In my Wednesday series exploring perfume materials I have to start somewhere, so
will begin by considering a new essential oil that I recently acquired but have
yet to use in a formula.
Palo santo, aka Bursera graveolens, is a deciduous tree that grows throughout
Central America and parts of South America. It is in the same family as
frankincense and myrrh, so the wood is resinous and aromatic. The trees are
attractive, with chunky trunks and branches, compound leaves with broad
leaflets, small yellow-white flowers, and small round fruits.
A long time ago I had bought a small bottle of palo santo
essential oil, but didn’t like the smell, so never used it. However, late last
year I bought some palo santo wood chips for burning and was immediately wowed
by the fresh, clean, green smell of the wood, both in its raw state and when
burning. I suddenly understood why palo santo wood was used by the Incas in
purifying rituals and is still used for similar purposes in aromatherapy. It really does smell exceptionally clean and uplifting. I decided to give palo santo essential oil
another try.
I bought a good-sized bottle of palo santo oil from a
reputable supplier, and after smelling two different versions have learned that there seems to be a lot of variation in
palo santo oil from different sources. The new oil has many of same the fresh,
green notes that the wood has, but I do detect a small amount of “off”-notes
similar to those in the original bottle that I got. I would characterize these contaminating notes
as “greasy moth balls and pea soup”.
This seems to be something that is generated when the wood is distilled,
not something that is in the raw wood itself.
I will be traveling this weekend through next Thursday, so may miss next Wednesday's materials post. If you would like to be entered in a drawing for a sample of palo santo oil diluted to 25% so that you can apply it as a perfume and experience the material by itself, leave a comment relevant to this post. Unfortunately, due to exorbitant international postage costs for small packages, this is a US and Canada only drawing. There will be a few international giveaways in future, so keep watching for them.
[Images are from Wikimedia or a retailer's website]
Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteAt one point I had a small bottle of what seemed to be an "OK" Palo Santo. It too smelled rather pea-soupy. What was really hard to take was its persistence. I could smell the stuff for three days after taking a single whiff. I don't know where this bottle ended up but while I was searching for it I found Catamara Rosarium's Agua de Palo Santo. She lists the only ingredient as Palo Santo Essence. This is a lovely fragrance - tangy, fresh, earthy and green with just a bit of a fruity character and sweet woodiness. No pea soup and no greasy mothballs.
Azar xx
Azar, the fresh, green, earthy fragrance is what Palo Santo should smell like. I don't know what "essence" means, possibly a tincture.
DeleteEllen,
DeleteMaybe Catamara's partner Marcus (the distiller)
created that essence for the perfume?
Azar xx
Do you know what method they use to get the palo santo oil? It sounds like maybe steam distillation? Pea soup+greasy moth balls does NOT sound pleasant, though! What kind of workarounds can you do get rid of or mask the off-notes?
ReplyDeleteYuki, the palo santo I have is steam distilled. I think adding something to brighten the bright aspects of the palo santo and adding whatever will mask the "greasy pea soup" notes. It's going to require some experimentation.
DeleteI love palo santo wood, but just make incense cones from it. I have the oil and I've experimented with it, but it's so overwhelming, even in dilution. The cones are great, though! No need to include me in the drawing, as I have a goodly supply at the moment. Keep us posted on your experiments!
ReplyDeleteMarla, palo santo incense cones sound great! I like to just burn the straight wood, which is probably very similar. I will certainly provide updates on the palo santo experiment.
DeleteHow have I missed knowing about this material? I've not heard of it before! The wood itself sounds lovely; the green pea soup less so. Nothing against pea soup, but I'd rather not smell like it.
ReplyDeleteLaurie, You my not smell the "pea-soup" note in dilution or when combined with other things. I don't think many perfumes use palo santo.
DeleteMyrrh is tenacious on my skin, but fairly linear. I can smell the essential oil on my skin two days after application. Does palo santo have the same longevity since it's related?
ReplyDeleteAnne, palo santo has medium longevity, about like frankincense.
ReplyDeleteI have a Palo Santo essential oil I picked up at a Farmers Market. It was sold by a woman who brought it from South America. I wish I could find her again and buy some more because it's gorgeous. It smells fresh, green and smoky/incense. She also sold me a stick of wood to burn and I actually prefer putting a small piece of that in my medicine bag for the smell. I am giddy with the thought of you using it in a blend. I'm curious to see if you'll go with the thick honey as in Golden Cattleya, the dark chocolate as in California Chocolate, or perhaps something that tells a story as in Tropic of Capricorn, one of my all time favorites? It's really fun to wait and see what you'll do.
ReplyDeleteLinda, so far the palo santo is partnering nicely with the materials I'm experimenting with. I think I want to preserve and enhance the magical green freshness of it as much as possible, so am going to avoid gourmand notes, although that might be a really interesting direction to take it. I can see it going well with bittersweet chocolate honey or white flowers. You just gave me some more ideas!
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ReplyDeletesatya backflow cones and dhoop cones
Authentic and 100% natural. This incense is made from real frankincense ground into a powder form combined with charcoal. The result is an aroma that is reminiscent of churches, mosques and places of worship that traditionally burn frankincense (loban) over hot coals. Each box contains 100gm which is approximately 80 sticks. Each stick burns for approximately 1 hour.
ReplyDeletepalo santo fragrance oil
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ReplyDeletehttps://worldofincense.com.au/products/04-satya-incense-satya-palo-santo-fragrance-oil-30ml-pkg?_pos=1&_psq=palo-santo-fragrance-oil&_ss=e&_v=1.0