A gardenia with a candid charm.
Intensity: 3/4
 
Click here to inquire about the Cruel Gardénia fragrance.
 
A DELICATE, MUSKY INTERPRETATION OF GARDENIA
Cruel Gardénia is a delightful trap. So often bewitching and almost narcotic, here the flower reveals a startling sweetness.
The gardenia accord is imbued with heady ylang ylang and dangerously charmed by enveloping musks. This vaporous aura bestows the fragrance with a tenderness that tugs at the heartstrings.
 
THE FRAGRANCE ARTIST'S TOUCH
Gardenia, usually so sultry and opulent, becomes ensnared in dangerously sweet musks. Out of this sensual bodily encounter, the flower emerges deliciously cruel.
"If it were a poetry collection, The Flowers of Evil by Charles Boudelaire."
 
A genuine Flower of Evil, Cruel Gardénia has that same devastating allure as the writings of Baudelaire. His collections were among the favourite texts of the Guerlain Perfumers, who were particularly appreciative of the multiple olfactory references contained in his poems.
 
GARDENIA ACCORD
Gardenia is a powerful, sensual white flower with fruity accents. Yet, paradoxically, it stays mute in the world of Perfumery, unable to offer up its fragrance through the traditional techniques of distillation or extraction.
It must be written as an accord, as if composing a poem. For Cruel Gardénia, notes of rose, neroli, ylang ylang and peach recreate its trail.
 
In the Perfumer's Words: "Gardenia does not exist as an extractable essence. The perfumer must build an illusion of its scent. The musks play their part here in casting the spell."
 
THE ART OF BOTTLING
Taking inspiration from the Guerlain heritage Square Bottle (1870), the L’Art & La Matière bottle is an exceptional object whose design exudes unisex sophistication steeped with modernity.
 
THE ART OF PERSONALIZATION*
Customize your bottle, choosing from a host of elegant combinations to transform it into your own companion, intimately personal in each and every touch.
*Please note, only the 200mL is available for unique personalization.