{"id":8865,"date":"2023-05-29T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masterparfums.com\/?p=8865"},"modified":"2026-10-28T12:39:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T12:39:52","slug":"may-rose-or-rose-centifolia-perfumery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masterparfums.com\/en\/may-rose-or-rose-centifolia-perfumery\/","title":{"rendered":"The May Rose or Rose Centifolia in Perfumery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Mignonne, allons voir si la rose\u2026” (“Sweetheart, let us go and see if the rose\u2026”). It is the emblem of that famous ode by Ronsard, populates the paintings of 17th-century Dutch painters, shines on Valentine’s Day\u2026 Is there a more celebrated flower than the rose? Perfumery does not escape its hold\u2014quite the contrary: the flower is a flagship ingredient there. Among the 40,000 kinds of roses<\/a> recorded, one of those that dominate the market is today under the Master Parfums spotlight: make way for the May rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Trail of the May Rose<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Roses generally come from the eastern Caucasus<\/a>. Rose bushes have been cultivated in Persia and China for about 5,000 years, and rose water<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014cocorico!\u2014France!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Icon of the Grasse Landscapes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The May rose harvest in Grasse for Chanel<\/em>, photo \u00a9The Fragrance Foundation<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The 1980s saw the temporary decline<\/a> of production for lack of buyers or following the passage of property developers wishing to buy back land\u2026 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<\/a>, flower producers for generations. Or Lanc\u00f4me, 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 Mati\u00e8re Premi\u00e8re, whose perfumer Aur\u00e9lien Guichard, co-creator of the brand, founded an organic-farming estate where he harvests rose centifolia and tuberose for his perfumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uses of the May Rose in Perfumery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014in other words, there is only one per year. The roses are harvested in the month of May, always in the morning<\/a>, when the first rays of the sun awaken their odorant molecules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>: count on \u20ac1,200 to \u20ac2,000 for a kilo of absolute and between \u20ac5,000 and \u20ac7,000 for 1 kilo of essential oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Few Examples of Perfumes Built Around the May Rose<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes something is said to be “\u00e0 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n