On the islands of Crete and Santorini, there are millenia-old frescoes depicting girls and monkeys harvesting flowers: saffron crocuses, whose scarlet stigmas, when plucked and dried, become that most precious of spices. Saffron was used by the Greeks and other early civilizations as a flavoring, a dye—in Homer, Dawn is personified as a “saffron-robed” goddess—a medicinal cure-all, and a purifier. The Chinese believed it protected againt bad chi; in ancient Rome, it was scattered in the streets to cover up the less-than-sweet odors of daily life.
Today, it’s beauty and wellness types who are embracing the spice—cue Donovan’s 1966 hit “Mellow Yellow”—as evidenced by a wave of products making the ancient ingredient feel new again. Matiere Premiere has launched a heady extrait version of its Crystal Saffron eau de parfum, which incorporates the somewhat ineffable smell that’s nonetheless often compared to that of hay and another biblical substance, myrrh. Arnaud Poulain, who founded Les Eaux Primordiales and formulated the brand’s Saffron Superfluide, describes its star ingredient differently. “It’s very metallic — cold and hot at the same time,” he says, adding, “it gives power to the fragrance. Raspberry alone, it’s a bit heavy, but when you add saffron, it explodes.” As Antonin Khalife, the perfumer son behind the family-owned house Henry Jacques, put it, saffron imparts an “elegant volatility” to the brand’s rose-scented essence. (Victoria Beckham’s San Ysidro Drive also uses this powerful duo of rose and saffron.) That all of these strike me as sophisticated, seductive scents is unsurprising considering saffron is said to be an aphrodisiac. And while I have not, as Cleopatra is said to have done before entertaining a lover, bathed in saffron-infused mare’s milk, I have known the pleasure of lighting Nerrā’s The Candle, with notes of saffron, honey, and neroli, before mindlessly scrolling Instagram.
Saffron is more than a smell, though—it’s a problem solver with range. Upon coming across a recipe for kumkumadi tailam, a traditional Ayurvedic skin elixir that incorporates saffron, Michelle Ranavat decided to develop an oil-based serum that remains her eponymous brand’s hero product. Each bottle is packed with 45 flowers’ worth of saffron, which the biochemist Krupa Koestline of KKT Labs explains is rich in carotenoids (defenders against skin-damaging free radicals) and has been shown to reduce inflammation. “I think of it as vitamin C’s smarter sister,” says Ranavat. Meanwhile, Shrankhla Holecek of Uma Oils is putting the finishing touches on a saffron-and-honey masque.
Saffron can also improve one’s mood, I learned, after a French pharmacist recommended Pileje Melorian tablets, designed with the patented saffron extract Safracetin for “emotional overload,” to a friend of mine during Paris Fashion Week. Lucy Goff’s brand, Lyma, just released a retooled version featuring affron, a saffron extract that, in clinical studies, helped subjects combat anxiety, depression, and sleeplessness —no wonder that, as children, Ranavat and Holecek drank milk brewed with saffron before bed. It also has ten other active ingredients, and Goff emphasizes that the magic is in the mix, which includes a food-based adaptogen that’s been given to astronauts to kickstart their metabolism. Similarly, Sakara’s tasty Metabolism Bite gummies have the saffron extract Supresa, the thinking being that less stress equals less emotional eating.
Even so, I can’t imagine turning down a slice of saffron milk cake or really any dish made with the spice. At some point during the post-pandemic haze, I attended a dinner party originally scheduled for mid-March of 2020, a Persian feast of the sort our host had grown up eating with his family. Among the myriad offerings, when we all convened, was a tahdig—a molded mound of saffron rice with a crispy, golden-brown exterior. I remember eating a second helping as I sat in that candlelit dining room filled with dear friends, and that was healing, too. — Kate Guadagnino
