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Lavender is Lavender is Lavender, NOT!


I have in my collection 5 Lavenders.
Lavender absolute, ORIGIN: Seville Spain (Lavendula luisieri) AKA: LS
Lavender essential oil, ORIGIN: French Provence (Lavender angustifolia) AKA: LF
Lavender essential oil, ORIGIN: Indian Kashmir (Lavender angustifolia) AKA: LK
Lavandin Abrialis, ORIGIN: French (Lavandula hybrida) AKA: LA
Lavender absolute, ORIGIN: Bulgaria (Lavendula angustafolia) AKA: LB

I am going to go through a process of comparing and contrasting these lavenders. I know them all fairly well already but let's just see.

Lavender & Time & Description
LS --------- 20:48 - warm, rich, soft, woody floral, middle note
LS --------- 20:59- mellow, woody, round, leafy
LS --------- 21:09 - mellow, papery, soft woody, dry
LS --------- 21:30 - woody, papery, balsamic

LF --------- 20:52 - sharp, clean, herbal, top note
LF --------- 21:01-softer, although still a little sharp, crisp
LF --------- 21:10 - very clean, crisp, herbal, green, a little dry
LF --------- 21:41 - crisp, fresh, herbal,cool

LK -------- 20:54- sharp but not as sharp, more floral, clean, spicy, herbal, top note
LK -------- 21:02- soft and clean floral, sweeter
LK -------- 21:11- floral, sweeter, fruity, clean,
LK -------- 21:42-fresh, clean, sweet

LA ------- 20:55- medicine, hot, stronger, cough sweets, camphorous, top note, (I think not suitable for perfumery)
LA ------ 21:03-smells like vicks vapo rub, strong, medicinal smell
LA ------ 21:12- still over powering, minty, becoming a little woody
LA ------ 21:48-medicinal, strong, unpleasant

LB ------ 20:57-sharp, clean, woody, not so floral, deeper,herbal
LB ------ 21:04-soft and papery, clean laundry, not much floral, a little sweet
LB ------ 21:14-I think a sort of almond note, spicy, dry
LB ------ 21:50-that almond note again, spicy

Summary
Well first of all my favorite is the Indian Kashmir Lavender EO(Lavender angustifolia.)
I find the Lavandin Arbaralis (Lavandula hybrida) to be completely useless to perfumery as the smell is medicine like and just plain eye watering suff, sort of falls into the same set as tea tree, eucalyptus, camphor.
Both absolutes, the Spanish Lavender Seville (Lavandula luisieri) and the Bulgarian Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) share similar nuances to each another but seem nothing like any one of the essential oils. The absolutes are more woody spicy, with the Bulgarian Lavender having an interesting almond note on the dry out.
The French Lavender essential oil began to develop cool herbal notes which were clean and crisp while my favorite, the Indian Kashmir Lavender developed a clean but sweet note on the dry out.
I need to try an English Lavender, if I can find one, can't be too hard.
Arctander says about Lavender essential oil "lavender essential oil blends well with Bergamot, and other citrus oils, clove oils (for "Rondeletia" type perfumes), fluve, liatris, oakmoss, patchouli, rosemary, clary sage, pine needle oils, etc. "
He also says in relation to Lavender oil "Labdanum products are excellent fixatives..."
Arctander says of Lavender absolute: "Lavender absolute...of very rich, sweet- herbaceous, somewhat floral odor; in dilution it bears a close resmblance to the odor of the flowering lavender shrubs. It's woody-herby undertone and courmarin-like sweetness duplicate the odor of the botanical material far better than the essential oil. The absolute is sweeter but less floral the the essential oil, and the two materials can form a very pleasant combination".

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi! (I'm commenting because the animated lady told me to...) Thank you for the lavender comparison. I'm a complete novice, and I'm overwhelmed at the idea that I can't just know a general essential oil like "lavender" but all the subtleties of origin!
October 19, 2007 at 10:24 PM
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