Native to tropical Asia and Africa, it arrives quietly — a flower that waits for dusk, blooming as the day exhales. Its scent is rich and slow to unfold. Not a blaze, but an ember.

In China, gardenia was steeped into teas and medicinal oils — believed to calm the heart, clear the mind, and restore emotional clarity. In Japan, it symbolised peace, refinement, and enduring love, and was used to dye royal silks the colour of warm evening light. Across the Pacific, its petals adorned leis and altars — gestures of devotion, welcome, and celebration.

Only blooming at night, its perfume is most potent when the air is cool and still. It was this quiet misdirection that made gardenia the flower of secret love in Victorian floriography — often gifted in silence, a subtle gesture between estranged lovers and those unable to publicly declare their desire.

Where tuberose is fire, and jasmine is strategy, gardenia is grace — the soft breath that follows lust. In SILK VEIL, it tempers the boldness of jasmine and the heat of tuberose, adding a luminous smoothness that clings to the skin. A quiet, thoughtful layer that stirs memories of trysts behind closed doors.