Floral, lemony, light and creamy sweet. The magnolia note is ultra lush—adding an intoxicatingly suave facet to floral and citrusy accords. It is delicious on the skin in springtime, emitting a fresh-floral scent tinged with waxy lemon.
The poetic magnolia tree, native to Asia and North America, has delicate pink, white or cream-colored flowers that are tulip or star-shaped. Magnolia grandiflora is one of many fragrant varieties. Perfumers have the option of reproducing the magnolia scent in the laboratory, or extracting the fragrant essential oil from certain varieties, like the Michelia alba magnolia.
The magnolia plant is part of the magnoliaceae family which also includes the tulip tree (named for its tulip-shaped leaves). The name Magnolia comes from the 17th century and was born in tribute to the botanist, Pierre Magnol.
