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One of the joys of perfumery and the power of scents is the ability to enhance that experience by discovering the history and process behind certain ingredients.
With Scents of Wood, we use a deeply layered and detailed approach to create fragrances involving multiple stages across several countries and industries. The result is an aroma that is difficult to describe but easy to enjoy.
As a result of our process, there is a lot to love with our fragrances. Our choices of ingredients have profound histories of their own, both within and beyond the perfume industry. One of those ingredients we’re going to discuss now is Vetiver.
Vetiver is a wonderfully popular ingredient in perfumery and provides aroma artists a versatile odor that simultaneously lightens a scent while infusing the product with a sense of profound calm.
So, in today’s blog, we’ll be exploring the origins and history of Vetiver as an ingredient and the experiences it offers to our product profiles.
Read on!
Vetiver, Khus, or Chrysopogon Zizanioides, is a type of bunchgrass that originates from India.
Vetiver plants traditionally grow as high as 5ft tall while being similarly broad. However, this is just the root, with the above-ground plant's structure capable of growing approximately 3m in height.
The plants themselves are commonly grown in India, though they are not strictly limited to the region. Other nations, such as Haiti and Indonesia, are similarly significant producers of the vetiver plant, with vetiver being cultivated at a smaller scale in most tropical countries.
Unlike other plant life that gets imported to other countries, vetiver plants are famously noninvasive for surrounding wildlife and are most commonly sterile when grown in a controlled environment. As a result, almost all vetiver plants worldwide result from vegetative propagation, where a plant produces a new plant by essentially “cloning” itself, meaning most vetiver plants share the same DNA profile!
While it has a variety of uses across multiple industries, vetiver's primary reason for being cultivated is in the perfume industry. More specifically, the fragrant essential oil that can be harvested from the plant's roots is what perfumers can’t get enough of.
Vetiver is often closely associated with men's perfume lines due to its deep, smoky, yet sweet aroma. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be used elsewhere, with its versatility allowing the fragrance to be found in any number of different products for both men and women.
However, the aromatic properties of vetiver can differ wildly depending on the process used to harvest it. Ideally, the best aromas occur when the plant is roughly 18-24 months in age. Depending on the region they’re grown in, these properties can be further changed, with humid, tropical areas often providing the best results.
For example, oils obtained from regions such as Haiti often produce a much more flowery quality than the far more profound, smokey textures of vetiver from Indonesia.
That’s it for today’s blog, be sure to check back in the week as we delve deeper into the exciting world of luxury barrel-aged scents for home and personal use.
