Blue lotus absolute

Watery floral, slightly fruity, powdery, with faint hay and pale honey. Soft and clear, not cloying.

Blue lotus absolute has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index.

Some countries control Nymphaea caerulea as a psychoactive plant; rules vary by country. The material is used for fragrance, not for ingestion. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Nymphaea caerulea is a water lily of East African rivers and lakes, especially the Nile. Its pale sky-blue flowers open in the morning and close by midday. The flower appears often in ancient Egyptian painting and relief.

The name blue lotus misleads: botanically it is a water lily (Nymphaeaceae), not a lotus (Nelumbonaceae). The families differ in form: lotus leaves rise above the water and are unnotched; water lily leaves float and have a V-shaped notch.

An absolute is made in two steps. The raw material is extracted with a non-polar solvent such as hexane to give a waxy concrete. The concrete is then washed with ethanol, chilled to precipitate waxes, filtered and freed of alcohol. What remains is the absolute.

Blue lotus absolute is made in small volumes, mainly in Egypt and India. The chemistry of commercial absolutes is little published.

Nymphaea flowers contain aporphine alkaloids such as nuciferine and apomorphine. This is why some countries control the species. The alkaloids are non-volatile and are not the source of odour.

In perfumery blue lotus absolute serves watery florals, tea accords and Egyptian-themed compositions. It pairs with musks, orris and green notes.

When buying, the species name on the documents should be checked, since the market uses lotus for both Nelumbo and Nymphaea. Blue lotus absolute is usually a greenish-brown paste. Many products named blue lotus are synthetic accords or flower-infused oils.