Fragrance Note
Geranium
Used in 638+ fragrances on FragranVerse
What it smells like
Geranium oil comes from Pelargonium graveolens, a South African shrub in the Geraniaceae family, not from the true geranium genus. The essential oil is steam-distilled from the leaves and stems, not the flowers. Three main origins dominate the market: Egyptian geranium offers a balanced rosy profile with roughly equal parts citronellol and geraniol. Bourbon geranium from Réunion Island provides the most refined, rosy character with unique guaia-6,9-diene. Chinese geranium is the most affordable and most citronellol-dominant, with a simpler mintier character. The scent combines rose sweetness with cool herbal notes.
How it's used in perfumery
Geranium serves primarily as a rose substitute and extender, providing floral character at a fraction of rose oil's cost. It functions as a floral-green bridge in chypre, fougère, and fresh-floral compositions. Its minty-green quality makes it more adaptable than rose in masculine contexts, pairing well with citrus, lavender, patchouli, and cedar. Perfumers reconstruct rose accords by combining geranium oil with phenylethyl alcohol, citronellol isolate, and rose oxide to approximate rose absolute at roughly 5% of the cost.
Fun fact
Geranium oil comes from Pelargonium, not Geranium. L'Héritier de Brutelle split the two genera in 1789 based on stamen count. Pelargonium has seven fertile stamens, true Geranium has ten.
Perfumes with Geranium(80 of 638)
Indian
(1)Middle East
(24)
Designer
(30)Niche
(25)