Jasminora is the latest addition to the Aqua Allegoria range at Guerlain. You old-timers already know the drill: the Aqua Allegorias were introduced in 1999 as a youth-oriented, (relatively) reasonably priced line that was supposed to showcase particular natural materials; they generally add two new light-and-summery fragrances a year, and only those that do well hang around (they're essentially limited editions). Some years I like them and some years I don't, but I do own a few of them, in fact, most of the modern-day Guerlains in my collection are from this range — I own Herba Fresca, Anisia Bella and Mandarine Basilic, and if a cheap bottle of Laurier Réglisse came my way, I'd buy that one too.
Last year, if I'm not mistaken, was the first time they released Aqua Allegoria fragrances that weren't named for specific notes. Flora Nymphéa and Bouquet Numéro 1 were mixed florals, although only the first one went into general distribution in the US. This year, they're back to form with Jasminora, which is a light summery jasmine. It's in what I think of as perfumer Thierry Wasser's "young, fresh and dewy" style, in fact, it has a lot in common with Flora Nymphéa (and by extension, Idylle) although it's very clearly focused on the jasmine note.
It starts with a little burst of citrus and soft greenery. For a few minutes, the lily of the valley is front and center, and several reviewers have noticed something in the background that smells like a very soft lilac. Then it's mostly jasmine, middling sheer, dewy and green, and very bright. The white musk dry down is soapy-clean and very persistent— Jasminora is longer lasting than many others in the Aqua Allegoria line, and the longer it's on skin, the cleaner it gets.
Jasminora is soft rather than crisp, smooth rather than deep, and romantic rather than sexy. If you've been looking for a casual daytime jasmine without even a hint of indoles, this might just be the one for you. It's far too clean for my taste, and the dry down eventually feels a little flat; for a light summer jasmine, I'll stick with the shorter-lived (and spendier!) sparkle of Thé Pour Un Été from L'Artisan. If you want something cleaner (and cheaper) than that but not quite so relentlessly clean as the Jasminora, try Jo Malone's White Jasmine and Mint.
If you have a favorite summer jasmine I haven't mentioned, do comment!
Guerlain Jasminora features notes of galbanum, bergamot, cyclamen, jasmine, freesia, lily of the valley, musk and amber. It can be found in in 75 and 125 ml Eau de Toilette.
I tried this a few weeks ago and didn’t like it. I found it very synthetic, just like Flora Nymphéa and Idylle in fact. The earlier AAs seem a little more naturalistic to me and these latest additions just don’t feel as in keeping with the rest of them.
I’m not much of jasmine junkie but for a dewy jasmine I like Robert Piguet Futur.
It’s hard to do a scent that is heavy on white musk without it smelling synthetic, I think. I don’t know if the ones I like really have more natural components, but they do smell more natural, I’d agree.
Love Anisia Bella, and the 4.2-ounce bottles run about $25 on some sites. Most of the more recent AAs haven’t interested me so I can’t really compare, but I agree that Anisia Bella smells remarkably natural (Laurier Reglisse, too).
I would say the same of Mandarine Basilic, though don’t know if anyone else would agree. Wore it the other night next to Atelier Orange Sanguine, and it made the OS (which I generally like) smell very fake. Then again, OS lasts longer.
I thought the opening of Mandarine-Basilic was just this side of a fresh tangerine, and then I got lots of lovely basil, but (as I mentioned below) that gave way to a fake clean musky woody thing that went on and on and ON.
Yeah, that’s probably a reasonable assessment. Still, I think that’s true of most scents!
Yup, I don’t think the older AAs are anything as natural as, say, Goutals but they at least don’t don’t come across as out-and-out synthetic either.
I don’t think of the Goutal line as “natural” either…or even as smelling more natural than any other brand. Interesting.
I think I remember trying Flora Nymphea about 2 months ago and it smelling like I thought it would except for a sparkly slightly edgy note that I guess is Guerlinade?
so I’m quite looking forward to trying this. there are 2 Guerlain counters near me, and whenever I walk by them there is no sales assistant there.
My local Guerlain counter never has the Aqua Allegorias, annoyingly enough. Have to go to Sephora. Guerlain has really crappy distribution in the US though.
yeah my counter are fully stocked I think, just a lack of customer service.
