Premier Mai by Houbigant c1908

Launched in 1908, Premier Mai by Houbigant took its name from a cherished French tradition—the giving of muguet, or lily of the valley, on the first of May as a token of love, hope, and good fortune. In French, Premier Mai (pronounced preh-mee-AY my) simply means “May 1st,” but culturally, it carries a deeply poetic weight. For the French, this day is not just a date on the calendar—it is symbolic of spring’s return, the renewal of life, and the gentle optimism that follows winter. Delicate sprigs of muguet are exchanged among lovers and friends, evoking innocence, tenderness, and well-wishing. Houbigant’s choice of this name was no accident—it was designed to elicit emotion, nostalgia, and freshness all at once, and to root the fragrance firmly in a beloved national custom.

The perfume's imagery is as lyrical as its name. Premier Mai conjures the first warmth of spring, the pearly white bells of muguet nestled in green, dew-dappled leaves. It evokes woodland paths, shaded glades, and the cool hush of forest undergrowth. One poetic description from the period encapsulates this beautifully: “It smells of the fresh young girl, sweet and sour, lively and laughing, but with wet eyes for a dream… It projects the shadow of the false twilight of the forest, with its green dome, its wet leaves, its watercress beds, its leafy smells and its inexhaustible springs.” It is a fragrance intended to suspend time, to capture the fleeting grace of early spring and preserve it on the skin through summer’s heat.

When Premier Mai debuted in 1908, France was in the midst of the Belle Époque—a golden age defined by elegance, cultural blossoming, and a sense of modernity tinted with romanticism. Fashion was dominated by the fluid lines of Paul Poiret, whose designs freed women from corsets and celebrated natural form. The arts were flourishing, and perfumery was undergoing its own transformation. The turn of the century saw the rise of artistic perfumers and the increasing use of synthetics, which allowed new olfactory compositions to emerge. It was also a time when single-flower fragrances remained popular, and lily of the valley was among the most beloved. Nearly every perfumery had its own interpretation of muguet, but few captured the emotional resonance of Houbigant’s.

Unlike rose or jasmine, lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) does not yield an essential oil through traditional extraction. Its essence cannot be drawn from the flower itself. Instead, its distinctive scent—fresh, green, lightly sweet, with a faint citrus bite and a touch of coolness—has always been recreated through composition. By the early 20th century, perfumers had begun to rely on aroma chemicals to reconstruct its delicate character. In the case of Premier Mai, these likely included terpineol (for piney floral freshness), linalool (a naturally occurring compound with a floral-citrus nuance), hydroxycitronellol (for soft green floralcy), and others—materials that allowed perfumers to evoke the clean transparency and effervescent brightness of real muguet more faithfully than nature itself could offer.

At the time of its release, Premier Mai would have felt both familiar and novel. Its theme—a lily of the valley soliflore—aligned with the enduring trend for floral fragrances. Yet Houbigant’s interpretation stood apart through its emotional depth, atmospheric description, and use of modern synthetics that lent a new realism to the imagined flower. It was not merely a muguet perfume, but a May Day in a bottle—youthful, hopeful, and gently melancholic.

To women of the period, Premier Mai would have been a sentimental indulgence, a way to wear spring on the skin even as the seasons changed. It was a perfume of delicate restraint, an embodiment of refined femininity, and a tribute to the small but powerful gestures—like the giving of a single flower—that define beauty in everyday life.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Premier Mai by Houbigant is classified as a floral fragrance for women with a dominant lily of the valley note.

• Top notes: Calabrian bergamot, Tunisian neroli, Tunisian orange blossom, cassie, benzyl acetate, cinnamic acetate, gingergrass
• Middle notes: terpineol, hydroxycitronellol, Nossi-Be ylang ylang, Egyptian jasmine absolute, Grasse tuberose, linalool, Bulgarian rose absolute, rhodinol, Reunion rose geranium, geraniol, Russian coriander, Zanzibar clove, heliotropin, bitter almond, Tuscan violet, ionone
• Base notes: ambergris, Spanish labdanum, Abyssinian civet, Tibetan musk, styrax, Mexican vanilla, vanillin, Venezuelan tonka bean, coumarin, Mysore sandalwood, Atlas cedar, Tyrolean oakmoss, Indonesian patchouli, ethyl phenylacetate, benzophenone

Scent Profile:

To inhale Premier Mai by Houbigant is to step into a luminous, dew-laced woodland just as spring unfurls. Though it is often remembered as a tribute to lily of the valley, its delicate white bells remain elusive and abstract—never directly extracted from the flower itself but instead conjured through a carefully orchestrated bouquet of naturals and synthetics. What unfolds on the skin is not just a fragrance, but a poetic impression—a symphony of botanical textures, radiant light, and fragrant shadow.

