Welcome to Robert Tisserand's space. Robert will be contributing regular articles of interest for this area of the website which we hope you enjoy reading. This month Robert discusses 'Wild Rose & Lemon Leaf'

Wild Rose & Lemon Leaf
Of all flowers, the rose is probably the most written about, the most coveted, and the most praised. It is also a ubiquitous botanical symbol of spirituality in religious culture. There are more than 5,000 varieties of roses, yet only a few are processed for their fragrance. Roses have a long history of use in perfumery, cosmetics and medicine, and were first distilled for their essential oil in Persia in the 10th century.

I created the Wild Rose & Lemon Leaf blend because I wanted to embrace the therapeutic benefits of essential oils for women, and at the same time create a feminine fragrance. Rose and geranium are said to be helpful for balancing female hormones, and both rose and clary sage, applied in a massage oil, were successfully used in a clinical trial for period pain. Rose oils and absolutes also have mood-lifting effects: soothing fraught emotions, bringing joy to the heart, banishing fear and melancholy.

Wild Rose & Lemon Leaf has the following ingredients and properties:

• Calming/reduces anxiety (geranium, rose geranium, lemon essence, rose bourbonia, copaiba, patchouli, sandalwood)



• Emotionally uplifting (pink grapefruit, jasmine, rose de mai absolute, clary sage)



• Antioxidant/radical scavenging (lemon leaf, jasmine, patchouli, sandalwood)



• Protective (lemon myrtle, palmarosa)

I originally started work on a rose blend in June 2001, and did not finish until September 2007. An important moment in developing the blend was remembering, one day, that I had several different types of roses blooming in my garden, and going out to smell them, armed with clipboard and pen. This encounter led to the introduction of two ingredients, both important in the top-note of the blend.

In terms of getting the ingredients right, the biggest turn-around came in April 2006, on discovering rose bourbonia absolute, and finding that it worked really well, and that rose otto wasn't working at all. This was a reminder for me not to have fixed ideas. A rose blend without rose otto? Unthinkable.

The absolute of Rosa bourbonia, which is produced only in India, has an elegant, rich fragrance reminiscent of blackberries or a full-bodied red wine. The fragrance of Rose de Mai absolute is clear and sweet, with notes of pale honey and heady green earth. Also known as Provence rose, it was created by crossing Rosa centifolia with Rosa gallica. Rosa gallica is a spontaneous wild species in France, and natural populations of Rosa gallica still remain in certain areas.

I can't take full credit for the idea of the lemon twist. I had contacted Anya McCoy, a natural perfumer in Florida, and sent her the blend as it was then. When I asked her what she would advise as an ingredient to help lift the top note, she suggested lemon myrtle. (Anya is also president of the Natural Perfumer's Guild, of which I am a member.)

Lemon myrtle appealed, since lemony essential oils in general fit the bill in terms of aromatherapy benefits for women's health, although it was lemon leaf oil (for which I can take full credit!) that finally brought everything together.

Rose is the perfect vehicle for combining female health and fragrance. Wild Rose & Lemon Leaf is neither simply an aromatherapy blend, nor simply a fragrance, it's both, and it's 100% natural. Unlike most aromatherapy blends, it has distinct top, middle and base notes, encompassing the radiance and evolving scent of a fragrance. And, as a natural fragrance, it doesn't have the cloying sweetness characteristic of synthetic perfumes, rose or otherwise.