Grossmith Floral Veil

The last post was about the blooming of the Tembusu tree here in Singapore and its wonderful fragrance. Sadly, there is no tembusu perfume, but I am posting today about a pair of fragrances that remind me of this scent. The first is not really a scent duplicate but it expresses itself in a gentle and elusive manner, reminiscent of the trail of scent carried from the Tembusu tree. The second is a much closer dupe to the smell I get from the Tembusu tree sillage, but unhappily it is discontinued and hard to obtain.

Grossmith Floral Veil

Grossmith is one of the oldest British perfume houses, originally founded in London in 1835. It enjoyed an illustrious history its first hundred years of existence, but then eventually passed from the founding family's hands. This changed when the company was reacquired by the great great grandson (Simon Brooke)  of the founder, John Grossmith. Grossmith reintroduced some of the classic scents the brand had been known for, but more recently they came out with four modern scents which are part of The Black Label Collection.  Floral Veil is one of these new scents in the collection.

The first time I tested Floral Veil it truly seemed aptly named, as I literally felt encircled by shimmering notes of soft petals and sunlight. The opening was slightly citrus and sparkling with undercurrents of green. These notes were light and effervescent. After about ten minutes the white flower notes  appeared, first with a momentary sharpness but then the flowers coalesced into a beautiful unity of sweet flowers and sunny drops of citrus. The notes literally seemed to dance on my skin. I would get a heart-stopping whiff of this lovely scent, then it would drift away for a time, just like a fragrance in the breeze. It was not difficult to make the leap to wedding veils floating in the wind, and what a fabulous wedding fragrance this would make.

What I most enjoyed about wearing Floral Veil was that it did seem to act like my own personal hazy floating cloud of scent. The notes were not static; first I would smell the white flowers, then the lemony citrus notes which added sparkle and lift.

The notes in Floral Veil are top notes of citrus and green, a heart of tuberose, ylang ylang, vanilla orchid, rose and geranium, and a base of  cashmeran and musk. I can pick out the tuberose but to me it is not a tuberose perfume, but a blend of notes. I don't get the rose and geranium at all. After some time the scent fades to a pleasant cloud of musk and cashmeran.

Aqua Allegoria Jasminora

I hesitate to write about this perfume because it was one of the limited editions in Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria line and was released in 2011. I bought a bottle on a discount site a little over a year ago but it no longer seems to be available. My hope is that Guerlain will reintroduce it as they occasionally do some of their more popular limited edition perfumes. It gets a lot of love on Fragrantica so anything is possible!

Jasmorina is the perfume in my collection which most reminds me of the scent of the Tembusu tree here in Singapore. It combines the lemony sparkle with the sweet jasmine notes to give the fresh appeal of the scent that the Tembusu blossoms release. Jasmorina starts with an opening of galbanum, bergamot and cyclamen. Calabrian jasmine from coastal italy is the breed of jasmine used and I don't know if this accounts for it, but this jasmine is not indolic but green and realistic. It feels very fresh as if the smell is coming from a nearby jasmine bush. Notes of lily of the valley and freesia add sweet floral support. Jasmorina eventually fades to a musk and amber base. Wearing this perfume is uplifting. It is what I would classify as a "happy" scent, in that it makes me feel good when I'm wearing it and brings a smile.

These two perfumes are beautiful in their own right, but I will keep searching for the perfect Tembusu perfume. With all the niche lines out there, the Tembusu tree would make the perfect inspiration for a new perfume.

Photo from The Bridal Guide. Samples my own.

post