I have a bottle of Jasminora, and quite enjoy it for the half-hour or so that it lasts. I pick up a little of the citrus and galbanum (was hoping for much more of the latter) at the start, but then it’s all about the jasmine — and strangely enough, I do get a teeny tiny bit of indole. This lasts for about 30 minutes, and then the whole thing vanishes. I guess I could be anosmic to whatever the musk is. I didn’t notice any lily of the valley, but that’s a note that often doesn’t come through for me.
I’ve been thinking of it as an extremely jasmine-centric EDC, nice for freshening up after a shower or a muggy commute, gone by the time I’m ready to put on a more serious scent. I also have Futur (as Abyss mentioned), and that’s my grown-up jasmine.
I seriously think you’re anosmic to the musk — this lasts 6-7 hours on me, although the jasmine does get quieter after 4 or 5 hours.
Whoa! Mandarine-Basilic had that kind of longevity for me (unfortunately, I thought the drydown smelled too much like laundry detergent). At first I was a little bummed that I couldn’t smell Jasminora beyond half an hour, but after reading your review, it sounds like I wouldn’t care much for its musks or drydown anyway.
I’m going to have to try this again. I have a small decant, which i bought as soon as it became availalbe since the notes sounded perfect for me. It seemed a bit harsh, but then as I recall I had one of those Spring/Summer colds that lasts forever, so perhaps now that I’m well I should give it another sniff. But I doubt anything will come close to my HG clean jasmine scent, Jo Malone’s now-discountinued-damn-them Honeysuckle and Jasmine.
Very clean white musk always smells harsh (and loud) to me, but I do sometimes think I’m the odd man out on that one. Jasminora, to me, is a good example of how white musk can make something soft and loud at the same time.
That’s the affliction that current Diorissimo formula suffers from too 🙁
Ugh.
Recently sniffed the reformulated Diorissimo for the first time. Waah.
I’m planning to never smell it.
I’ve liked all of the AA’s that I’ve tried, yet none enough to induce me to pull out my card. However (big fat However!), if I found them deeply discounted, I’d probably buy the whole range!
Favorites: Mandarine Basilic and Figue Iris.
🙂
I have yet to pay full price for any of them, yeah. But at around $25-35, I’ll buy.
I am so JEALOUS! The best price I can get Herba Fresca at is R560, which translates to $80US! Still a major lemming : )
Oh dear, that’s spendy.
Well, the regular price for AA’s here is $59 US, so it’s not quite as bad! And my Mandarine Basilic was bought at retail price – I can never find the ones I want at the discounters! Herba Fresca is one of my absolute favorites, and for a big 2.5 oz bottle, $80 isn’t all that terrible.
No, comparatively speaking its about half the price of a S.L. for double the amount! I would really prefer a 50ml but that discounter doesn’t seem to have. Given perfume prices, in general, $80 is not THAT high, but relative to my current resources it is!
$25 is the magic number! 🙂
magic no.=miracle no. LOL
Well, Olene by Diptyque is not a favourite, but it’s actually the only jasmine I can tolerate 🙂 And I received lots of compliments wearing it. I’m embarrassed to admit that although I absolutely adore perfumes, I don’t like jasmine, which is weird as it is part of so many beloved fragrances. It’s just that I don’t like to smell it on me- not particularly a while flowers person I am afraid 🙂
Iv been afraid of jasmine ever since I received La Nuit as a gift. I’v passed it on to someone whose personality it suits, but I still haven’t fully recovered.
Oh, I love Olene! This is much softer than that.
Definitely sounds like I need to try both Olene and Oyedo, since I am currently fixated on Philosykos!
It’s strange, but it feels good to see I’m not the only person who doesn’t like Jasmine 🙂 who knows, we might change our minds in the future!
Some notes are so popular among the experts I tend to doubt my own taste if I am not in agreement! Or at least hope to grow into their taste, eventually, LOL!
Chirping in FOUR YEARS LATER to say I came across Jasminora and love it 🙂 But then, I’v fallen for some other white florals too, lol!
Thank you for the review! I always look forward to new releases on this line.
Kind of off-topic..
“Jasminora is soft rather than crisp, smooth rather than deep, and romantic rather than sexy. If you’ve been looking for a casual daytime jasmine without even a hint of indoles, this might just be the one for you.” …. reads to me like what Jeniffer Aniston’s ad in match.com would read like , hehehehehe 😉
Oh, and even though Jasmine is not listed on the notes.. Bath & Body Works Butterfly Flower smells like summer jasmines to me!
