AMBER Resin/EO Profile

By Jeanne Rose ~ 2/17/16 & 18

 

Synopsis: Amber oil fossilized resin to use in perfumery, fragrant rich
and a detailed odor with growth description and chemistry.

Common Name/Latin Binomial ~ Amber Resin/Oil Fossilized. This is probably Pinus succinifera, L, Family of Family Pinaceae.

            “THE chemical composition of succinite (Baltic amber), its botanical origin, and methods of distinguishing it from other fossil resins, are long standing questions, the third of which has been largely solved in recent years by infrared spectrometry. In his survey, Langenheim emphasizes the botanical origin and the strong hold which Conwentz’s postulated amber source Pinus succinifera has had over subsequent workers.” —https://www.nature.com/articles/239527a0  and Langenheim, Plant Resins.

 Other Common Name/Naming Information ~ The name Oleum succini is a name that simply means ‘oil amber’ and is a name given by the Pharmacopeia and not a true Latin binomial.  It can be considered a ‘common name’ that you would recognize in old books.

 Family ~ Pinaceae

 Countries of Origins ~ Amber Resin is native to Europe, Himalayas, China and Siberia naturalized worldwide.
The  so-called Amber Resins being sold in many stores are not resins at all although there may be some resin, oleoresins, or fractions of resins in them. (Labdanum is an oleoresin, for instance.) No manufacturer of these very smelly items will give out their recipe or ingredient list. They truly are highly guarded secrets. They probably are all fragrant amber resins because they contain at least some synthetics of one kind or another.

There is an amber oil  (from Amber resin) that is destructively distilled from Baltic amber (fossilized tree resin) – and very hard to one that is real. Destructive distillation yields a product from a 50,000-year-old piece of fossilized pine resin. True Amber oil is from a fossilized resin to use in perfumery, fragrant rich and a detailed odor with growth description and chemistry.

 Eden Botanicals Harvest Location ~ Fossilized Amber Oil is dry distilled and refined from Amber originating in the Himalaya Mountains near China. Mined not cultivated.

Endangered or Not ~ Not at this time

 General description of Plant habitat and growth ~ The origin of amber (amber resin) is somewhat uncertain; it is believed to be a fossil resin, produced by the hardening of the resinous exudates of largely extinct trees of the Coniferae family. (King’s American Dispensatory, 1898, by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D.) EB Amber oil is produced from fossilized tree resin from 35-million-year old Himalayan fossilized tree resin.

         Our product (Eden Botanicals) is mined and not cultivated.

 

Portion of plant used in distillation, how distilled, extraction methods and yields ~ This is a fossilized tree resin from trees millions of years old produced by dry distillation where the amber resin is processed over high heat until an oily substance is obtained.

Yield: I have been unable to find a documented yield for Amber oil from resin.

Organoleptic Characteristics  

	Color:	dark brown to red
	Clarity:	opaque
	Viscosity:	viscous
	Taste:	bitter
	Intensity of Odor: 1-10 with  1= lowest	2-3 Bergamot & Amber =2; Rose Geranium = 4; Tea Tree= 6

 

Odor Description/ Aroma Assessment: Smoky, resinous, leathery, woody-dry with a hint of green and low intensity but with great tenacity.

GENERAL PROPERTIES

Properties and Uses ~ Calming and thought by many to be healing.

This is a very specialized product that as a resin has been used medicinally but of the dry distillation the oily scent product is mainly used by inhalation for calming and uplifting and in perfumery. The resin and oil are used for emotional healing and in perfumery.

Jeanne Rose Uses ~ I have used the Amber oil as a general fixative in perfumery and as a low intensity base note in perfume. It lends a sweet quality to men’s cologne and works very well with smoky notes like Labdanum in Chypre perfumes.

I do not do an inhalation with the oil and prefer to burn a bit of the resin over charcoal as an incense. I do this outside and watch the smoke curl into the sky as a ritual act – to feed the gods. Using rough stone of the Baltic Amber, it burns with a resinous and conifer ‘pine-like’ scent.

            Prayer or paternoster beads made from Amber have a long history.Amber Rosary beads with handmade linen thread – personalized

 

Application/ Skincare ~ I do not see the need to use this lovely product in any skin care formula although it could add something to a skin care odor if you use less than 5% in the scent blend and the scent blend is no more than 1.5% of the total. This becomes a most tiny portion of the total.

Diffuse/Diffusion ~ Do not diffuse

Emotional/Energetic Uses ~ Amber is alive, it is electric. The addition of this oil in a fragrant perfume blend will add an emotional component that is soothing but also uplifting. This is an ancient scent and could be used in meditation. Use only a tiny drop of the diluted Amber on a piece of cotton or cotton swab. Inhale lightly and meditate or do your yoga. Think of your ancient self.

Resin itself exudes from a plant to heal the wound and thus you can say that the energetic use of Amber to ‘heal that which is broken’.

