Oakmoss products

#### Oakmoss. (Uses of oakmoss products). **Oakmoss**** **products are used extensively in perfumery. They form important parts of the notes in all fougère, chypre or “moss” perfumes, and they are common ingredients in colognes, crêpe de Chines, forest notes, new mown hay, pine fragrances, lavender bouquets, Oriental bases, fancy or modern bases, etc. They can lend body and naturalness, rich pleasant undertones and high fixative value in numerous types of floral fragrances as well. Oakmoss products blend well with so many groups of perfume materials that it is hard to confine its use to certain mixtures. The oakmoss product never amounts to many percent of the total weight of a perfume formula (except in very rare cases), but it very often plays a decisive role in the overall performance of the perfume, even when the oakmoss product amounts to a few percent or less by weight. - The **Concrètes **are usually restricted in use in colored soaps, unless the oakmoss concrète is used in very low concentration in the soap perfume. Partially decolorized oakmoss concrètes can offer some advantages at this point, but they rarely produce the same odor type as do the corresponding green extracts. It is interesting to note that, although oakmoss owes its odor to aldehydes and phenolic and acidic types of components, it can still produce a unique and inimitable effect in a soap which is an alkaline medium and in the presence of moisture. - The **Absolutes **are the most versatile in perfumery use. Their solubility and great power make them the most popular forms of oakmoss extract. The absolute from benzene extraction is very dark green, viscous or semi-solid, while the absolute from petroleum ether extracted concrète is liquid and brownish-green, less intense in color. Furthermore, most oakmoss products are, in reality, mixtures of oakmoss and treemoss products, the latter being less green in color, but also different in odor and less aromatic than true oakmoss (see monograph on **Oakmoss**, summary). - **Absolute Co-Distillates **represent the absolute in a more or less diluted form and in various odor types according to the starting material. **Anhydrol**** ****Oakmoss**** **is a specialty of this type. It is produced by high-vacuum co-distillation of oakmoss extract with a high-boiling, odorless solvent which is miscible with perfume materials. Molecular distillation is usually applied, and the finished product contains a certain amount of the solvent. These products are almost colorless and they represent certain volatile fractions of the oakmoss fragrance. Their fixative value is inferior to that of oak- moss absolute by far. Oakmoss absolute codistillates are used where good solubility, no color and no typical moss effects is wanted. They are versatile in use and reasonable in cost, but not very typical of oakmoss in odor type. - **Absolute Oils **are the highest possible concentrations of the volatile part of oakmoss extracts. They are used in certain high-cost lotion perfumes where they may impart the most true-to-nature “moss” note without contributing any color at all to the perfume. The absolute oil can be used as a trace additive for topnote effects, or it may constitute a significant part of the body and the dryout notes at higher concentration in the perfume. In odor effect, it is at least twice as powerful as the ordinary absolute. - **Resins **are dark and often poorly soluble products. They may contain a significant amount of viscous, odorless solvent (up to two-thirds of the so-called Oakmoss Resin) and they are frequently bouquetted with coumarin, deertongue, hydroquinone dimethylether, isobutyl quinoline, clove bud oil, various residues from essential oils, etc. The actual amount of true oakmoss (or treemoss) extract in the so- called oakmoss resin may be as low as 10%. The “resins” are used extensively in industrial perfumes, low-cost soap perfumes, etc. Certain manufacturers know how to make an attractive “resin”, others just don’t (see Oakmoss, summary). Oakmoss resins are excellent fixatives for pine fragrances, low-cost fougères, etc. but they may be insoluble in alcohol. Certain types of oakmoss resin are soluble in mineral oil. These are used in hair preparations, etc. - **Resinoids**—so-called. The use is similar to that of the “resin”. However, the hot-alcohol extracted “resinoids” represent a special type of oakmoss products (see monograph on **Oakmoss Resin**). Natural extracts of oakmoss contain very little resin. Methyl abietate or abietic alcohols, etc. may be added to produce a “resinous product”. Oakmoss resinoids are used in soap perfumes and other perfumes where alcohol insolubility and intense color are no serious drawbacks. - **Decolorized**** ****Oakmoss Absolutes**** **are usually amber-colored, pale olive or straw yellow colored liquids. There is a certain loss of odor and change in odor type by the process of decolorizing the green extracts. The decolorized products are used mainly in cases where color is a problem, where a green color must not appear (to be revealing!), or in high-cost soap perfumes for white soaps. Their particular odor and outstanding power make them interesting for modified oakmoss notes. They are usually higher in cost, by far, than the parent green extracts.