The fragrance opens with a lively breath of Calabrian bergamot, tart and green, like the snap of a citrus rind between fingers—its brightness sharpened by neroli, extracted from Tunisian bitter orange blossoms. This neroli sings with a sweet, honeyed sharpness, weaving seamlessly into orange blossom, which warms the top accord with creamy, floral transparency. There’s a breath of golden light here—sun filtering through pale petals. Then, a richer vegetal facet appears through cassie absolute, drawn from the acacia flower—floral yet powdery, with faint hints of spice and blackcurrant bud. Benzyl acetate and cinnamic acetate, two key aroma chemicals, lend brightness and gentle sweetness: benzyl acetate adds a crisp, fruity edge with apple-pear undertones, while cinnamic acetate provides a subtle warmth—spicy, woody, and slightly balsamic.

A surprising twist comes from gingergrass, a relative of lemongrass, whose green-spicy aroma flits through the opening like crushed stems underfoot. It provides an unexpected aromatic sharpness that anchors the floral notes and adds energy to the composition.

The heart of Premier Mai blossoms in a luxurious floral cascade. Here, terpineol and hydroxycitronellol—both early synthetic innovations—are masterfully used to construct the elusive scent of lily of the valley. Terpineol, with its clean, pine-floral nuance, gives a cool, green body to the muguet illusion, while hydroxycitronellol enhances the natural freshness with a bright, slightly soapy floralcy. This constructed lily of the valley is folded into a lush garden of real florals: ylang ylang from Nossi-Bé offers its exotic, creamy banana-floral sweetness; Egyptian jasmine absolute adds narcotic depth, earthy and rich with indole; and Grasse tuberose, waxy and intoxicating, deepens the sensuality of the heart.

Woven through this is linalool, a naturally occurring molecule found in many flowers and spices. Its airy, floral-citrus brightness gives lift and diffusion to the heart. Rose absolute and rhodinol, both drawn from Bulgarian or Turkish roses, bring varying tones of fresh petal, dewy greenery, and soft spice. Geranium, especially the rosy variety from Egypt or Réunion, introduces a green and slightly minty rose facet, while geraniol, a key molecule within the flower’s chemistry, reinforces the floral brightness.

Russian coriander and Zanzibar clove offer spice and warmth—coriander lends a citrusy-woody dryness, while clove, rich in eugenol, brings a warm, antique woodiness. Heliotropin (also known as piperonal) contributes a soft almond-vanilla note, reminiscent of cherry pie and powdered violets. It complements the bitter almond note, which glows with marzipan-like richness. Tuscan violet and ionone, long associated with the fragrance of Parma violets, are used to recreate the cool, powdered scent of the flower. Ionones, in particular, bring a soft purple halo to the florals—fruity, woody, and quietly melancholy.

As Premier Mai dries down, its base settles into a classic, sensual warmth. Ambergris, prized for its fixative power and salty-animalic depth, lends a silken radiance, while Spanish labdanum, rich and leathery, adds golden resinous shadows. Abyssinian civet and Tibetan musk (in natural and synthetic form by this period) contribute a subtle, skin-like warmth, adding to the lived-in sensuality of the fragrance. Styrax brings a smoky, balsamic softness. Mexican vanilla and its synthetic twin vanillin sweeten the blend—vanilla with its creamy depth, vanillin with its crystalline brightness—while Venezuelan tonka bean and coumarin add a toasted almond and hay-like softness, rounding the base with warmth and nostalgia.

Sandalwood, likely from Mysore at the time, imparts a creamy, milky wood note that smooths and supports the florals. Atlas cedar, drier and sharper, adds structure, while Tyrolean oakmoss, earthy and slightly bitter, roots the fragrance in a forest floor dampness. Indonesian patchouli, rich and inky, completes the base, lending longevity and depth. Ethyl phenylacetate, a floral-fruity aromatic compound, enhances the sweetness of the florals, and benzophenone, a fixative, helps stabilize and preserve the perfume’s integrity on the skin.

Altogether, Premier Mai is not merely a lily of the valley fragrance—it is an evocation of spring’s first breath, a pastoral reverie made of real flowers, illusionary blossoms, and rare woods. It captures the trembling freshness of a May morning and the quiet wistfulness of passing youth, blending nature and memory in equal measure. It was, and remains, a poetic tribute to the magic of rebirth, tenderness, and refined femininity.

