The Molecule That Makes Jasmine Smell Amazing Is the Same One That Makes Feces Smell Bad

One molecule, two completely different smells

Indole was first isolated in 1866, and its odor character flips entirely with concentration. At heavy dilution, roughly 0.01 to 0.1 percent, it reads as dense, waxy, and narcotic, deepening white florals into something warmer and more realistic. Above about one percent, the same molecule is unmistakably fecal.

Real jasmine already contains it

Indole isn't a perfumer's trick added after the fact, it's naturally present in jasmine grandiflorum absolute at 2 to 5 percent concentration, and in smaller amounts in tuberose, orange blossom, and gardenia extracts. Perfumers have deliberately worked with trace indole since the early 20th century specifically because leaving it out makes jasmine-based compositions smell thinner and less convincing.