Jasmin Imperatrice Eugenie(1854)

Named for Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III and one of the most fashion-influential women of the Second Empire, this Creed jasmine composition opens with bergamot and neroli before an overdosed jasmine heart takes over, finished with musk and sandalwood. Court fragrances naming or dedicated to Eugenie were common across French and associated European perfume houses in the 1850s and 60s, reflecting her outsized influence on fashion and taste during her husband's reign, Guerlain's own Eau de Cologne Imperiale shares the same dedication. As with the rest of Creed's mid-19th-century catalog, the specific commission story is drawn from house history rather than independently documented court records. The jasmine-forward structure, with its musk-sandalwood base, was a luxurious and expensive composition for its time, since natural jasmine absolute has always ranked among perfumery's costliest raw materials. It stands as one of several Creed fragrances from this period built around imperial associations, real or embellished.