Roger & Gallet, Heliotrope Blanc, 'White Heliotrope', 40 ml. or 1.4 oz. Flacon, Parfum Extrait, 1925, Paris, France ..

Roger & Gallet is a French perfume house founded by Charles Armand Roger and Charles Martial Gallet in 1862. The history of this house actually begins many years before the company was founded.

In 1695 Giovanni Paolo Feminis 'invents' aqua mirabilis. In 1806 Jean-Marie Farina inherits the formula and opens a perfumery in rue du Faubourg-St-Honore. In 1840 he sells the business to Leonce Collas of Goet et Rifflard, who in 1862 transfers it to his two cousins, Armand Roger and Charles Gallet. They changed the company name to Roger et Gallet.

The company made a name for itself with its luxurious bath soaps, which in 1879 first appeared in their signature round shape, with the crinkled silk paper and seal which are still in use today. In the 21st century, the company maintains its tradition of fragrances based on rare plants and essential oils, in chic and distinctive packaging that recalls the Art Deco era. Roger & Gallet now offers a line of perfumes, scented body products and candles, in a variety of scents for men and women. One of these most famous soaps was and still is Œillet Mignardise, a perennial treasure for all discerning French bathrooms.

Heliotropin was discovered in 1869 by Fittig and Mielk who synthesised it and thus made the ‘sweet cherry pie' note of the Héliotrope flower, for which it is named, available to perfumers for the first time .. it was already in use in fragrances by the early 1880s.

Heliotropine occurs naturally in a range of botanicals including dill, violet flowers, black pepper and others and is used for vanilla or almond accords to bring a balsamic character and also has powdery, floral aspects. Despite having acquired the name heliotropine for its similar scent to that of the Héliotrope flower this chemical does not itself appear in the flower scent and so cannot be extracted from those flowers. The perfume has a sparkling quality, amazing for its age, and has notes of Lemon, Bergamot, Lilac, and Almond.

Offered here is wonderful old flacon of this absolutely charming and sweet perfume. It took me a while to get it open, but when I did, I was bowled over by the lovely heliotrope fragrance. Still fresh after all these years, and so feminine and lovely! Super rare ..