What is the Perfume Project?

This blog is a constantly evolving forum for thoughts on perfume, perfume-making, plants (especially orchids and flora of the Pacific Northwest) and life in general. It started out chronicling the adventures of Olympic Orchids Perfumes, established in July 2010, and has expanded in other directions. A big part of the blog is thinking about the ongoing process of learning and experimentation that leads to new perfumes, the exploration of perfumery materials, the theory and practice of perfume making, the challenges of marketing perfumes and other fragrance products, and random observations on philosophy and society. Spam comments will be marked as such and deleted; any comments that go beyond the boundaries of civil discourse will also be deleted. I am grateful to all of you, the readers, who contribute to the blog by commenting and making this a truly interactive perfume project.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

WEDNESDAY MATERIALS: ELEMI AND A GIVEAWAY

One thing leads to another. Last time I wrote about galbanum, and that post leads to other resins, so what I think I’ll do is go through the resins that I use or have in my collection of things I might use.

Elemi comes from a tree called Canarium luzonicum, which is native to the Philippines. It belongs to the family Burseraceae, which includes frankincense, myrrh, and other resin-producing trees, some of which I am trying to grow in my greenhouse.

Apparently a number of different resins have been called “elemi”, over the years, including those from other Burceraceous trees and shrubs such as Boswellia and Icica species, so it is not clear what sort of “elemi” was the one reputedly used for incense, skin care, and embalming in ancient Egypt. It seems unlikely that the Egyptians visited the Philippines to obtain Canarium resin when sources of Boswellia (frankincense) and Commiphora (myrrh) were closer to home. 

Canarium trees grow quite tall, and are attractive with their canopy of broad leaves and almond-shaped nuts. The resin is most plentiful during the rainy season, and trees are “tapped” then by making cuts in the trunk. The resin is steam distilled to produce elemi essential oil. Elemi oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties as well as a good smell, so probably functions as one of the tree’s defense mechanisms.

Elemi, although resinous, has a light, clean lemony-green scent with resinous nuances. This is not surprising given that limonene makes up more than half of the constituents of the oil. Alpha-phellandrene is the other major constituent, along with elemol and small amounts of other molecules, including alpha-terpenol, alpha-terpenolene, sabinene, and elemicin. Alpha-phellandrene is also a citrusy odor, so it is the resinous-woody elemol and spicy-floral elemicin that gives it that little extra resinous something that makes it elemi.  Incidentally, all of these components are available as pure aroma chemicals, so it should be fairly easy to come full circle and re-design a synthetic version of elemi if one wanted to do so.


Elemi is a good go-to oil if you want fresh, green, slightly resinous top notes in a perfume. I used it in Blackbird and Bat to provide a clean resinous note from the beginning, and will likely use it in many more compositions.

Do you like resinous notes in perfume? Which resinous notes and/or perfumes do you enjoy most? Leave a comment and be entered in a drawing for a 5-ml spray bottle of Olympic Orchids Blackbird along with some other miscellaneous surprise goodies. 

[Canarium tree photos are from the University of Southern Illinois Phytoimages pages; resin and Canarium tree-tapping images from retailers' websites; Blackbird bottle photo is mine.]

16 comments:

  1. Resinous notes are, for me, perfumes by themselves with a huge diversity of genre. But I think opoponax, benzoin and peru balsam are exactly my kind of ever-love-smell. It's like the labdanum, it's just an obligation for all ambery perfume.

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    1. Frederic, I agree that all resins are perfumes by themselves. I can't think on one that I don't like.

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  2. Hi Ellen,
    DNEM. I just wanted to thank you for this very interesting and informative post!
    Azar xx

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad you found it interesting.

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  3. I find the smoky, vanilla scent of tolu balsam very appealing, with OJ Tolu being a great example. I also think tolu gives overtly floral perfumes a lot of depth and richness as in Fracas.

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    1. Tolu balsam is a wonderful material that I've used in quite a few perfumes. You're entered in the drawing.

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  4. I love myrrh and amber resins anytime in a vintage hand lotion I found. But in the winter I like burn pine resin around the house. It gives a rich scent when mixed with myrrh and a pinch of real amber.If I could find a scent to wear that has that it would be great. Have you ever smelled corn stalks that have dried naturally? They give off a wonderful sweet green scent the way Pier 1 used to smell like in the 1980's. Exotic, sweet, and like fall.

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  5. Ruthlynn, I know exactly what you mean by the "smell of Pier One in the 1980s"! I would have characterized it as "potpourri", but your cornstalk description is right on. You're in the drawing.

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  6. I've discovered I really like traditional chypres like Miss Dior (original), Aliage, and Bandit. One of the key ingredients in these types of fragrances is labdanum resin.

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    1. Triniti, labdanum is wonderful to work with. It can be a real revelation to smell the true vintage versions of chypre-type perfumes. It makes me realize why they became so well-loved. You're in the drawing.

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  7. I love resins! I really can't pick; it's a tie between frankincense, benzoin, and galbanum. I don't think there is any I *don't* like.

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    1. Laurie, I think I'm with you on resins!
      You're in the drawing.

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  8. I love the feel that resinous notes add to fragrances, but I don't think I could pick out a favorite. It's an area I need to explore more fully. I've been on a bit of a perfume wearing hiatus since breaking my arm, for fear of my cast smelling awful over time (and the difficulty of spraying my one good arm with the same hand), but when I come back, resins may be a great place to start!

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  9. Sun Mi, I'm so sorry to hear that you broke your arm. I hope it heals fast and you get back to perfume spraying! You're in the drawing.

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  10. I love resinous notes the fresh resins the burned resins all of them in all forms. The best scent I own, is your Olympic Amber.

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