- Latin name
- Daucus carota
- Family
- Carrot family (Apiaceae)
- Origin
- France, Hungary, India
- Parts used
- seeds of wild carrot
- Raw materials
- essential oil
- Extraction
- steam distillation of the seeds
- Olfactory group
- woody, earthy
- Position in the pyramid
- heart and base
- Synthetic substitutes
- carotol, iris bases
Carrot seed oil is obtained not from the garden carrot but from the seeds of wild carrot — a plant with white lacy umbels that grows in meadows and along roadsides. Ripe seeds are gathered for distillation.
How it smells: earthy, woody and slightly spicy, with a sweetish “rooty” shade and a characteristic powderiness reminiscent of iris. Carrot seed sounds warm, quiet and natural.
Perfumers love carrot seed as an “assistant to iris”: it has a similar earthy-powdery side and helps make costly iris deeper and more natural without increasing its amount.
What it pairs with: with iris — earthy-powdery classics, with cedar and vetiver — dry woody compositions, with violet — cosmetic powder, with leather — soft suede, with incense — a quiet resinous accord.
Good to know: in England wild carrot is poetically called “Queen Anne's lace” — for the resemblance of its flower heads to fine lace.
