Lavender

Fresh, herbal and floral, with a clean, slightly woody calm.

True lavender comes from the western Mediterranean and thrives best at barren altitudes. The fields of Provence are famous; in terms of volume, Bulgaria is today one of the largest producers of lavender oil.

The flowering spikes are cut in high summer and steam-distilled, often close to the fields. True lavender should be distinguished from lavandin, a higher-yielding hybrid with a more camphorous scent.

Lavender is fresh, herbal and floral at once – clean, calming and surprisingly versatile. In our range it appears exactly as often in the top as in the heart (47 fragrances each). It is the heart of fougère fragrances and gives modern scents an elegant, aromatic freshness.

Aromatic, fougère, with a floral side.

Lavender flowers in high summer. It is usually harvested in July and August, earlier or later depending on altitude.

In our fragrances, it often appears alongside Bergamot, sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, thyme, cypress, cypriol.

In 1882 Houbigant combined lavender with the newly available synthetic coumarin – “Fougère Royale” founded an entire fragrance family that still shapes men's perfumery today.

• “Angustifolia” simply means “narrow-leaved” in Latin – after the fine leaves of true lavender.
• The entire fougère (“fern”) family goes back to a lavender fragrance from 1882 – even though fern itself barely smells.
• Lavandin is a hybrid of true lavender and spike lavender – higher-yielding, but more camphorous in scent.

Linalyl acetate and linalool make up most of lavender oil.