Papier d'Armenie, Armenian Paper, is the oldest natural sanitizer and deodorizer of our surrounding air.

Easy to use by anybody, unexpensive, it can be used at home or abroad (camp grounds, hotel rooms, new appartments).
It purifies and scent the rooms, removes all bad smells like pets, tobacco, cooking, dampness, mustiness, etc..

Also useful during flu season and in a sick person's room.
Papier d'Armenie is made exclusively from natural products, like benjamin, its delicate smell will please you and its air-purifying powers will satisfy you.

The discovery of Benjoin

The history of Armenian paper in Western Europe started at the end of the 19th century, with the journeys Auguste Ponsot. He visited Armenia during his visit to the Ottoman empire, and discovered the locals scented and disinfected their homes by burning a substance called Benjoin, the resin of a tree well-known today in the perfumery world for its powerful and original scent, not unlike vanilla. Upon his return to France, Monsieur Ponsot decided to import this traditional and environmentally-friendly technique. He joined efforts with pharmacist Henri Rivier, to find a "modern" way of adapting the use of this paper to Western customs. They had grasped the potential this ecological, practical, and inexpensive product could have, as a simple odorising and antiseptic technique to be rid of unpleasant smells. Henri Rivier discovered that by dissolving Benjoin in 90° alcohol, he could obtain a consistent and stable scent. Subsequent addition of perfumes gave a series of pleasant aromatic combinations that stayed active longer. The last hurdle was finding a support: blotting paper, they discovered, was ideal: it absorbed the mix while preserving the original scent of Benjoin untouched, and it burns slowly, without making flames..

Total success

After a series of attempts, Armenian Paper was ready for market. It enjoyed handsome success from the start, especially at the Hygiene Exhibition of 1888 and the Universal Exhibition of 1889. During this exhibition the two inventors drove their point home conclusively by placing two slices of meat under two bell-jars, one of which had a burning sheet of Armenian paper. After a week the meat that had "breathed" the paper was still fit to be eaten, where the other had started to rot. And the rest is history.

A natural product

Armenian paper is more ecological and cheaper than the classical aerosols, and at the same times has hygienic and antiseptic properties aerosols don't. It is very easy to use and is made using natural products only. Today, you can still find it presented in the same way as in the late 19th century: a little booklet with a yellow and green cover, containing the brown detachable sheets of paper. Armenian paper is 100% natural, and because it burns without generating any pollution, it compares favourable to aerosols which need gases that contribute to the depleting of the ozone layer.

If Armenian paper has come as far as it has, it is greatly thanks to its main component: styrax resin. This tree is rather a well-kept secret to the general public; it grows in the forests of the Far East, and particularly well in the former Laos, where it is still cultivated today. Styrax can grow 20 metres high, and its leafs are sparse, smooth on the top and villous underneath. When the diameter of the tree reaches about 15 cm, the resin is collected from the sap that flows through cuts made in the bark. The resin is yellowish white and gathers in a rectangular slot, also cut in the bark. This takes place between July and January the following year. After six months, the resin can be taken, in the shape of drops. This is the raw benjoin. A tree will typically produce 1 to 3 kilos of benjoin per year. It contains about 25% of benzoic acid, which explains its antiseptic properties.

Hand crafted

For over a century, the Armenian Paper booklets have left our workshop in Montrouge after being produced by the same ritual. This product is a typical example of a traditional and family-type production principle: Mireille Schvartz, the great granddaughter of pharmacist Henri Rivier, runs the operation at this Ancient House. The original components are still used today to make the booklets and no less than three months are required for the Armenian Paper to be completed. The laboratory manager verifies the sources of the different essences required in the manufacturing process, and controls each batch upon arrival at our facility. Following verification, he selects the components that will go into the mixes and blends, and lets the aromatic combination macerate. During this time, the blotting paper is soaked in a saline solution that will avoid it burning too quickly. The paper subsequently spends some time in decoction, and is finally dried in stoves. The large sheets are pressed, perforated and placed in the booklet.

Instructions