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Costus Root Essential Oil (2 Years Aged)
Adam Michael has this to say “Applied on strip, the opening aroma of costus root essential oil consists of soft pastel woods, think feminine style spice free Indian sandalwoods, mellowed Siam wood, and a touch of Himalayan cedar and resinous elemi.
Following on with wonderfully rich jammy floral powdered tonalities that are reminiscent of the artisan Italian 22% Orris resinoid we used to carry. An aromatic that impressed everyone who had the good fortune to encounter it. I also get notes within this jammy segment that remind me of the dry down of our top of the line masterpiece Ionone alpha natural isolate – which provides the most superior take on Ionone alpha – and small drops of which can fill a room with the scent of summertime freshly picked berries very easily for days on end – without any cloying aspects found in the synthetic offerings. The berry notes are also here as are tonalities comparable to smelling sunflower essential oil.
At the same time underneath all the noise, I find animalic drivers that remind me of rectified castoreum, ppm cade e.o and shorea robusta resin (sal tree). And as Arctander suggested, wet dog nuances do come into detection, initially very prominently within the first 20 minutes, before slowly easing off in intensity and then becoming that note that flitters in and out of detection for the remainder of the aroma’s duration. Breaking this wet dog profile down, my brain finds for hundreds of a second, the smell of indoor swimming pools, wet towels and that of freshly distilled – meaty esq – Buddha wood e.o. These animalic odours are not for the faint hearted yes, but keep this in mind, if you always want several hours of longevity from a natural, then animalic drivers are your best friend.
For the rooty character, I feel it is comparable to a mash-up of periploca (Chinese Silk vine), with some angelica and rhatany roots.
This costus essential oil has been produced via hydro distillation of the roots in 2021 (2 years aged) amber orange brown in colour and of a pourable viscosity. Highly recommend and for what costus e.o is, this is perfect benchmark of excellence 10/10 material.
Arctander has this to say “In surprisingly small concentrations, Costus Oil will induce warm, woody and “natural” notes to a perfume; however, this is limited to certain perfume types, e.g. Oriental bases, chypres, violet bases, certain floral fragrances, etc, and many types of the “modern-aldehydic” theme. Overdoses of costus oil may easily produce obnoxious effects, and the power of this oil is often under-estimated.
Similar in effect to angelica root oil, Costus Oil has the peculiar ability of producing diffusive power and intriguing top notes, and at the same time it works effectively as a fixative of unusual tenacity.”
Botanical Name: Saussurea lappa
Origin: India
Alcohol Soluble: Yes
Oil Soluble: Yes
Wholesale weights (all prices excluding vat): 50G = 700 Euros.
3 reviews for Costus Root Essential Oil (2 Years Aged)
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Charalambos Charalambous (verified owner) –
Smelling costus root is such a strange experience because its powerful,refined, elegant enough to make your brain feels confused but at the same time as if you sprayed the famous vintage feminine fragrance from hermes back in the 1961 called Caleche with notes of baby powder aldehyde,cypress, bergamot, neroli, lots of iris, lilly of the valley, soft cedarwood and lots of “natural” white musk that probably gives the fresh “wet towel “effect but also there are elegant chypre soapy notes that stays quiet long but not offensive as you would get from the perfume!!Apart of all the previous luxurious notes this beauty is trying desperately to expose its hidden bridge notes of juicy sandalwood and ylang ylang creaminess..what a luxurious olfactive beauty..the most amazing is the huge projection that never ends!! A real power tool for perfumery and worth trying for the experience.
Kai Leon Art Parfumeur (verified owner) –
The idiosyncrasy of Costus essence – as true Maverick of aromas – is expressed by how different it affects the nose at different concentrations, and in that it reveals its purpose – to be a powerful spice used in trace amounts – to much of the effect. While savory-acrid-green in nature of its top tone, its is played in earthy heavy register – hence the nauseating effect in higher doses or when smelled undiluted.
Best evaluated when hihgly diluted or fading into drydown, Costus smells in my imagination like ferocious Manticore – a mythical chimera made of bits from Hops, Absinthe, black Ginger, unrefined Patchouli, Asphalt and Ayahuasca. If you can tame such a mercurial beast, you’ll enjoy its chtonic Magic: I just hid a fifth of a drop in 10 ml of Animalic accord, which itself to be used with light hand. Thank you Adam for holding this rare wonder.
Worth mentioning the ongoing and widening research into medicinal properties of Costus – as effective anti-cancer agent.
Jake SMoak (verified owner) –
Long forgotten Animal…
It’s such a powerful material that deserves HEAVY dilutions for natural perfumers unless you want it to be 🐴 (looking at you Zoologist).
The strongest aroma initially is the unwashed salty hair smell. It’s sooo Caveman like Sexy caveman with pecs made of ROCKS to smash..!
I 100% believe this material will add Character and charm for sour notes like Osmanthus and Blue Lotus. Just imagine the effects for Animalic dense materials, it could give that Fantasy Deer musk w/ some Temple incense or It could be the fur that a great guardian Smells like in the summer light, definitely recommend!
Everyone should known Costus is prohibited by IFRA, because they believe it’s contact dermatitis from the lactobes (just like Massoia lactone 😭 )
I personally believe that even traces of this material is fine, but always do patch tests after letting the material mascerate long enough. Don’t let it scare you, I’m more scared of accidentally touching some membrane with Absybthe oil by accident… lol