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Hydrangea

The hydrangea is a flowering shrub of the Hydrangeaceae family. The hydrangea originates from East Asia, more specifically from Japan. Hydrangeas first appeared in France in 1771 and were imagined by the French botanist Philibert Commerson. Legend has it that he gave this name to the flower in memory of a woman, probably a mistress. It is known precisely that he had strong ties with Hortense de Nassau. There are, at present, more than 35 different varieties of hydrangea.

The beauty of hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are among the most beautiful and most imposing flowers. They cannot go unnoticed. Their star-shaped flowers resemble lace and form spheres like soft pompoms. The color of the flowers is generally white, blue or pink, but there are now many variations, and one can find hydrangeas in raspberry, cornflower, purple, cream or even cobalt blue. It should be noted that the color of the hydrangea flower is directly linked to the presence of alumina combined with the acidity of the soil. That is why a pink hydrangea, once replanted in garden soil, may turn blue. The hydrangea gives off a soft, light scent that blends wonderfully with the other scents of a garden.

The use of hydrangea in perfumery

Hydrangea is a flower rarely used in perfumery. Like all flowers, it nonetheless belongs to the great and beautiful Floral family. Hydrangea is therefore found mainly in floral feminine fragrances, such as Ortensia by L’Erbolario, where the entire composition is built around hydrangea. It can also be found within woody-musky floral compositions, such as Le Feu d’Issey Light by Issey Miyake. Here, hydrangea appears as a heart note alongside other flowers such as jasmine and rose. Hydrangea may nonetheless surprise by appearing in an oriental fragrance such as Divine Decadence by Marc Jacobs, where hydrangea is found as a heart note accompanied by honeysuckle and gardenia.

A beautiful flower that cheerfully adorns gardens, the hydrangea has been known since antiquity. The hydrangea gives off a very soft and light scent that blends wonderfully with the other flowers of niche perfumery, as well as with other olfactory ingredients.

Perfumes with the Hydrangea note