Gucci Beauty&rsquo;s master perfumer, Honorine Blanc, reveals how she reimagined the beloved fragrance with richer florals, deeper emotion, and intensified allure.

Gucci Beauty unveiled a headier take on one of its most beloved fragrances&mdash;Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Eau de Parfum Intense. The new scent brings a deeper, bolder expression of the original, weaving vibrant florals with warm, woody undertones. At its heart is gardenia&mdash;still radiant, now reimagined.
To mark the occasion, L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE spoke with Master Perfumer Honorine Blanc, the creative force behind both the original and this elevated iteration. Known for her emotional approach to perfumery, Blanc shares how she dialled up the intensity while staying true to the joyful essence of Flora.

How do you personally approach the creation of fragrance? Tell us about your creative process and what are the factors you consider when creating a scent? 
When I create a fragrance, I always begin with an emotion, it&rsquo;s very important for me to capture a feeling and translate that into scent. For Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Eau de Parfum Intense, I wanted to preserve the emotional DNA of the original fragrance: a sense of joy, happiness, and living in the moment.
This idea of happiness is something I believe everyone longs for today, to fully embrace the now. From the very first spritz, I wanted this scent to express the &ldquo;birth of happiness.&rdquo; Then comes a feeling of deep femininity and sensuality. Everything in this intense version is magnified, the codes and ingredients from the original, but multiplied. That&rsquo;s how I approach intensity: by pushing emotion, richness, and presence without losing the essence.
When you were tasked to create an intense version of Gorgeous Gardenia, what were your initial reactions and thoughts? 
My first instinct was to preserve the signature of the original, the beauty of gardenia had to remain at the heart of the fragrance. But to make it &ldquo;intense,&rdquo; I needed to find new ways to surprise. That meant adding richness, depth, and contrast. I wanted it to feel more sensual, more luxurious, and emotionally deeper.
As the creator of the original Gorgeous Gardenia, how did you approach the creation of Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Eau de Parfum Intense? 
This new, more powerful version seemed like the perfect next step to me. To create that instant and compelling spark, I added a citrus accent paired with woody, ambery elements to the gardenia&rsquo;s creamy floralcy. The objective was to enhance the emotional appeal of the smell, like cranking up the volume on joy while adding a new depth.

What are the key similarities and differences between Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia and the intense version? 
The emotional foundation is the same &ndash; happiness, femininity, and effortless elegance. But the intensity adds layers. If the original gardenia was fresh and delicate, here she becomes more sensual, more enveloping. I introduced new ingredients to create depth at every stage of the fragrance journey - richer, more indulgent. You still get the joyful brightness of mandarin at the top, but I added pink pepper and olibanum to give even more energy and dimension. The floral heart is more voluptuous with additional jasmine and gardenia notes, and the base is intensified with patchouli and creamy sandalwood.
What were the unique challenges of creating an intense version of an existing scent? What makes a scent &ldquo;intense&rdquo; in your interpretation? 
Creating an intense version of a beloved scent is both exciting and challenging, you have to remain loyal to what people love while offering something new and impactful. For me, intensity isn&rsquo;t just about concentration. It&rsquo;s about emotion, texture, and structure. It&rsquo;s how a scent evolves on the skin and how long it lingers.
You have to be careful not to overbuild. If you add too much, you risk killing the beauty of the original. It&rsquo;s like dressing: if you already have something elegant, you don&rsquo;t need to over-accessorise. You need to let the ingredients breathe and shine on their own. Intensity is about contrast, richness, and harmony &mdash; not noise
The Gorgeous Flora range has a bouquet of flowers to pick from. Why was Gorgeous Gardenia picked when creating an intense version? Talk us through that decision. 
Gardenia has a unique character. It&rsquo;s delicate, feminine, and bright, but also deeply sensual. With the intense version, I wanted to explore all those facets. It&rsquo;s like taking a single note of joy and letting it bloom into something more powerful &ndash; joy that turns into bliss, into empowerment. Gardenia allows for that transformation. It&rsquo;s a flower that&rsquo;s luminous and layered and it fits beautifully within the universe of Gucci Flora &ndash; elegant, sophisticated, and full of bliss and personality.

As someone who loves reading, if Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia and the intense version were fictional characters, what would they be like? 
Radiant, hopeful, and full of light, the original would be a carefree heroine in a coming-of-age story. Her older, more sensible sister would be the Intense version; she would be self-assured, sophisticated, enigmatic, and possess a strong inner life.
Do you have a favourite flower? If you could add a new bloom to the Gorgeous Flora line, what would it be and why? 
One of my favourite flowers is the tuberose. It&rsquo;s incredibly special &ndash; visually delicate, almost fragile, with soft, feminine white petals, but when you analyze it closely, there&rsquo;s an unexpected intensity. It&rsquo;s a flower full of contrasts: it appears gentle, but it holds so much power and attitude. It can feel both masculine and feminine, which makes it very modern and interesting to work with.
I&rsquo;d love to explore adding tuberose to the Gorgeous Flora line because of this duality. When blended with other blooms like jasmine sambac and jasmine petals, it can bring incredible contrast, colour, and depth. It&rsquo;s a flower that commands presence and brings a kind of effortless sophistication &ndash; exactly what I aim to express in my fragrances.
Finally, what do you want people to take away from the fragrances you create? 
I create to give something beautiful and emotional to the world. For me, a fragrance should be more than just a scent &ndash; it should be an experience, a feeling. I want people to feel joy, to feel free, to feel seen. Whether it's a moment of happiness, confidence, sensuality, or comfort, I hope my fragrances bring something meaningful to whoever wears them. That&rsquo;s the magic &ndash; when you create something that connects emotionally, something that becomes part of someone&rsquo;s life. That&rsquo;s the real purpose for me.

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