Product Overview
The cool powerful, wet vegetal/crushed green leaves aroma of our very fine Violet Leaf Absolute has soft woody nuances; during the long drydown the aroma becomes muted, earthy and grassy. Since this highly aromatic, solvent-extracted leaf absolute first appeared in the collection of natural perfumers, its stature has risen considerably – it is regarded as a rare and irreplaceable element in perfumery that in very small amounts lends an unsurpassed elegance to certain floral blends.
Violet Leaf Absolute is one of the costliest and most labor-intensive natural fragrance materials to produce – approximately 2300 kilos of hand-picked leaves yield only 1 kilo of the absolute.[1]
Beloved around the world since the age of the mythological gods and goddesses, diminutive Violet has been revered by the ancient Greeks and Romans, by Pliny and Hippocrates, Shakespeare and Napoleon, and lovers of its perfume throughout time. In the realm of perfumery, Violet Leaf is valued as a superior ‘green’ note, with green notes in general considered to be some of the most important in perfumery.[2] When combined in a carefully worked accord in very small amounts, green notes can "bring a naturalness to a perfume, one that is also very difficult to duplicate."[3] The source of Violet Leaf Absolute’s elusive aroma has stumped many, since this material features a predominance of unremarkable fatty acids. And although many of the other compounds in this oil are present in concentrations of less than 1%, they largely account for the ultra green fragrance that is unmistakably characteristic of Violet Leaf.[4],[5]
PLEASE NOTE: For a pre-blended and easy to use dilution of this oil, please see our Violet Leaf Absolute – 10%.
1 Naturals Compendium, International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc., 2009, p. 155.
2 Calkin, Robert and J. Stephan Jellinek. Perfumery – Practice and Principles, 1994, p. 112.
3 Ibid, p. 96.
4 Rhind, Jennifer Peace. Essential Oils – A Handbook for Aromatherapy Practice, 2012, p. 254.