Paperbark
Note Profile
About
Paperbark is the common name for the whole Melaleuca genus, named for bark that peels off in papery strips. It is not one species and not one oil. As a note it is a camphoraceous, herbal woodiness with a soft floral lift, the shared cineole core of the genus rather than any single distillation.
Scent Profile
Paperbark smells camphoraceous and clearing first, the cineole shared across the whole Melaleuca genus, softer here than in tea tree. A dry, herbal warmth follows, close to crushed leaf. Fresh green foliage sits under that, rather than cut grass. A real dry wood note runs through it too, and a floral lift separates it from tea tree, rosy in one species and sweetly scented in another. It carries a cool, minty fresh bite, like menthol, that runs through the herbal and woody body.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
Melaleuca, family Myrtaceae, mostly Australian. The genus includes tea tree (M. alternifolia), niaouli or broad-leaved paperbark (M. quinquenervia), cajeput, rosalina or swamp paperbark (M. ericifolia) and scented paperbark (M. squarrosa). Oil is steam-distilled from the leaves, not the bark. The bark itself is not a fragrance material; it was used to wrap baked food and line ground ovens.
Usage in Perfumery
Fragrantica files it under Woods and mosses and glosses it as the tree with 'fresh smelling, aromatic foliage'. Attested 8 times on Fragrantica and not at all on Parfumo. It works as a fresh-woody accent, an Australian-botanical signal that carries more weight and less medicinal bite than tea tree.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Paperbark
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Paperbark appears prominently.
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