In The Name of Lavender

Diamonds and Pearls, originally uploaded by Irina / Riri.

After receiving the lovely gift from Heather of Eie Flud, and especially after seeing it being arrogantly insulted on another blog, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to announce my everlasting love for lavender in all of its shape and forms:

Lavender is timeless. Lavender is cool. Lavender is romantic and velvety and smooth. Lavender is equally reviving and soothing. Lavender is also THE BEST S(M)ELLER remedy there is, and should be always kept it on hand: Lavender soothes, calms, centres the mind and the soul and also helps in many physical ailments and uncomfortable conditions: It smells good while being one of the best aromatherapeutic remedies for depression, headache, migraine, insomnia, fatigue, nervous tension, stress and shock conditions. It is one of the few essential oils that can be worn neat on the skin (use it, for example, on your temples to treat headache). And this is just to name a few of the things lavender can help us with (not to mention its ability to help in many skin conditions, muscle pain relief, as well as digestive and respiratory problems).

The scent of lavender is, as I said, simple and complex at once. It is simple enough to have an immediate effect of relief, like finding a quiet, calm and clean place at the end of a hectic day. But it is also complex enough to be interesting and appealing as a scent and has been utilized in perfumes as it is one of the most versatile oils and blends literally with everything. It is soft and powdery and floral, it is deeply sweet and aromatic and coumarin or hay-like, it is woody and clean and even slightly musky.
Wait, did I mention yet it’s traditional role in Celtic Love Potions? Blend it with rose, iris, violet, vanilla and sandalwood and you will get the softest, most alluring love concoction, Victorian style.

Lavender is an essential component in one of the most important Fragrance Families – Fougere (where it is strategicallyl juxtaposed with the sexy and earthy complexity of oakmoss to create an incredibly interesting accord that is bold and masculine).

Just imagine the world without Jicky, Lovely, Yerbamate, Blue Grass, Pour Un Homme, Aqua di Parma, and many more refreshing colognes and aromatic, sexy men’s Fougeres. We will not have these without lavender. I, for one, would not have been able to create quite a few of my scents without lavender:
Lovender, Espionage, L’Herbe Rouge, Altruism and many others.

So if you think you need to have lavender filtered through a high-end niche French perfumery house, just try to rub a few lavender buds between your fingers, and inhale deeply the sweet, floral, herbal, coumarinic-vanillic, mossy and musky aroma released on your skin - and tell me if there is a finest lavender scent out there…