Perfumes of Grasse – Parfums de Grasse
The History of Perfume
Several aromatics: resin, mitered gum, galbanum, aromatics I say, and pure incense, as the perfumer operates with no other ingredients than salt, a pure and holy product.
Myrrh, cinnamon (a tree spreading its scent through its bark), aloe, and nard were also very popular products among the Hebrews.
We note that nard, a kind of small fragrant grass, also called Indian verbena, turned out to be a very expensive perfume.
In addition, some smells are considered the smell of the righteous, others correspond to a sacrifice, still, others serve to idolize, while the last is considered to be the perfume of knowledge.
Beyond the sacred meaning of perfume, the Greeks were also very attached to bodily hygiene and the beauty of being.
Thus, they used the plants in the form of fumigations, frictions, or baths.
The public baths, impregnated with the smell of flowers, were very important places of socialization for the time, frequented by both men and women.
As a sign of hospitality, it was customary to bathe the feet of one’s guests in scented basins and to offer them garlands of flowers, oil of cloves, or flavored wines. Rome, “the capital of perfume”, made it possible to increase the trade-in plants.
Nero used perfume excessively, especially to mask the scent of his orgies.
The Romans seek medicinal virtues in aromatic substances. They introduce glass containers which will replace clay containers, They develop home fragrances.
The contact of the Roman people with the Etruscans and the Phoenicians increased their knowledge of perfumery.
Fragrant materials were major products brought back by the Romans during their conquests. The latter gradually began to appreciate the properties of various fragrances, in particular those of myrtle, Spanish genet, labdanum, and pine.
Thus, perfumes experienced tremendous growth, sometimes going too far. The Romans use smells for their most important rites such as weddings or funerals.
The Arabs learned the secrets of chemistry from the Greeks. They are the undisputed masters of the trade-in spices and fragrant powders.
Perfume is a very important ingredient in Eastern countries because it is located on land conducive to the cultivation of plants.
Arabia is the land of herbs par excellence. “Arabia with a thousand perfumes” “Pro-perce”.
The poets evoke in their writings the rose, whose smell would be the most appreciated in the Arab world with that of the animal musk, the rose water is used to perfume the rooms of the houses, it is very often found in certain dishes such as sweets, sorbets.
If the Arabs are not at the origin of the creation of distillation, they considerably improved this technique “Alambic is an Arabic word”.
The History of Grasse Perfumes
In 1555, in Venice, the first European treatise on perfumery was born.
The Italians are past masters in the art of treating leather, they are the ones who initiate the fashion for scented gloves in Grasse: “Spanish skin”: the skin macerates in rose water, then we add fragrant materials such as lavender, neroli, cloves, sandalwood. Everything is then mixed with animal notes.
Originally, perfumes had a religious function: myrrh, frankincense (resin with a penetrating odor), iris (whose roots smell of violet), lotus, lily, saffron (whose stamens have an acrid and burning scent), cinnamon or cinnamon (a kind of laurel native to Ceylon), styrax or storax (which means tree or balsam, from which one draws, by incising a resin), benzoin and still others …
The Hebrews learn in Egypt. The Bible talks about it abundantly, whether it is anointing oil, spices, incense,… The Three Wise Men brought Jesus gold, incense, and myrrh, the latter two being valued in the same way as gold.
If there are odors of holiness, there are diabolical ones. The Devil smells of sulfur.
Perfumes thus cross the centuries, alternately or simultaneously mystical, medical, or aesthetic.
The tanners of Grasse, to erase the smell of leather, used the natural essences of the region.
A corporation was born: that of the Glove Perfumers. The glove industry gradually declined and the tanners of Grasse completely abandoned the glove in favor of perfumes, in the middle of the 18th century.
Grasse, through the concentration of powerful industrial establishments of aromatic raw materials and its ancestral know-how, remains the World Capital of Perfumery.
Grasse is famous for the quality of its essences and its creations for luxury perfumery, also its perfumes for pharmaceutical products and cleaning products, food flavorings,
The know-how of perfumery in Grasse is transmitted from generation to generation. Transformations from raw material to gasoline cannot always be automated and it is this quality of know-how that also constitutes Grasse’s heritage. Perfumes of Grasse
The flowers are sometimes distilled in their country of origin, the raw material will arrive at the concrete state, and the transformation from the concrete to the absolute will take place in Grasse. This step is extremely subtle and delicate.
ALALELA – Timeless Luxury Scents
The iconic perfume with the effigy of ALALELA is La Fleur d’Oranger – Orange Blossom
In perfumery, orange blossom has a floral, waxy, sweet, powdery, and green fragrance. Compared to the essence of Neroli obtained with similar flowers, orange blossom smells stronger.
However, to diversify our products, we have retained other aromas such as Jasmin de Grasse and Rose from Damascus, including plants with beneficial scents, whose active properties we preserve thanks to gentle ancestral extraction techniques inspired by perfumery.
Alalela creates a magnificent scented range of reed diffusers, home fragrances, scented candles, scented soaps, perfumes, and home decor. Alalela has projected as well introduce wellness and home decor handcrafted products.
Concerned about making your home a place of comfort and relaxation, ALALELA offers special editions of fragrances for textiles to give your textile interiors (sheets, curtains…) a pleasant smell during your relaxing.
Vegan-friendly, Alalela uses natural ingredients to give the perfect scents’ harmony reaching all of your senses.
