Fragrance note guide

What Does Tuberose Smell Like in Perfume?

Tuberose in perfume usually smells rich, creamy and strongly floral, with sweet, warm, green and sometimes coconut-like sides. It is much fuller and heavier than delicate flowers such as freesia. Some tuberose notes feel smooth and milky, while others are greener, spicier or more intense. Tuberose is normally used in the heart, where it can become the main floral character of a fragrance.

Fresh white tuberose flowers with green stems and leaves on a light pale peach background

What Does Tuberose Smell Like?

Tuberose has a powerful white-floral scent that can feel creamy, warm and almost velvety. Natural tuberose absolute may also have spicy, green and solar qualities, along with a soft coconut tone. Depending on the surrounding notes, it can feel fresh and luminous or dense and sensual. Because it is naturally strong, perfumers balance it carefully with citrus, other flowers, woods or musk.

Where Does Tuberose Come From?

Tuberose comes from Polianthes tuberosa, a flowering plant native to Mexico. The flowers can be treated with a solvent to create a concrete, which is then purified with alcohol to make tuberose absolute. A very large amount of flowers is needed to produce a small amount of the concentrated finished material, so natural tuberose absolute is used carefully.

How Tuberose Is Usually Described

  • Rich
  • Creamy
  • Floral
  • Sweet
  • Warm
  • Green

How Is Tuberose Used in Perfume?

Tuberose is mainly used in the heart of white-floral, amber, fruity-floral and gourmand fragrances. It blends well with jasmine, orange blossom, rose, gardenia, coconut, vanilla, sandalwood, amber and musk. A small amount can add creamy floral richness, while a larger amount creates a bold and clearly recognisable tuberose fragrance.

Notes Commonly Paired With Tuberose

Golden labdanum and benzoin resins used in amber perfume accords
Fragrance note

Amber

Amber in perfume usually smells warm, sweet and resinous, with soft vanilla, balsamic, powdery or slightly smoky sides. It is not normally taken from fossilised amber. In perfumery,...

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Coffee plant branch with ripe red cherries, green leaves and roasted coffee beans on a muted teal-grey background
Fragrance note

Coffee

Coffee in perfume usually smells warm, roasted and dark, with bitter, nutty, earthy and chocolate-like sides. Some coffee notes suggest freshly ground beans or strong espresso, while others...

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Ambrette seed pods and white flowers representing soft musk notes
Fragrance note

Musk

Musk in perfume can smell soft, warm, clean and slightly powdery, often with a smooth quality that is compared with fresh skin or clean fabric. Some musk notes...

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White bitter orange blossoms, glossy green leaves and flower buds on a pale peach background
Fragrance note

Orange Blossom

Orange blossom in perfume usually smells rich, white floral and softly sweet, with citrusy, honeyed, green and slightly creamy sides. It can feel bright and fresh in one...

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Pale purple orchid flower with unopened buds and green leaves on a warm grey background
Fragrance note

Orchid

Orchid in perfume usually smells creamy, floral and softly sweet, although there is no single natural orchid smell. Different orchid species can smell fruity, spicy, green, powdery, vanilla-like...

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Fresh pink and cream roses with green leaves
Fragrance note

Rose

Rose in perfume usually smells floral, fresh and softly sweet, but it can also have green, fruity, honeyed or spicy sides. Some rose notes feel light and dewy,...

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Pale sandalwood pieces with smooth wood shavings and green leaves
Fragrance note

Sandalwood

Sandalwood in perfume usually smells warm, creamy and softly woody. It can also have milky, balsamic, powdery or lightly spicy sides. Unlike sharper woods, sandalwood often feels smooth...

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Natural vanilla pods with a vanilla orchid flower and green leaves
Fragrance note

Vanilla

Vanilla in perfume usually smells sweet, warm and creamy. It can also have soft woody, powdery or spicy sides, depending on the material used and the notes around...

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Luxaro Perfumes With Tuberose as a Heart Note

These fragrances reveal Tuberose through the central body of the scent.

Related Fragrance Notes

White jasmine flowers and green leaves against a soft blue green background
Fragrance note

Jasmine

Jasmine in perfume usually smells rich, sweet and floral. It can also seem creamy, green, fruity or slightly spicy, depending on the type of jasmine and the other...

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Creamy white gardenia flowers and glossy dark green leaves on a dusty lilac-grey background
Fragrance note

Gardenia

Gardenia in perfume usually smells rich, creamy and floral, with sweet white-petal, green and softly fruity sides. It can feel smoother and more velvety than jasmine, although the...

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White, pink and red Rangoon creeper flowers with green leaves on a pale warm grey background
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Rangoon Creeper

Rangoon creeper in perfume usually smells rich, sweet and floral, with jasmine-like, fruity, creamy and tropical sides. It suggests clusters of warm scented flowers rather than a light...

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Yellow-green ylang-ylang flowers with glossy leaves on a pale lavender-grey background
Fragrance note

Ylang-Ylang

Ylang-ylang in perfume usually smells rich, creamy and floral, with sweet, spicy, fruity and slightly banana-like sides. It is a warm tropical white-floral note with more density than...

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Accords and Fragrance Families Connected to Tuberose

Rose, jasmine, peony, tuberose and orange blossom representing a floral accord in perfume
Fragrance accord

Floral

A floral accord can smell fresh, green, airy, powdery, creamy, sweet or intensely rich depending on the flowers and materials used. Rose may add a fresh, fruity or...

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Jasmine, rose, tuberose, orange blossom, vanilla and warm resins representing the Floral & Warm fragrance family
Fragrance family

Floral & Warm

Floral & Warm fragrances typically smell floral first or have a clearly noticeable floral character, with a softer and deeper background that prevents the scent from feeling purely...

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