Do you know which family of perfumes is the largest in the world of perfumery? Yes, of course, the floral family. Floral fragrances can be composed of a single note, but more often they are complex compositions in which the perfumer can express their vision of the perfect fragrance for her. According to the fragrance notes, floral perfumes can be divided into many categories, with popular options including green, aquatic, powdery, fruity, or combinations of flowers and oriental ingredients with aldehydes, and many more. There are so many that it is difficult for even experts to navigate them. We won't even try to do that, let's just enjoy the scents. Which flowers shall we choose? Of course, the royal ones.

The Queen of Flowers – Rose

The rose is perhaps the most beautiful flower – it has been considered a miracle since time immemorial, and it is attributed with unlimited and magical power. It also has strong antibacterial and antiviral properties. The rose is a symbol of love, and according to legend, it is capable of attracting love. Queen Cleopatra knew this, and that is why she bathed in a bath scented with rose petals. And in doing so, she attracted the two most powerful men of the time, only for love to become her downfall!

Rose in Perfumes

The rose has a long history in the world and in the history of perfumes. In a perfume, the rose can stand alone, as anyone who has smelled a tiny "flask" hidden in a brown wooden bottle, as they are sold in Bulgaria, knows. However, perfumers often create complex compositions, and women enjoy choosing them.

How many times have I mentioned this? There's no other way, because it's a story of Coco Chanel's love and passion translated into a unique fragrance. Coco built her perfume primarily around the new scent of aldehydes, but she also used the royal pair of flowers – rose and jasmine – at the very heart of the perfume.

This is a very special and unique fragrance that is interesting because it is often liked by women who don't necessarily "like" Chanel No. 5, and it also suits both young women and mature women. This fragrance embodies femininity and beauty. It is a very elegant, mysterious, and seductive fragrance, the scent of a woman who attracts men like a magnet. This fragrance was embodied by the famous actress Keira Knightley. And what does it smell like? It smells of orange, mandarin, bergamot, jasmine, and Turkish rose, but the most lasting notes are the very attractive tones of white musk and vanilla. The Mademoiselle Coco perfume was launched in 2002 and brought new fame to the Chanel brand.

Another perfume with rose that I want to introduce you to also has a famous, albeit less well-known, name than Chanel. My best friend wears it. She is a distinctive, very educated woman with a versatile talent for everything. The perfume I am talking about is strong, original, and pure, just like the heart and soul of my friend. Can you guess? I'll give you a hint: it's a perfume from a brand that doesn't churn out perfumes one after another, but strives for perfection. The perfume

Throughout my life, I've smelled countless perfumes, and I thought nothing could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. The creator of the perfume that did surprise me has a very distinguished name. It's Mrs. Aerin Lauder, the creative director of Estée Lauder, whose veins carry the blood of her grandmother, the legendary Estée. Mrs. Aerin's wish was to create a "modern fragrance wardrobe" where every woman could find her signature scent, one that could instantly create a mood and change the feelings of those around her. (2015) is a captivating fragrance, with roses at its heart. The beauty, purity, and innocence of the rose are captured in the perfume. And it's complemented by something new – an emotional cognac scent blended with the noble scent of incense and amber. It's an immense beauty, I can't describe it, you have to smell it!

Have you noticed which flower the rose appears with most often in perfumes? Yes, the rose is the queen, and she has an equal partner, the king – jasmine!

The King of Jasmine

This beautiful white flower is of the masculine gender and has a demanding role. It must complement, enhance, and underscore the fragrance of its queen, not overpower or compete with her. To fulfill this role perfectly, the perfumer must know how to work with jasmine. The harvesting of jasmine flowers is almost a magical process. Its flowers are picked just before dawn, when their scent is at its strongest and most beautiful. Each flower must be picked by hand and with great care, because damaged flowers produce low-quality oil.

It takes 8 million jasmine flowers to produce 1 kg of jasmine oil!

Jasmine provides perfumes with a strong, alluring, and aphrodisiac scent.

The perfume was launched in 1999, so we can safely call it a classic. It's a timeless fragrance that has been loved by women all over the world. J'Adore smells like a very balanced bouquet of delicate, sweetly feminine flowers, with the rose and jasmine at its heart, along with the precious tuberose. J'Adore is another gem among perfumes that we can wear anytime, anywhere.

The perfume that is closest to the present day and closest to my sense of a modern fragrance is from 2013. It comes from the same fragrance collection by Mrs. Lauder as Evening Rose. It has a very simple composition, combining two types of jasmine – sambac and Egyptian – which are again blended with exotic tuberose and the sweetly warming sandalwood. Mrs. Aerin doesn't need to list the ingredients to express herself; the surprising beauty of her fragrances lies in their understated elegance.

Tuberose – the flower of two faces

Our royal couple in perfumes has a third, powerful partner. This partner is interesting and somewhat controversial. Some people love its scent, while others would rather ban it from the world of perfumes. However, the French connoisseur Frederic Malle said about the wearer of this fragrance:

"Tuberose is an interesting, contrasting flower, in which two sides are combined – one is radiant, fresh, and sunny, the other is sensual and almost obscene."

 The flowers of the tuberose, also known as the night-blooming jasmine, only open at night, and their fragrance has always fascinated people. The Aztecs attributed magical properties to the night-blooming jasmine. They were probably right, because modern science has shown that the scent of tuberose affects the nerve centers in the brain that are responsible for sexual desire. What does this flower, which holds a secret, smell like? It's a sweet, intoxicating fragrance, but it can also give you a headache after a while. This is because the tuberose is slightly, very slightly, poisonous.

To conclude this brief journey into the fragrant world, I have a recommendation for a lovely perfume. It's called *My Way (2020)*, and it's a somewhat unconventional *Armani* fragrance. The ingredients are truly cosmopolitan, but they are perfectly chosen and complement each other beautifully. *My Way* contains orange blossom from Egypt, bergamot from Calabria, jasmine and tuberose from India, cedarwood from Virginia, and vanilla from Madagascar. Even before the perfume captivates you with its scent, you'll be drawn to the bottle. Its cap is symbolically blue, representing the Earth that connects us all. It is adorned with a ring, symbolizing the journey that is uniquely yours. On this journey through life, you will experience many beautiful encounters, as radiant as the ring on the bottle. Today, when travel to distant lands is somewhat restricted, we can embody our dreams in *My Way*, and with the help of this perfume and a little blessing from above, we can make them a reality. Happy travels!

This article was published with the kind permission of Sféra magazine.

DIOCHI

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