Lancôme’s “Domaine de la rose” is located 10 minutes from our gites www.locations-06.fr in Grasse, the world’s perfume capital.
The LANCOME brand, part of the international L’Oréal group, is the first in the cosmetics sector to invest in the cradle of French perfumery, Grasse, to have its own fields of flowers.
In fact, other brands such as Chanel and Dior buy some of their flowers via partnerships with local farmers, or via members of associations such as Fleurs d’exception, whose farmers are based in the 06 and 83 regions of France. Unlike Lancôme, which has its own team of farmers.
As soon as you arrive at the Domaine, you’ll notice an architecture that differs from that of other estates: here, no large 18th-century farmhouse, but a building where everything is innovative. The building is sober and contemporary: the façade and terrace are pink, evoking the petals of a flower; the entrance door is round, like Lancôme’s O; part of the building is underground; a Canadian well ensures that the temperature is always just right; and huge bay windows create large frescoes of living nature.
Secondly, everything has been designed to make it a place where perfumery can be passed on, thanks in particular to a distillery and an educational perfume organ.
This large agricultural estate with over 10,000 rosebushes, mainly centifolia roses and a few white perpetual roses, irises, immortelle plants, lavender, olive and sour orange trees is truly a beautiful, well-kept countryside, with pretty terraces, a watering basin and many stone paths. The soil is mulched to retain moisture and prevent weeds.
The tour includes a visit to the fields, an explanation of the history of perfumery, an explanation of perfume, the brand, the plants, the natural and unnatural scents, and the perfumer’s perfume organ, so time flies.
If you too would like to visit this exceptional site, located just 9kms from our gites www.locations-06.fr, you can book directly on the Lancôme website.
The visit is free, and they even give you lovely postcards of the estate and a rose-scented candle at the end of the tour.
There’s no store here to encourage you to make a purchase… This is Lancôme.
