Woody

Woody Notes

Note Profile

Botanical 4 perfumes

Also Known As

aromatic woods, dark woods, Dry Wood, Dry Woods, exotic woods, Precious Woods, Velvet Woods, Woods, Woody

About

Woody Notes is a group note, not a single material. It is what a brand prints when it will not say which wood. The character it stands for is the one shared by the woody materials perfumery actually uses: dry heartwood, damp root, and the resin and moss that sit beside them.

Scent Profile

Dry and woody first, with damp earth close behind it. Underneath there is a creamy woody softness from sandalwood, a faint amber resin, and the cool bitter edge of moss. A little smoke at the back.

ScentWheel

Breadthbroad

EnvelopeBase · ~30h lasting

Family Woody & Earthy

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

Origin

There is no single source. The note is the common ground of 70 published woody notes, weighted by how often each is printed - sandalwood, patchouli, cedar, vetiver, oakmoss, oud, guaiac wood and pine lead it. Two of those are not trees: patchouli is a bush and vetiver a grass, and both belong here because the trade and the smell agree that they do.

Usage in Perfumery

Perfumers reach for a woody base to give a composition weight and a floor. It is the longest-lasting family in the standard, so it is what remains hours after the citrus and the flowers have gone. Brands print it as a note in its own right when the specific wood is a formula they do not want to publish.