Convallaria majalis (muguet/lily of the valley) — no commercial natural extract. Lilium spp. (true lily) yields rare absolute.
Appearance
dark orange yellow viscous liquid
Odor Strength
Medium
Producing Countries
Netherlands, Japan (Lilium); France (Lily of the Valley — synthetic reconstruction)
Pyramid
Heart
Waxy, green, intensely sweet. Lily of the valley smells like cold spring mornings — a dewy white-green freshness with a soapy smoothness that hovers between clean and narcotic.
Greener and more aquatic than jasmine, less narcotic than tuberose, cleaner and more transparent than true lily absolute. The synthetic muguet accord opens with a dewy, aldehydic freshness — watery, slightly soapy, with a cold green edge. Hydroxycitronellal provides the watery floral body, while Bourgeonal adds a watermelon-green quality. As it develops, a waxy, slightly honeyed sweetness emerges. The overall impression is of something cool, clean, and spring-like — fragile without being weak.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Dewy, green-aldehydic, watery. A cold, clean spring-like freshness — soapy-clean with a translucent floral quality
After a few hours
After a few hours
The aldehydic edge softens. A waxy, slightly honeyed sweetness emerges — still clean, still green, but warmer
After a few days
After a few days
A soft, soapy persistence. Hydroxycitronellal's moderate tenacity leaves a clean, powder-fresh trace on skin and fabric
The Full Story
Lily in perfumery most often means lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis, muguet in French) — a flower that produces no practical natural extract. The blooms are too small, too fragile, and too low-yielding for commercial extraction. Every muguet fragrance ever made is a synthetic reconstruction. The primary building blocks are hydroxycitronellal (a floral aldehyde with a watery, lily-like character), Bourgeonal (a stronger, more aggressive muguet aldehyde), and the now-restricted Lilial (butylphenyl methylpropanal), which provided a creamy, powdery muguet effect until IFRA and EU regulations curtailed its use.
The regulatory territory for muguet molecules is shifting rapidly. Lilial has been effectively banned in the EU since 2022 due to reproductive toxicity concerns. Lyral (another major muguet chemical) was restricted earlier. This has forced the development of new muguet aldehydes and alcohols — Dupical, Florhydral, Melafleur, Nympheal, Mayol, Florol, and Lilyflore among them — to replace the molecules that defined the note for decades. The contemporary muguet accord is being rebuilt from new chemistry.
Lilium species (true lilies) do produce natural extracts — enfleurage or solvent extraction of Lilium candidum or Lilium longiflorum yields a rare, expensive absolute with a heady, narcotic, almost indolic character quite different from the clean muguet impression. This absolute is a specialty material used in a handful of luxury compositions, not a standard perfumery ingredient.
This note in Première Peau. Gravitas Capitale · Insuline Safrine · Nuit Elastique. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Every lily of the valley perfume ever created — from the most concentrated niche offering to the cheapest drugstore body spray — contains zero molecules from actual lily of the valley flowers. The entire muguet genre in perfumery is a synthetic invention, now undergoing its second complete molecular reinvention as key building-block molecules are banned by EU regulation.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No commercial essential oil or absolute of lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) exists — the note is reconstructed synthetically. Primary molecules: hydroxycitronellal (watery, floral), Bourgeonal (green, watermelon), Lilial (now EU-restricted, creamy-powdery), Lyral (restricted). Newer replacements: Nympheal, Florhydral, Dupical, Lilyflore. True lily (Lilium) absolute from enfleurage or solvent extraction exists but is rare and expensive.
Molecular Formula
C₁₀H₂₀O₂ (Hydroxycitronellal, key recreator)
CAS Number
107-75-5 (Hydroxycitronellal, primary recreator)
Botanical Name
Convallaria majalis (muguet/lily of the valley) — no commercial natural extract. Lilium spp. (true lily) yields rare absolute.
IFRA Status
Lilial (BMHCA) banned in EU since March 2022. Lyral banned in EU since August 2021. Hydroxycitronellal permitted with limits.
Synonyms
MUGUET · LILY OF THE VALLEY · LIS · CONVALLARIA · LILIACEAE
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
dark orange yellow viscous liquid
In Perfumery
Muguet (lily of the valley) is a heart note and an important floral accords in perfumery, despite being entirely synthetic. Hydroxycitronellal, Bourgeonal, and their successors create the clean, watery, green-floral impression that anchors countless compositions from fresh florals to soapy aldehydics. The regulatory loss of Lilial and Lyral is reshaping the accord — newer molecules like Nympheal and Florhydral are being adopted but produce subtly different effects. Muguet accords pair with rose, jasmine, green notes, and aldehyde bouquets. The true Lilium absolute (rare, expensive) is used in niche compositions for a heavier, narcotic, indolic lily character.
