At Electimuss, we choose to work with suppliers who share our values – and dedication to the highest quality. Our collaborations with IFF perfumers, such as master perfumer, Julien Rasquinet, (the nose behind our latest launch Gladiator Oud, and upcoming launch Aquila Absolute), offer us access to the exquisite materials from LMR Naturals (LMR).
Founded in 1983 by Monique Remy, LMR (Laboratoire Monique Remy) dedicated itself to developing the highest standard of natural ingredients for fragrance creation.
By working in close collaboration with local growers, LMR Naturals provide support, training, and financial incentives for the producers to maintain their crops – leading to the finest quality natural materials available to perfumers. This knowledge and training also helps farmers to produce consistent results from the extraction of their natural materials, by replicating the ideal growing conditions for the plants to produce the aromatic compounds that make them smell so incredible.
In the same way as single vineyard fine wines and champagnes, single cask spirits, and specialist independent food producers result in exceptional distinctive quality products appreciated by connoisseurs, farming and extracting small scale creates highly prized natural perfume oils with distinctive and unique olfactory qualities.
INNOVATION & CREATIVITY
Working closely with growers enables LMR to produce beautiful extracts, but not only that, they are able to create unique and innovative naturals that recover molecules that would otherwise be lost to the distillation process. Another innovation at LMR is to create ‘coeur’ (or heart) fractions that contain only the most desirable elements of the raw material. This opens up the creativity of perfumers, allowing them to use these materials in new ways and enhance specific facets of them in their fragrances.
RESPONSIBILITY & SUSTAINABILITY
Based in Grasse, and working in partnership with farmers around the world and ensuring, LMR works with their growers to improve lives and nature wherever they work. This unique way of working guarantees long term partnerships, offering a fair price to the growers and farmers – these relationships mean that every step in the supply chain is transparent and traceable, responsibly sourcing raw materials by ensuring the farmers are able to make a living and helping alleviate fears of fluctuations in crop productions.
IFF acquired LMR in 2000, continuing Monique Remy’s legacy and maintaining the high standards she set – working to source sustainable and innovative raw materials from all corners of the globe.
CHOOSE THE BEST
Electimuss is a portmanteau from Latin translating as “to choose the best”. In our dedication to create opulent and outstanding luxury perfumes we work with master perfumers and seek the finest ingredients for all our perfumes.
The unique LMR way of working ensures highly qualitative raw materials, with consistent scent across batches and harvests, and distinctive nuances only found in the extracts produced by LMR.
LMR’s dedication to quality comes with a premium value, meaning that use of these beautiful materials is restricted to the finest niche and luxury perfumes such as Gladiator Oud and our upcoming launch Aquila Absolute.
The unique fragrance profiles of the LMR oils we use in some Electimuss perfumes are outlined below.
LMR NATURAL OILS IN AQUILA ABSOLUTE
Highly aromatic, supremely fresh and incredibly bright, Cardamom oil is known for its cool spiciness. The quality produced by LMR has a green, effervescent and metallic top note, with a hint of fruitiness in the back – and is by far the most powerful of all cardamom oils distilled for perfumery.
Sourced from Guatemala, LMR have been working exclusively with the same two growers and suppliers for decades – known for their expertise and dedication to quality. Usually reserved for the culinary world, cardamom from Guatemala is renowned for its impressive quality. LMR’s partners insist on distilling the seeds between November and February, after drying for sufficient time for the essential oil content to reach its peak. Dedicated to a win-win relationship with partners, LMR pays a premium for this exclusive relationship, ensuring that locals earn the best prices for their cardamom.
Turkish Rose is known for its rich, velvety character. The Rose Absolute produced by LMR in Turkey also contains an intensely spicy character, hints of green, and less of the fruitiness which some other absolutes are known for. It adds an intensity and depth to Aquila Absolute that is unlike other rose absolutes.
LMR’s unique quality has been perfected over decades, through a long-term partnership with Isparta’s most respected suppliers, Ercetin. Through their practices, they have been able to optimize harvest and storage practices, as well as reduce water and energy consumption in the local distilleries. Signing 10 year contracts with the local farmers replaced the typical and inconsistent spot buying method in the region, which has given consistent incomes to the farmers and their families, instead of seasonal spikes.
An innovative fraction of Patchouli oil, Patchouli Coeur No3 requires a secondary distillation of the oil to produce a quality of patchouli with unique characteristics and odour profile – slightly smoky, earthy and woody, but with a fresh and even slightly fruity apple top note. The impact on formulations is a clear, bright patchouli effect, perfectly employed in Aquila Absolute.
The fully integrated patchouli sourcing in Indonesia provides farmers and distillers with training to promote the most effective agricultural practices, respecting the environment and restoring biodiversity, as well as a guaranteed income.
Sourced in Spain, Labdanum Resinoid LMR is entirely unique to all other labdanum qualities. Most Labdanum offers rich, ambery and leathery aspects to a scent, while the LMR quality also has hints of tobacco, liquorice and plum, bringing spicy and fruity effects to Aquila Absolute.
Working with a trusted local supplier in Andalusia to produce a clean and sustainable harvest, rather than the typically destructive and environmentally damaging methods employed previously. LMR have worked with the local producer to automate the gum resin collection process, creating an absolute that is more respectful of the planet and the local people.
