Jungle Gardenia

This started my gardenia obsession about six months ago. I watched 'This Property is Condemned' and read that Natalie Wood wore this perfume while filming. So I was intrigued by it, enough so that I bought a sample of the vintage parfum from theperfumedcourt.com. I never considered myself a floral or white floral person but I LOVE this. This is velvety soft and a little bit sweet. There's something in the opening that smells like lipstick and it reminds me of a doll or tea set that I played with when I was a kid. I'm in my early 20's but I think I can get away with this scent, I really do think that it would fit any age. I think most of the time when people think of 'old' scents there's something powdery or musty about them. Not that I dislike that, but this doesn't have those qualities. It's more... waxy and a bit green. It lasts all day on me and ranges about 6 to 8 inches of sillage at its peak. I will say that I keep it in my box of samples and when I open it, Jungle Gardenia is the first thing I smell. Final notes: I have never smelled a real gardenia in person. I don't know how realistic this is, I just know that it's the perfect balance of sweet and floral for me. There's a bit of muskiness after a couple of hours and it does smell 'intimate'. I haven't dealt with many perfumes that have musk in them, but I think this would fall on the lighter side. (I had a sample of Lanvin's My Sin and that was pretty darn 'skanky', as they say.) This is one of the more difficult perfumes I've tried to find (speaking of the vintage versions), so I've been on a quest to find a gardenia scent that I can like as much as this. I've found a few that I like, but there's something special about this one. It's a queen among princesses.

This fits into my idea of what gardenia smells like, which is essentially a bubblegum tuberose with some waxiness thrown into the mix. I've never smelt an actual gardenia flower, and really need to remedy that. I know that gardenia has many more facets. There was a time in my life when I would have loved this, and in a sense, I still do. But as these reviews will attest, "gardenia" and white floral fragrances, while often achingly beautiful, are a dime a dozen. I already own a few that I enjoy as much if not more. In JG's favor, I will say you get quite the bang for your buck. Two sprites have filled my room with an intoxicating aroma, and hours in, it's still going strong. Final analysis is that I would not turn it down as a gift, but will not be pursuing a full bottle. Besides, the decant I received from the lovely Anamandy will likely give me a few more wearing should the mood strike me.

I'm on the "OH HELL YES" bandwagon with this intoxicating scent! I've worn this on and off (mostly on) since the late 70's. I've had perfect strangers stop me and ask what I'm wearing... Boyfriends throughout the years have loved it. My husband loves it! Back in the day when I was a waitress working my way through college.. I had a patron say "you always smell so wonderful!" He then asked me to write down the name of my perfume. :) That being said.... It's getting very expensive. You will usually have to drop a couple of Benjamins (or more) for a couple of ounces of the EDP. The only Jungle Gardenia that is worth a hoot is the discontinued vintage Jungle Gardenia by TUVACHE. I really dislike the reformulated JD by COTY or Evyann and the Tuvache 1933. (Don't waste your money) The trick to wearing Jungle Gardenia is to use just a little. It really packs a punch and lasts a long long time.

Jungle Gardenia is the first perfume that entered my consciousness, probably because every TV game show in the 1950's and 1960's offered it as a conslation prize. Big deal, everyone in our neighborhood had a gardenia bush, they were practically weeds, and I was too busy being a semi-flower child to wear anything as old as JG -- it was over 30 and we weren't supposed to trust anything over 30! Now that I am over 30 myself and have moved beyond those forgotten and mostly unlamented "with it" perfumes of my teen years I can finally appreciate the purest gardenia fragrance ever made. This is the scent of a summer night down South: when the heat quickens the pulse and thickens the blood. It is that moment when sensuality overcomes and you must surrender to your passion. JG is 80 years old now but she is no old lady, she's a hot mama. May we all be as seductive in our eighth decade.

