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And although economic giants like China have embarked on its culture, Provence lavandin made in France continues to distill its wonderful fragrances with success in our lives!
Lavandin and its culture in the South of France
Lavandin is the hybrid of the lavender Lavandula augustifolia and the so-called asp lavender, Lavandula latifolia. Above all, it represents the response that scientists made to the growing needs for lavender after the Second World War.
Lavender distillation was used as early as the 18th century in order to be able to harvest the sweet lavender from the Provençal fields to make an essential oil. This lavender essential oil will experience great prosperity from its inception, in particular thanks to the success of the perfumes of Grasse which use the pretty lavendula augustifolia to create their perfumed fragrances. But at the beginning of the 20th century, the lavender needs were very important (60 tons per year) and despite the massive mechanization of the harvest and a phenomenal increase in crops, Provence no longer managed to meet all the demands.
Faced with this need, scientists developed a hybrid of two varieties of lavender to give birth to lavandin in 1925. This new flower has properties similar to lavender but bears fragrant spikes that are much larger than lavender, which therefore makes it possible to '' get better returns. Lavandin, although hybrid, is natural and allows the diffusion of less powerful lavender fragrances, which can be an asset for some perfumes.
Aromatic, fern or woody scents in search of the lavandin note
The lavandin note is a relatively recent raw material compared to many others. It does not appear in perfumery until relatively late but is exhaled in masculine or mixed aromatic, woody or oriental juices in search of freshness and floral power.
Lavandin's favorite olfactory family seems to be the fern-aromatic family. Sometimes installed among the top notes, sometimes installed according to the heart notes, lavandin propels its aromatic fragrances among the creations of perfumers. Tom Ford's Lavender Palm combines lavandin with lavender, bergamot, sage and lemon to offer fresh, tangy notes right from the start. At Hermès in the pretty fragrance Noir Premier - Terres Aromatique, the lavandin note rubs shoulders with thyme and freesia in the heart. For Eau de Lavande by DIPTYQUE, lavandin is of course along with lavender, the flagship piece of the composition which, diffused as a heart note, blends elegantly with spicy heads and woody undertones.
Woody Orientals are of course fragrances that passionately exude notes of pure and fresh lavandin in an exotic trail, sometimes spicy but often surprising. Antidote by Viktor & Rolf thus offers a cocktail of facets where lavandin appears in the heart to marry flowers, spices and some bitterness of geranium and orange tree.
In addition to these two favorite families, the lavandin note also appears in fragrances that are more difficult to classify such as the woody floral L'Eau by ST Dupont or even the pretty aromatic citrus Eau Intense by Carven. However, with the exception of a few rarities, lavandin is mainly intended for masculine or mixed fragrances. For the moment
