Top Notes 
Magnolia
Neroli
Ylang-ylang
Dormant Crumble
Heart Notes 
Orange blossom
Jasmine sambac
Rose
Base Notes 
Civet absolute
Ambergris
Cistus
Sandalwood
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Message in a Bottle: Jasmine Scent for Jasmine Skeptics
Anyone who subscribes to me or generally reads my comments knows that I have a problem with jasmine. I often find jasmine to be piercing, sharp, biting, simply unpleasant. A bit like a person who constantly stirs up discord. This impression is often intensified by the combination with orange blossom, which I also frequently find to be piercingly sharp and unpleasant. Of course, there are variations of jasmine. For example, there is the enchanting jasmine that reminds one of a sultry summer night. It also has a piercing quality and the typical indolic character, but I personally can tolerate this type better. However, it is often embedded in a very heavy, cloying composition, and combined with the piercing notes, it ruins the entire scent for me here as well.
At some point, I realized that jasmine and tuberose positively influence each other: tuberose softens the piercing peaks of jasmine, while jasmine tames the overwhelming cloying nature of tuberose.
Over time, I unconsciously developed a little rule in my mind: I don’t need to test fragrances with capitalized jasmine, especially in combination with orange blossom, but without tuberose, as they always disappoint me. Fragrances with jasmine and tuberose, provided they have other promising ingredients, are at least worth a cautious try. So far, this has worked well for me.
And then came Message in a Bottle and turned everything upside down.
Message in a Bottle/Perfume is a jasmine scent. And it is intense jasmine, clearly jasmine in the foreground for many hours. But it is different. It is not piercing, nor is it cloying. It is fresh and spring-like cheerful, with a radiant lightness yet powerful. This jasmine uplifts me, it brings zest for life, it doesn’t weigh me down; on the contrary, it elevates, it is uplifting, it is a huge joy!
How does that happen? And then in my danger combination with orange blossom and without tuberose?
I suspect two things: First, it seems that ylang-ylang takes on the role of tuberose here. The magnolia likely soothes and contributes to the softness.
Secondly, I believe that this is a different, rarer jasmine fragrance material.
And - is that radiance perhaps also due to the presence of benzyl salicylate? Often, it is this substance that creates the impression of brilliance for me.
Then I read about Mark Buxton, who, after his appearance on "Wetten dass...?" was offered training at Haarmann & Reimer, which later became Symrise. I find this story fascinating; evidently, Mark Buxton has a truly extraordinarily differentiated olfactory perception ability.
For me, this is part of the explanation for why he has succeeded so well in creating a jasmine scent that unmistakably smells of jasmine, but without what has always bothered me personally about jasmine fragrances.
For the sake of completeness: Message in A Bottle/Perfume has a good sillage and longevity. The top and heart notes are, as described, characterized by jasmine, which is beautifully showcased by ylang-ylang and magnolia. Knowing that rose is also supposed to be part of it, I can also detect a very natural, rather citrusy rose.
Only after about 6-8 hours does the scent move into the base. This is predominantly characterized by amber fragrance material, which does not strike me as overly synthetic. A very subtle animalic note gently and hardly noticeably runs through the scent from the beginning. That it becomes a bit more pronounced in the base is hardly noticeable to me behind the dominant amber.
I wouldn’t have recognized cistus in the scent myself, but when I read it, it makes perfect sense to me. It likely also contributes to the special, simultaneously strong and delicately spicy, cheerful floral scent.
I am in love! With a jasmine scent!
Thank you, Mamski, for this experience that I was able to have thanks to your traveling package!
P.S.: Today I notice that on my clothing, which I was wearing when I had Message in a Bottle on, there is still a wonderfully fine cistus scent after days! There it is - albeit belatedly, when everything else that was previously in the foreground has faded away - still!
Updated on 01/28/2018
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Behmi
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