Botanically, it is named Bursera graveolens and belongs to the Burseraceae family. It is called palo santo in Spanish (“holy stick” or “holy wood” in English, or “sacred wood” in Japanese). It belongs to the same family as frankincense and myrrh (in Japanese). Native to South America, including Peru and Venezuela, it is used in rituals and medicine and as a kind of incense for cleansing negative energy. For this reason, many shops sell it as aromatic wood rather than as an essential oil.
Its aromatic constituents include terpenes, limonene, and α-terpineol, and its scent is aromatic, combining delicate woodiness with sweetness. Because it is often used in aromatherapy, it is also a fragrance material used in candles. I recommend Palo Santo 14 from Le Labo’s Home Collection, a fragrance with both woodiness and sweetness and a sacred atmosphere.
To extract the highest-quality fragrance material, the trees must be at least 30 years old, and extraction is carried out by steam distillation. This is a precious material that the Peruvian government once placed on its list of endangered species.
Palo santo perfumes seem to have become a trend in recent years. Representative examples include Los Humos Sagrados (Fueguia 1833, 2017), Santo Incienso (The Different Company, 2017), Eau de Californie (Celine, 2019), Open Sky (Byredo, 2021), Ébène Fumé (Tom Ford, 2021), and MMW (Givenchy, 2022).
What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?
One example of palo santo used in perfume is the natural essential oil obtained from Bursera graveolens. Its lemon-like brightness is layered with a damp-wood scent, giving woody notes freshness and a distinctive stillness. The aromatic composition of the essential oil varies with its origin and the plant part used, creating a range of citrus brightness and woody depth. Its appeal lies in a transparent citrus-woody character, different from the smoke of burning wood, which brings lightness to heavy woody scents.
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