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Periwinkle

Q: Is Periwinkle natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: Not extracted for perfumery. Periwinkle flowers have no viable aromatic yield. Fantasy accord built from green and aquatic synthetics..

FLOWERS / floral · green · fresh

Periwinkle

Category	FLOWERS
Subcategory	floral · green · fresh
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Vinca minor
Appearance	N/A — headspace-derived olfactory note
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	Europe, North America
Pyramid	Heart

Green, watery-fresh, and softly floral. Periwinkle smells less of its petals than of its habitat -- shaded ground, cool moisture, and the green of creeping vines.

Scent
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Green, watery, and cool. Not a detectable flower scent. Like kneeling in a shaded garden where periwinkle covers the ground -- the smell is of crushed stems, damp earth, cool moisture, and a barely perceptible floral sweetness. A habitat more than a flower.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Cool, green, watery. Crushed stems and damp shade.

After a few hours

The watery element fades. Soft, green-herbal warmth remains.

After a few days

A faint, green trace. Light and ephemeral.

The Full Story

Periwinkle (Vinc a min or, Vinc a maj or) is a creeping persistent ground cover native to Europe, with small violet-blue to lavender flowers. The plant has virtually no detectable scent from its flowers -- periwinkle is one of many ornamental plants valued for appearance rather than fragrance.

In perfumery, the periwinkle note is a fantasy accord that captures the atmospheric quality of the plant's habitat: shaded forest floor, cool damp earth, creeping green vines, and a suggestion of small, delicate flowers.

Perfumers reconstruct this using green-leaf materials (cis-3-hexenol, violet leaf absolute traces), watery-fresh elements (aquatic molecules at low levels), and a subtle, clean floral whisper (muguet or violet-like materials). The result carries shade, coolness, and quiet growth.

In a composition, periwinkle sits in the top-to-heart range. It provides a naturalistic, woodland-floor freshness.

This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Did You Know?

Did you know?

Vinca minor contains vincristine and vinblastine, two alkaloids that became revolutionary chemotherapy drugs after their discovery in the 1950s. They disrupt cell division by binding to tubulin, and they remain essential in treating childhood leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: Not extracted for perfumery. Periwinkle flowers have no viable aromatic yield. Fantasy accord built from green and aquatic synthetics.

Molecular Formula	N/A — complex natural mixture
CAS Number	N/A — natural flower (no standard essential oil)
Botanical Name	Vinca minor
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	Vinca, Myrtle, Bluebell
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	N/A — headspace-derived olfactory note

In Perfumery

Top-to-heart note in green, woodl and, and shade-garden compositions. Functions as a cool, damp-green atmospheric element. Built from green-leaf materials, watery-fresh accords, and subtle clean florals. carries shade and quiet growth.