Camphor

One tree, Cinnamomum camphora, gives three completely different oils depending on which form of it you grow. White camphor is the camphor-heavy one, sharp and penetrating. Ravintsara from Madagascar swaps that for 1,8-cineole and smells like eucalyptus. Ho wood is almost pure linalool and smells floral and soft, with no camphor at all. Camphor itself warms skin by firing the heat-sensing nerve endings, then wearing them out, which is how a chest rub works.^[1]^[2]

Ho Wood

Cinnamomum camphora ct. linalool

Also Known As: Ho Leaf, Shiu Wood
Family: Woody
Perfumery Note: Middle
Intensity: Medium
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Wood and twigs
Origins: China, Taiwan, Japan
Effect: Sleep & Relaxation
Aroma: Floral, Woody, Sweet
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Skincare, Massage & Body, Perfumery & Fragrance Making
Price: $$$$Sourced from fast-growing, high-yielding trees; it serves as a sustainable and inexpensive alternative to Rosewood.

Ho wood is the camphor tree that makes linalool instead of camphor, at over 95% of the oil. It smells soft, sweet and faintly floral, nothing like the tree's name suggests. It is the sustainable replacement for rosewood, which is a vulnerable Amazonian tree distilled for the same compound. Linalool eases anxiety in animal models by acting on the GABA system, the same target that some sleeping pills work on.^[3] It also holds back bacteria in lab tests.^[4]

White Camphor

Cinnamomum camphora

Also Known As: Camphor, Camphor Tree
Family: Woody
Perfumery Note: Top
Intensity: Very Strong
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Wood, Roots
Origins: China, Taiwan, Japan
Effect: Focus & Mental Clarity, Respiratory Support
Aroma: Camphorous, Fresh, Penetrating
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Household & Cleaning
Price: $$$$A byproduct of the timber industry in Asia; high yield and very common

White camphor is the fraction of camphor oil that is safe to use. Raw camphor oil is separated by distillation into white, brown and yellow fractions, and only the white one is low enough in safrole to sell. It smells sharp and penetrating, the classic mothball-and-chest-rub note. Camphor first fires the nerve endings that sense heat, then leaves them unable to respond, which is why a rub feels warm then numb.^[1] In animal testing the oil eased pain and calmed swelling.^[2]

Ravintsara

Cinnamomum camphora ct. cineole

Also Known As: Ho Leaf
Family: Herbal
Perfumery Note: Top
Intensity: Medium
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Leaves
Origins: Madagascar
Effect: Respiratory Support, Energy & Uplifting
Aroma: Fresh, Eucalyptus-like, Camphorous
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Massage & Body
Price: $$$$A hardy tree in Madagascar that produces a massive amount of leaf oil

Ravintsara is the Madagascan form of the camphor tree, and it makes no camphor at all. Instead it makes 1,8-cineole, at half to three fifths of the oil, so it smells like eucalyptus. That is why it is used for blocked chests rather than sore muscles. Reviews credit cineole with activity against viruses including herpes simplex and influenza, and with helping the airways clear mucus.^[5] Do not confuse it with ravensara, a different Madagascan species entirely.^[6]

Essential Nose

Camphor

Ho Wood

White Camphor

Ravintsara

References