 

Key Use ~ Perfumery

 PERFUMERY

BLENDING with formula – True Amber oil is a pleasant addition to any high-end perfumery project especially as a bridge note or in the base note but not accord. Amber oil is soluble in alcohol. See perfume formula below.

Blends Best with ~ Angelica, Balsam of Peru, Cedarwood (Cedrus spp.), Champaca, Cinnamon bark, Cacao, Balsam fir, Rose Geranium, Jasmine, Labdanum, Liquidamber Styrax, Patchouli, Rose, Sandalwood of any kind, Tobacco, Tuberose, Vanilla, Vetiver, Ylang Ylang.

 

HYDROSOL: None known

PLEASE NOTE: A true hydrosol should be specifically distilled for the hydrosol, not as a co-product or even a by-product of essential oil distillation. The plant’s cellular water has many components most are lost under pressurized short steam runs for essential oil, or by using dried material. We recommend that the producers specifically distill for a product by using plant material that is fresh.

Amber bracelets, Amber oil, Amber succinite from China

 

Historical Uses: Amber has been appreciated for its color and beauty in medicine and jewelry since Neolithic times (10,000 BC). The origin of amber is somewhat uncertain; it is believed to be a fossil resin, produced by the hardening of the resinous exudates of largely extinct trees of the Coniferae family.  The excellent author, Jean Langenheim in her fantastic book, Plant Resins, has much to say on this resin as it has been known and through a lengthy geologic time. Sources of Amber include the Dominican Republic in the Newe Worlde and the “Baltic area of the Olde Worlde. It exists all over the world in many countries, although the Baltic amber constitutes the largest and most widespread deposition of amber in the world¹.”^.

             “It is not strictly true that there are no pure amber oils. There is an amber oil that is destructively distilled from Baltic amber (fossilized tree resin) – although it is rare and hard to get – and very hard to find a real one that was distilled properly. It is not an essential oil (in my book) and so I will still maintain that there is no true amber essential oil. How can you distill an essential oil from a 50,000-year-old piece of fossilized pine resin? Destructive distillation may yield oil but not an essential oil as we are used to using the term.” — Will in 2010.

           •

  Interesting Information: The Amber that is sold as EO is a unique substance that is mined and dry-distilled.

Physiochemical Properties

Chemical Components ~ The oil is a Complex one consisting of 41% essential oil components and 59% artifacts from the distillation process and the extreme age of the original fossilized resin.
Solubility –Soluble in alcohol and recommended to use at 5% or 5 parts Amber oil to 95 parts of 95% neutral grain or grape spirits.
Solubility in water: insoluble
Soluble in alcohol and fixed oils.
Specific Gravity: 1.011 +/-0.002
Refractive Index: 1.5066 +/- 0.001
Comparison of Main Components ~Cadalene, Calamenene-cis, Calamenene-trans, Calacorene, Calamenene-5-hydroxy-cis

 

Abstract/Scientific Data: A Brief Exposition of the Science of Mechanical Electricity: Or Electricity Proper; Subsidiary to the Course of Chemical Instruction in the University of Pennsylvania … by Robert Hare, J.G. Auner. 1840

Contradictions: There are many fragrant products called ‘amber’. Most are made from a combination of EO that include Benzoin or Styrax and any number of other scents. Read your label carefully. If it says ‘fragrant oil’ or ‘fragrance’ you can be sure the product is a synthetic version of what you truly want. It is best that you not use these products.

Eden Botanical amber is the dry distillation of the mineralized amber and is safe to use.

Safety Precautions: Do not ingest, do not inhale the vapor. Frequent contact may cause sensitization.

Patch Test:  If applying a new essential oil to your skin always perform a patch test to the inner arm (after you have diluted the EO in a vegetable carrier oil). —Wash an area of your forearm about the size of a quarter and dry carefully. Apply a diluted drop (1 drop EO + 1 drop carrier) to the area. Then apply a loose Band-Aid and wait 24 hours. If there is no reaction, then go ahead and use the oil in your formulas. —The Aromatherapy Book, Applications & Inhalations, p. 64

Do not ingest EO.

References:
^1.Langenheim, Jean H. PLANT RESINS, Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, Ethnobotany. Timber Press. 2003
Mabberley, D. J. Mabberley’s Plant-Book, 3^rd edition, 2014 printing, Cambridge University Press.
Rose, Jeanne.  375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols.  Berkeley, California: Frog, Ltd., 1999
Rose, Jeanne.  The Aromatherapy Book: Applications & Inhalations.  North Atlantic Books. 2000:
Herbal Studies Course/ Jeanne Rose .2015 edition. San Francisco, California

 

 DISCLAIMER:  This work is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for accurate diagnosis and treatment by a qualified health care professional. Dosages are often not given, as that is a matter between you and your health care provider. The author is neither a chemist nor a medical doctor.  The content herein is the product of research and personal and practical experience. Institute of Aromatic & Herbal Studies – Jeanne Rose©

 

 

Amber ~ March-2014

Amber at the end of a life,
Is akin to a stubborn wife.
One day she’s nice
The next she’s rife
With the specter of an angry life.