Why Grasse Is at the Heart of the World of Fragrance
There are few places in the world as closely associated with perfume as Grasse.
Set in the South of France, Grasse and the surrounding Pays de Grasse have become synonymous with the art of fragrance, with a history that stretches back centuries.
A heritage built around plants
The region's perfume heritage is closely connected with the cultivation of fragrant plants and the specialist knowledge that developed around them.
Over generations, expertise grew around cultivating perfume plants, processing natural raw materials and, of course, the art of fragrance creation itself.
In 2018, UNESCO recognised the skills related to perfume in Pays de Grasse as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
From botanical ingredients to perfume
Of course, creating a beautiful fragrance involves much more than finding individual ingredients that smell wonderful.
Perfumery is about understanding materials, their individual characteristics, how they behave together and how they can be balanced to create something entirely new.
It's a combination of creativity, knowledge and technical skill that has been refined over generations.
Why Grasse still matters
Perfumery has changed enormously over the years. Modern perfumers now have an extraordinary palette of both natural and synthetic fragrance materials available to them, but Grasse remains one of the world's most important centres of fragrance knowledge and expertise.
For us, that makes our connection with Grasse particularly special.
From Grasse to Britain
Heyland & Whittle is proudly British made, but today our story also has a French chapter.
Our connection with Grasse gives us access to generations of fragrance knowledge and expertise, while our products continue to be made here in Britain.
It brings together two things that matter enormously to us: beautiful fragrance and British craftsmanship.
Bringing fragrance into the home
A fragrance can do far more than simply make a room smell nice.
It can change the atmosphere of a space, remind us of a person or place, signal the changing seasons or bring back a memory we'd almost forgotten.
That's ultimately what we want our candles and reed diffusers to do.
From Grasse to your home
There can be an extraordinary amount of work behind something as seemingly simple as a beautiful scent – from the original idea and the materials selected by the perfumer through to testing it in the finished candle or diffuser.
Most of that work is invisible by the time the product reaches your home.
But perhaps that's part of the magic of fragrance.
