Liquidambar (Styrax)

We searched for many years to find a high-quality, authentic hexane-free Liquidambar resinoid. This is it, and we are happy to offer it to you. The aroma of our Liquidambar (Styrax), also known as Sweet Gum, is very rich, sweet-balsamic, faintly floral and somewhat spicy, with resinous, animalic, amber-like undertones. A unique styrene top note of hydrocarbon character displays as a characteristic ‘gasoline-type’ (some say ‘metallic’) odor that mellows to a great extent with time and usually becomes odorless.[1]

While Liquidambar may not appeal to everyone, this unusual material can be used to enhance a formula when used in small amounts and is best used as a component of a composition, rather than on its own.[2] Because of its content of high boiling constituents, “it acts as a most efficient odor fixative.”[3] Perhaps this explains in part why it was one of the most valued of ancient perfumes; it was also burned as an altar incense.[4] In modern times, it is used in quality perfumes – for example, the classics of Tweed (1933) by Lenthéric[5], Chanel No 5 (1921) by Chanel[6], and Apres l’Ondèe (1906) by Guerlain[7].

It is especially hard to find a Liquidambar resinoid that has a pleasant aroma – numerous materials on the perfumery market offered as true Liquidambar are quite often compounded.[8] There is also a lot of discussion around the irritancy and allergenic potential of Styrax, although much of it seems based on ‘poor’ data and misinformation. This product is actually prohibited by the IFRA due to this potentially faulty data,[9] however Styrax consistently shows very low percentages of these occurrences – and typically only in individuals with prior sensitization issues.

PLEASE NOTE: A component in Liquidambar (Styrax) called styrene is in the chemical class of vinyls; while styrene blends with fixed (carrier) oils, most alcohol is too polar (water content too high) to dissolve these molecules and will either precipitate out or cause cloudiness. Our experience is that only slight cloudiness occurs when Liquidambar is combined with 190 proof alcohol.