- Amouage expands its Secret Garden collection with the addition of Love Hibiscus
- The Secret Garden collection was formed in 2016 and explores expressions of contemporary femininity through scents that paired floral and gourmand notes
- Love Hibiscus is the fifth scent in the collection, joining Lilac Love, Blossom Love, Love Tuberose, and Love Delight
How do you capture a scent that doesn’t exist? Such was the creative conundrum surrounding the development of Love Hibiscus, the latest addition to Amouage’s Secret Garden collection. The Omani niche fragrance house conceived the Secret Garden collection a decade ago, exploring notions of contemporary femininity through olfactory pairings of floral and gourmand notes.
For its latest outing, Renaud Salmon, chief creative officer at Amouage, drew upon both a contemporary and a core memory. The first being the hibiscus flowers dotted throughout Oman’s landscape. “One of the most commonly-seen blooms here are hibiscus, with their unmistakable, brightly-coloured, almost crepe paper-like petals,” shared Salmon. “It occurred to me that as they’re such a prominent part of the Omani landscape, they ought to be invited into our Secret Garden.”
However, while hibiscus has an almost ubiquitous presence across the landscape, the striking flower is typically seen rather than smelt. Unlike florals like jasmine, rose, and lilac, which permeate the air around them and form strong scent memories, hibiscus remains olfactorily elusive. Many varieties of hibiscus are unscented, and those that do produce a scent are so mild that they’re unable to produce a commercially viable essential oil. That said, their true nature is revealed by steeping dried hibiscus flowers in hot water to make tea, revealing a tart, herbal, woody, and astringent character with a hint of fresh red berries.
In perfumery, this balance of tart and soft is reconstructed through red fruits like raspberry cranberry, and currant and a touch of soft florals to create a hibiscus accord. In Love Hibiscus, this tartness is juxtaposed by a core memory from Salmon’s childhood; that of his mother making palmiers, a crumbly, buttery pastry with a coating of caramelised sugar.
Brought to actualisation by acclaimed perfumer Jérome Epinette—of Byredo Bal d’Afrique fame—Love Hibiscus acts as a lesson in contrasts, with two dichotomous ideas running side-by-side. The tart, astringent sweetness of hibiscus sits underneath salted caramel that’s almost burnt in its caramelisation, tangy passionfruit that forms olfactory links to both the tartness of hibiscus and the sweetness of caramel, and a touch of bright bergamot. Frankincense adds depth and dimension through its bright, resinous character, while base notes of sandalwood and vanilla allow the scent to linger on the skin.
An ode to mysterious facets of femininity, Love Hibiscus gives voice—or more rather scent—to one of nature’s most elusive florals.
Amouage Love Hibiscus is priced at $629AUD for 100ml and is available via Libertine Parfumerie.
Words by T. Angel
