Picture this: you’re in Grasse, standing in a field of Jasmines that flourish in abundance. Unfurling its fragile, star-like petals, the emblematic flower isn’t only known for blossoming the relationship between luxury house brand, CHANEL, and Mul — the region’s largest flower producer in Pégomas — but it also blooms in the cradle of perfumery here in France.
But that’s not the only crop that blooms in this field. In fact, in the latest virtual tour by CHANEL that takes us around the process of harvesting these blooms, the brand unveils a myriad of crops that blooms in the vast fields which expands into five exceptional flowers for its fragrances — namely the Iris, Geranium, Tuberose, May Rose and Grasse Jasmine.
By now, many of you may know the brand for its luxurious bags and apparel and even their iconic scents that sweep you off your feet with just a whiff. But has it ever crossed your mind that these flowers, that make up most of these fragrances, are exclusively harvested in Grasse?
MAY ROSE
Take, for instance, the May Rose — a seasonal bloom that flourishes in May with a field that stretches beyond the horizon. Unlike other flowers, these roses are the centifolia and are delicately handpicked by gatherers — filling their apron pouches — for the next three weeks.
It’s a race against time — after doing so, these flowers are then brought to the extraction plant where they wilt in the heat and are stacked in perforated trays where they will be given three baths consecutively — giving it a concrete form to the fragrance. With the wax obtained from the floral extraction, it is then stored and is then transformed into absolute when used in the formulas of the CHANEL N°5 Extract.
BOTH MAY ROSE AND GRASSE JASMINE ARE FOUND IN:
GRASSE JASMINE
CHANEL has long been sourcing its flowers from Grasse — dating back to as early as 1987. In fact, over these 300 years, plants that have been harvested in Grasse have been widely used to produce some of the finest fragrances — which only makes sense for Ernest Beaux, the creator of the iconic N°5 fragrance, to choose this emblematic flower to be part of his composition.
With cooling winds and the beautiful Mediterranean sun, paired with fertile soil, it’s no wonder that the Grasse Jasmine can grow in such abundance.
So how do they do it? With its ideal harvest that lasts through August to October, gatherers handpick these jasmine flowers into their wicker baskets in the early morning before the sun rises. The baskets are then covered with a wet cloth and are weighed within three hours of picking.
Following that, they are transferred into metal crates where they mix the flowers with a solvent at high temperatures — of which it soaks up the fragrance during the extraction, which will then be evaporated into an aromatic wax. Through this, it can be used as an absolute, that can be incorporated into the formulas for the CHANEL N°5 Parfum.
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