Calming, anti-stress and 'clean', it's time for lavender - Lifestyle

After years of citrus and spicy scents, Covid19 is a watershed in the choice of fragrances that now need to be 'clean'.

The essence of the trend is therefore

, or rather the 'lavas' if we consider the many different varieties (including hybrids) scattered around the European and Mediterranean countries.

The plant grows spontaneously and is cultivated in Tuscany, Liguria and Piedmont (here in the areas of the old vineyards it grows more luxuriantly) but it is the one grown in Provence, where it covers entire hills and where a large number of tourists queue up to take selfies. with the lilac, purple and blue backgrounds of the fields, the most used in the field of perfumery.Its flowers and stems, dried and collected in bands, have always been the emblem of the smell of cleanliness, of freshly laundered sheets, of shirt collars placed in the drawers of the dresser where they release a persistent aroma over time and familiar to all.

The new trend is now called, in a cooler way, 'fresh and clean' but it is the

that has interested us since the pandemic has imposed on us immoderate care for hygiene.

Clean and familiar, fresh and also relaxing the smell of lavenders (whose Latin name, in fact, literally means 'wash') whose essences have just been at the center of a focus on world perfumery trends on the occasion of Pitti Fragranze (which this year takes place entirely online).

The conference is organized by one of the largest fragrance producers, the giant Mane which conducted a survey on 13 countries by submitting 106 fragrant ingredients to a sample of consumers who chose lavender as the essence that best satisfies the need increasing cleanliness (required by 66% of Italians, while the desire for relaxation is coveted by 40% of Italians).

And since

, everything works in its favor: the shrub among the best known and frequent even in our gardens and balconies has been chosen as the emblem of perfumes for the coming seasons .

Mind you, it has always been used (some will remember

and still on sale, based on lavender and washed 'spigo') but today the extraction methods are many more and for every system to obtain the essences, there are different scent trails although all 'clean'.

“Lavender is a masterpiece ingredient for the high perfumery industries, - underlined Micaela Giamberti, Mane fragrances division director for Italy, Spain and Portugal.

- It is timeless and, in this post-Covid period in particular, the need for cleaning, fresh and familiar is growing.

There is also a growing need for serenity and relaxation, physical and emotional well-being and lavender fulfills these multiple functions ”.

The

of cultivated lavenders are endless: "In

lavender augustifolia is grown for perfumery and in France lavender is not only considered an emblem of cleanliness, it is also used as a symbol of union, love and happiness at wedding parties, - specified Mathilde Voisin, Mane ingredients marketing manager for EMEA countries.

- The flowers are harvested at the beginning of the summer and our crops are not irrigated or treated with fertilizers following centuries-old practices to obtain flowers rich in essences on which the bees do an excellent job by increasing the income.

The colors are so intense that tourists, especially Chinese, flock to the area to photograph the beauty of the fields which have also become a starting point for film and commercial directors and stylists ”.

Voisin specifies: “The essences are of three categories, based on the extraction methods.

The

, extracted by distillation, provide us with explosive floral nuances, the typical smell of Provence, clean and airy with top and heart notes.

Lavender absolutes, on the other hand, are obtained by treating flowers and stems with hydroalcoholic solvents to obtain a more herbaceous scent with warmer and more delicious shades that resist in the queue.

Finally, the extraction with supercritical gas, an organic method par excellence that provides authentic, floral but also sensual essences, with many facets and complexities that cover both the top notes and the central and final notes.

This type of extraction makes lavender a new,

perfume that is

and suitable not only for masculine, also feminine and unisex perfumes.