Irish Moss

Note Profile

Botanical

Drag to turn On Note Island

About

Irish moss is a marine note, not a mossy one. It is a red seaweed, and its smell is sea-like or seaweed-like. In perfume it reads as salty ocean air, and brands place it low in the composition rather than at the top.

Scent Profile

Irish Moss smells sea-like above all, wet weed on rock and salty ocean air. A mineral, briny saltiness runs underneath. It stays low and quiet in a blend rather than announcing itself at the top.

ScentWheel

Breadthbroad

EnvelopeBase · ~10h lasting

Family Fresh & Citrus

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

WorldSee it in Note Island

ScentArt

What is ScentArt?

Materials That Can Make This Note

Perfumers can make Irish Moss from this natural extract.

Natural extract Irish moss extract

Smell words come from published sources.

A given perfume with this note may use this material, or something else.

Origin

Irish moss is Chondrus crispus, a red alga harvested from intertidal rocks in the North Atlantic. It is not a moss. Oakmoss and treemoss are lichens, so the shared word is a naming accident and nothing more. The species is farmed and gathered mainly for carrageenan, a gelling agent, not for scent, which is why odour writing on it is so thin. Wikipedia records that 'when softened in water it has a sea-like odour'. Best Botanicals lists the dried herb as 'Appearance: Light brown to cream. Aroma: Seaweed-like. Taste: Salty, mucilaginous.' MakingCosmetics describes the cosmetic extract only as a 'light to medium amber liquid, characteristic odor'.

Usage in Perfumery

Measured in the perfume data on 2026-08-23: 30 Parfumo placements across 24 brands, and 28 of those 30 print it as a base note. The notes it appears beside are aquatic and fresh (Aquatic 13, Fresh 16, Musk 11, Citrus 7, Marine notes 3), never oakmoss or a chypre base, which confirms brands mean the seaweed and not a green forest moss. Perfumers use it as a salty marine floor under citrus and ozonic tops, in the same slot a seaweed absolute would take.