Violet Leaf is typically used for its leathery aspects, which it brings to Aquila Absolute, but the extract produced by LMR is uniquely nuanced and faceted, adding a delicate freshness and cool floralcy to the scent. It is notable for its floral cassie and mimosa notes, sweet honey and buttery warmth, as well as a marine and mossy dry down, not typically found in other violet leaf extracts.
Sourced through LMR’s partnership with the Hashem brothers in Egypt – established in 2013, and continuing to this day. LMR offered a commitment on price and volume, providing financial security to the producers – and as most of the employees are women, promoting women’s empowerment and financial independence. By dealing directly with farmer-producers, the supply chain is entirely traceable, and ensures a better price is paid directly to the farmers themselves.
LMR NATURAL OILS IN GLADIATOR OUD
This fabulous quality of Oud is used in Gladiator Oud. Painstakingly tending to the Aquilaria trees, tending to them as they are infected to produce their fragrant resin results in an oil that has an intense, sweet, and animalic quality to it, which has a unique vanillic and resinous ambery facet.
These qualities make it the perfect candidate for bringing a powerful and commanding presence to Gladiator Oud.
This oud is produced through a long-term partnership with a family business that own and manage four forests, an important asset in controlling the quality and origin of the Oud oil, and consistency between batch distillations. IFF LMR have been able to work with the family to improve their quality of life, investing time and money into the local population, and undertaking social and charitable initiatives to help local people suffering from extreme poverty and disease without needing to exploit their natural resources.
By finding the best agricultural conditions to grow the geranium, as well as recovering as much of otherwise lost fractions of geranium oil, the quality of LMR’s Egyptian Geranium is unique – and the finest oil produced for perfumery. It is a fresh, bright geranium oil with an incredibly minty top note unique to this quality, as well as aspects of herbal greenery, lychee and rose. It is used to add freshness and herbal sweetness to Gladiator Oud.
The For Life social responsibility certification from Ecocert is a mark of distinction, awarded only to the most sustainable practices in farming and production. LMR work in partnership with the Hashem brothers in Egypt to produce this unique Geranium oil.
Hay absolute is intensely warm, with an almost golden tobacco quality and sun-drenched richness to it. A key component of the main accord of Gladiator Oud, it represents the bales of hay found in the gladiatorial arena.
IFF LMR Hay absolute is produced in a natural grassland, at 1200 meters altitude in the Aubrac region of France. It is collected and naturally dried, then extracted at a purpose-built factory just 20km from the field – guaranteeing the quality and traceability of every drop of absolute. This also ensures the freshness and exquisite quality of the absolute, extracted at exactly the right moment to preserve its most desirable olfactive qualities.
Immortelle absolute smells caramelised and maple-like, with dried tobacco and hay facets as well as spicy nuances. The growing conditions in the Balkans make for an especially faceted and rich quality of Immortelle. It works in perfect harmony with LMR Hay absolute to produce a sweet and golden aspect to Gladiator Oud, adding to the complexity of the scent.
LMR partnered with Live Natural, a woman-led organic producer and cultivator of immortelle based in the south of Serbia (as well as lavender and rose) who share the principles of sustainability, transparency and most importantly, quality. Working with local farmers as well as their own plantation, the founder is dedicated to preserving and improving the environment as well as the local community, supported in partnership with IFF LMR.
LMR’s patchouli oil is amongst the most exquisite produced in the fragrance industry – earthy, rich, dark, with facets of camphor and licorice, it captures all the scents of the forest in one oil. Utilising this particular quality in Gladiator Oud for its intrigue and depth of character, providing a shadow and contrast to the fragrance.
Patchouli has multiple challenges in production, where farmers in Indonesia are often incentivised to grow other crops for higher but short-term returns. This often results in global shortages of patchouli oil. To safeguard a consistent supply of high-quality patchouli oil, LMR has created a contract system with farmers and distillers, buying directly from the distilleries in Indonesia. This reduces the number of steps in the supply chain and provides better traceability, puts more money in the hands of the local population, and allows LMR and its partner to provide training, safety equipment, and assistance in the best agricultural practices whilst respecting the environment.
Vetiver Haiti has a richly earthy, fresh grapefruit, soft ginger, peanut shell, and subtly smoky scent to it – working in Gladiator Oud as a link between the oud, patchouli and hay notes whilst also providing longevity and richness. IFF LMR Vetiver Haiti is preferred by many fine fragrance perfumers for its complexity and odour profile, which provides delicate floralcy unique to their quality.
Establishing an integrated sourcing partnership with Unikode in Haiti, IFF LMR gain exclusive access to plant materials and extraction equipment in the country itself, saving the wasted carbon of shipping the vetiver root to France for processing. The partnership has resulted in improving the production techniques and extraction processes locally, investing in equipment and improving environmental practice. The vetiver produced through this relationship is certified organic and gained the For Life certification from Ecocert.
The partnership also gives long term revenue sources for vetiver production, allowing local farmers to save and develop entrepreneurship skills. Working with the local community to develop nurseries, improve access to potable water, The platform also empo
Accordion Content
Discover these amazing extracts and raw materials in Gladiator Oud and Aquila Absolute. To discover even more about the extraction techniques and sustainability practices used in producing the raw materials, we suggest the beautiful Nez notebooks.
