Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
Herbal, clean and slightly sweet. A pillar of the fougère family and one of the most common scents in soap.
The note’s label
- Family
- aromatic note; among fragrance families, fougère
- Position
- top to heart note
- Impression
- Pairs with
- Evokes
- soap · shaving cream · a herb garden
- Raw material
- flowering tops, steam-distilled
- Natural or synthetic
- The natural oil is widely used. Besides true lavender, perfumers use lavandin (Lavandula × intermedia), a hybrid with a higher yield and a sharper, more camphorous smell.
Lavender and lavandin
True lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has a softer, sweeter scent. Lavandin is a hybrid that yields more oil and smells sharper and more camphorous. Both have their place in perfumery.
The main odorants are linalool and linalyl acetate – the same as in bergamot.
In perfume
With coumarin (tonka) and oakmoss it forms the fougère accord, on which a large part of men’s perfumery has rested since the late 19th century.
On the label
Lavender and lavandin oils and extracts have been on the allergen list since 2023; linalool has been listed separately since Directive 2003/15/EC, which introduced the first 26 allergens.
In the fragrance archive
Our archive does not yet contain a fragrance whose published pyramid lists this note.
The archive is for reading only. Nothing in it is for sale.