Rose vs Geranium: Why Geranium Smells Like Rose
By Emmanuelle Moeglin, Founder & Perfumer
Geranium smells of rose because the two plants share the same scent molecules. Geraniol, citronellol and rose oxide all occur in rose and in geranium leaves, so the nose reads both as rosy. The difference lies in what surrounds them: rose is honeyed, fruity and spicy, while geranium is greener, mintier and sharper.
In the lab they are close partners rather than rivals. Here is how each one smells, where it comes from, what they have in common chemically, and how perfumers use one to support the other.
What does rose smell like in perfume?
Rose is often filed under "feminine", "powdery" and "old fashioned". It is far richer than that. A good rose extract is honeyed and velvety at heart, with a fresh, almost lemony opening, green and spicy facets of clove, and fruity notes of peach, plum and red wine. It can read soft and powdery or bright and tart depending on what it is paired with. I explore its many faces in the many scents of rose.
Perfumery roses come mainly from two species: Rosa damascena, the damask rose, and Rosa centifolia, the may rose. Many modern garden and cut-flower hybrids have been bred for colour and form and have lost much of their scent, which is why perfumers stay so loyal to these older roses.
Rose oil vs rose absolute
Roses are picked by hand early in the morning, when their scent is at its strongest, and processed the same day. There are two main extracts:
Steam distilled
Rose essential oil, or rose otto, is steam distilled, mostly from damask rose grown in Bulgaria and Turkey. It is fresh, bright and slightly metallic. Rose water is the by-product of this distillation.
Solvent extracted
Rose absolute is solvent extracted, from damask or may rose, with Grasse and Morocco known for their absolutes. It is deeper, sweeter and more honeyed. One reason is phenylethyl alcohol, the molecule with the softest, most petal-like rose smell: it dissolves in water, so much of it ends up in the rose water during distillation but stays in the absolute.
What does geranium smell like?
The geranium of perfumery is Pelargonium graveolens. Graveolens is Latin for strong smelling, and it is. Botanically it is a pelargonium, a cousin of the hardy garden geranium, and like the scented-leaf pelargoniums on a windowsill it keeps its scent in the leaves, not the flowers. Crush a leaf between your fingers and you smell rose, lemon, mint and a green, peppery bite.
So geranium smells like a rose seen through a green filter: less honeyed and powdery, more herbaceous, minty and lemony, with a fresh, slightly sharp edge.
Rose and geranium: two rose-scented perfume ingredients.
How geranium oil is made
Geranium essential oil is steam distilled from the leaves and stems. It is produced mainly in Egypt, China and Réunion, which gives its name to the prized Bourbon geranium. A rarer geranium absolute is also made by solvent extraction; it is richer and deeper, and more costly than the oil.
The plant gives its scent generously, which makes geranium oil far more affordable than rose. That is one reason it has long been used alongside rose: it carries much of the same character at a fraction of the cost.
Why does geranium smell like rose? The shared chemistry
Every natural extract is a mixture of hundreds of molecules. Rose and geranium share several of the important ones:
Citronellol and geraniol are the backbone of both. They are fresh, sweet rose alcohols, and they make up a large part of geranium oil and of rose oil alike. Nerol and linalool add soft, fresh floral notes to both.
Rose oxide is present in tiny amounts but has a powerful green, metallic, rosy smell. It is part of the signature of geranium oil and gives rose its fresh, slightly metallic sparkle.
What sets them apart is the rest of the mix. Rose holds phenylethyl alcohol for its petal-soft, honeyed heart, damascones for its plummy, winey fruit and eugenol for its touch of clove. Geranium holds isomenthone, which gives it its minty facet, and citronellyl formate, which adds a fresh, fruity green lift.
Because these molecules can be made in the lab, perfumers can also build a rose from scratch: more affordable, consistent from batch to batch, and free to explore roses that no flower produces. It is one of the joys of working with natural and synthetic ingredients together.
In the lab, natural and synthetic ingredients work together.
What I look for
When I compare a rose and a geranium, I never judge them neat from the bottle. I dilute both and smell them side by side on blotters, first for the opening, then again over the next hours as they dry down. On a blotter geranium can pass for rose for the first few minutes, until its minty, green edge comes through. Then I put them on skin, where warmth changes everything: rose turns rounder and more honeyed, geranium greener and drier, and I follow both over several hours. For a rose accord I want geranium to support, not take over. A little brightens the opening, adds lift and helps the rose hold and last longer; too much and the accord turns green and soapy. Where I want a softer rose, I lean on phenylethyl alcohol instead.
Learn the craft
How perfumers use rose and geranium
Rose blends with almost everything: other florals, woods, citrus, spices, resins and musks. It can sit at the heart of a soft, powdery floral or a dark, spiced amber, and it rounds and enriches a composition.
Geranium is the more structural of the two. It is a classic heart note in fougères, alongside lavender, coumarin and oakmoss, and in chypres, and it is often found in fragrances marketed to men, though everyone wears it well. Its freshness links the citrus of the top notes to the heart and base, and it boosts and extends other rose materials in a formula. Its long use in soaps is one reason both geranium and rose are sometimes described as "soapy".
Rhubarb: the tart green notes behind Rose Rhubarb.
You can hear this green, tangy side of rose in our Rose Rhubarb Essential. It is built around Moroccan rose absolute, generously overdosed at the heart, with rhubarb and blackcurrant leaf cutting through its sweetness: a rose with the bright, sharp edge that geranium also brings. Blend it with Sandalwood Musk for a warmer, creamier rose, or with Cardamom Moss to push it towards the fresh, spicy, green side.
Essentials and Blend
Three Essentials, one Blend
Rose vs geranium at a glance
Rose
Geranium
Botanical name
Rosa damascena, Rosa centifolia
Pelargonium graveolens
Part used
Flowers
Leaves and stems
Extracts
Essential oil, absolute
Essential oil, absolute
Smell
Honeyed, velvety, fruity, spicy
Green, minty, lemony, rosy
Shared molecules
Citronellol, geraniol, nerol, linalool, rose oxide
Citronellol, geraniol, nerol, linalool, rose oxide
Signature molecules
Phenylethyl alcohol, damascones, eugenol
Isomenthone, citronellyl formate
Cost
Among the most expensive naturals
Far more affordable
Typical use
Floral hearts, rose accords, ambers
Fougères, chypres, supporting rose accords
Keep exploring
More from the Journal
Frequently asked questions about rose and geranium
Why does geranium smell like rose?
Because they share key scent molecules: citronellol, geraniol, nerol, linalool and rose oxide all occur in both. Geranium adds minty, green notes on top.
What is the difference between rose and geranium in perfume?
Rose is honeyed, velvety and fruity, from flowers. Geranium is greener, mintier and sharper, from leaves, and is far more affordable.
Is rose geranium the same as rose?
No. Rose geranium is a pelargonium whose leaves smell strongly of rose. It shares rose's chemistry, but it is a different plant.
Is geranium a masculine scent?
It is common in fougères and fragrances marketed to men, thanks to its green, aromatic side, but a scent has no gender. Everyone can wear it.
What is rose oxide?
A powerful molecule with a green, metallic, rosy smell. It occurs in tiny amounts in rose and is part of the signature of geranium oil.
Where can I smell rose at EPC?
In our Rose Rhubarb Essential, built around Moroccan rose absolute, worn alone or blended with other Essentials.
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.