Jungle Gardenia by Tuvache parfum review. Clary sage, bitter orange and heliotrope opening , herbal giving way to a bubble gum type tuberose. The violet leaves and jasmine add depth to the gardenia scent. The heart lasts for hours. Finally the mossy beautiful sandalwood rises up. Its beautiful, deep, lush, sexy , dark scent. Its lasting power is nuclear, as I washed my hands and still could smell it. A rich gem worth the hype if you love gardenia perfumes. Jovan island gardenia is like jungle gardenia but a distant cousin. Its not as strong, depth , complexity as jungle gardenia. I'd say jungle gardenia is more closer to carnal flower. I own all three. Island gardenia is a great drugstore option for a gardenia scent. It just isn't jungle gardenia.

Gardenias have been among my favorite flowers forever and I wanted to try this. I got a vintage spray cologne and hae been smitten. My bottle is ribbed glass with a tall dark green top. It truly smells like gardenias in full bloom. I spray it on my arm before bed because it's comforting. I own several vintage, classic perfumes and nothing smells like pure, single flower the way this does. I don't find it to be complex, but meither does it ever get that powdery smell. Which I love btw. Tuvache Jungle Gardenia is a pure gardenia smell. It's unique. I will probably buy the New formulation to see if it's true to the vintage.

I adore gardenias and thought this would be glorious. Hm. Not on me, unfortunately. I bought a quarter ounce of vintage Tuvache perfume in the dark green bottle and it smelled very...fecal on me, like rotten vegetation. Must be my body chemistry, will try again in winter and keep my fingers crossed. Update: Well, we've had several cool days and I had to try this again....SCORE!! Quite simply intoxicating, everything I hoped it would be. The undertone that was so overwhelming is still there but more of a forest floor now. Damp and earthy drowning in lush, almost overblown gardenias. Decadent and glorious.

I have some extrait, which is probably not super old, but was released under the name Tuvaché and not the houses it was sold under after the original went away. Not gardenia. Tuberose. Almost exactly like my Fracas extrait from the 80s, which isn't bad at all. Perhaps less buttery. I'm still interested in finding a very old bottle of this to see if it diverges more from Fracas.

I loved this perfume. It was, for me, appropriate any time, any place, any season. I have yet to find a gardenia fragrance that compares to the original, unique "Jungle Gardenia" blend. I'm currently using Annick Goutal 'Gardénia Passion. It is pleasant, but bears no resemblance to Tuvache's Jungle Gardenia.'

This stuff is just so good. Flowery but creamy and fresh all at the same time- it just makes me happy! Got a good deal at auction for the original Tuvache version but the Coty one isn’t bad either.

