The ABCs of Essential Oils: Frankincense

F:

Frankincense (Boswellia)

If you talk to me about essential oils, you'll likely hear me say "that's one of my favorites" so many times it seems to lose meaning. But I really do love many of them, and it would be hard to limit the number of favorites that I have. That said, frankincense really is one of my favorites, and I would place it somewhere in my top ten (but please don't ask me what the other 9 are!).

I could write a lot about frankincense - not only does it have a long history, but it also is amazing for aromatherapy. I'll stick to a few bits of information, and include my thoughts on using it as a scent.

Frankincense starts as a resin, the tears from tree. It is formed in the bark of the various Boswellia species, and for production purposes, incisions are made in trees, and the exudate collected. This is also how we get myrrh, frankincense's buddy. The tears can be used as incense, or processed to form materials for perfumery or aromatherapy. In addition to the tears, I have the absolute, essential oil, and CO2. 

Frankincense & myrrh tears.

Like all essential oils, frankincense will vary based on the exact species, its origin, age, and extraction method. Boswellia carterii is the most commonly available, based on what I've seen. Most species of frankincense come from Africa and the Middle East, including Somalia, Oman, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The essential oil might be produced in the country of origin, or the resin can be shipped to another country. Boswellia serrata is from India, and it is usually the cheapest. 

Frankincense by itself is beautiful, and to me it is the scent of sunshine. I find it bright and clean with a lot of depth. Arctander describes it as "...strongly diffusive, fresh-terpeney, almost green-lemon-like or reminiscent of green, unripe apples...A certain pepperiness is mellowed with a rich, sweet-woody, balsamic undertone." He continues to describe it as "more or less tenacious with an almost cistus-like, ambre-type, balsamic note," depending on its distillation circumstances. (FYI - cistus isn't a typo, it's the essential oil of rock rose, with labdanum as its absolute.) I agree with Arctander's assessment, with caveat that the scent will vary.

As a base note, frankincense is a great base note for citrusy fragrances, keeping it light and fresh. In oriental perfumes it's peppery notes will go nicely with the spices, while it's balsamic notes will add depth to the base notes. For products, use it on its own or blend it with a few other notes. Combining it with myrrh for the holidays is popular, but try blending it with a citrus note, lavender, cardamom, or an evergreen. If price is no object, try it with rose. 

Additional species:

Boswellia neglecta

Boswellia frereana

Boswellia rivae

Boswellia sacra

Previously:

Eucalyptus

Davana
Coffee
Bergamot
Anise

Davana

Davana is an odd scent. Kind of fruity, and to me, kind of boozy. It reminds me a bit of cough syrup sometimes. It is also a bit of a chameleon, and can smell differently on different people. Of course that's true of all (or at least many) fragrances, but when creating this scent, I couldn't stand it in the bottle, but liked it on my skin.

I wanted to emphasize the fruitiness of davana, so I added Roman chamomile. Frankincense and Peru balsam at the base added additional sweetness and some citrus. At this point, it seemed like it could be a sugarbomb of a fragrance, and while there is a market for that, I don't want that to be the end result.

Back to the middle notes, I added rose geranium and ylang ylang. This probably didn't help with the sweetness, but adds a small touch of floral. For the top notes I went with spice (black pepper and juniper berry) and some floral woods- petitgrain and rosewood. The scent definitely isn't a fruity floral- the floral aspect is pretty quiet.

Lab #4 Davana is available from Etsy and Ivre de Fleurs for $10.

Also new on Etsy are blended floral balms. There are currently three different blends- Trio Blend, which leans towards jasmine but with hints of rose and tuberose; White Flowers, a blend with jasmine, neroli, and tuberose; and Mimosa Neroli, a honeyed scent with an orange flower twist. These are $10 for each .15 ounce jar.

Depths of Winter Giveaway

 We are giving away a compact of our solid perfume, Depths of Winter! This scent features notes of frankincense, fir balsam, and spice, with a fragrance reminiscent of a cold winter night.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As a January baby who spent her formative years in New England, I love all things snow and winter. I even love shoveling snow, and miss it now that I live in San Francisco. I don't miss the hot and humid summers though! 

Some of my favorite memories are of walking through the woods while the snow was still following, surrounded by cottony piles of snow on the ground and covering the bare tree branches. There's a quiet in the air, and the scent of cold. While it might feel chilly to some, I was filled with warmth from the joy it brought me. After traversing through the snow, I would return home, brushing the snow off my hat and coat. At that point it would occur to me that yes, it really was cold out there, and I would drink hot cocoa to warm up.

Frankincense & Myrrh

At my booth at the San Francisco Holiday Bazaar, I had two small plates out, one with frankincense, and one with myrrh. I figured that this was something a lot of people haven't seen before, and it'd be a good chance for them see it, touch it, and smell it.

While some people had definitely seen them before (quite a few people said they burn frankincense at home), and some people said they had smelled frankincense in church, a lot of people have never seen either. Several people didn't know they were real.

Frankincense & Myrrh Mixed Together.

As someone fragrance-focused, I really wanted people to get a chance to smell these two things. It is easier to smell them when you rub them between your fingers, and most people were willing to do that. I guess some people just liked being able to see them for the first time. The myrrh was a bit hard to smell, but the frankincense would give off a beautiful odor when people picked it up. Having these at my booth allowed me to share something I'm passionate about (scent) with a wide variety of people.

I have a few of these for sale on my Etsy page. They come in little flowery gold pouches, so that those who want their gold, frankincense, and myrrh in one can sort of them together. The flower petals on the bag are there mostly due to my love of flowers.