White Lotus Aromatics Newsletter   Issue: Grasse 1

We'll be on vacation February 2-12

History of Grasse, Part 1

For lovers of fragrance, the word Grasse immediately brings to mind vast fields of fragrant flowers, revered perfume establishments where famous perfumes were created, people working to harvest and distill/extract the essence of rose, violets, tuberose, orange blossoms that are the building blocks of great perfumes, etc. When I first began my aromatic explorations over 30 years ago the name of Grasse came to the forefront and stories of that great center of aromatic culture have been with me every since. In honor of Grasse, her people and plants I thought I might try to recreate a bit of her history that might be of interest to others.

The next few newsletters will concern themselves with this fascinating subject.
This history will occupy two if not three newsletters. This first newsletter is devoted to explaining how the foundations of the perfume industry were laid. More...

Essence of Provence Perfume

In order to celebrate the city of Grasse and the surrounding environment of Provence, a new perfume has been created that I have simply called Essence of Provence. It is composed of many of the herbs that are found growing in the wild of Provence like lavender, rosemary, cistus, laurel leaf, sage, etc., along with the essence of a few plants that later came into extensive cultivation in the area. This perfume displays a complex herbaceous bouquet sweetened with a bit of rose, jasmine and neroli. A sample of the solid perfume version of this new creation will go out with all orders made during February. More ...

Monsoon Rain Perfume

The thought had been with me for a number of years to create a Monsoon Rain Perfume, but until one of my colleagues in India shared the basic formula for a classic Indian perfume, Majmua, I did not have the key to working out a recipe that would help capture the feeling of the monsoon season. Majmua is composed of 60-70% Ruh Khus (wild vetiver of North India), 25-30% of a combination of the attars of Mitti, Kadam, Rose, and Kewda and a small percentage of patchouli, valarian and ambrette seed.  More...

February Updates