The May Rose or Rose Centifolia in Perfumery
“Mignonne, allons voir si la rose…” (“Sweetheart, let us go and see if the rose…”). It is the emblem of that famous ode by Ronsard, populates the paintings of 17th-century Dutch painters, shines on Valentine’s Day… Is there a more celebrated flower than the rose? Perfumery does not escape its hold—quite the contrary: the flower is a flagship ingredient there. Among the 40,000 kinds of roses recorded, one of those that dominate the market is today under the Master Parfums spotlight: make way for the May rose.
On the Trail of the May Rose
Roses generally come from the eastern Caucasus. Rose bushes have been cultivated in Persia and China for about 5,000 years, and rose water has been used there for 2,000. Still in Persia, the first extractions of rose essential oil date, for their part, from the 17th century.
The exact origin of the May rose remains vague. Its scientific name, rose centifolia, means “hundred-leaves” in Latin: an allusion to its abundant quantity of petals. It is a hybrid flower born from the crossing of other types of roses: the Damask rose and the Canina rose are among them, but it seems botanists cannot totally agree on its lineage.
Rose centifolia was enormously developed in the 17th century by Dutch breeders who created more than 200 varieties of it before the French took over two centuries later. Today, its production is largely destined for the perfumery sector. Turkey and Bulgaria lead the dance, but we also find Morocco, Egypt, and—cocorico!—France!
An Icon of the Grasse Landscapes
The love story between the May rose and our country began when the flower made its way to Grasse in the 16th century. The town today considered the capital of perfume was at the time renowned for its leather production. It was to mask the unappetising wafts linked to tanning that rose centifolia began to be cultivated there, before turning into an industry in its own right in the 17th century.
The 1980s saw the temporary decline of production for lack of buyers or following the passage of property developers wishing to buy back land… but never mind: at the request of perfume houses charmed by the rich, sweet fragrance of the flower, production resumed with renewed vigour. This is the case, for example, of Chanel: in 1987, at the initiative of Jacques Polge, the house’s master perfumer, the brand began a partnership with the Mul family, flower producers for generations. Or Lancôme, which cultivates its rose at the Domaine de la Rose, Dior and its partnership with the Domaine de Manon and the Clos de Callian, or Matière Première, whose perfumer Aurélien Guichard, co-creator of the brand, founded an organic-farming estate where he harvests rose centifolia and tuberose for his perfumes.
Uses of the May Rose in Perfumery
During its spring flowering, the hundred-leaf rose bush dons flowers of a pink that is sometimes vivid, sometimes pastel. This flowering is non-recurrent—in other words, there is only one per year. The roses are harvested in the month of May, always in the morning, when the first rays of the sun awaken their odorant molecules.
They have reached maturity when one can glimpse their pretty yellow heart, and are then picked by hand by cutting at the level of the peduncle. It is then imperative to use the petals on the very day of the harvest. Unlike its cousin the Damascena rose, from which one can produce an essential oil and a floral water by hydrodistillation, rose centifolia reveals itself only as an absolute, with rosy, honeyed and earthy facets.
One could extract an essential oil by hydrodistillation, or an extract with notes very faithful to the beauty one smells live, but the yield does not match the cost.
It takes approximately 800 kilos of petals to obtain 1 kilo of absolute and 3 to 5 tonnes for 1 kilo of essential oil, which makes the latter far more costly: count on €1,200 to €2,000 for a kilo of absolute and between €5,000 and €7,000 for 1 kilo of essential oil.
A Few Examples of Perfumes Built Around the May Rose
Sometimes something is said to be “à l’eau de rose” (rosewater-ish) when it is mawkish, too sentimental. Yet the May rose is capable of exhibiting as many facets as it has pretty petals: it is not for nothing that perfumers fight over it! Here are a few perfumes highlighting the intoxicating softness of rose centifolia:
- La Rose Jacqueminot (1904) is François Coty’s first perfume. It is the sensual meeting between an absolute of May rose and Damask rose and synthetic molecules to give body to the juice: rhodinal recalls geranium, ionone, violet.
- How to evoke the May rose without speaking of the emblematic N°5 by Chanel? In 1921, Coco Chanel tasked Ernest Beaux with creating the house’s first perfume for women. The perfumer decided to blend the famous aldehydes we know into the fragrance with jasmine and May rose originating from Grasse. The rose absolute used in N°5 comes, moreover, from the estate of the Mul family mentioned above!
- Joy by Jean Patou (1930): the marriage between no fewer than 10,600 jasmine flowers and 28 dozen May roses forms this sumptuous juice by Henri Alméras. Joy has ceased to be marketed, but its name was taken up and given to another perfume…
- The wonderful Nahéma (1979) by Guerlain, considered by many perfumers as an icon of the rosy perfume.
- Ombre Rose (1981) by Jean-Charles Brosseau, where the queen of flowers turns powdery and velvety.
- At Dior, François Demachy makes the May roses of the Château La Colle Noire shine, an estate in the Pays de Fayence belonging to the house. La Colle Noire (2016) is a fruity floral delicately enveloped in amber and sandalwood.
- With L’Air du Temps (1948), Francis Fabron created for Nina Ricci the first spicy floral in perfumery. It is a juice overflowing with tenderness, blending rose centifolia, jasmine and gardenia with a clove-scented carnation.
- Paris (1983) by Yves Saint Laurent offers a powdery rose-violet accord…
- …also present in Trésor (1990) by Lancôme, a perfume that means to be velvety through the roundness of peach and apricot.
- On the niche perfumery side, after the musky, captivating Rose de Nuit in 1993, Serge Lutens presented Sa Majesté la Rose (2000): rose centifolia is green there, enhanced with pine needles and eucalyptus leaves.
- L’Eau Rose (2012) by Diptyque is surprising to say the least: an intense May rose and Damask rose rub shoulders with the Firad rose, with accents evocative of lychee, as well as notes of chamomile and artichoke.
- By Kilian borders the May rose of its Roses on Ice (2020) with cucumber, lime and juniper berries. The result? An aquatic rose!
After the May rose, do you want to discover other perfumery ingredients in a playful way? Good news: the Master Parfums olfactory game-book is here to awaken the perfumer that sleeps within you.
