Rarely does perfume come to mind when one thinks about leaves, but plant leaves have played an important role in perfumery since people began to enjoy wearing scents. While the flowers of most plants used in perfumes are essential so, too, are the leaves of those plants. Leaves normally hold more oil than flowers since they are the life-support of the blossoms. While petals and other parts of the flower are used for their aroma, leaves provide many of the oils used to mix perfumes to the correct scent and consistency.

In the middle ages, leaves were a very important source for the perfumers of the royal courts, for the flowers were often allowed to be harvested only at the pleasure of the ruling monarch. The flowers would grace the tables and halls of nobility until they wilted, rendering them useless for scents, while the leaves still retained much of the essential oils that perfumers needed to make their creations.

Leaves have continued to be used in perfumes, particularly the leaves of herbal plants. Basil leaves are not just for cooking, but is included in many perfumes including Dune by Christian Dior. Dune combines the leaves of basil, mandarin and sage with moss and cedarwood for a truly unique and delicious scent that definitely doesn’t smell like a kitchen!

The leaves of herbal plants are very aromatic due to the oil that the plant manufactures. They are very easy to cultivate and quite inexpensive, making them a favorite ingredient of many perfumers. Oil from the leaves is usually recovered by crushing or grinding, strained for impurities and decanted for later use. The process is very simple and had been done by hand for hundreds of years before the age of machines.

Many people are surprised when they learn how many varieties of leaves are used in the scents that they love. Coriander, for instance, isn’t just a prominent ingredient in your favorite salsa but when Moschino perfumers mix it with rose, gardenia, carnation and vanilla it becomes the popular perfume Moschino. If you think you aren’t familiar with coriander, that’s because it’s more commonly called cilantro.

Wormwood has also been used, particularly in France where the plant thrives. Its aromatic leaves have been used as a base for many years, imparting a fresh herbal scent and pleasing consistency to both liquid and solid perfumes. In the Middle East, jasmine and myrtle leaves as well as cinnamon leaves were and still are used in perfumes. Other leaves used in prominent perfumes on the market today include lavender, rosemary, sage, caraway and thyme.

Tim Walt

Fruity perfumes, particularly the more subtle ones, are refreshing and attractive. Many perfumes aren’t immediately noticeable as having fruit essences in them but you would notice a real difference without them. Amarige Mariage by Givenchy, for instance, doesn’t smell fruity but the mimosa, spices and violet depend on the accompanying essences of citrus, peaches and plums to bolster round out its enticing aroma.

Fruits are usually used after a process called “expression” in which they are pressed or squeezed to collect their oils. The peels of citrus fruits yield excellent results with this method because they hold large quantities of oil. Citrus is very cost effective to process for perfume, particularly because the fruit does not have to be of the quality required for sale as food in our markets. Lemons and oranges, the least expensive of citrus oils, are used extensively in many brands and types of perfumes and household products for this very reason. Plus, nearly everyone loves their fresh scent!

The Cold-Pressed Method is also used to harvest fruit oils. Since the oil glands in the fruit rind are easily broken open by pressure or grating, the uncut fruit is deposited in a vat with a very rough interior then rotated. The resulting oils are then collected, decanted and separated from impurities. Favorable economics as well as their pleasant odor make citrus oil a popular ingredient in perfumes and other products.

Many people also like the scent of apples, cherries and strawberries but these three fruits, unfortunately, don’t react as expected to extraction and their attractive scent is lost in the process. When you detect these fruits in various products or perfumes, you smell a synthetic imitation due to their unsuitability for processing.

Bergamot oil, from the fruit of the Bergamot orange tree, is the exception to cheaply harvested citrus oil. Its fresh fragrance is one of the more valuable perfume ingredients due to its relative rarity but more than a third of perfumes made for women contain it. Men’s cologne has recently made liberal use of Bergamot oil as it has become more in demand. Onyx by Azzaro uses Bergamot in combination with lemon, coriander (cilantro), Juniper, cedar wood and musk to create a very masculine and attractive perfume for men. Bergamot is an ideal compliment to the other, heavier ingredients and makes the blend lighter while still maintaining an earthy, masculine scent.

Fruits also lend a youthful attitude to perfumes and an atmosphere of carefree fun, depending upon what other ingredients they’re blended with. Using fruit oils in perfume allows perfumers to convey a variety of moods and emotions as well as unforgettable aromas.

Tim Walt