Labdanum cistus is a precious plant for the perfume industry, highly valued for its rich and resinous fragrance.
The word “cistus” comes from the Greek “kisté,” meaning “capsule,” referring to the shape of its fruits. A pyrophytic and invasive plant, it benefits from fire to multiply, colonizing the areas left bare by its passage. The heat left by the fire induces seed germination.
In antiquity, the Egyptians used labdanum for embalming the dead. The Greeks and Romans incorporated it into their religious and medicinal rituals. According to legend, the shepherds of Crete collected labdanum, which clung to the fur of their goats as they grazed on the cistus branches, contributing to the mythical origin of this precious resin. In the Middle Ages, cistus was known for its healing properties and used to treat various skin and respiratory infections. In perfumery, cistus is prized for its amber, resinous, and slightly animalic notes, adding depth and warmth to fragrance compositions.
Cistus in Perfumes
Labdanum cistus is also known as Cistus Ladaniferus L. or more poetically “the surgeon of the soul” or “the gum cistus.” It is a shrub characteristic of the Mediterranean maquis. It stands out with its white flowers and a height that can reach between 1 and 2 meters.
This shrub thrives in hot, dry climates, found in Crete, Cyprus, France (particularly in Corsica, the Esterel, and the Grasse region), Spain, and Morocco. Cistus has long lanceolate leaves and delicate white flowers, often adorned with fine purple veins at the center and a yellow heart.
Its branches are sticky and resinous, covered with fragrant resin, which is one of its most distinctive features.
Raw Materials from Cistus
Its blooming occurs from April to June, with the harvesting of its branches taking place from June to October, favored by heat and moderate humidity. The branches are the parts of the cistus used to obtain fragrant raw materials. However, the yield may significantly decrease if conditions are too dry.
Several raw materials are derived from Labdanum cistus, depending on the extraction technique used.
Cistus essential oil is obtained by steam distillation under pressure from cistus branches. To obtain 1 kilogram of cistus essential oil, around 1,600 kilograms of branches are needed.
The solvent extraction of cistus branches produces cistus concrete. This concrete can then be transformed into cistus absolute through ethanol extraction or into cistus SEV absolute by steam distillation. To obtain 1 kilogram of absolute, 30 kilograms of cistus branches are required, while 116 kilograms are needed for 1 kilogram of cistus SEV absolute.
Cistus branches are also used to produce labdanum gum. They are macerated in a mixture of water and sodium carbonate, then treated with sulfuric acid.
Ethanol extraction of this gum yields labdanum resinoid, while volatile solvent extraction produces labdanum concrete. This concrete can be transformed into light labdanum absolute by ethanol extraction.
Cistus, from the Perfumer’s Viewpoint
Labdanum cistus is an essential raw material with deep, warm, and amber notes. Its use varies depending on the product extracted, ranging from essential oils to absolutes and resinoids. Each raw material brings different and precious nuances to fragrance compositions.
Cistus essential oil presents top notes of terpenes, orange essence, aldehyde, zest, and caryophyllene, evolving into a very incense-like base.
Cistus absolute is distinguished by a very light, honeyed top note, with a base that remains honeyed and amber.
Cistus SEV absolute releases top notes of incense, warm, rich, and amber, with leathery and dry woody touches. Its base is powerful, animalic, leathery, resinous, with nuances of styrax and incense.
Labdanum resinoid offers light top nuances of cedarwood and dryness, with an amber, slightly animalic, and leathery labdanum base.
Finally, clear labdanum absolute combines resinous top notes of incense and honey, transforming into an amber, soft, almost vanillin base, with a persistent incense finish.
In perfumes, cistus is found in amber accords accompanied by vanilla and balsams (Peru, benzoin…) and in chypre accords with bergamot, lavender, patchouli, and oakmoss.
Some Perfumes around Cistus
- Mitsouko – Guerlain – 1919
- Eau de Hongrie – Fragonard – 1979
- Mystra – Aesop – 2006
- Labdanum 18 – Le Labo – 2006
- Ambre – Solinotes – 2010
- Bleu – Chanel – 2010
- L’Ambre des Merveilles – Hermès – 2012
- Click Song – Une Nuit Nomade – 2022
Anecdote :
The Labdanum Cistus – A Grasse Secret – From Trouser to Perfume (summarized from Maurice Brunetti’s book Parfums d’histoire).
In 1912, a native of Grasse, an inspector of “Water and Forests” in the Esterel area, which he knew like the back of his hand, would return home every evening in September with some resin stuck to the bottoms of his trousers. His wife complained, saying the smell was strong and that she couldn’t remove the residue or recover the trousers. She even imagined some romantic escapades in the brush, which displeased her loyal sailor husband, leading to an argument that lasted the rest of the evening. All because of a plant he called “the clingy one” or “the grabber.” He himself didn’t like the smell, which he had grown to despise by the end. To find out more, he decided to consult his son-in-law, who was the CEO of Lautier establishments in Grasse. The latter found the plant of great interest and asked him to keep it a secret. So, to avoid any gossip in Grasse, after conducting a steam distillation on some plant pieces and a solvent extraction on others, he had the results analyzed by a London laboratory. The answer came back: it was Labdanum Cistus.
Thus, the collection would be done secretly, with the cistus branches arriving in bags labeled as Labdanum from Beirut. Soon, the name Labdanum from Beirut became known in Grasse as an extraordinary perfume fixative, and many visitors and tourists arrived in Lebanon in search of this miraculous plant. However, there was nothing in Beirut!
As the Great War loomed, a perfume broker was mobilized in the Esterel to patrol as a gendarme. He recognized the scent of labdanum cistus while brushing against the shrubs and realized that someone had duped the entire profession. He quickly made the extractions and brought the cistus essence and absolute to market, which we know today.
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