Jasmin Floral by Houbigant c1912

Jasmin Floral by Houbigant, launched in 1912, carries a name that is at once evocative and direct—“Jasmin Floral” simply means “Jasmine Floral” in French. Pronounced "zhaz-man floh-ral", the name suggests both elegance and clarity. The French word “jasmin” evokes images of night-blooming flowers, delicate and pale, releasing their fragrance under the hush of dusk. The term “floral” immediately sets the stage for a bouquet of blossoms, but jasmine takes center stage here, promising a perfume that would be lush, romantic, and inherently feminine. The phrase, drawn from early advertisements—“From the flowers of an old garden silvered by moonlight”—adds a further poetic layer, conjuring a scene of nostalgia and tender beauty. This is not jasmine under the harsh sun, but softened by memory and mood, a bloom caught in twilight reverie.

When Houbigant introduced Jasmin Floral in 1912, the world was teetering on the edge of transformation. The Belle Époque was drawing to a close, a time remembered for its grace, optimism, and artistic flourishing. Fashion was softening—lace, delicate embroidery, and flowing silhouettes still held sway, but there was also a movement toward modernism just beginning to stir. In perfumery, heavy orientals and powdery florals had begun to rise in popularity, but soliflores—single-note floral perfumes—remained beloved for their clarity and elegance. Jasmin, in particular, was viewed as a symbol of sensuality and sophistication, associated with both innocence and seduction depending on its context. A fragrance like Jasmin Floral would have appealed to women who appreciated refinement without artifice, women who were drawn to the natural beauty of a garden rather than the exoticism of the bazaar.

The choice of jasmine was both classic and on-trend. At the time, Grasse jasmine—considered among the finest in the world—was cultivated specifically for the perfume industry. Delicate and painstaking to harvest, its scent was intensely floral, slightly animalic, and deeply narcotic. By naming the fragrance “Jasmin Floral,” Houbigant signaled not only the primary flower but also a return to naturalism—a focus on purity, lineage, and the old-world charm of a well-tended garden. This perfume would have spoken to a woman's longing for stability and grace in a rapidly changing world.

In terms of the broader market, Jasmin Floral was aligned with a trend toward soliflore perfumes—scents that celebrated the beauty of a single flower—but Houbigant elevated this concept through poetic presentation and the prestige of its name. Unlike some of the earlier, more literal jasmine waters or simple toilet preparations, Jasmin Floral was likely constructed with greater depth and artistry, perhaps rounded with green notes, a faint powderiness, or a whisper of musk or sandalwood in the base to lend it longevity and modern elegance.

Women of the era would have worn Jasmin Floral as a gesture of refinement—an accessory as essential as gloves or a hat. It was the scent of handwritten letters, of white gardens in bloom, of quiet walks and ballroom glances. In an age poised between innocence and upheaval, Jasmin Floral captured a fleeting beauty, suspended like moonlight on petals.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Jasmin Floral by Houbigant is classified as a floral fragrance for women.

• Top notes: Italian orange blossom absolute, benzyl acetate, linalyl acetate, aldehyde C10, linalool
• Middle notes: hydroxycitronellol, Bourbon ylang ylang oil, Grasse jasmine absolute, tuberose absolute
• Base notes: Tibetan musk, Siam benzoin, phenylethyl alcohol, rhodinol, heliotropin, benzyl alcohol

 

Scent Profile:

Jasmin Floral by Houbigant unfolds with a luminous, ethereal breath—an olfactory vignette from a moonlit garden, where white petals glow with fragrance and memory. As I inhale, the top notes shimmer into view like a breeze brushing over citrus groves in Southern Italy. The Italian orange blossom absolute is the first to greet me—creamy, honeyed, and floral, yet bright with a hint of neroli’s green sharpness. Orange blossoms grown in Italy benefit from the region’s temperate climate and rich soil, producing a more opulent, radiant oil than their North African counterparts. It’s softened by benzyl acetate, which brings a delicately fruity nuance—like biting into a ripe pear while walking through a flowering orchard. Linalyl acetate, naturally present in lavender and bergamot, contributes its soft, powdery sweetness, offering a gentle cushioning between citrus and florals. The note of linalool adds a fresh, green-spicy brightness—reminiscent of crushed leaves—while the sparkle of aldehyde C10 imparts a clean, soapy effervescence that hints at sunlight on porcelain, or silk just out of the armoire.

