Benzoin Absolute.

Warm a little benzoin in an aroma lamp on a winter evening and the room fills with warmth, comfort and welcome, as if someone had been baking. Blended with orange or tangerine, it becomes a sweet, comforting delight.

This is benzoin Siam, solvent extracted from the resin of Styrax tonkinensis in Thailand. Its scent is a fine, sweet balsamic, almost chocolatey, drying down to balsam and vanilla, and it anchors perfume blends beautifully. Pure benzoin absolute is rock hard, impossible to soften by warming or to blend into a carrier, so this is a pourable benzoin, diluted with 50% benzyl benzoate, the safest diluent we could find; the usual alternative is phthalate based. Even so, it is about the consistency of molasses at room temperature, so it comes in a 15 ml jar rather than a bottle.

Details

• Botanical name: Styrax tonkinensis (benzoin Siam)
• Origin: Thailand
• Method: solvent extracted from the resin; diluted 50% with benzyl benzoate
• Size: 15 ml jar

How to use

Warm the jar a little to make it easier to work with, then use it in an aroma lamp or as a base note in perfume. Its thick texture makes it a poor choice for a nebulizing diffuser. On skin, keep to a maximum of 2%: sensitization has been recorded, especially on irritated or broken skin, though the risk is considered low. Take care with hypersensitive, diseased or damaged skin and with children under 2. Store cool and dark. A warm welcome for winter rooms.