Violet Leaf "Superior" Absolute

VIOLET LEAF "SUPERIOR" ABSOLUTE

Manufacturer: PAYAN BERTRAND

Botanical name: Viola odorata L.

Plant part: Leaves

Country of origin: Egypt

Country of manufacturing: Grasse, France

Extraction method: Solvent extraction

DESCRIPTION

Violet Leaf Absolute is a natural material of great interest to artistic perfumery, obtained from the leaves of Viola odorata cultivated in Egypt and processed by Payan Bertrand in Grasse, the historic French house specialising in the transformation of natural raw materials for perfumery.

Unlike the floral violet note, primarily associated with ionones and a powdery, talc-like character, the leaf develops a radically more green, humid, vegetal, and leafy profile. The Egyptian absolute has a distinctive intensity and pronounced facet reminiscent of freshly crushed leaves, green sap, and cucumber peel, accompanied by delicate floral and aquatic nuances. In the drydown, warmer, musky, and subtly leathery facets may emerge.

The production of the absolute generally involves an initial extraction of the botanical material to obtain the concrete, followed by a purification phase using ethyl alcohol. This process concentrates the odorous components of the leaf while preserving the complexity characteristic of the natural material.

From an olfactory perspective, it is a powerful, distinctive, and highly recognisable raw material, capable of introducing a sensation of fresh, humid vegetation into a composition that is difficult to achieve with a single synthetic molecule.

PERFUMERY

Violet Leaf Absolute is particularly valuable when creating or enhancing a realistic green accord, especially in compositions where the sensation of leaf, stem, and fresh vegetation needs to feel natural and three-dimensional.

It can be used in green floral accords, where it creates a bridge between flowers and vegetation, preventing the bouquet from becoming excessively sweet or abstract. It works beautifully alongside rose, jasmine, tuberose, and mimosa, adding a fresher, more natural, and subtly humid dimension. It is also well suited to orris and violet accords, particularly when exploring the green side of violet rather than the powdery character associated with ionones.

Its aquatic and cucumber-like character makes it particularly effective in fresh, aquatic, and ozonic accords, where it can help make marine or watery effects feel more natural and less abstract.

In chypre, fougère, and woody compositions, it introduces a dark and sophisticated vegetal facet that can be developed alongside musks, patchouli, vetiver, cedarwood, oakmoss, and other green raw materials.

It is also particularly interesting in leathery and woody accords, where its subtly earthy and leathery evolution creates a natural transition between the green top and heart notes and the base.

From a formulation perspective, Violet Leaf works well both as a characterising material, when the green theme needs to be immediately recognisable, and in small quantities as a modifier, adding greater realism, depth, and complexity to an accord.

Also available at 10% in Natural TEC for easier dosing and improved diffusion.

Olfactory family: Green