Champaca Oil

Champaca Oil comes from the flowers of Magnolia champaca. It smells sweet and heavy: a full magnolia floral with warm, spicy undertones and a distinct green-tea note running through the middle, nearer to warm tea leaves than to a fresh-picked blossom.

The oil is obtained through steam distillation or solvent extraction. Champaca flowers have been used in ceremonies and in perfumery for centuries, particularly in India and Southeast Asia. Linalool, beta-caryophyllene and benzyl benzoate account for its floral character.

Champaca is one of the more unusual floral oils: rich, heavy and exotic rather than light and fresh. It is also sold as champak oil or Magnolia champaca essential oil. Natural perfumers use it sparingly as a heart note, where it adds warmth and golden floral sweetness to jasmine, rose and ylang-ylang accords, and a little goes a long way in a small blend. For external aromatic use only, never taken by mouth, and dilute it in a carrier oil before any skin use.

How to use it

Use it in perfumery, in skincare formulations, in massage and spa blends and in a diffuser. It blends with Ylang-ylang, Sandalwood, Jasmine and Rose, and with citrus oils such as Bergamot and Neroli. Bergamot is photosensitising, so keep treated skin out of direct sunlight for twelve hours, or diffuse instead. Technique tip: let a finished blend rest a day or two before judging it, as the tea note only settles into place once the sharper top notes have blown off.

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