Motor Oil
Note Profile
About
Motor oil is the smell of clean lubricating oil poured from a fresh bottle, with hot metal behind it. Two independent trade sources insist it is not burnt oil and not exhaust. It reads oily, metallic and mineral rather than smoky or tarry.
Scent Profile
Mineral is almost the whole note and it is the oily-metallic kind, not the chalky kind: hot steel and polished chrome are the two supporting notes in the only published pyramid found. Underneath sits a faint leathery slickness, the heaviness of a petroleum fraction rather than hide. Smoky is present only as a trace and is deliberately held low, because both sources that describe the material itself rule out burnt oil and exhaust. A trace sulphurous edge accounts for the petroleum origin; no source named it.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
A fantasy accord built from synthetic mineral and metallic materials. No extracted material exists and no fine-fragrance house publishes a datasheet for it. Indigo Fragrance builds it as engine oil over hot steel and polished chrome. Dude Candle sells it as 'clean engine oil straight from the bottle' and says three times in one paragraph that it is fresh oil, not burnt oil or exhaust fumes.
Usage in Perfumery
Used to place a fragrance in a garage or a workshop. It sits alongside gasoline, rubber and asphalt in motorsport accords, and the trade keeps the four apart even when blending them: The Candle Maker's Store lists burnt rubber, motor oil and gasoline as three separate components of one Race Fuel oil. Use it where a cold, oily metal reading is wanted without the char that asphalt and coal tar bring.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Motor Oil
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Motor Oil appears prominently.
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