Floral

The Floral family has no founding bottle as Chypre or Fougère do. Floral perfumes existed before any classification, as flower waters, macerated oils and pomades. The family name simply describes the theme.

What changed the family in the twentieth century was synthetic molecules. In 1921 Chanel N°5, composed by Ernest Beaux, used a blend of aliphatic aldehydes at a higher dose than earlier perfumes, set on jasmine, rose and ylang-ylang. According to Auparfum, Beaux's high-quality aldehydes came from the Givaudan plant in Lyon, producing from 1920. The perfume became the landmark for subfamily B4 Floral Aldehydic.

In 1947 Balmain's Vent Vert, composed by Germaine Cellier, used galbanum at a high level and opened the Green Floral branch. In 1956 Edmond Roudnitska's Diorissimo rebuilt the smell of lily of the valley, a flower that yields no usable extract, with hydroxycitronellal and other notes. In 1992 Jacques Cavallier's L'Eau d'Issey used Calone, a molecule with a sea and watermelon odour, in a floral composition; this style matches subfamily B8 Floral Marine.

The top of a floral composition is usually citrus, aldehydes or green leafy notes. Bergamot and lemon give brightness. Aliphatic aldehydes give a dry, clean, slightly metallic impression. Galbanum and violet leaf give the note of a freshly snapped leaf, through compounds such as cis-3-hexenol.

The heart is the flower. Rose carries phenylethyl alcohol, geraniol, citronellol and a small amount of rose oxide. Jasmine carries benzyl acetate, linalool, cis-jasmone, methyl jasmonate and indole. Orange flower carries linalool and methyl anthranilate. Orris carries irones, giving a powdery, rooty note. Ylang-ylang and tuberose add creamy, heady facets.

The base of a floral is usually lighter than in other families: musks, sandalwood, vetiver, benzoin, sometimes a touch of moss. Its task is to hold the flowers longer on skin and round off the sharp edges of the top.

Two molecules that once anchored lily of the valley accords are now prohibited in EU cosmetics. HICC (traded as Lyral) was placed in Annex II by Regulation (EU) 2017/1410, applying to new products from 23 August 2019. Butylphenyl methylpropional (lilial) was placed in Annex II by Regulation (EU) 2021/1902 because it is classified as toxic for reproduction. Current lily of the valley accords use replacement molecules.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 extends the list of fragrance allergens to be labelled from 24 to 80 entries. Many floral materials are named individually on the new list: rose flower oil and extracts, jasmine oil and extracts, ylang-ylang oil and extracts, bitter orange flower oil (neroli), narcissus extract, geranium flower oil. The labelling threshold is 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off products.

Floral constituents such as geraniol, citronellol, linalool, eugenol, isoeugenol, benzyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate were already on the earlier list of 26 labelled substances. Natural rose oil contains some methyl eugenol, which is restricted in Annex III of the Cosmetics Regulation and by IFRA.

The SFP divides the Floral family into nine subfamilies: B1 Soliflore (a single flower), B2 Floral Musky (Fleuri Musqué), B3 Floral Bouquet (Bouquet Floral), B4 Floral Aldehydic (Fleuri Aldéhydé), B5 Green Floral (Fleuri Vert), B6 Floral Woody Fruity (Fleuri Boisé Fruité), B7 Floral Woody (Fleuri Boisé), B8 Floral Marine (Fleuri Marin) and B9 Floral Fruity (Fleuri Fruité).

B3 is probably the largest, since most floral perfumes combine several flowers. B8 appeared once Calone and other marine molecules came into wide use from the 1990s. The SFP website publishes only the subfamily names, not lists of perfumes; examples here are indicative.

Floral is the easiest family to build with natural materials, provided the flowers chosen yield extracts. Rose, jasmine, orange flower, ylang-ylang, tuberose, mimosa and narcissus are all available as absolutes or essential oils. A natural bouquet usually takes one flower as the axis and uses others as support: jasmine for warmth and indole, rose for roundness, orange flower for brightness.

Flowers that give no extract cannot be reproduced faithfully with natural materials alone. They can be suggested: lily of the valley through linalool-rich materials and light green notes; lilac is much harder. The aldehydic and marine branches rest on synthetic molecules, so a natural version can only follow their spirit, not their structure.

Natural flowers carry many listed allergens, so each material must be checked against the EU list and IFRA limits. This page gives no formula percentages.