Grasse - the perfume captial of the world

A few weeks ago I visited the town of Grasse in the South of France – a veritable mecca for a fragrance junkie like myself. It is considered to be the world capital of perfume and did not disappoint!

Historically Grasse was known for leather tanning during the middle ages, however the unpleasant smell of the leather was not exactly desirable amongst the glove-wearing gentry. Galimard, a tanner in Grasse came up with the ingenious idea of scented leather gloves, an idea which quickly spread amongst high society, thus giving Grasse its worldwide reputation.

Why is Grasse so special? Partly due to its geographical situation in the hills. It has a unique climate which is perfect for growing flowers such as lavender, myrtle, jasmine, rose, orange blossom and wild mimosa – amongst some of the most expensive essences.

There are 3 major perfume houses which have been in Grasse for hundreds of years – Galimard, Molinard and Fragonard. As we were limited on time, we only visited one of the smaller museums: the Fragonard Perfumery. It has 2 properties in Grasse and we visited the modern one just outside the town centre. 

 

We had a short tour which showed us various aspects of the perfume process –from extracting floral essences to highlighting how fragrance is a true art form. People qualified as “Noses” formulate fragrances, and there are only around 50 qualified Noses in the world. To qualify they must apply for a course (only eligible to those who show a natural aptitude) and then study for 10 years. Noses work for various fragrance houses to create and blend – leaving ‘recipes’ for the factories to follow in producing them.

 

 

For more information visit www.fragonard.com – there are some lovely sections detailing the history of perfume and also the various techniques.

Like any good tour, we ended in the gift shop!  However this wasn’t your usual gift-shop experience. Our tour guide took us to a counter full of perfumes (cue my heart racing) and we spent a good half an hour spraying and sniffing, whilst learning how different fragrances suit different people. “This fragrance is good for blondes” the guide asserted… how does that work??

The make-up of our skin is different according to our colouring and our skin reacts differently to the different families of scent. Meaning the same perfume can smell totally different from person to person.

The best part about visiting Fragonard (& Grasse in general) is that you are able to buy quality perfumes direct from the factory, at a fraction of the usual retail cost. They maintain the importance of the fragrance itself rather than the packaging. You really feel like you are getting down to the true nature of a perfume, completely unaffected by its branding or supposed fashion-status. If you have a good nose you might even be able to decipher familiar scents that usually appear under luxury brand names.

Their Parfum comes in simple gold bottles - specially designed to keep the scents ‘good’ for 7 years. I am the type of person who could literally stand in a perfume department for HOURS smelling everything so I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to be let loose in there! It goes without saying that I came away with quite a few to add to my collection and I pretty much had to be dragged out on my heels.

For anyone visiting the French Riviera I would definitely recommend you take a trip to Grasse and experience the true essence of fragrance. If you weren’t obsessed before, you will be after.