What is honeysuckle?
Honeysuckle, also called Lonicera in Latin, is a beautiful and fragrant climbing plant known for its enchanting flowers and characteristic fragrance. It seems that we humans always marvel at how honeysuckle smells. Its flowers are usually white or yellow and emit an intensely sweet scent that wafts through the air on hot summer days. Honeysuckle is a popular ornamental plant in gardens around the world and its fragrance often attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
What does honeysuckle smell like?
What does honeysuckle smell like to you? What people say about the way honeysuckle smells is that it is seductive and enchanting, with a sweet and floral character that attracts people and pollinators alike. The scent of honeysuckle is intense and lively, with top notes radiating a fresh and fruity scent of flowers and citrus. The heart notes reveal a more complex and seductive sweetness, while the base notes provide a lasting presence of honeysuckle's distinctive scent profile and leave an enchanting aftertaste.
Top notes of honeysuckle
- The top notes of honeysuckle carry a sweet and fruity scent that resembles a seductive blend of honey and citrus.
- These initial notes exude a freshness that entices and seduces the nose with its light and refreshing feel.
- The citrus notes add a subtle sharpness that complements the sweeter nature of the honeysuckle scent, providing a balanced and inviting introduction to its aromatic journey.
Heart notes of honeysuckle
- As the scent of honeysuckle develops, its heart notes emerge with intense and floral tones.
- These floral notes are rich and sensual, with a seductive character that captures the attention and entices the senses.
- Honeysuckle's heart notes are rich in florality and reveal a complex bouquet of flowers, whose enchanting scents create a sense of depth and richness.
Base notes of honeysuckle
- Finally, the honeysuckle base notes reveal a warmer and more earthy character.
- These base notes are soft and woody, with a lingering presence that adds a sense of stability and warmth to the honeysuckle scent profile.
- With its deep and warm tones, the honeysuckle base notes provide a relaxing and soothing atmosphere that deepens the experience of its seductive fragrance.
Honeysuckle in the lab
The scent of honeysuckle is determined by several different molecules found in its essential oils. Some of the main molecules that contribute to honeysuckle's scent profile include these naturally occurring molecules:
1. Benzyl Acetate: Gives a sweet and fruity scent, often associated with floral and fruity notes.
2. Linalool: Has a floral and citrusy scent with hints of lavender and citrus fruits.
3. Geraniol: Gives a rose-like fragrance and is often used in floral fragrances for its sweet and fruity character.
4. Methylanthranilate: Contributes to a fruity and sweet scent, often described as almond or marzipan-like.
5. Jasmine lactone: Gives a sweet and floral scent with hints of jasmine and honey.
What is honeysuckle used for?
Honeysuckle is primarily used for its enchanting scent and is a popular ingredient in the perfume industry and aromatherapy due to the way honeysuckle smells. The scent of honeysuckle is sweet and floral with undertones of honey and citrus, giving a feeling of freshness and well-being. Honeysuckle's fragrant flowers are also used to create beautiful and fragrant bouquets and decorative arrangements that can brighten up any room. But above all, perhaps the scent of honeysuckle is a piece of jewelry for the garden that also gives that extra something, just the scent.
This is how we are affected by honeysuckle
The scent of honeysuckle has been shown to have a number of positive effects on our well-being and mood. By promoting relaxation, reducing stress and increasing feelings of well-being, the scent of honeysuckle can help us create a calm and peaceful atmosphere in our homes and workplaces. In addition, the seductive scent of honeysuckle can evoke positive emotions and memories, making it an indispensable part of our everyday experience of fragrance and well-being.
The importance of honeysuckle for culture and summer
Honeysuckle has a special place in Swedish culture and is often associated with summer and joy due to its enchanting scent and charming appearance. During the summer months, its sweet and floral scent spreads a sense of joy and happiness in gardens, parks and natural environments all over the country. The scent of honeysuckle also has a poetic and romantic meaning and is associated with love, passion and beauty, and perhaps you are most reminded of honeysuckle in songs such as Summer and sun with Sven-Ingvars.
Watching Hajk brings back memories from childhood summers.
The history and use of honeysuckle in aromatherapy
In aromatherapy, honeysuckle essential oil has been used for its calming and relaxing properties. The scent of honeysuckle is considered to have a balancing effect on the mind and can help reduce stress, anxiety and tension. Historically, honeysuckle has had various uses, from being used in traditional medicine to relieve coughs and colds to being used to perfume rooms and clothes. The use of honeysuckle as an ornamental plant goes back a long way and has played a significant role in garden life and Swedish culture.
This is how Honeysuckle Absolu is produced
Honeysuckle absolue is produced through a process called enfleurage, which is a method of extracting fragrances from plants. It is a time-consuming process which is both historically rooted but which is also kind in order to take advantage of the delicate oil from honeysuckle.
1. Harvesting honeysuckle flowers: First, the honeysuckle flowers are harvested when they are in full bloom, usually during the spring or summer months when their fragrance is most concentrated.
2. Infusion in fat: The freshly harvested flowers are carefully laid out on a bed of fat, usually vegetable fat such as coconut oil or palm oil. The flowers are then allowed to infuse the fat for a period of time to transfer their aromatic compounds to the fat.
3. Repeating the process: After the flowers have infused the fat for some time, they are removed and replaced with new, fresh flowers. This is done several times to ensure that the fat absorbs as much of the honeysuckle scent as possible.
4. Extraction: After the enfleurage process is complete, the saturated fat undergoes an extraction to isolate the aromatic compounds. This can be done by using alcohol to extract the scents from the fat, resulting in an alcohol solution containing the scents of the honeysuckle.
5. Distillation: Finally, the alcoholic solution undergoes a distillation to remove the alcohol and concentrate the pure fragrances. This results in a concentrated form of honeysuckle's fragrance, called honeysuckle absolue, and can be used as an important ingredient in perfumes, cosmetics and aromatherapy products.
