Four additions introduced to Gucci’s Alchemist’s Garden in 2025 explore two contrasting centres of fragrance: musk and Damascena rose. Muschio Mineralis, Muschio di Luce, Rosa Sublime and Rosa Incandescente approach those notes through different compositions, with the collection’s alchemical imagery providing a creative framework for the variations.
Muschio Mineralis was created by Mathilde Bijaoui and Julie Massé. Musk and ambergris accords are combined with two preparations of vanilla: an absolute obtained by solvent extraction and an infusion developed through maceration. The composition sits within the collection’s earth-associated Substratum family, represented by a black glass bottle carrying the image of a fox.
For Muschio di Luce, Alberto Morillas places musk alongside pink pepper and vetiver. Gucci’s product notes identify the latter two materials as obtained through supercritical-fluid extraction. The approach belongs to the air-inspired Vaporum category, with a white flacon and a bird-of-paradise motif extending the concept visually. The distinction from Mineralis lies in how the central musk note is framed, rather than simply in changing the bottle’s colour.
Mathilde Bijaoui also created Rosa Sublime, pairing a steam-distilled Damascena rose preparation with a saffron accord. The house places it within Liquidum, the water-associated part of the collection, and gives its gold-coloured transparent bottle a hand-fan emblem. The design links the fragrance’s rose-and-spice composition to an image of movement.
Rosa Incandescente takes the rose towards a marine register. Perfumers Cécile Matton and Ralf Schwieger combine it with a red-seaweed note, with Gucci specifying supercritical-fluid extraction for that material. The fragrance belongs to Ignis, the collection’s fire-inspired category, and appears in a red flacon decorated with a seahorse.
Together, the four compositions show how a repeated note can lead to very different ideas. Their interest lies in the work around the musk or rose: the choice of accompanying accords, the treatment of selected raw materials and the visual identity built around each perfume. The bottle motifs make those distinctions tangible, connecting the collection’s imaginative language to four recognisable objects.
Campaign photography: Charles Negre (still life) and Bart Oomes (digital still life). Images courtesy of Gucci Beauty.
