Rosemary

Rosemary at the heart of the oldest perfumes in the world! This beautiful aromatic plant is well known for its absolutely inimitable Mediterranean scent in cooking, of course, but also in aromatherapy. However, rosemary is also one of the raw materials that has been used for the longest time in perfumes. Hungary Water gave it pride of place, and woody, citrus or fougère men's fragrances continue to let us breathe in its scents. Rosemary is therefore a key aromatic plant in men's perfumery, but it has also become a natural raw material greatly appreciated by women in recent years.

Hungary Water and rosemary

The many virtues of rosemary, as well as its remarkable olfactory qualities, have been known since the 14th century, and perhaps even well before! According to reliable sources, history tells us that the elderly and ailing Queen of Hungary became acquainted with a miraculous perfume, a gift from a monk to relieve her rheumatism. The Queen, aged 72, was enchanted by this rosemary perfume, which restored her former beauty and freshness. According to the story, this perfume is said to have helped her win the heart of the Prince of Poland, no less!
Thus the decoction made from flowering rosemary branches was named in memory of this Queen: Hungary Water. It was famous for decades for its divine scent as well as its virtues, until the day the famous Eaux de Cologne came to replace it, or rather one should say complement it. Today, fragrances based on rosemary are numerous; nevertheless, the house of Fragonard, attached to this lovely tradition, decided to release a new fragrance that reproduces this Hungary Water in every respect: “l’Eau de Hongrie”.

Aromatic notes and rosemary in modern perfumes

In perfumery, rosemary belongs to the family of aromatic notes, or fougère-like notes. This olfactory family has been well known for centuries as the basis for the creation of the famous Eaux de Cologne. Today, as the Eau de Cologne has become somewhat old-fashioned, aromatic notes appear mainly in men's fragrance ranges.
Aromatic notes, particularly those produced from rosemary, create very dynamic scents. As a result, they are typically associated with a very virile or very sporty range of fragrances. One of the first men's fragrances designed entirely around the aromatic note, “Pour un homme”, was created in 1934 by D’Altdorf. “Pour un homme” brings together, around a single citrus, aromatic and woody juice, a divinely invigorating blend that greatly pleased men.

While today men have clearly claimed aromatic notes for their citrus or spicy fragrances, some creators have dared to launch women's fragrances within this same type of range. Thus Diptyque sought to innovate in 1975 by offering a fragrance with clearly aromatic notes while remaining feminine with “L’Eau Trois”, which delicately distills rosemary, of course, but also thyme, laurel and marjoram. As current trends in perfumery are clearly evolving toward a return to natural raw materials, it is a safe bet that our noses will still have some wonderful rosemary surprises in store!