Frangipani absolute

Creamy white flower, ripe peach, coconut, a touch of spice. Sweet and dense, near orange flower and jasmine but rounder and less indolic. Warm, slightly balsamic drydown.

Frangipani absolute has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index. Benzyl salicylate and benzyl benzoate, both reported in frangipani, are IFRA-restricted (2020) per product category.

In the EU, linalool, geraniol, citronellol, benzyl benzoate and benzyl salicylate must be labelled as allergens above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products.

Store dark, sealed and cool.

Plumeria is a small tree native to Central America and the Caribbean, planted throughout the tropics. In Vietnam it is called hoa sứ or hoa đại and is often planted at pagodas, communal houses and parks. The five twisted petals are white, yellow, pink or red.

The name frangipani is thought to come from the Italian Frangipani family, linked to a 16th-century perfume for leather gloves. The genus Plumeria is named after the French botanist Charles Plumier.

An absolute is made in two steps. The raw material is extracted with a non-polar solvent such as hexane to give a waxy concrete. The concrete is then washed with ethanol, chilled to precipitate waxes, filtered and freed of alcohol. What remains is the absolute.

Studies on frangipani report benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, linalool, geraniol, nerolidol and phenylethyl alcohol. Ratios vary with species and colour: white and yellow flowers are usually more fragrant than red ones.

Frangipani absolute is made in small volumes, mainly in India. Flowers are picked in the morning when scent is strongest. Many products sold as frangipani are synthetic accords based on benzyl salicylate and lactones.

In perfumery frangipani absolute serves tropical white florals, often with coconut, vanilla, jasmine and tuberose. It brings creaminess and roundness, unlike the sharper edge of jasmine.