Lavender
42 fragrances with this note
Part of accords: Fougère, Aromatic, Fresh aromatic
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- Latin name
- Lavandula angustifolia; lavandin: Lavandula × intermedia
- Family
- Mint family (Lamiaceae)
- Origin
- Bulgaria, Provence (France), England, Ukraine
- Parts used
- flowering tops
- Raw materials
- essential oil, absolute
- Extraction
- steam distillation (oil), solvent extraction (absolute)
- Olfactory group
- aromatic, fougère
- Position in the pyramid
- top and heart
- Synthetic substitutes
- linalool, linalyl acetate
Lavender is a low shrub with purple spikes that loves sun and stony slopes. True lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) grows higher in the mountains and smells the most refined, while lavandin, a hybrid that yields more oil, is sharper and more camphorous.
How it smells: a fresh, herbal, clean note with a floral and faintly honeyed shade. Lavender absolute is warmer and sweeter, almost like hay with honey. Lavender both invigorates and calms, so it is loved in classic and modern fragrances alike.
Lavender is the heart of the fougère, one of the most important families of masculine perfumery: lavender, coumarin (tonka) and oakmoss. Today it is increasingly used in feminine fragrances too — next to vanilla or flowers.
What it pairs with: with bergamot and geranium — the classic fougère, with vanilla and tonka — a warm “gourmand lavender”, with iris — powdery, with sage and rosemary — herbal Mediterranean compositions, with leather and tobacco — smoky and grown-up.
Good to know: the name lavender comes from the Latin “lavare”, to wash: the Romans added it to their bathwater. And the world's largest producer of lavender oil today is not France but Bulgaria.
Fragrances with Lavender