pure sweet gardenia with a little grassy vibe

Meh .... and there went ANOTHA almost $200 down the proverbial shitter - *shrug*. Sighhhhhh . HAD to have it! Been wanting 5yrs at least & since the price of it keeps going up ridiculously, figured I'd waited long enuf. It was gonna be THIS or just put the money towards paying off that $2K 2oz Flacon of extrait I'm making making pymts on, lol. Okay. So is it bad? No. Its not. Just that I secured a VERY EARLY vintage of this - circa 1940's ... and was HOPING THIS ONE was gonna be THE ONE ! The ONE scent I could goto should I ever move .... and yearn for.my gardenia bush, lmao. Nope. NOT IT! I'll not bore anybody repeating the notes I CAN detect. Instead? I shall only disclose this one VERY IMPORTANT piece of info: THAT being: whay it does NOT smell like: any gardenia I have ever smelled? And I grew up in a home where my father planted a row of gardenia's all alongside one side of our home - as a hedge. They ran RIGHT UNDER MY BEDROOM WINDOW ....and my dad used to always win the "Bedt Landscaped Yard" ... won it several decades in a row in fact, so those bushes were ALWAYS fertilized, healthy and bloomed ABUNDANTLY! Indeed, when blooming, twas a wall of white! AND when they came into bloom EVERY year, was ALSO the only time of year in FL that we COULD open windows ... without ROASTING from the heat/humidity that is 😉. That scent that wafted into my bedroom & down the hall was GLORIOUS! Nothing really compares to that smell. And it lastwd for well over a month . LOVED March! After graduating, Ibrturned to Long Island to goto college & theafter living in various parts of the country from NY, to CA. NC & BACK to West Palm Bch. Fl, I've since bought two homes in FL. I followed my dad & too have quite the landscaped property I (used to) devote 10+ hrs/wk maintaining. LOVE GARDENING! I too, have more than five now VERY well established & prolifically blooming Gardenia Bushes 😃. In fact? As I type this, I've literally HUNDREDS of blooms in every stage on my bushes - which i pick fresh DAILY & keep a large low bowl of them on my nitestand 😊. The smell does linger throughout MY bedroom & living areas .I even rub the petals on my shirt usually - bcuz thats one smell ya just CAN'T GET ENUF OF ❤️ ❗️ Anyhoo?? MY POINT? I've read more than a couple reviews now wherein it has been said the individual has NOT YET found ANY fragrance that smells LIKE a Gardenia. I whole heartedly concur ✋️❗️ I KNOW very well what & how a Gardenia smells.like 🤚🏻. I've TRIED no LESS than 20 different scents .... and ladies & gents, I'm here to tell you: all: unless YOU TOO like "flushing" your income ? LOL .... SAVE UR MONEY 💰❗️ Bcuz THIS AIN'T IT ....either 😔 Should the day ever come when I DO get lucky & FIND a fragrance that actually smells ANYTNING EVEN CLOSE TO a REAL gardenia ❓️ I promise ✋️ I WILL return here & share my good fortune - so that others can enjoy 😉 👌 . Until then ..... the hunt goes on ..... ~ Lu

Similar to Fracas but with gardenia as well as tuberose and more depth (this is older and was a favourite with Hollywood film stars). It's a very heady, sweet and lush tropical scent from an underrated house nowadays. There is some underlying smoke here and it gets smokier as it dries down so it's darker than Fracas and better for evenings. I think there might be some civet in mine because it also has a slight animalic undercurrent other than musk (I found civet listed elsewhere in older formulations). Quite the sillage beast and best applied very sparingly. Can be expensive at resale (I came across a parfum at a bargain fortunately) and if you want something comparable but easier to find, try Gardenia Passion by Annick Goutal - it's within the range but without the smoke.

This is now being made yet again by Eternal Fragrances. I think there have been at least 4 (if not more) manufacturers of this fragrance. I saw the latest version on Amazon and the Vermont Country Store where people claimed it smells exactly like the original formula. Maybe the new manufacturer obtained a bottle of the original and had it analyzed for ingredients and recreated it from there because while researching this scent I found that the original manufacturer never shared the formula for this perfume with anyone. . As to the bottle I purchased, while I think it is pretty, I'm not blown away. I also don't think it smells much like Carnal Flower as some claim, which is not a negative in my book because I really don't care for that scent. While this latest version is okay, I've smelled other gardenia perfumes I like better. Liz Taylor's green rendition is fresher, and more realistic, and Forever Florals Gardenia even better than that. This has a little bit of sweetness that LT's lacks, but this is also very musky on me. I've never smelled the original, so I have no idea how it compares, but taking this on its own merits, it's nice, but doesn't knock my socks off or have me wanting to rush out to seek a vintage at an inflated price anytime soon.

Tuvache Jungle Gardenia is a retro white floral - mostly tuberose and jasmine, with something soft and powdery underneath (lily of the valley + heliotrope??). Not sweet. Indolic but not overwhelming. It's softer and more retro than Fracas, with less brash tuberose and floral sharpness. There's a mustiness to the overall scent that reminds me of white lilacs. I do get a hint of gardenia, especially in the opening, but it's not my gardenia holy grail scent. I feel like it's misnamed, especially the "jungle" part. This isn't a femme fatale scent on me. It's pretty, but it reminds me of an older woman's hand soap.

