Amber (fossilised)

This sounds like a delicious scent!

[Deleting my message. This fossilized amber business is confusing to me.]

Interesting.

Amber is often used in fragrance marketing as a shorthand for ambergris, but occasionally it does mean fossil amber, the 'essential oil' of which is indeed produced by the destructive distillation of the amber waste and dust from the jewellery trade and amber of too poor a quality for jewellery use. Despite the claim that it isn't used in perfumery it is used, just as many other ingredients that don't smell all that lovely by themselves are.

The type of amber being described by mountainroseherbs is more usually described as Storax to mean any of the sweetgum oils, or as Styrax Levant to mean the specific product of Liquidamber orientalis, though that resin / oil does go under a number of other names too.

The use of the term Amber Oil to mean a blend of oils including many different ingredients that vary with the supplier, but have in common a dark amber colour and resinous scent, seems to be limited to the aromatherapy market.

In the beginning I was really confused by this too and couldn't figure out why there seemed to be at least two different amber notes. One was described as animalic and fatty, the other was resinous and sweet. I found this entry in wikipedia, however:

"Amber is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times.[2] Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry."

The article goes on to say:
Scent of amber and amber perfumery

"In ancient China it was customary to burn amber during large festivities. If amber is heated under the right conditions, oil of amber is produced, and in past times this was combined carefully with nitric acid to create "artificial musk" – a resin with a peculiar musky odor. Although when burned, amber does give off a characteristic "pinewood" fragrance, modern products, such as perfume, do not normally use actual amber. This is due to the fact that fossilized amber produces very little scent. In perfumery, scents referred to as “amber” are often created and patented to emulate the opulent golden warmth of the fossil. The modern name for amber is thought to come from the Arabic word, ambar, meaning ambergris.[8] Ambergris is the waxy aromatic substance created in the intestines of sperm whales and was used in making perfumes both in ancient times as well as modern. The scent of amber was originally derived from emulating the scent of ambergris and/or labdanum but due to the endangered status of the sperm whale the scent of amber is now largely derived from labdanum.[38] The term “amber” is loosely used to describe a scent that is warm, musky, rich and honey-like, and also somewhat oriental and earthy. It can be synthetically created or derived from natural resins. When derived from natural resins it is most often created out of labdanum. Benzoin is usually part of the recipe. Vanilla and cloves are sometimes used to enhance the aroma.

"Amber" perfumes may be created using combinations of labdanum, benzoin resin, copal (itself a type of tree resin used in incense manufacture), vanilla, Dammara resin and/or synthetic materials."

If you read the Lovejoy mysteries, in one he takes bits of fossilized amber fround on the beach and melts them together using a candle to create a gem. Because I had read this, I atempted to do this with a nice piece of amber jewelry I had that had been damaged by immersion in a jewelry cleaner (should have read the find print on that cleaner....) I thought I could kind of "heal" it by patially melting it. No such luck.

But I did learn that when the fossilized amber is heated, it does emit a strong resinous scent that is quite pleasant. It also burns easily.

I bet if you crushed some amber (it will make a kind of dust) and heat it gently in some kind of recepticle, you would get a usuable product.

Thanks so much, Chris! Just when I thought I finally had a handle on the various resins called "amber vs. ambergris, I was stumped by the what I thought was a myth: use of fossilized amber (the jewelry "stone") in perfume was a myth. Thanks for explaining how this works.

I happen to love my fossilized amber and would like to make a scent based on it, attenuating it where needed but retaining its complex character. It's extremely potent and long lasting.

Yes I can see the attraction. Is yours an Eden Botanicals product, one you made yourself or something else?

Yes, it's Eden Botanicals.

Thanks, I may have to invest.

Meanwhile, here is what Arctander says about it:

Hi Chris, Thanks for forwarding the Arctander quote. It looks like I might have to invest in those books after all.

I just (blind) bought a 1/4 oz. vial of this based on my previous experience with EB's amber 'blends'. umm, shoulda grabbed a tester first! very very smoky, like a burned piece of leather and ancient wood. I started to wonder if this might be one of the ingredients in Amouage Tribute, but it's stronger and less tamed than the smokiness of that concoction. Of course, this is an apples to oranges comparison. The only other natural scent I've come across with this depth (albeit in a *totally* different way) is oak moss. The latter is more fecund and watery, whereas I find the fossilized amber to be "high desert fired wood lost to dust storms" kind of smell. Based on my tastes, 1/4 oz was WAY more than I will use in blends. I've placed a tiny bit in a mason jar and intend to track changes in its aroma over the next couple of months to see what transpires. If it mellows and sweetens a bit, I will be much more likely to use it.

Just curious if your opinion has changed over the last four months. I'm getting ready to place an order with Eden and would like some feedback if you can provide it.

I also very much like the Eden amber. It's complex and mysterious and I've used it successfully in my blends, albeit carefully. I find it works well with sandalwood and oud.

- - - Updated - - -

I also very much like the Eden amber. It's complex and mysterious and I've used it successfully in my blends, albeit carefully. I find it works well with sandalwood and oud.

This puzzled me for a long time also. Much clearer now.