What Does Spring Smell Like? Cut Grass, Rain and Blossom
By Emmanuelle Moeglin, Founder & Perfumer
As the air warms we spend more time outdoors and our noses come back to life. We put down the deep, woody fragrances of winter and reach for lighter, fresher ones. Here is what is happening in each of those spring smells, and how perfumers recreate them in the lab. For the notes that bring spring straight into a bottle, read our companion piece on three fragrance notes that evoke springtime.
01
What does spring smell like?
Spring is less one smell than a sequence. The garden wakes up, rain softens the soil and blossom opens in the trees. Each step brings a new facet to the air: green first, then mineral, then floral.
Warmth plays its part. Scent molecules evaporate faster as temperatures rise, so the same garden smells louder in April than in January. Moisture helps too: humid air carries odour molecules well, which is why a garden often smells strongest just before and after rain.
02
Why does cut grass smell so fresh?
On the first sunny weekend of spring you hear the hum of lawnmowers before you smell them. Then it arrives: an oily, leafy, almost sharp green scent that most of us find instantly calming.
Fresh blades of grass with dew drops.
That smell is a distress signal. When a blade of grass is cut or crushed, the plant releases a burst of molecules known as green leaf volatiles. The best known is cis-3-hexenol, often called leaf alcohol. It occurs naturally in most plants and smells intensely of freshly cut grass and green leaves.
In perfumery cis-3-hexenol is used in small quantities, because it is powerful. A trace recreates vegetation, leaves and grass; it also gives a crisp edge to fruity notes such as apple and pear, and a dewy freshness to flowers. Its relative cis-3-hexenyl acetate is a fruitier green, Undecavertol brings a violet-leaf note, and Stemone is another material perfumers use to build leaves and vegetation. I explain the whole family in what green notes are in perfumery.
03
What is petrichor, the smell of rain?
April showers are part of spring, at least here in London. Step outside after a storm and the air smells warm, damp and earthy; in a city you may also notice wet concrete and stone.
Rain on buttercups and grass at dusk.
That smell has a name. Petrichor was coined in 1964 by two Australian scientists, Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas, for the oily scent released from rocks and soil when rain falls after a dry spell. In dry weather, plants give off oils that collect in soil and porous stone; the rain sets them free.
The earthy heart of the smell is geosmin, a molecule made by soil bacteria such as Streptomyces. The human nose is extraordinarily sensitive to it: we can detect it at around five parts per trillion. When raindrops hit dry ground they trap tiny air bubbles, which burst and throw these molecules into the air, so the scent rises almost at once. Before a storm, lightning can also produce ozone, the sharp, clean smell that sometimes arrives ahead of the rain.
04
How do perfumers recreate the smell of rain?
There is no single rain note. In the lab I build it as an accord, pairing dry, earthy and mineral materials with wet, aqueous ones. Patchouli or Cashmeran give the dry earth and stone; Calone, or nonadienal with its cucumber freshness, brings the water. A touch of aldehyde adds an impression of hot metal, closer to a city street than a field.
Geosmin itself is so potent that it is used in traces, if at all. A little too much and wet earth turns into beetroot, whose earthy taste comes from the same molecule.
For a wearable version of cold, wet stone, smell our Sable Gris blend, born from Cardamom Moss and Sandalwood Musk: dry grey sand and sun-bleached stone, a spark of pink peppercorn, and Ambroxan carrying the salty, mineral impression of ambergris, before white musks and sandalwood settle on the skin.
Two Essentials, one Blend
05
What do spring blossoms smell like?
Blossom begins to open in March, and by April many streets are lined with white and pink. In Japan, cherry blossom is the emblem of spring, celebrated across the country with hanami, the ancient custom of picnicking under the trees to admire the brief beauty of the petals. For most of us, blossom means new beginnings.
Pink cherry blossom in full bloom against a pale sky.
The scent itself is subtle: soft, sweet, slightly musky and floral, sometimes so light it is almost imperceptible. Like the rest of the garden, blossom smells best just before and after rain, when moisture in the air helps odour molecules travel.
06
How do perfumers capture the scent of blossom?
In perfumery, when we say blossom we mean all the blooms that carry a sweet, fresh, green scent, rather than one particular tree. We rarely build it from heavy absolutes. Instead we use fresh, abstract floral materials such as Hedione, Florosa or Lilyflore, which give the impression of dewy petals and open space.
Hedione, first identified in jasmine, is airy and radiant rather than heady; it makes a composition feel bigger and more transparent. Lilyflore is one of the molecules that replaced Lilial, the classic lily-of-the-valley note banned in EU cosmetics in 2022, with the UK following. A trace of cis-3-hexenol beside them brings back the green stem, so the flower smells freshly picked rather than powdery.
To wear the season rather than just smell it, read our guide on how to build a spring scent wardrobe.
Try this at home
This is how I train my nose: notice a smell in the world first, then find it in the material. Next time you are outside in spring, smell on purpose. Stop at a freshly mown lawn, a wet pavement after a shower and a tree in blossom, and put words to each: sharp, leafy and oily; cold, earthy and stony; soft, sweet and airy. Then look for the same facets in perfumery materials: a green note for the lawn, a mineral or earthy one such as patchouli for the wet stone, an airy floral such as Hedione for the blossom. Smell each one on a blotter first, then on skin, and come back to it after an hour and again later in the day. Green notes are among the most volatile, so on skin they fade first, while the mineral and woody facets stay.
07
The smell of spring at a glance
Spring moment
Cut grass
What you smell
Sharp, oily, leafy green
Molecules and materials
cis-3-hexenol (leaf alcohol), cis-3-hexenyl acetate, Undecavertol, Stemone
Spring moment
Rain on dry ground
What you smell
Damp earth, wet stone
Molecules and materials
Geosmin and plant oils in nature; patchouli, Cashmeran and Calone in perfume
Spring moment
A city after rain
What you smell
Wet concrete, warm metal
Molecules and materials
Mineral notes, with aldehydes for a hot-metal effect
Spring moment
Spring blossom
What you smell
Soft, sweet, airy floral
Molecules and materials
Hedione, Florosa, Lilyflore
Frequently asked questions about the smell of spring
What does spring smell like?
Green, wet and softly floral: freshly cut grass, rain on warm ground and blossom, carried further by warmer, moister air.
Why does cut grass smell so good?
Cutting releases green leaf volatiles, mainly cis-3-hexenol, also called leaf alcohol. Its fresh, leafy smell is one many people link with sunshine and being outdoors.
What causes the smell of rain?
Petrichor: plant oils held in dry soil and stone, plus geosmin made by soil bacteria, thrown into the air as raindrops hit the ground.
Can you put the smell of rain in a perfume?
Yes, as an accord. Perfumers pair earthy, mineral materials such as patchouli or Cashmeran with aqueous notes such as Calone.
What do cherry blossoms smell like?
Very subtle: soft, sweet, slightly musky and floral. Perfumers suggest blossom with airy materials such as Hedione rather than heavy absolutes.
Emmanuelle Moeglin is the founder and perfumer of Experimental Perfume Club. Classically trained at ISIPCA, with 20 years in the fragrance industry, she is a member of the French Society of Perfumers, a multi-award-winning creator and a public speaker, and teaches perfumery from our central London lab.
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