Botanical Spotlight: Lily

Botanicals are the cornerstone of our passions here at CRANBOURN^®. We take our craft seriously, exploring the globe and immersing ourselves in different cultures to uncover new botanicals and evocative scents for our luxury fragrances.

In our Botanical Spotlight series, we will delve into the scientific, cultural and olfactory roots of the key botanicals from our fragrance collections.

The lily is a majestic, jubilant flower, often seen as the crowing delight of any bouquet with its instantly recognisable petals and pollen-filled orange stamens. Lilies are from the family Liliaceae, genus Lilium and species L. auratum and L. candidum. The striking perennials come in a varied palette of beautiful colours, and can often be found in gardens or arranged in florist’s bouquets.

A rare delight in the world of perfumery

Lilies have been both socially and culturally important for centuries.

They have been used in perfumery as long ago as the ancient Greco-Roman Egyptian period. The fragrant Madonna lily was used to create the ancient, high-valued ‘thousand lilies perfume’, or Susinon.

The rose scent is rare and expensive as the essential oil has to be extracted from the delicate petals via the enfleurage technique, or solvent extraction. As these techniques are not necessarily high-yielding, the lily essential oil is incredibly coveted and costly.

Bountiful benefits

Lily oil is used in aromatherapy, skincare and cosmetics due to its numerous health benefits.

When used in skincare products, it is both rejuvenating and nourishing, helping to tackle inflammation while soothing the skin. For that reason, it is popular in toners, facial masks and bath salt blends.

In aromatherapy, lily oil is soothing and can be used to help stabilise your emotions and lift your mood.

With its rich floral scent, it makes a wonderful addition to fragrance blends. Although not every type of rose has a scent, the ones that do give out a beautiful, intense and often sweet fragrance. You can enjoy the scent of lily in its full glory in our unique English Garden Party™ fragrance, which pairs beautifully with rose, lemon, lavender, patchouli and more.

To delve deeper into the history, biology and uses of the diverse botanicals in CRANBOURN^® fragrances, explore our extensive botanicals directory.