Ho Wood

Note Profile

Botanical

About

Ho wood is a wood that smells like a flower. Steam distilled from the bark and wood of the linalool chemotype of Cinnamomum camphora, it is 75 to 98 per cent linalool, so a technical source files it under Floral rather than Woody. It is the standard natural replacement for Brazilian rosewood, which CITES has taken off the market.

Scent Profile

Soft and floral first, the linalool speaking directly - close to lavender and to rosewood, with a zesty citrus edge. A woody warmth sits under it, and the sources do not say whether that wood is dry or creamy, so both are scored evenly. A clean, mildly camphoraceous cooling lift keeps it from going cloying, and a sweet aromatic-herbal roundness holds the middle together.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeHeart · ~5h lasting

Family Floral

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

What this is made of

Ho wood oil

A natural extract

CAS 8022-91-1

Cinnamomum camphora ho wood oil (IFRA NCS D2.12, wood). The note's origin says steam distilled from the bark and wood. The unrectified oil, since the note describes the material as traded.

How the layers join

Origin

Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J.Presl, the linalool chemotype, also called Shiu wood, grown mainly in China. The trunk is cut into bark strips, dried to develop their odour, then steam distilled at a yield of 2 to 3 per cent. Unlike other chemotypes of the same tree, this one contains almost no camphor. The leaf of the same tree is distilled separately.

Usage in Perfumery

A core heart note for florals, fougeres and woody compositions, and the working substitute for rosewood at a fraction of the cost. Perfumers use it to give an aromatic accord a floral nuance and a clean lift, and it appears in men's cosmetics for that clean facet. It softens sharp citrus, supports florals and blends with almost anything.