Lavender Absolute

Lavandula angustifolia · Lamiaceae

Absolute Readily Available

Odour

Very rich, sweet-herbaceous, somewhat floral odor; in dilution, it bears a close resemblance to the odor of the flowering lavender shrubs. Its woody-herby undertone and coumarin-like sweetness duplicate the odor of the botanical material far better than does the essential oil. The absolute is sweeter but less floral than the essential oil.

Blends well with

coumarin dodecanal flouve geraniol and esters heptalactone labdanum nitromusks oakmoss patchouli pine needle oils sage clary salicylates terpinyl propionate vetiver

See also

Used as a blend partner in

Celery Seed Oleoresin Maté Absolute Nutmeg Extract

Notes

Contains about 90% linalool and linalylacetate. A partially decolorized version is available but uncommon, olive-green or yellow in color with somewhat different odor. Lavender Absolute from Distillation Water is also available but rare, more haylike and less sweet.

Full Arctander text
#### Lavender Absolute from Concrète. **Lavender**** ****Absolute**** **is prepared by alcohol extraction of the lavender concrète, chilling of the alcoholic solution and filtration and subsequent removal of the solvent in vacuum. **Lavender**** **Absolute is produced almost exclusively in France. Smaller quantities are produced in Italy. Lavender absolute is a dark green, viscous liquid of very rich, sweet-herbaceous, somewhat floral odor; in dilution, it bears a close resemblance to the odor of the flowering lavender shrubs. Its woody-herby undertone and coumarin-like sweetness duplicate the odor of the botanical material far better than does the essential oil. The absolute is sweeter but less floral than the essential oil, and the two materials can form a very pleasant combination. However, one cannot replace the other in compounding. Chemically, the difference between the essential oil and the absolute seems surprisingly small in percentage. The absolute contains almost an equal amount of linalool and linalylacetate (or other linalyl esters), these materials constituting about 90°/ of the oil. Typical notes in the absolute are probably derived from coumarin, umbelliferone and their derivatives, most of which are non-distillable with steam. Also linalyl esters of non-volatile acids. Although most of the umbelliferone-ethers are odorless, they may play important roles as fixatives or stabilizers in the absolute. **Lavender**** ****Absolute**** ****is**** **used in citrus-colognes, chypres, fougères, new-mown-hay bases, forest notes, etc. It blends well with labdanum, oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli, pine needle oils, coumarin, heptalactone, terpinyl propionate, geraniol and esters, sage clary, dodecanal, flouve, nitromusks, salicylates, etc. A partially decolorized **Lavender**** ****Absolute**** **has been prepared directly from the green lavender concrète. These absolutes are available, but not very common items. They are olive-green or yellow in color, and the odor is somewhat different from that of the green absolute. **Lavender**** ****Absolute**** ****from**** ****Distillation**** ****Water**** **is also available, but it is a comparatively rare item. Its odor is distinctly different from that of the absolute from concrète: it is more haylike, less sweet, less floral. It is usually a mobile liquid, pale yellow in color. It finds use as a "rounder-off" and modifier in certain new-nown-hay perfumes of the more modern type, in herbaceous bases, and in the duplication of certain flower absolutes and essential oils.