Woody Notes in Perfumery: From Sandalwood to Oud

There are more and more woody perfumes. Formerly dedicated mainly to men, they are now worn and embraced by women. Cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli are often accompanied by the following resins: incense, myrrh, styrax, guaiac wood, oud wood, oakmoss.

Woody notes are reassuring, structured notes, mostly nervous; they act as stakes in the composition, they give the perfume a backbone. Almost all perfumes on the market are woody.

1. Sandalwood: Soft and Milky

The only soft, milky, and creamy wood is sandalwood which no longer comes from India because it is protected by the Indian government but from Southeast Asia (see sandalwood post). There are other botanical species like Santalum Spicatum (Australia) which looks more like a cedar or Santalum Austrocaledonicum (New Caledonia).

Many brands have abandoned natural sandalwood in favor of synthesis, which is not the case for Guerlain or Sylvaine Delacourte perfumes for example.

Emblematic Sandalwood Perfumes

• Samsara (Guerlain, 1989): For the first time in a feminine perfume, there was an overdose of wood with 20% of the formula in sandalwood and accompanied mainly by ylang-ylang and jasmine. The first great international feminine woody perfume.
• Bois des Iles (Chanel, 1925): Sandalwood and vetiver coated with warm notes (tonka bean, cinnamon, vanilla).
• Santal Massoïa (Hermès): Jean-Claude Ellena launched this woody scent with round and mellow notes, a horizontal and carnal wood associated with Massoïa wood.
• Tam Dao (Diptyque): Very powerful and appreciated by women.
• Wonderwood (Comme Des Garçons): Association of sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, guaiac, cedar, oud, cypress.
• Santal Royal (Guerlain): Thierry Wasser marries sandalwood with oud wood.

2. Cedar: Dry and Nervous

Cedar recalls pencil lead, sawmills, and wood shavings. It blends wonderfully with vetiver and citrus in the chypre perfume Eau des Merveilles by Hermès in 2004.

It also blends with patchouli, sandalwood, and flowers in Magie Noire by Lancôme (1978), and with fruits as in Féminité du Bois by Shiseido (1992). Celebrating the Atlas cedar note evoking Morocco, Serge Lutens designed a composition spiced by cinnamon and clove and made iridescent by notes of violets.

A fragrance that would later inspire Dolce Vita by Dior. Féminité du Bois is truly the first pure feminine woody perfume.

3. Patchouli: Earthy Sensuality

Patchouli is a promise of sensuality all by itself. The dried leaves of the plant produce an earthy, camphorated, almost medicinal and woody note. Now there is patchouli heart (fraction), stripped of slightly dusty notes; it then becomes pure, slender, and majestic.

It is one of the main components of the oriental accord like Shalimar and Opium, and of the chypre accord replacing oakmoss. It plays a bewitching duet with rose in Aromatics Elixir by Clinique (1975). It is found in Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Coco Noir by Chanel, Miss Dior, and also in La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain.

4. Vetiver: The Smoky Root

Guerlain is among the first to have paid tribute to vetiver whose root produces an earthy, humid, and smoky note. Vétiver by Guerlain (1959) marries this fresh woody note with citrus, tonka bean, nutmeg, and a tobacco accord.

Guerlain uses an exclusive: Indian vetiver that Thierry Wasser developed (very present in Guerlain Homme L’Eau Boisée).

Other Remarkable Vetivers

• Vétiver Oriental (Serge Lutens): Bitter chocolate note of Javanese vetiver.
• Vétiver Extraordinaire (Frédéric Malle): Contains more than 25% vetiver.
• Vétiver Tonka (Hermès): Vetiver and tonka bean.
• Terre d’Hermès (2006): Vetiver, cedar, citrus, pepper, and benzoin.

5. Other Woody Notes: Pine, Fig, Oud and Synthesis

Pine, Cypress and Fig

The pine or cypress note, sylvestral notes, are little used. There is pine essence (fresh, bitter) and fir balsam (gourmand pine needle). Disappeared classics: Pino Silvestre (1955) and Acqua di Selva (1949). Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens takes up this theme.

The fig tree accord, which has become a classic, appeared with Premier Figuier by L’Artisan Parfumeur, signed by Olivia Giacobetti.

Oud Wood (Agarwood)

Oud wood (oudh, agar, aloes, jinko, gaharu) is a dark and very fragrant resin that develops in Aquilaria trees when they are infected by a fungus, Phialophora. It is a defense reaction. Sometimes it is natural but as it is a very expensive material, it is often a reconstitution.

It is found in M7 by YSL, Habit Rouge Eau de Parfum, and the Déserts d’Orient by Guerlain.

Guaiac, Birch and Synthesis

• Guaiac Wood: Wood with smoky notes, a bit leathery.
• Birch Wood: Gave a dark leather note (now banned, replaced by syntheses like Sudéral).
• Vetiveryl Acetate: More expensive than natural vetiver, nervous and pure note.
• Sandalore: Molecule approaching sandalwood.
• Everny: Moss note (Eau des Merveilles).
• Cashmeran: Soft and almost oriental.
• Cedramber, Vertofix: Close to cedar.
• Iso E Super: Velvety wood, almost musky (overdose in Trésor by Lancôme).
• Karanal: Very vibrant wood (Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana).