Carnation

Basic Information

Carnation is called œillet in French. Its scientific name is Dianthus caryophyllus, and it belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. Dianthus derives from the Greek words dios, meaning “god,” and anthos, meaning “flower.” One theory traces the English name to the Latin carn (“flesh”), because of its flesh-like color; another links it to the crowns (Italian: corona) awarded to winners of sporting events in antiquity.

Interestingly, carnations have positive associations in Japan, where they are given on Mother’s Day, and in China, where they signify social success. In France, however, they are placed on graves and are not considered flowers to give to someone you love.

As a Fragrance Material…

Although the scent varies somewhat, carnations have a spicy fragrance reminiscent of clove (in Japanese) and a rich green character. They smell similar to cloves because eugenol, the molecule responsible for most of clove’s scent, is also present in carnations.

For fragrance production, white carnations are preferred to red ones, with slightly pink-tinged flowers especially favored. Their aromatic content is at its highest when they are harvested after about three hours in the sun. In practice, however, perfumers often reconstruct the scent, mainly around eugenol.

In her guide, Sylvaine Delacourte describes François Coty’s L’Origan (1905) as the first carnation-based perfume. Meanwhile, G. W. Septimus Piesse’s perfumery book The Art of Perfumery (1857) includes a formula for recreating the scent of carnation. However, a formula recorded in a perfumery book and a commercially released perfume are different things; this entry alone does not refute that characterization of L’Origan. Many classic perfumes are built around carnation, including Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue (1912, Jacques Guerlain), Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps (1948, Francis Fabron), and Estée Lauder’s Youth-Dew (1953, Josephine Catapano). More recent fragrances with carnation include Vitriol d’Œillet (Serge Lutens, 2011, Christopher Sheldrake), L’Heure Convoitée II (Cartier, 2011, Mathilde Laurent), and Œillet Pourpre (formerly Lui; Guerlain, 2021, Delphine Jelk).

A carnation scent is constructed using eugenol or a similar base. Other materials are then added according to the fragrance you want to create, making it greener, spicier, warmer… Before the fragrance is finished, vanilla (in Japanese) is usually added to bring its structure together, or iris (in Japanese) to give it a powdery character.

Gérald Ghislain

What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?

Natural carnation absolute layers warm, powdery flowers with clove-like spice, the greenness of green olives, and honeyed sweetness. Analyses of the flowers have also identified eugenol, cis-3-hexenyl benzoate, and β-caryophyllene, suggesting a complexity that goes beyond a simply sweet floral scent. In perfume, it adds dry spiciness and a taut green quality to florals, giving a soft bouquet greater definition. This multifaceted character is distinctive to the natural extract.