What does Ylang Ylang smell like?

Ylang Ylang fragrance deep dive

One of our oldest products is our Bathroom Antibacterial cleaner in the fragrance Ylang Ylang. Read on for a deep dive into what is smells like, where it’s from and some fun facts.

Where does Ylang Ylang come from?

Ylang ylang is derived from the Philippine Tagalog word ‘ilang’ meaning wilderness. It is pronounced e-lang e-lang.

Ylang ylang is a unique star-shaped flower of the Cananga tree. This tree is a tropical evergreen that can grow up to 40 metres in height. It grows in Southeast Asia and Australia. This tree doesn’t flower for the first 5 years but once it starts it doesn’t stop for 50 years! The flowers grow in groups of 4-12 and the fragrance is a botanical extract from this flower.

This extract has been used as a herbal remedy for centuries and has a long history before being used for perfume and candles. Throughout history, it’s been used as a herbal remedy for asthma, burns, stomach aches, insect bites and much more. Healers from the Philippines used it to treat cuts and snake bites. People from the Molucca islands used it as hair oil. French chemists used it to treat malaria. A Korean study showed Ylang ylang calmed the heart rate and lowered blood pressure. It’s even has a history of being an aphrodisiac. In Indonesia, it’s tradition for the flowers to be spread over the bed of newlyweds.

What does it smell like?

Unlike coconut, for example, you might not be sure what this fragrance smells like. Sadly our blog posts don’t yet contain smell-o-vision but here is our best description.

With top notes of Jasmine, honey and neroli, this fragrance is sweet, sophisticated and earthy. It has subtle base notes of banana and custard, which sounds bizarre we know. This is because the Cananga tree is a member of the custard apple tree family. People say it smells like bubble gum, yum!

Many perfumes use this fragrance due to it’s fruity and flowery scent. It’s the key fragrance in the world famous perfume, Chanel no. 5. We’d like to think this means Marylin Monroe would have loved our surface cleaner.

Loved by you

Due to the history behind this product it’s no surprise it’s a fan favourite in our bathroom surface cleaner. It’s been one of our bestsellers for a long time. Click here to check it out and fill your home with this history packed, sweet smelling fragrance.