- Latin name
- Thuja occidentalis
- Family
- Cypress family (Cupressaceae)
- Origin
- Canada, north-eastern USA
- Parts used
- scale-like leaves and twigs
- Raw materials
- “cedar leaf” (thuja) essential oil
- Extraction
- steam distillation
- Olfactory group
- aromatic, coniferous
- Position in the pyramid
- top note and heart
- Synthetic substitutes
- coniferous and herbal bases (the oil is limited by IFRA rules)
“Cedar leaf” in perfumery is an oil from the scale-like leaves and twigs of the northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), a conifer from the forests of Canada. Despite its name, it has nothing to do with true cedar — thuja was historically called “white cedar”.
How it smells: fresh, herbal and spicy: green needles, a light camphoraceous and faintly wormwood-like bitterness, the freshness of a wet forest. Cedar leaf sounds sharper and greener than cedarwood, without its dry warmth.
Thuja oil contains thujone — the same substance as wormwood. Because of it the oil sounds sharp and herbal, so it is used in perfume in small doses.
What it pairs with: with fir and cypress — a “northern forest”, with lavender and sage — fresh aromatic fougères, with wormwood — bitter herbal greenery, with citrus — a lively coniferous opening, with vetiver and cedar — a dry woody base.
Good to know: thuja is known as the “tree of life” (arbor vitae): legend has it that a brew of its needles saved French sailors in Canada from scurvy in the sixteenth century.
