Cypress absolute

Dark green foliage, balsamic resin, dry amber. Less of the bright terpenic lift of the oil. A warm base with hints of leather and cedarwood.

Cypress absolute has no dedicated standard in the 51st Amendment of the IFRA Standards. Cupressus belongs to the cypress family, not the pine family, so the IFRA peroxide specification for pine family derivatives does not apply by family name.

α-Pinene and limonene are on the EU fragrance allergen list under Regulation 2023/1545. They must be labelled above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products.

Oxidised terpenes can sensitise. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Cupressus sempervirens is a tall, columnar cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean and planted throughout southern Europe. The oil distilled from the leafy twigs has its own page in the library. The absolute is the solvent-extracted form, made in small quantities.

The twigs are extracted with a non-polar solvent to give a concrete. The concrete is washed with ethanol, chilled to remove waxes, filtered and freed of alcohol. The absolute is usually dark green to brown.

Cypress oil is mostly monoterpenes, with α-pinene and δ-3-carene in the lead. The absolute keeps heavier matter such as cedrol and labdane diterpenes like manoyl oxide. This heavier fraction gives an amber tone the oil lacks.

In perfumery, cypress absolute gives a conifer note with depth. It suits chypres, fougères, woody and leather accords and links well with labdanum and oakmoss.

Composition data specific to the absolute are rarely published. The constituents above come mostly from the oil and should be checked against the lot's certificate of analysis.