You are so BAD, kaos.geo – but I suspect she deserves it! 😉
LOL…VERY bad, ouch! Poor Jennifer.
I guess I am a natural.. it just came to my mind when I read that line! 🙂
My favorite summer jasmine is probably Caron Le Troisieme Homme–a masculine that is easily worn by anyone.
Troisieme Homme is wonderful – it is the only jasmine I have truly loved.
While I consider myself a Guerlain fangirl, Anisia Bella is my only FB of that line. I have a mini of the Tiare Mimosa, which is nice but makes me wish I were wearing my Mahora instead.
Maybe I’ll look up the Herba Fresca, it seems to get a lot of love around here!
I really like quite a few of the early AA, including Herba Fresca. The I really wish they would bring back Flora Nerolia (my bottle broke in a move) and Winter Delice.
Nice pick!
Jasminora’s citrus-green-jasmine-cyclamen-muguet notes are making me think of Eau de Givenchy, my best beloved first perfume. Are the two anything alike when you sniff ’em, Robin?
There’s always room in my life for soft, uncomplicated florals in summertime, but I’m wary of anything you say is too clean. Clean can be nice (I wore Guerlain Homme today, and it’s wonderful, warm, easy-going clean) but it’s usually not something I can tolerate for very long. I’ve absent-mindedly sprayed myself with Van Cleef & Arpels’ Muguet Blanc so many times, forgetting that it’s sweetly charming at first, and then evolves into an exhausting hygienic frenzy. It’s like OCD in olfactory form. Can’t do it.
No! I loved Eau de Givenchy, and still do, although have not smelled a new version (if they’re even still making it). This is much cleaner…I think Eau de Givenchy pre-dated widespread use of these clean white musks.
I don’t know that it’s particularly “summary” since it’s an edp, but I do like MH’s Jasmin Vert. L’Artisan’s La Haie Fleurie probably qualifies as a late-summer jasmin, even though the honeysuckle note in it belongs in early summer. Along that line, SSS’s Jour Ensoleille has a beautiful jasmin presence that also works well in the dog days of summer.
Would love to try this. I just don’t get to the malls often enough and trips to NYC are generally rushed so that there’s little time to detour over to the shopping districts. Of course, once I do make it over to the Guerlain counters, there are so many other distractions I tend to forget about the eaux!
I like Jasmin Vert too…it’s a little strong for high summer, but it’s still summery, I’d agree!
Olene is one of my favorite summer scents. For jasmine plus I enjoy J’Adore l’Absolu and Organza Tamil Nadu 2007. And Songes is jasmine, also, isn’t it?
I love those L’AP LE harvest perfumes, such as Iris Pallida, and wish they would do an LE harvest jasmine, too!
I wanted to like BK Love and Tears (I know, that’s kind of masochistic, but I’m a total Calice Becker fangirl). Howerver, there seems to be something in it that I don’t care for.
Totally agree…was hoping they’d do an LE jasmine, but instead looks like maybe they’re not doing new things with that series now. Maybe when the economy improves?
I’m SO over this “clean” trend. Really disappointed in this fragrance. My choice for jasmine – Kilian Love and Tears! Refills aren’t so pricey.
Oh gosh, that just about fulfilled every clean floral jasmine longing I’ve ever had – adore it! And its funny when its true luuurve – I think I have to worship at the alter of actually buying the whole shebang of a bottle (instead of the ‘refill’) just to consummate the relationship.
I must say when I first smelled my decant of Jasminora, I thought….weaker Nasomotto Nuda; but I have not given them a fully analytical sniff-off as its Winter Downunder.
Me too!
And still need to smell Nuda.
Before Flora Nymphea came out, I had high hopes for it being a waterlily fragrance. When I tried it, I was turned off by the honey note. A year later and I have revisited FN and have a different opinion because I tried it side-by-side with Jasminora. Surprising to me, I prefer the Flora Nymphea. I quite like it now.
I did not try them together, but would not be surprised if I liked FN better too, although I do think Jasminora is a better fit with the AA line.
I actually love this one. I don’t find it too clean at all. Airy is how I would describe it. One of the nicest jasmines I have ever smelled ( and I own both A la Nuit and Sarrasins). I must be anosmic/ or hypo-osmic ( if that is how it is spelled) to the white musc, as I don’t really detect it. It lasts hours on my skin, as well. I think I might actually get a full bottle of this.
So glad you love it!