Eau de Eighties: Tuberose is making its comeback

Of all the perfume ingredients in the world, tuberose can be the most divisive.

The flower possesses a strong, if a touch overpowering, scent — and characterises those ball-breaking (and headache-inducing) oriental perfumes of the Eighties. It’s the note that hits you square on the nose in Christian Dior’s Poison for example. It was also used back in the 18th century in the South of France to mask the stench inside its leather tanneries.

But the potent floral is trending again in the world of beauty and beyond. From Chanel, which launched its tuberose-laced Gabrielle eau de parfum in September, to London postal florist FlowerBx, which has picked it as its chic bunch of the month.

It’s an interesting movement, given that many modern perfumers prefer not to use it at all (it’s notoriously tricky to formulate with). Francis Kurkdjian — the man behind Narciso Rodriguez For Her, My Burberry and his eponymous brand Maison Francis Kurkdjian — won’t touch it and haute perfumer Roja Dove affectionately calls it ‘the harlot of perfumery’ owing to a carnal molecule that it emits to attract pollinators.

Opinions in the world of cologne are starting to change too. Christophe Cervasel, co-founder of Atelier, uses it in his latest cologne, Café Tuberosa. To offset the floral, he has added a note of coffee to act as ‘a sparring partner’ to its aggression. ‘We made sure the tiger was contained,’ he explains. ‘We built a very feminine fragrance with a masculine facet to balance it.’

Despite its punchy reputation, tuberose is a surprisingly delicate flower. Compared with, say, a rose, which stays in the soil for 10 years without needing to be moved, tuberose requires year-round care as the bulbs must be dug up and separated for winter. In Grasse, where Chanel has planted the only tuberose fields in France (and the biggest in Europe), having bought a box of bulbs from a retiring farmer six years ago, they blossom only twice a year and are harvested by a team of pickers in crisp cream aprons over two weeks. The blossoms have to be hand-picked and pressed when still in bud. And they are worth their weight in gold. It takes 1,200kg of buds to produce 200g of absolute (a concentrate of the fragrance), making it one of the world’s most expensive perfume materials.

‘Regular tuberose grown in India smells quite green, leathery and very waxy,’ says Olivier Polge, Chanel’s in-house perfumer (and son of Jacques Polge, who created Chance for the brand). ‘With the Grasse soil, the microclimate and the new extraction process we use without solvents, the result smells so much lighter, soft and very floral. It’s like giving a totally new colour to a painter.’

So what tuberose should you try? There’s a vast wardrobe to choose from this autumn, including the new juice from Hermès, Twilly — a young fizzy fragrance with notes of ginger — and Harvey Nichols’ bestseller, Memo Marfa, a bright shining tuberose sprinkled with spices. For something more grown-up, try Prada’s La Femme Intense (£109; johnlewis.com) or Carolina Herrera’s Tuberosen (£195; harrods.com), which conjures up the smell of lipstick and uptown Manhattan. Others not to miss are the beautifully housed Elizabeth and James Nirvana White solid perfume (£38; at Fenwick), which looks like a vintage Zippo lighter, and Clive Christian’s Jump Up and Kiss Me, which does exactly what it says on the bottle. Long live the great tuberose revival.