When Jasmin de Siam was first introduced in 1879, France was in the midst of the Belle Époque, a period marked by prosperity, artistic innovation, and the rise of modern luxury. It was an age of opulence and optimism — electric light, grand theaters, and couture fashion houses flourished. Women’s fashions featured soft, draped gowns in silk and lace, often accented with floral motifs. The image of femininity was one of delicacy and refinement, yet with a growing sense of independence and worldliness. The fascination with the Orient was strong — Asia represented sensual mystery, sophistication, and natural abundance — and perfumers drew inspiration from it freely. A perfume called Jasmin de Siam would have appealed to the Parisienne as both an indulgence and an escape: an invisible silk veil of scent that conjured images of distant palaces, golden temples, and moonlit gardens overflowing with jasmine.
The fragrance itself was conceived as a jasmine sambac soliflore, a tribute to the most intoxicating species of jasmine, native to India and Southeast Asia. Compared to the lighter, fresher jasmine grandiflorum of Grasse, jasmine sambac is denser, creamier, and more sensual — its petals releasing a narcotic sweetness that deepens at night. Its scent contains natural indoles, molecules that lend a faintly animalic nuance, giving the flower its almost human warmth and depth. Guerlain captured this living, breathing character with great precision, allowing the flower’s dual nature — innocent and carnal, radiant and shadowed — to unfold on the skin.
Bright, juicy notes of apple and jonquil (daffodil) weave through the composition, lifting the opulent jasmine with a burst of freshness. The apple’s crisp green facet, rich in hexyl acetate, enhances the floral brightness, while jonquil’s narcotic sweetness, touched by traces of phenylacetic acid, adds a honeyed warmth. These nuances transform the jasmine from an exotic bloom into something alive and effervescent — as though sunlight were filtering through its petals.
The base of Jasmin de Siam carries Guerlain’s signature sensuality. Vanilla, sourced from Madagascar, brings a soft, creamy sweetness that wraps the jasmine in warmth. Its main component, vanillin, imparts comfort and roundness, tempering the heady floral intensity. A subtle note of civet lends depth and texture, its animalic warmth enhancing the natural indoles of the jasmine sambac. This balance of purity and seduction — of flower and flesh — is what made Guerlain’s early work so distinctive.
When Jasmin de Siam was reformulated in 1922, the perfume world had evolved. Synthetic molecules like ionones and hydroxycitronellal were now being used to accentuate floral notes, giving perfumers new tools to recreate natural scents with even greater radiance and persistence. Guerlain’s reimagining of Jasmin de Siam would have reflected this modern touch, perhaps smoothing the transitions, brightening the top notes, and extending the trail — the sillage — without losing the soul of the original.
At its heart, Jasmin de Siam was both timeless and of its moment. It followed the 19th-century trend of floral soliflores — perfumes devoted to a single bloom — yet it distinguished itself through its sensual oriental warmth and masterful balance. To the women who wore it, it must have felt like wearing a memory of summer nights beneath faraway skies, a whisper of the exotic wrapped in Parisian elegance. It was a fragrance that united the two great obsessions of the Belle Époque: romance and travel, rendered in scent — the perfume of dreams.
Fragrance Composition:
- Top notes: apples, jasmine, cassie
- Middle notes: sambac jasmine, jonquil, ylang ylang, rose
- Base notes: vanilla, civet
Scent Profile:
The first impression of Jasmin de Siam unfolds like sunlight breaking over a faraway orchard — radiant, tender, and alive. The opening is crowned by the crisp sweetness of apple, a note that sparkles with freshness and energy. The apple used in perfumery often draws on natural hexyl acetate and cis-3-hexenol, aroma chemicals that give it its green, dewy vibrancy. It evokes the scent of just-bitten fruit, mingling tartness and sweetness in perfect measure. This bright fruitiness awakens the senses and prepares the way for the lush florals that soon follow.
Intertwined with this juicy brightness is the honeyed floral whisper of cassie, a small golden blossom native to Egypt and France, belonging to the acacia family. Its scent is distinctive — powdery, spicy, and subtly animalic — with natural molecules such as benzyl alcohol and anisic aldehyde, which lend a faintly balsamic and almond-like tone. In Jasmin de Siam, cassie functions as the bridge between fruit and flower, softening the sharpness of the apple while deepening the coming heart of jasmine. It lends the fragrance a slightly nostalgic texture, like the feel of silk warmed by the sun.
Then, the perfume’s heart opens with the unmistakable perfume of jasmine sambac — the soul of the composition. Jasmine sambac, unlike its cousin jasmine grandiflorum of Grasse, carries a creamier, more exotic scent — indolic, fruity, and sultry. Grown in India, Thailand, and the southern reaches of China, it thrives in warm night air, releasing its aroma after dusk. Its scent molecules, including indole, benzyl acetate, and linalool, give it both radiance and sensuality — a perfect balance of purity and human warmth. In Jasmin de Siam, it feels like walking through a moonlit garden, where the air is thick with blossoms that seem to glow softly in the dark.
The jonquil, a type of narcissus native to the Mediterranean, adds another layer — a honeyed, almost hay-like sweetness with traces of phenylacetic acid that lend a soft, animal warmth. Jonquil’s narcotic character deepens the jasmine’s sensuality, creating a tender, enveloping middle that feels simultaneously clean and carnal. The addition of ylang-ylang, often sourced from Madagascar or the island of Nossi-Bé, infuses the bouquet with a lush, tropical smoothness. Ylang’s natural components — benzyl salicylate, geranyl acetate, and p-cresyl methyl ether — give it a creamy, banana-like warmth that enhances the jasmine sambac’s velvety quality. It’s as though the jasmine, ylang, and jonquil melt together into a seamless floral radiance, each note amplifying the other’s beauty.
A trace of rose threads through the heart, not dominant but essential. Likely a Turkish or Bulgarian rose absolute, it provides a familiar, classical grace, anchoring the tropical florals with a green, petal-soft balance. Its natural citronellol and geraniol molecules contribute a fresh, slightly lemony nuance, tying back subtly to the bright top of apple and cassie. The effect is painterly — each floral stroke carefully blended into a soft impressionist haze rather than distinct lines.
As the fragrance settles into its base, vanilla unfurls — warm, resinous, and faintly smoky, like sun-dried pods split open to reveal their inky seeds. Madagascar vanilla would likely have been used, prized for its full-bodied sweetness and balsamic depth. Its key molecule, vanillin, provides the creamy, comforting note that softens the entire composition, wrapping the jasmine and fruit in golden light. Yet in classic Guerlain fashion, this sweetness is never cloying — it is refined, tender, and sensual.
Finally, a breath of civet emerges — just enough to add a whisper of animal warmth beneath the florals. Derived historically from the civet cat and later recreated through synthetic means (civetone, for instance), it lends a musky, velvety texture that enhances the natural indolic richness of the jasmine sambac. This final note transforms the perfume from a simple floral into something human and intimate — as though the scent has merged with the wearer’s skin.
Altogether, Jasmin de Siam moves like the shifting light of late afternoon — bright at first, glowing with golden warmth at its heart, and then deepening into a soft, lingering sensuality. It is jasmine as both flower and flesh: luminous, living, and utterly transporting. Through its delicate interplay of natural and synthetic elements, it captures not just the beauty of the blossom, but the memory of air perfumed by it — that elusive, dreamlike breath of paradise.
Bottles:
The perfume was sold in the carre bottle by Pochet et du Courval.
Fate of the Fragrance:
Not sure when it was discontinued but it was still being sold in 1936.
