For Italian fragrance maker Bulgari, jasmine is still one of the most hypnotic blooms used in perfume making. Editor Trudi Brewer shares a sexy scent you need for summer.

BVLGARI SPLENDIDA JASMIN NOIR EAU DE PARFUM, from $122.

Fragrance ingredients are cyclic from chocolate to honey, tropical fruit and crisp apple. However, the most popular is still the scent of heady white blooms, namely, jasmine. Revered by ancient Greeks and Egyptians, for its healing properties, fast forward to today, and aromatherapy experts tout this essential oil as one of the most powerful. A proven natural remedy for relieving stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, as well as menstrual or menopausal symptoms, it's also rumoured to be a powerful aphrodisiac. According to British fragrance expert and perfumer Roja Dove of UK's Harrods Roja Parfums." Jasmine contains a molecule called indole, which humans produce in their genital region. When the nose smells what it thinks is flowers, the brain is actually smelling sex."
With that notion in mind, it's no surprise this flower is harvested in such large quantities. With over 300 species of jasmine growing in abundance across the globe, the delicate white flowers thrive in warm, tropical climates. This bloom is at it's best in the heat when the hypnotic, sweet fragrance is at it's most potent. That summery scent is what we women can't get enough of, and perfume companies are keen to bottle. To capture that aroma it takes five million flowers to produce one kilo of what is known as 'pure jasmine absolute,' and despite its hefty price tag, jasmine is found in more than 83 per cent of all women's scents and surprisingly 33 per cent of all men's colognes. The best-selling perfumes over the past decade have been characterised by fruit or white flowers, namely jasmine, which continues to sit at the heart of many of those top sellers.

“When the nose smells what it thinks is flowers, the brain is actually smelling sex””

— Roja Dove.

BVLGARI Splendida Jasmin Noir, from $122.

Pure Jasmine absolute is the dominant essential oil in this sexy scent, blended with both feminine and masculine notes, including orange blossom and delicate lotus flower, spicy woody notes of patchouli, cashmeran(musky green aroma) and tonka bean absolute. One of the most popular jasmine varieties is the night-blooming jasmine sambac, and it's at the heart of this fragrance. Once mixed with those woody ingredients and crisp green gardenia (another heady white tropical bloom famous in fragrance making) a sensual, powdery, Oriental floral perfume is the result.
This is not a scent for the faint hearted, it's for that woman who knows what she likes and wears it with attitude. It's ripe for wearing on those hot, balmy summer evenings, which we can't wait to enjoy.

Bulgari Splendida Jasmin Noir is available at Life Pharmacy.