Catnip

Note Profile

Botanical

About

Steam-distilled oil of the catnip herb. Mint-family and herbaceous first, with a rough musky-skunky warmth that the true mints do not have.

Scent Profile

Aromatic_herbal dominates and it is the one thing every source agrees on: 'minty-herbaceous' from Premiere Peau, 'Rich, Minty, Floral' from Miracle Botanicals, and the mint-family placement in the botany. Cooling_mentholic is the mint itself, supported by the 'menthol-type compounds' in the oil and by 'the mint freshness is there', but capped by the source's own grading, 'less clean than peppermint, less sweet than spearmint'. It lands about level with the published spearmint at 0.42 and well under peppermint at 0.85, which is what that sentence asks for. Animalic is the facet this note exists for and also the least safe number here: Premiere Peau calls it 'slightly skunky', 'musky-skunky', 'a faint animal quality', and 'like spearmint that spent time in a barn', but neither of the two other retail sources uses any musky or skunky word at all. Spread, the widest in this vector. Earthy carries 'warmth, earthiness' and the drydown Premiere Peau records as 'warm herbaceous depth, less minty, earthy'. Under the naming line, citrus is held rather than higher: Bulk Apothecary says the oil is 'very strong and reminiscent of citronella' and the oil does contain citronellol and geraniol, but Wikipedia notes that a separate cultivar, 'Citriodora' or lemon catmint, is the one 'known for the strong lemon-scent of its leaves', so the lemony reports in circulation may be about a plant this note is not. Floral is Miracle Botanicals alone. Dry_woody is the diluted read, 'woody-minty'. Sweet_vanillic holds the odd 'burnt pie, thickly sweet' and 'maple' report at full strength, which one source gives once.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeHeart · ~4h lasting

Family Green & Aromatic, Fresh & Citrus

Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.

What this is made of

Catnip oil

A natural extract

CAS 8023-84-5

Nepeta cataria oil (IFRA NCS E2.12, leaf/twig). The note says steam-distilled oil of the catnip herb.

How the layers join

Origin

Nepeta cataria, a mint-family herb. Premiere Peau gives the method as 'steam distillation of dried flowering herb' at a yield of 'approximately 0.3-1%' and the oil as 'pale yellow with a characteristic mint-herbal-musky odor'. It names the constituents as 'nepetalactone (iridoid), citronellol, geraniol, and menthol-type compounds', and nepetalactone as 'the molecule responsible for feline attraction'.

Usage in Perfumery

A niche natural. Premiere Peau: 'in perfumery, catnip is a niche natural providing herbal-minty character with unusual musky depth. It functions in green-aromatic and herbal compositions where conventional mint would be too clean or predictable', working 'with lavender, green notes, earthy bases'. Bulk Apothecary reports the same dilution rule from the other end: at full strength it is 'unpleasant', but 'when it is used in tiny, trace amounts, it has an aromatic, sort of woody-minty smell that goes very well with lavender and chamomile'. Attested 12 times on Fragrantica and once on Parfumo.