Bottles:

Premier Mai was available in the following:

• 1/2 oz Extract (parfum)
• 1 oz Extract (parfum)
• 2 oz Extract (parfum)
• 4 oz Extract (parfum)
• 4 oz Toilet Water
• 8.25 oz Toilet Water

c1930s eau de cologne

c1908 Baccarat flacon, photo by Perfume Bottles Auction

1910s crystal flacon

Fate of the Fragrance:

By the mid-1950s, Premier Mai by Houbigant had found renewed life and charm, reintroduced to the American market after a long wartime absence. Originally launched in 1908 as an homage to the French tradition of exchanging lily of the valley (muguet) sprigs on May 1st, this elegant floral returned to counters just in time for spring and Easter shopping in 1954, alongside Quelques Violettes, another classic floral from the house. According to The American Perfumer and Essential Oil Review, both perfumes had been absent from New York since 1939, likely due to the disruptions of World War II and postwar austerity. Now, they were reissued in a charming presentation: purse-size flacons, each nestled in a bright moiré fabric pouch and topped with a miniature corsage blossom, retailing at $2.75—an accessible luxury intended to catch the eye and the imagination of mid-century women.

Publications of the time described Premier Mai not just in terms of its scent but in poetic, almost cinematic detail. A 1954 review in Combat painted an image of spring bottled into scent: “It smells of the fresh young girl, sweet and sour, lively and laughing, but with wet eyes for a dream.” The perfume, centered on lily of the valley, was described as defying the scorching dampness of summer, cooling the skin like the “false twilight of the forest, with its green dome, its leafy smells, its inexhaustible springs.” The reviewer sees Premier Mai not simply as a fragrance, but as a climate—a fragrant, verdant refuge from heat and heaviness. This metaphor is extended in Combat's 1955 commentary, which once again described the extrait and perfumed eau de cologne as “suitable for summer,” suggesting the fragrance’s sheer and refreshing quality made it ideal for warmer months. Its continued reference to the young girl, bittersweet and laughing reinforced the scent’s image as one of innocence tinged with wistful elegance.

American fashion magazines also responded favorably to this reissue. Mademoiselle noted the delightfully giftable presentation: “Each sacked in a bright little moire pouch with its typical blossom, $2.75.” Meanwhile, Vogue praised the fragrance itself, calling Premier Mai “brilliantly duplicated”—referring to Houbigant’s masterful recreation of lily of the valley—and celebrated the fact that it had “lost none of its delicate simplicity, its sweet intensity.” It was a nod to the perfume’s balance between realism and romanticism, between the floral’s clean innocence and its emotional resonance.

As the fragrance continued to evolve in form and reach, it maintained its poetic core. In 1958, Nouveau Paris Match introduced a new version—Parfum de Toilette Premier Mai—and anchored it firmly within Houbigant’s historic lineage: “Houbigant creations can be found in Faubourg Saint-Honoré since 1775, and only at selected perfumers.” This note of exclusivity reinforced the house’s image as a purveyor of fine, refined French perfumery. A year later, in 1959, the Italian magazine Epoca described Premier Mai as “the shade with spring charm,” highlighting its position between strengths—“more intense than toilet water, lighter than perfume.” This toilet perfume, now offered in a spray bottle, reflected the growing popularity of convenient, modern formats, while still retaining the romantic appeal of its delicate, muguet heart.

Through these years, Premier Mai stood as a symbol of timeless seasonal beauty—always tied to May Day, always evoking youth, freshness, and gentle emotion. Whether as a hand-held extrait, a breezy eau de cologne, or a Parfum de Toilette in modern spray form, it adapted to the changing times while holding fast to its core identity: a scented celebration of the quiet, exquisite grace of spring.

Premier Mai by Houbigant was launched in 1908, during the elegant twilight of the Belle Époque, and quickly established itself as a poetic celebration of the French tradition of gifting muguet—lily of the valley—on the first of May. Named after this custom, Premier Mai was more than a floral fragrance; it was a symbolic tribute to springtime renewal, feminine youth, and tender emotion. The perfume captured the essence of freshly blooming lilies of the valley through a sophisticated blend of natural extracts and early synthetics, evoking a cool, green woodland atmosphere touched by sunlight and nostalgia.

Though the exact date of its discontinuation remains unknown, Premier Mai remained available well into the mid-20th century, with confirmed advertisements and reviews documenting its presence on the market as late as 1959. In that year, the fragrance was still being sold in its updated Parfum de Toilette spray format, described as “more intense than toilet water, lighter than perfume,” reflecting a modern sensibility while retaining its refined charm. This version offered women a versatile, daily-wear interpretation of a scent that had once been associated with Edwardian elegance.

Over the decades, Premier Mai quietly endured, surviving two World Wars, changes in fashion, and evolving consumer tastes. Its disappearance appears to have been gradual rather than abrupt, with no formal announcement of discontinuation. Its last known appearances suggest it remained a seasonal favorite, especially around spring holidays, with limited production or regional availability likely phasing out sometime after 1959. Today, Premier Mai lives on in memory and literature—remembered not just for its lily of the valley heart, but for the romantic atmosphere it created: a perfume that gently whispered of May blossoms, woodland shade, and the bittersweet beauty of fleeting youth.