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4 Unique Perfumes That Smell Like Lilies
A real lily smells of more than its petals: green stems, sticky pollen and a heavy, spicy sweetness that fills a room. These four take different parts of it. Start with Cartier Baiser Volé for the whole flower, stem to pistil, and Frédéric Malle Lys Méditerranée for lilies by the sea.
If you mean the small bell-shaped flower, head to our lily-of-the-valley perfumes; Diorissimo and Byredo Inflorescence live there.
Why Is Lily Rebuilt Rather Than Extracted?
Because lilies give up very little usable oil, so almost every lily in perfume is an accord. The smell of a Stargazer lily comes mostly from a few molecules: methyl benzoate, which is sweet and slightly medicinal; linalool, soft and floral; and isoeugenol, a clove-like spice that gives lilies their peppery edge. Perfumers combine materials like these with green notes for the stem and powdery ones for the pollen.
The result depends on which part they lean on. Cartier goes green and powdery, Malle goes watery and salty, and the 1970s and 1980s versions bury lily in a big white bouquet.
| Perfume | The lily | What’s with it |
|---|---|---|
| Cartier Baiser Volé EDP | Leaf, petal and pistil | Very little else |
| Frédéric Malle Lys Méditerranée | Ginger lily | Orange blossom, sea breeze, musk |
| Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs | Lily and lily of the valley | Hyacinth, orange blossom, incense |
| Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds | Amazon lily | Tuberose, sandalwood |
4 Lily Perfumes
Cartier Baiser Volé
Cartier describes Baiser Volé through three parts of the lily: the fresh leaf, the floral petal and the soft pistil. That makes it the most complete lily on the page, green at the stem and powdery at the centre, without much sugar. One wearer gets dewy flowers, damp stems and something earthy. This is the Eau de Parfum.
Frédéric Malle Lys Méditerranée
Édouard Fléchier’s Lys Méditerranée combines orange blossom, ginger lily, a sea-breeze effect and musk, with angelica and the moisture of flower stems. It’s lilies in a vase by an open window at the coast: wet stems, salt air and that big floral sweetness. Angelica gives it a green, slightly musky root note.
Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs
Anaïs Anaïs (1978) opens with hyacinth, blackcurrant and lily of the valley, then orange blossom, honeysuckle, jasmine, lily and rose, over sandalwood, incense, musk, moss and amber. It’s a white bouquet with lily at the centre, green and soft, in its opaque white bottle. Incense and moss give it an old-fashioned, powdery depth.
Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds
White Diamonds (1991) is Amazon lily, tuberose and Mysore sandalwood. Amazon lily is a white, sweet, slightly citrusy flower, and with tuberose it becomes huge and creamy. Sandalwood makes it soft at the end. The most glamorous lily here, and the loudest.
More Flowers
For the bell-shaped flower, see our lily-of-the-valley perfumes. Jasmine perfumes and gardenia perfumes are lily’s white-flower neighbours.
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