Lavender Oil Fine Haute Provence France
Lavender essential oil is delicate, floral and slightly powdery, reminiscent of the flower itself. This highly aromatic note is also herbaceous, camphorous and medicinal. Its fresh fragrance contains a slightly floral bergamot note with woody tones.
Lavender is a traditional ingredient of the fougère family. Combined with citrus, woody and spicy notes, it adds nuance and complexity. Lavender is often used as a top note with citrus to create a fresh and aromatic fragrance, or as a heart note with opulent florals or with woody notes to add a more sensual dimension to the fragrance.
Fine lavender is deeply rooted in the tradition of French Provence. The shrubby bush has a multitude of erect stems rising above a bushy mass of hairy, greyish-green leaves. Its flowers consist of a single long, slender spike with a characteristic mauve-blue colour that varies from pale mauve to purplish-blue. It grows naturally in Mediterranean scrubland at high altitudes, usually between 600 and 1,200 metres, particularly in the Alpes de Haute Provence in southern France.
Originally harvested wild until the 19th century, the development of industry and perfumery forced farmers to cultivate it to meet market demand. Propagation is done either by sowing, as in the wild (each plant has its own genetic identity and is different from its neighbour), or, and most commonly, by cutting (each plant as the same genetic material).
Harvesting is done when the flowers are about to turn ‘grey’. It takes just over a month between July and August. Lavender growers use the ‘préfané’ technique: after the harvest, the lavender is left to dry in the fields for two or three days before steam distillation.
In 1759, the Guild of Master Perfumers was founded in Grasse, which led to an increased demand for lavender. In Provence, lavender collectors initially harvested the blue-violet flowers from the wild. As demand grew, wild lavender wasn’t enough. And in the 20th century, farmers began to cultivate it.
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