Molinard, Essence Lavande, Lavender Essence, 30 ml. or 1 oz. Flacon, Lavender Extract, 1820, 1940, Paris, France ..

The Maison Molinard was founded in 1849 in Grasse, Provence, in the south of France, cradle of the world's perfume industry. It has remained an entirely family-run business to this day, and is also the oldest of its kind. At that time, Molinard produced floral waters and Eaux de Cologne, which it sold in its "little shop" in the town centre. In 1891, Queen Victoria stayed at Grasse, and bought Eaux de Cologne there.

In 1900, the company moved into an old perfume factory, where the distillery structure was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Molinard is still there today. A typical Provençal showroom was set up, and its first customers were wealthy foreigners from England and Russia. They came to admire its magnificent collection of 17th and 18th century furniture, and buy Molinard eaux de Cologne together with all its floral fragrances.

Lavender production in Grasse, France, transformed from wild harvesting by local peasants into an essential pillar of the world-renowned Grasse perfume industry during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Lavender production has Medieval beginnings. Lavender grew wild across Provence and was cultivated in monastery gardens. It also has strong connections to the French tanneries. In the Middle Ages, Grasse was famous for leather processing and for creating pungent scented leather gloves rather than fragrances.

Glove makers began scenting leather with botanical extracts, leading tanners to hire local perfumers and sparking an independent fragrance trade. There was significant commercial expansion during the 18th-century, when a huge surge in production occurred. The creation of the master perfumers corporation in Grasse in 1759 established the town as a major processing hub for lavender and perfume. Impoverished rural families and shepherds gathered wild lavender from rocky, uncultivable hills to sell as raw material to urban perfumers.

Surging global demand for natural essential oils turned wild gathering into systematic, large-scale agricultural cultivation across Provence. Cultivation expanded into higher-altitude plateaus. Although heavy lavender farming largely moved to areas like Sault and the Valensole Plateau, Grasse remains globally celebrated as the historic catalyst for Provencal perfume production.

Offered here is a fabulous bottle of the purest lavender essence I've ever come across. It smells divine, is very concentrated, and a tiny drop goes a long way.

This Essence is soft and sweet .. beautiful !!