A delicate, spicy-sweet floral with a clove edge. Fringed pink (Dianthus superbus) smells like a lighter, more ethereal version of carnation, with a lily-like transparency.
Spicy-sweet with a lighter touch than carnation. Eugenol provides the clove note, but it is tempered by a lily-like transparency and a green, meadow-fresh quality. More ethereal and less assertive than garden carnation. The fringed petals seem to diffuse the scent more broadly and more gently.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Light spicy-sweet, clove freshness
After a few hours
After a few hours
Lily-like transparency, green meadow
After a few days
After a few days
Faint spicy-floral trace
Terroir & Origins
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Fringed pink (Dianthus superbus) is a perennial wildflower native to Europe and Asia, distinguished by its deeply fringed (laciniate) petals that give the flower a feathery, almost otherworldly appearance. The flowers produce a fragrance that is lighter and more complex than the garden carnation (D. caryophyllus).
The scent combines a spicy-sweet clove element (eugenol, as in other Dianthus species) with a lighter, more lily-like floral quality that standard carnations lack. The fringed petals seem to emit a more diffuse, airier fragrance than the compact petals of garden carnations.
In perfumery, fringed pink is a natural note rarely used commercially. When represented, it provides a more ethereal, lighter version of the carnation note. It functions in wild-flower, alpine-meadow, and delicate-spicy compositions. The lily-transparent quality gives it a quality absent from heavier Dianthus species.
This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
In traditional Chinese medicine, Dianthus superbus (called qu mai) has been used for over 2,000 years as a diuretic. The fringed petals are deeply cut into thread-like segments, giving the flower its feathery appearance and its name 'superbus' (proud/superb).
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Not commercially extracted for perfumery. The flowers are too rare and too small for economic distillation. The note is represented using light carnation-type materials with added floral-transparent modifiers.
Fringed pink is a natural heart modifier in wildflower, alpine, and delicate-spicy compositions. It provides a lighter, more transparent version of the carnation-clove character. The eugenol content is tempered by lily-like and green-meadow qualities. Useful where carnation would be too heavy or too assertive.
