Oud, Incense and Resin: A Short Guide

Resins and woods are the base of a fragrance: the part that remains after the brighter notes have gone. They give depth and warmth, and they are why the Ember side of the house wears so close to the skin.

Most of them begin as a tree's response to damage, a sap or a dark resin the tree makes to seal a wound.

Oud, or agarwood, comes from Aquilaria trees in South and Southeast Asia. When the wood is infected, the tree forms a dense, fragrant resin in response. The scented heartwood is rare, and the oil distilled from it is among the most expensive materials in perfumery.

It smells woody, smoky and slightly animalic, with a leathery depth. In Midnight Ember it sits beneath incense and rose absolute, warmed by saffron at the top.

Most incense notes are built on frankincense, also called olibanum, a resin tapped from Boswellia trees in Arabia and the Horn of Africa. It smells bright and peppery at first, then dry, smoky and faintly citrus.

Incense gives a fragrance a sense of space, like cold stone and smoke. It runs through the heart of both Midnight Ember and Umbra.

Labdanum is a sticky resin from the rockrose shrub of the Mediterranean. It is the backbone of most amber accords: warm, leathery and a little sweet. Benzoin, from Styrax trees, is softer, with a vanilla-like warmth.

Benzoin sits in the base of Gilded Hour with tonka bean and sandalwood. Labdanum warms the dry down of Northern Flare, so even the coolest fragrance in the house ends in heat.

Resinous fragrances open slowly and last longest, so give them time before you judge them. They are at their best in the evening and in cooler weather, when warmth on the skin feels most welcome.

If they feel too dense on their own, layer a Sky fragrance beneath. The cooler notes give the resins room to breathe.