Product Overview
Michelia champaca is an evergreen tree native to the Philippines and the Indonesian islands, but now also grows in places far west of its origin – India, southeast China, Réunion, and Madagascar; the flowers are a beautiful deep orange-yellow, but vary in color according to locality, borne on medium-sized slender trees related to the Magnolias.[1] In many areas where it thrives, the flowers are used for ornamental purposes and for worship in temples. Champaca blossoms were and still are commonly used to make an 'attar' – regarded as a holy fragrance – by distilling the oil from the flowers directly into a receiver containing Sandalwood essential oil.[2],[3] According to Jennifer Peace Rhind, the aroma of Champaca has a euphoric quality, perhaps similar to that of Jasmine or Neroli.[4] As cited in Guenther’s The Essential Oils, Champaca constitutes one of the most exquisite raw materials for perfumery.[5] – and we couldn’t agree more! The famous perfume Joy, introduced in 1930 by Jean Patou and advertised at the time as "the costliest perfume in the world", contains Red Champaca among other voluptuous and highly prized floral notes.
Michelia champaca absolute, rare and hard to come by, is now known to us as being sourced from a species that is red-listed in India by IUCN, although classified as Least Concern. Because the flowers have long been culturally significant in the devotional rituals of India, our supplier sources flowers that are carefully plucked from – and with no damage to – established trees in an area where new trees are continually being cultivated. Thus, this absolute represents a step in the right direction for sustainably-sourced fragrance materials.
1 Arctander, Steffen. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, 1960, pp. 158-9.
2 Rhind, Jennifer Peace. Essential Oils – A Handbook for Aromatherapy Practice, 2012, p. 14.
3 Arctander, Steffen. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, 1960, p. 575.
4 Rhind, Jennifer Peace. Essential Oils – A Handbook for Aromatherapy Practice, 2012, p. 247.
5 Guenther, Ernest. The Essential Oils, Vol. V, 1952, p. 381.
6 Arctander, Steffen. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, 1960, p. 160.
7 Ibid.
8 Tisserand, Robert and Rodney Young. Essential Oil Safety, 2nd ed., 2014, p. 245.
