Materia Aromatica

Asia

Spice-island seeds and resins, Indochinese woods, Chinese flowers and Japanese forest.

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Materia Aromatica · Origin

Asian aromatics are commonly thought of as tropical spice. The range runs from the equatorial islands of Indonesia to the temperate forests of Japan, and the materials at either end have little in common. Between them lie the woods and resins of Indochina and the flowers and camphor trees of southern China.

01 · The Region

Equator to temperate forest

Indonesia is the old spice archipelago. Nutmeg is native to the Banda Islands of the Moluccas, and the archipelago remains a source of nutmeg and cubeb. Patchouli is a leaf crop of Sumatra and Sulawesi, dried before distillation. Massoia bark and gurjum balm come from the same equatorial forest zone. The Philippines contribute Manila elemi, a resin of the Burseraceae.

Indochina gives star anise, cajeput, benzoin and a set of root and wood oils from the Cupressaceae: Fokienia and Vietnamese cypress. Siam benzoin from Laos is a balsamic resin of Styrax tonkinensis. Southern China gives camphor and ho wood from Cinnamomum camphora, cassia, osmanthus, magnolia and perilla. Japan is temperate and mountainous, and its oils come from forest conifers and one citrus: hinoki, sugi and yuzu.

Indonesia

Spice islands

Nutmeg, cubeb, patchouli, massoia, gurjum balm, bay St. Thomas. Elemi from the Philippines.

Indochina

Woods and resins

Star anise, cajeput, Fokienia, Vietnamese cypress, Siam benzoin, combava, guava leaf.

China

Camphor tree and flowers

Camphor, ho wood, cassia, osmanthus, magnolia blossom and leaf, perilla.

Japan

Temperate forest

Hinoki, sugi and yuzu.

02 · The Range

Ten oils, island to mountain

No. 2161 · IndonesiaNutmeg (organic)Myristica fragrans · certified organicSabinene and the pinenes, with terpinen-4-ol and myristicin. No. 2401 · IndonesiaPatchouli, Indonesia (Organic)Pogostemon cablin · certified organicPatchoulol with alpha-bulnesene and alpha-guaiene. Dense leaf base. No. 2065 · IndonesiaMassoiaCryptocarya massoia · wildMassoia lactone with benzyl benzoate. Creamy, coconut-like bark. No. 1091 · VietnamAnise, Star (organic)Illicium verum · wild-crafted organicTrans-anethole with limonene and alpha-pinene. Sweet and anisic. No. 1160 · LaosBenzoin, AbsoluteStyrax tonkinensis · conventionalCinnamic acid and cinnamyl cinnamate. Balsamic, vanilla-like resin. No. 1469 · VietnamFokienia (Siam Wood)Fokienia hodginsii · wildTrans-nerolidol and elemol. Soft, woody root. No. 1570 · ChinaHowoodCinnamomum camphora Ho-Sho · wildLinalool with linalool oxides. The linalool chemotype of the camphor tree. No. 2360 · ChinaOsmanthus, abs. 80% (in organic alcohol)Osmanthus fragrans · conventionalIonones and linalool oxide over fatty acids. Apricot and leather. In organic alcohol. No. 1566 · JapanHinokiChamaecyparis obtusa · wildDelta-cadinene, alpha-pinene and alpha-muurolene. Clean, dry Japanese wood. No. 3071 · JapanYuzu / Japanese MandarinCitrus junos · wildLimonene, gamma-terpinene and myrcene. Distilled peel.

03 · Side by Side

One tree, three woods, two patchoulis

Cinnamomum camphora gives two oils of opposite character. Camphor (No. 1740) is led by 1,8-cineole, with limonene and alpha-pinene. Howood (No. 1570) is the linalool chemotype of the same species, soft and floral-woody. Cinnamon Cassia, China (No. 3140), from a different Cinnamomum, is cinnamaldehyde with coumarin. Set together, the three show chemotype and species divergence within one genus and one country.

The woods follow. Hinoki (No. 1566) and Cedar, Japanese / Cryptomeria (No. 1285) are Japanese forest trees, both led by cadinene-type sesquiterpenes. Cypress, Vietnam (No. 3197) is cedrol and the cedrenes, close in character to Virginia cedarwood. Fokienia (No. 1469) is nerolidol and elemol, the softest of the four. All belong to the Cupressaceae; their oils divide by sesquiterpene type.

Then cultivation. Patchouli, Indonesia (No. 2400) and Patchouli, Indonesia (Organic) (No. 2401) are the same species from the same country. Both are patchoulol-led. The comparison reads the difference that cultivation and lot make within a fixed species and origin.

04 · In Practice

Base notes and fresh tops

Patchouli, benzoin, gurjum balm and the Cupressaceae woods are base notes and fixatives in natural perfumery, and suit massage blends at ordinary dilution. Osmanthus and magnolia are floral heart materials; osmanthus is used in small proportion for its ionone, fruit and leather facets. Massoia lactone is potent and is used at low proportion.

Yuzu, combava peel, hinoki, cajeput and elemi suit diffusion. Star anise is high in anethole, and bay St. Thomas is high in eugenol; both are used at conservative dilution. Nutmeg carries myristicin and is used in moderation. Cassia is cinnamaldehyde-rich and is not used on skin except at very high dilution. Perilla is led by perillaldehyde and is diluted accordingly. Benzoin absolute is viscous and is warmed gently before weighing.

Essential oils are for aromatic and topical use. Dilute before applying to skin. Keep out of reach of children.