blossom. On skin, a white flowers accord usually softens into a gentle floral that stays close.
A white flowers note can smell different from one perfume to the next, because each perfumer picks different flowers.
What goes into a white flowers accord?
White flowers is an accord, a mix of several materials that together create one impression. It can use natural flower oils, synthetic molecules or both. The flowers most often used as a reference are jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom, gardenia and lily of the valley.
Indonesians know fragrant white flowers well. Jasmine, tuberose and white champaca grow widely here, and jasmine is strung into garlands for traditional weddings. When a label only says white flowers, the perfumer is not naming which blooms are used, so what you smell is an overall white-flower impression.
White flowers in a perfume
White flowers usually sits in the heart notes, and sometimes in the top notes so the floral side shows right away. The accord gives floral perfumes a creamy, bright body and often softens woody or oud perfumes.
Common partners are citrus such as bergamot in the opening, then musk, vanilla and sandalwood in the base. Musk keeps the white flowers clean, while vanilla makes them sweeter.
When to wear white flowers
A fresh white flowers perfume, for example with citrus, is comfortable for daytime, the office and hot weather. Versions with vanilla, amber or oud are richer and suit evenings and events. In humid air, a few sprays are usually enough.
