Ingredient Guide
Rosewood is generally a timber used for furniture, guitars, chess pieces, and similar objects, but the perfume industry uses, in particular, the material known as Brazilian rosewood. It has a floral, rose-like scent with warmth and softness. The complication is that rosewood used as timber belongs to the Fabaceae family (shitan), whereas rosewood used as a fragrance material belongs to the Lauraceae family.
In either case, as its name suggests, rosewood has a faint rose-like fragrance in its timber, which is more noticeable in the dust produced during processing. This aroma is said to have the power to soothe the mind and ease anxiety.
Since botanists discovered rosewood in 1925, it has mainly been harvested in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. However, as with sandalwood, overharvesting (mainly for furniture and fragrance) led Brazil to prohibit felling rosewood and extracting its essence, and to classify it as an endangered species. Because a substance called linalool accounts for 92% of its aroma, the perfume industry was fortunately able to reproduce it using synthetic fragrance materials, although their scent cannot compare with the natural material.
In 2016, Floral Concept, the company founded by Frédérique Remy, worked with an association in Peru to grow rosewood in the heart of the Amazon. By assigning a serial number to each tree and setting limits on the amount that could be cut, it brought rosewood essential oil back to the perfume industry.
〈Representative Perfumes Containing Rosewood〉
H24 (Hermès), Oud Rosewood (Dior)
H24 Eau de Toilette layers clary sage, narcissus and rosewood with the warm metallic character of sclarene. It is an unexpected pairing of herbs, flowers and soft woods with a metallic accent.
Jicky, Cristalle (Chanel), Diorissimo (Dior), Emeraude (Coty)
What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?
In perfume, rosewood combines a sweet, transparent floral scent reminiscent of linalool with a light woody quality. The natural essential oil of Aniba rosaeodora is rich in linalool and is characterized by a bright floral quality and a soft woody character. This scent profile is also expressed through a reconstructed fragrance made entirely from natural materials (Rosewood natural reconstruction), or a synthetic reconstruction using components identical to those in natural fragrance materials (Linalool type rosewood). Although their raw-material origins differ, each smoothly connects floral and woody notes, adding brightness and roundness to a fragrance.
Choosing a fragrance with rosewood
Rosewood’s appeal is a light floral brightness with soft wood. It suits a taste for airy floral woods rather than a bouquet of roses.
- Transparent woods: Explore brighter woody scents without heavy resin or smoke.
- Alongside herbs: Sage and similar herbs combine green freshness with soft woods.
- An unusual accent: Metallic notes or flowers introduce a texture that wood alone would not provide.
Find your next fragrance
In Fragrance Finder, choose “Favorite fragrances & notes” on the home screen, then look for notes you enjoy under “Favorite notes”. Select from the available suggestions and press “Next”.