I was “lucky” enough to find a vintage, unopened bottle just as pictured in the image used here, about five years ago, for much less than one would expect. I had high expectations for this gem, and all would have been well had it not been for the heliotrope. I didn’t know it at the time, but that damn flower causes migraines for me, and thus, this bottle was swapped away.

This perfume is SO bound up in my past, as I'm sure it is for many others. I remember it as being one of the only gardenia perfumes that actually resembled the flower, and being from the South, I'm well accquainted with the scent of them. Yes, it was reformulated a few times - unsuccessfully, I might add. The only way to get the real thing is to go on EBAY or AMAZON, and even then you risk getting a bottle that has gone bad. The best ones that I've found are the ones from earlier vintages called Pure Perfume or Skin Perfume. Also, I've had luck with the ones from Yardley of London - these are the bottles that say "a fragrance of subtle intrigue". It's also good to ask the seller if they have sniffed the bottle - it's sometimes better to get a bottle that's been opened and confirmed good than to get an unopened one that has gone bad - these sellers don't always want to give refunds. As for the recent remakes that are available from the Vermont Country Store and Timeless Perfumes, they are absolutely nothing like real Jungle Gardenia. The one from Vermont smells alarmingly like Dawn dishwashing liquid. As for Timeless Perfumes, they claim to have the formula and be the only authorized maker of this perfume. That may be, but I've had two different bottles from them, one an eau de toilette and the other an eau de parfum. The parfum is a very thick, powdery perfume smelling nothing like a gardenia or even a white flower, much less Jungle Gardenia. The toilette was a very acid,chemical bitter green and at the same time bland concoction. A very cheaply made synthetic product. I actually called them to get my refund and was asked why I didn't like it, so I explained that it didn't smell anything remotely like the original JG or like a gardenia. The man said they follow the formula exactly, whereupon I explained that just because a formula says it has tuberose or gardenia in it doesn't mean that it's going to smell the same every time you make it - it all depends on the quality of these ingredients as well as where in the world they came from, especially if your are using naturals. Since gardenia is almost always synthetic in these kinds of perfumes, it is unlikely that they would have access to the original Tuvache gardenia aroma chemicals, as they are probably not even legal anymore. This formula also used musk, which was most likely originally a nitro musk - these are also no longer used. If you smell synthetic anything from three different companies you'll get three different smells. I asked the man if he had ever smelled the original JG, and he said no. The best reformulation that I have smelled is from longlostperfume.com, owned by Jeffrey Dame of Dame Perfumery Scottsdale. They called it Gardenia 1933. It was a good deal lighter than the original, and had to be reapplied a little too often, but it smelled very similar. It is now discontinued ( of course ). Some one over there was more accquainted with the real thing. I've also tried the Fragrance Shop's replication and it's pretty good, but the one from longlostperfume.com was better.

The Favorite Fragrance Of Classic Hollywood Stars Jungle Gardenia was once very beloved. Today it's a curiosity for vintage lovers who want to inhale "the past". I finally got my hands on a vintage old formula bottle dating from the 60's, during which time it was still selling. It had been launched in 1933 and quickly became the favorite fragrance of actresses like Gloria Swanson, Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner and Natalie Wood. First of all I must say that this is a very mature woman's fragrance and wears like Fracas, a heavy white floral but Jungle Gardenia, as the name suggests is a tropical exotic scent that you bring back with you after vacationing in the Caribbean or the Amazon jungle areas in South America like Colombia or Brazil. It takes me to a tropical location lush with green vegetation, waterfalls, damask orchids and white flowers. This is really quite beautiful. It's too bad they dont make them like this anymore. To my nose the dominant notes are of course the gardenia, but it's also got a heavy heliotrope in the opening notes and in the floral heart notes it also has a lot of jasmine and lily. This is a white floral scent but it's not soft like a wedding bouquet. I don't get a white wedding vibe with this the way I do with Chanel. No. 22. This is clearly a "let's go to Hawaii on a romantic getaway" type of fragrance. Women probably wore it not for their wedding but for their honeymoon. I don't find it old, old lady ish grandma ish. It's divinely beautiful, strong, confident and exotic. I can see this fragrance (if the original formula was still with us) worn by celebrities like Madonna, Paula Abdul, Jennifer Lopez, Selma Hayek and Sofia Vergara. This is probably too much for the girly girl types who reach for TEASE by Paris Hilton or one of the Britney Spears fragrances or even too much for those that like Chanel Mademoiselle and Dior's Blooming Bouquet. You won't get a light body mist out of this. This is an entire South American jungle that you find yourself lost in, blissfully lost in, and smelling white flowers everywhere. Loved it. But I can only wear it outside the US LOL

