Rose (Grasse)
20 fragrances with this note
Part of accords: Floral
A variant of «Rose Centifolia»
Grasse “Rose de Mai”: the most tender, honeyed, with greenery
More about «Rose Centifolia» →
- Latin name
- Rosa centifolia («Rose de Mai»)
- Family
- Rose family (Rosaceae)
- Origin
- Grasse (Provence, France)
- Parts used
- petals picked in May
- Raw materials
- absolute (concrete)
- Extraction
- solvent extraction
- Olfactory group
- floral
- Position in the pyramid
- heart
- Synthetic substitutes
- phenylethyl alcohol, citronellol, damascones
The rose of Grasse is the “May rose” (Rose de Mai), the cabbage rose Rosa centifolia with lush pale-pink flowers. It is picked for just a few weeks in May, by hand, in the morning, and the petals are taken straight to processing.
How it smells: gentler and more honeyed than the Damask rose: the fresh greenness of the stem, honey, a light pepperiness and a powdery, almost cosmetic warmth. The Grasse rose sounds graceful, bright and very French.
The harvest in Grasse is small and hand labour is costly, so Grasse rose absolute is one of the most expensive floral materials. Several major perfume houses own their own fields to preserve the tradition and guarantee quality.
What it pairs with: with Grasse jasmine — the great French floral duet, with iris — powdery luxury, with bergamot and musk — a clean, tender rose, with patchouli — chypre elegance, with lychee and raspberry — a modern fruity rose.
Good to know: “centifolia” (“hundred-petalled”) is no exaggeration: a single flower can have more than a hundred thin petals, which is why it is also called the cabbage rose.
Fragrances with Rose (Grasse)
