Colophony
Note Profile
About
Colophony is rosin. It is what is left of pine oleoresin after the turpentine has been distilled off, and it barely smells. The smell is faint and mellow, a syrupy balsamic with a soft pine edge. It is not the sharp terpene bite of a fresh resin.
Scent Profile
Colophony smells faint and mellow, a soft balsamic resin with barely any sharpness. A syrupy sweetness sits underneath, gentle rather than sugary. A faint pine, woody note runs through it, more of a memory than a scent. It is rounded and quiet, nothing like the sharp bite of fresh resin.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Materials That Can Make This Note
Perfumers can make Colophony from this natural extract.
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Colophony (rosin) balsamic · woody
Smell words come from published sources.
A given perfume with this note may use this material, or something else.
Origin
Colophony is the solid residue of pine oleoresin, mostly abietic-type resin acids. Tap a pine, distil the oleoresin, take off the volatile turpentine fraction, and rosin is what remains. That processing is the whole of its smell story. The bright sharp top that a fresh resin or a needle oil carries is exactly the fraction colophony has already lost, so what is left is quiet. A resin retailer describes the same material as 'humble, mellow... soft, slightly sweet, and syrupy'. Its real trades are varnish, adhesives, printing inks and violin bow rosin, not perfumery.
Usage in Perfumery
Parfumo records four placements across three brands. Fragrantica records none. It works as a soft resinous ground rather than a top note.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Colophony
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Colophony appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.