I recently acquired a vintage three-piece set of Jungle Gardenia by Tuvache, which included the cologne, perfumed powder and cologne spray concentrate. The original store sticker on this set, still on, priced it at $16.50, pretty hefty for the time period of this box, circa 1960’s. An inflation calculator puts that price at roughly $123.24 today, so it wasn’t that cheap. Jungle Gardenia begins with gardenia of course, straight up. But, there is a burnt flavoring covering the top for some brief moments, perhaps it’s the clary sage in passing while the tart bitterness of the orange mellows the gardenia. The tuberose at times is overpowering. It’s strong, thick and pure. It wafts in, around and through the perfume. Eventually, Jungle Gardenia turned into a spicier sandlewood many, many hours later. Not just a generic sandlewood, mind you, but one that I’ve not encountered in a long, long time. Woods wrapped in types of unique spices and this stage was still just as strong as the others. To me, this seems a cold weather perfume to wear sparingly, but I haven’t tried it in the warmer months. I’d be curious to see how it develops then. I loved how Jungle Gardenia took me through a Journey of notes and hours of pleasure of a perfume. That’s what it’s all about. Or how perfume used to be developed. And how it used to develop on those that spritzed them on themselves. They could enjoy the fragrance for hours. This perfume is clean, bright and fresh. It’s mature, sultry and strong. It’s a fragrance from the past that’s heady and strong-willed. a perfume to wear in the evening, for a mature personality that knows the old-time perfumes and appreciates them. What a delightful find this perfume has been! Edit: My d-i-l visited and loves gardenia perfumes. She tried this one on and called me when she was at home, later that evening. She told me how different this one was from today's gardenia perfumes she's tried. She felt it was pretty and full of notes that were unique and long-lasting. She felt this is the "real stuff"! Yeah, it is the real stuff, that's for sure. It's vintage and it's good.

Jungle Gardenia was the fragrance of my childhood. Every mother wore this, my mother, my next door neighbor's mother, my schoolteachers and even my governess. This was a beautiful white floral by definition. It has been reformulated and the original is hard to come by but I've managed to keep some vintage bottles at hand. I agree with all the reviewers that that have called this perfume glamorous and it does have that Golden Age of Hollywood quality. I wear Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds and that fragrance is not too far from smelling something like this. This scent is also in the same fragrance family as Giorgio Beverly Hills which I also wear. The dominant flower is gardenia but this is not a gardenia soliflore. The gardenia blooms quietly, like you are approaching a gardenia flower bush in the middle of a jungle clearing. The opening is of citrus, a bitter orange and a green note. There could also be an unlisted peach note. The scent combines all the lovely white flowers I love and harmonize them very well: tuberose, jasmine, lily of the valley. As far as white florals go this is a Queen. There's some sandalwood and oak moss which create the imagery of the green mossy jungle. This is a bit of a tropical perfume as well as some of you have noted. It's a booze cruise scent and I have worn this on cruises for women over 50. The scent has a mature connotation but I'm no longer 30 LOL Simply the best classic white floral fragrance other than Fracas. When I wear Fracas it puts me in an entirely different mood. This is my party white floral. Always puts me in the party mood.