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VIOLET Blossom
Category Floral
Floral, green, sweet, powdery
Violet is a herbaceous plant that grows in temperate regions. For violet, it is the leaves, not the blossoms, that are distilled in order to obtain an essence with a green and powerful scent. The 'violet blossom' note that features in many fragrances is obtained thanks to synthetic molecules like ionones.
Essential oil is not extracted from violet blossoms (the stems and leaves are used instead). But the blossoms’ scent can be reproduced using other ingredients, like ionones.
The violet blossom note is very typical in both perfumery and candy-making. As a soliflore (single-flower scent), violet is usually quite feminine, with a powdery, lightly fruity effect, which gives it a somewhat retro image. Violet soliflores include Violette de Toulouse by Berdoues and Creed’s Love in Black. Violet is also used in many fragrances as a binder or to bring a bit of floral sweetness. It is often used in men’s fragrances too.
While the ‘violet blossom’ note is now found in fragrances for both men and women, Dior’s Fahrenheit (1988) was one of the pioneers for men. It pairs violet with woody notes, a formula that went on to inspire a great many houses. Still, Fahrenheit does bear a certain relation to Geoffrey Beene’s Grey Flannel (1975), a less well-known in which the violet comes across much greener.