Benzoin

What it is

Resin tapped from styrax trees in Sumatra and Siam, hardened into lumps. One of the oldest traded aromatics and still used in incense.

What it smells like

Sweet and balsamic, like vanilla with smoke underneath and a faint cinnamon edge. It makes a base feel thick and slow, and it is a large part of why some fragrances seem to deepen over the first hour instead of fading.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Prada (10), Tom Ford (10), Gucci (6), Guerlain (6), Nishane (6), Amouage (5).