Blue Cypress is a woody-balsamic note from the essential oil of Callitris intratropica, a native Australian conifer. Distilled from the wood and bark, the oil is naturally blue and smells sweet, woody and softly smoky, with a gentle, almost fruity warmth that makes it an unusual and characterful base note.

What does Blue Cypress smell like?

Despite the name, blue cypress smells very little like Mediterranean cypress. Rather than green, needle-like freshness, it offers a smooth, sweet woodiness with balsamic, slightly herbal and dried-fruit facets and a faint smoky tone. Its high content of guaiol links it to guaiac wood, and many people find the two similar: both are soft, rounded and gently smoky. The oil is also valued as a fixative, holding lighter notes in place.

Where Blue Cypress comes from

Callitris intratropica, sometimes called northern cypress pine, grows across tropical northern Australia, including the Northern Territory and the Tiwi Islands. The oil is produced by long steam distillation of chipped wood and bark from plantation-grown trees. During distillation guaiazulene forms, giving the oil its striking blue colour. Commercial production began in the mid-1990s.

• Also known as: Northern cypress pine, Australian blue cypress
• Fragrance family: Woody, balsamic
• Type: Natural
• Main origins: Northern Territory, Australia
• How it's obtained: Steam distillation of wood and bark
• Key aroma molecules: Guaiol, eudesmols, dihydrocallitrisin, with guaiazulene giving the colour

Blue Cypress in perfume history

Blue cypress is one of perfumery's newest natural materials. The timber was planted in the Northern Territory from the 1960s for building, prized for its resistance to termites, and only later did distillers explore the aromatic oil that the wood could yield. It entered the natural perfumery and aromatherapy trade in the 1990s and has since found its way into a small number of niche fragrances.

Blue Cypress in modern perfumery

Blue cypress is still a niche material, used mainly by artisanal, natural and Australian perfume houses that want to showcase native botanicals. Its supply is small and tied to plantation forestry. The blue colour can tint a finished perfume, so it is used in modest doses or in darker formulas.

How Blue Cypress wears and what it pairs with

Blue cypress behaves as a heart-to-base note with good longevity and a soft, close-wearing trail. It blends well with sandalwood, vetiver, cedar, guaiac wood, lavender, citrus, frankincense and other Australian botanicals such as kunzea or lemon myrtle.