Geranium
Green, rosy leaves with peppery, minty and lightly citrusy freshness.
You may know it from Crushed rose-scented geranium leaves.
Where it comes from
Steam-distilled oil from the leaves and stems of scented Pelargonium plants.
Worth knowing
Perfumery geranium usually comes from Pelargonium, not true Geranium flowers.
About geranium
The geranium in perfumery is a Pelargonium, mainly P. graveolens and P. asperum. The true Geranium genus, the cranesbills, is not the source. L'Héritier separated the two genera in 1789, basing the split on stamen count.
Pelargonium graveolens is an aromatic subshrub that reaches 1.5 m, with velvety, deeply incised leaves. It is native to southern Africa, from the Cape to Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and is now grown elsewhere. One source says scented pelargoniums were collected from South Africa and reached Europe in the 1600s. The scent sits in tiny glands in the leaf hairs, so the flowers play no part.
The oil is steam-distilled from leaves and sometimes stems. Yield is about 0.1 to 0.3% of the plant material, and it can take hundreds of kilograms of plant to make a litre. A solvent-extracted absolute also exists. Sources describe it as greener and sharper than the oil, drying down to a lasting rose with mint tones.
Citronellol and geraniol, two rosy alcohols, sit at the core of the profile, and their share shifts with origin. One supplier gives Egyptian oil 34 to 35% citronellol against around 19% for Madagascar and Réunion oil. Rhodinol, a perfumery term for L-citronellol or citronellol and geraniol mixtures, is supplied in natural grades extracted from geranium or citronella oil.
Sources describe the odour as green and rosy with a minty edge. One has it opening bright and metallic-minty, softening to a warm, honeyed rose heart and a powdery residue. Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux names Vent Vert, Paris, J'adore, Maja and Diptyque Geranium Odorata among perfumes with geranium in them, and Olfastory lists Kouros and Drakkar Noir.
Geraniol and citronellol are both on the EU list of fragrance allergens, with labelling required above 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off ones.
Accords it shows up in
How many of the fragrances listing Geranium in our catalogue also carry each accord. We counted this ourselves.
Often paired with
The notes that appear next to Geranium most often in our catalogue.
Well-known fragrances with Geranium
Fragrances that list it in their notes, most-rated first.
Houses that use it most
Ranked by how many of their well-known fragrances list Geranium.