Then the heart of the perfume begins to bloom. Grasse jasmine absolute, the queen of the blend, dominates—lush and narcotic, yet never cloying. Jasmine from Grasse, long considered the finest in the world, possesses a delicate transparency and depth, harvested at dawn to capture its truest scent. Intertwined is the intoxicating tuberose absolute, creamy and heady, adding a fleshiness that borders on carnal, with whispers of coconut and warm skin. The Bourbon ylang ylang oil, from the Comoros Islands, rounds out the floral accord with its soft banana-like sweetness and spice-laced warmth—more restrained than its Madagascan cousin, yet richer and more nuanced. A subtle hydroxycitronellol note—a soft, synthetic molecule that mimics lily of the valley—adds a dew-kissed green shimmer, lifting the heart from within, like water beading on waxy white petals.

As the fragrance settles into its base, warmth and sensuality begin to anchor the floral flight. Tibetan musk, evoking the prized natural tinctures of the past, adds a shadowy animalic undercurrent—smooth, velvety, and lingering. It's echoed by Siam benzoin, which contributes a warm resinous sweetness, like polished wood or honeyed incense, gently binding the perfume’s radiance. Phenylethyl alcohol, a rose-like molecule found naturally in many flowers, smooths and extends the floral notes, making them feel more lifelike—like petals pressed between warm fingers. Rhodinol, with its bright, green-rose character, gives the base a dewy floral sparkle even as it dries down. Heliotropin—also known as piperonal—adds a soft, powdery, almond-vanilla character, with a nostalgic hint of childhood innocence or vintage talc. Finally, benzyl alcohol, a fixative naturally occurring in jasmine, contributes a faint balsamic fruitiness, helping to stabilize and extend the life of the floral bouquet.

Together, these ingredients do not merely form a perfume—they paint a scene. Jasmin Floral evokes a garden in twilight, when the day’s last warmth has released the richest scent from the flowers. It is a perfume that feels both intimate and luminous—tender as a whispered secret, timeless as white blossoms trembling under moonlight.

Bottles:

Fate of the Fragrance:

Jasmin Floral by Houbigant was introduced in 1912, during a time when soliflore fragrances—those designed to showcase a single flower—were at the height of popularity among refined women of the Belle Époque. As its name suggests, Jasmin Floral was conceived as a tribute to the intoxicating beauty of the jasmine blossom, interpreted through the lens of French perfumery's most elegant traditions. The perfume's poetic subtitle—“From the flowers of an old garden silvered by moonlight”—evokes a sense of timelessness and romance, placing it within a lineage of scents designed to capture not just a floral essence, but a mood steeped in memory and atmosphere.

Though precise records of its discontinuation are unclear, Jasmin Floral remained available into the early 1940s and was still being sold in 1943. This longevity suggests that it maintained a loyal following even during the turbulence of World War II, when many luxury products saw disrupted production and diminished availability. That Jasmin Floral persisted during such times speaks to the perfume’s enduring charm—its ability to offer a delicate escape into the beauty of a quiet, jasmine-filled garden.

Eventually, Jasmin Floral disappeared from Houbigant's offerings, likely sometime in the mid- to late-1940s, as perfumery moved toward more complex compositions and new olfactory trends emerged in the postwar era. Nonetheless, its legacy lives on in the poetic elegance of its name, its refined floral character, and its place in the early 20th-century pantheon of soliflore creations.