Nagarmotha
Yesterday I read about the upcoming release of a new scent for men by Tom Ford, and apparently the press was that it used cypriol for the first time in a scent. Cypriol is a natural ingredient also known as nagarmotha or Cyperus and has been used for ages. I’ve tried it from several sources and it seems to vary a lot. The nicer stuff has a dry, smoky, resinous, earthy, woodsy smell so I’ve used it in my new Fireside Intense (announced several posts ago).
The essential oil of nagarmotha comes from India and its botanical name is Cyperus scariosus. The oil is steam distilled from the roots of the Cyperus plant, which is a sedge grass. The oil is very unusual smelling but quite nice when blended with other woods. I’m sure lots of other perfumes contain it. Ford bills it as musky/dirty but it’s more resinous/incense/woods to me.
Here’s a discussion of the new Ford release on Now Smell This blog:
I agree with the posts that it seems it is mostly “hype” about a “dirty” scent. Perhaps anything that is not like the commercialized fruity florals is considered “dirty.” I think of nagarmotha as “exotic” rather than dirty, just like patchouli.
I agree with that too, that they were trying to hype the dirty thing. I think of nagarmotha, buddahwood, and guaiacwood as some of the less common woods compared to cedar and sandal; of those three guaiac is used most frequently but still a bit less than cedar and sandal.
Guaic seems to have a hint of vanilla in it along with a touch of smoke? I like it in small amounts.
Someone on MakeupAlley was kind enough to send me a sample of a scent you had a while back – Buddahwood. Very interesting scent. Was this an actual scent you had for purchase or was this a test version?
Guaiac seems a bit smoky and spicy to me. Buddah is very strong and takes over easily. I worked on a Buddahwood Incense for a while and want to get back to that eventually. If your vial just says Buddhhwood or Buddahwood EO it is the straight essential oil diluted in some alcohol. A couple people were curious to try the EO so I sent a couple vials out and they could be floating around, lol. If you smell cedar, fir balsam, sandal, and incense too then it was a blend I was working on.
It just says Buddahwood and is concentrated in color, so it is probably the diluted oil, although I think I smell a hint of sandalwood. Definitely no fir or balsam in this one. Glad I found one “floating around.” 🙂