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My father was a perfumer too, and I vividly remember one time, when he was about 80, walking him back to his garden at 1am. We both stopped in our tracks. There was this incredible scent of tuberose coming from the town, and jasmine from somewhere up high. The meeting of the two was like a fully formed perfume. He said he’d been experiencing that for 65 years, but every time it felt like a miracle.
— Read more in Perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud’s guide to Grasse at Financial Times.
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Last summer, Grasse faced extreme droughts, resulting in some producers losing nearly half of their harvest. High temperatures affect the future quality of roses and prohibit some flowers, such as tuberose, from growing. [Carole] Biancalana felt these impacts directly: this year, her tuberose harvest dropped by 40%.
— Read more in Climate crisis brings whiff of danger to French perfume capital at The Guardian.
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The heady aromas wafting from the fields were a daily part of my childhood; it's amazing to think that I was constantly surrounded by jasmine, rose and honeysuckle, to name a few. I miss those chilly days when we went picking branches of mimosa in the forest of Tanneron, filling the house with them—the absolute best, most intoxicating, gorgeous, fluffy scent. It was pure happiness.
— Perfumer Caroline Sabas on her childhood in Grasse. Read more in Profiles: Caroline Sabas at Perfumer & Flavorist.
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Owner of the Domaine de Manon which works with the Dior fashion house, [horticulturist Carole Biancalana] nonetheless told her seasonal workers they must wear a mask owing to the risk of catching the coronavirus. After two months of confinement, the gathering of rose petals began over a week ago and continues depending on the weather, under extra sanitary precautions. "Normally, everyone grabs a smock, we help each other out and go down the rows facing each other, we chat and it’s nice," Biancalana says. This year, each worker has a separate row and a personalised burlap bag to contain the risk of contamination, and only one person drives to a collection site where the pink petals tumble into extraction vats.
— Read more in Masks blossom among roses at French perfume capital at Premium Beauty News.
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[Chanel perfumer Olivier] Polge says he bears sustainability practices in mind “more than ever” when creating perfume. In the fields, there is the specific regeneration of bulbs – kept from one year to another (for tuberose, specifically), maintaining the water source with a specific irrigation system, while consumption is constantly monitored. In the Chanel factories, where essential oils are extracted via gentle steam distillation, sustainable energy sources are prioritised and monitored.
— Read more at From flower to fragrance: the craftsmanship of a Chanel perfume at Harper's Bazaar.