Jasmin by Guerlain

Jasmin by Guerlain is the purest Jasmine soliflore as I have ever smelled. Jasmin smells more like the work of Mandy Aftel than Guerlain in any of its incarnations. It smells stranger and more animalic and closer to the natural source material than any other scent inspired by that most exquisite of perfumery flowers. With a sandpaper whisper, there's a dry palm leaf followed by a funky undertone; the smell of a bird body underneath its feathers. Guerlain's Jasmin, a discontinued treasure from 1928, is banana scented with the semisoft cushiony texture of those orange marshmallow peanuts that make you throw up your hands in puzzlement. A hint of nostalgia hits with the starry night in the bungalow laundry room smell of mildewed Mary Jane and Sniffles comic books.

Thank you to March who gave me a sample of this discontinued Guerlain Jasmin. The images above are as follows: a Georgia O'Keefe painting, The Lawrence Tree, that depicts the sort of setting in which I first smelled jasmine, and a frame from a Mary Jane and Sniffles Comic book.