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Marjoram or the lucky charm of perfumers!
Marjoram is particularly famous in the beautiful island of Crete where market perfumers from the 13th century BC of Heraclion made their fortune with its oil. Moreover at that time, marjoram was mainly associated with happiness, well-being and bliss. One of the ancient traditions of the Greek islands, still perpetuated under our skies, was to plant marjoram plants on the graves in order to provide a peaceful and happy journey.
The tradition of wearing marjoram as a lucky charm has spread over the centuries. It is also the theme of a childish ritornello (not that much in reality!) What is happening here so late companions of the marjoram? »Where young people wear a sprig of marjoram to bring themselves luck in search of great conquests
Today marjoram is above all a beautiful aromatic herb, often confused with oregano. To recognize them, nothing could be simpler: marjoram is necessarily cultivated while oregano is wild. After the development of distillation techniques, the essential oil of marjoram quickly served both aromatherapists and perfumers eager for powerful aromatic scents.
Marjoram at the head or at the heart of perfumes with aromatic notes
Obviously, marjoram has been very present for decades in men's perfumes with aromatic scents available under different olfactory sub-families. The peppery and pungent flavor of marjoram yet still relatively confidential perfume address the growing success of others more known aromatics such as rosemary, basil or even coriander.
Often in top notes, marjoram appears in chypre scents or masculine woody scents. Thus L'Eau Trois by Diptyque, an original woody-chypre, highlights a beautiful bouquet of aromatics in top notes to offer men (but also women) a juice that will take us on a journey to perfume. coniferous bushes along the mountainous coasts of northern Greece .
Three years after its release, in 1978, the Van Cleef & Arpels house will again use the same type of chypre and aromatic notes with accents of marjoram to produce Van Cleef & Arpels for Men.
However, marjoram with powerful scents can also claim to be a strong nuancing agent between herbal and spicy notes. It is therefore used as a heart note in order to bind chords which a priori would be difficult to associate. It appears for example in the composition of the woody-chypre Lanvin for Men by Lanvin.
Marjoram is therefore still used very modestly in view of its multiple olfactory qualities. For women, one of the rare perfumes to have dared to marjoram is Canisse by Fragonard, a floral-green delight offering to exhale the full extent of the scents of a Mediterranean garden in a juice as beautiful as it is original. One thing is certain: men's perfumery seeks to renew itself by creating fragrances that are both classic and innovative. So noses tend to replace classic aromatics with more original fragrances, so it's a safe bet that marjoram will become a major asset in these changes!
