Myrrh CO2 Oil Ethiopia

Myrrh is known largely in part due to the sophisticated burials by a group of famous morticians known as the Egyptians. It was the scent that wafted from King Tutankhamen’s tomb when it was opened in 1922 after being discovered not initially by Howard Carter but a donkey. Carter naturally laid claim to the discovery naturally which I’d like to presume was on the donkey’s behalf. When I visited the Valley of the Kings in the fall of 2021, unbeknownst to my fellow travelers, I sniffed walls and chamber air and sand where tombs had laid, desperate to experience even the tiniest note of this former status symbol of the Roman Empire, or perhaps a hint of kyphi. My hope dissipated as I ascended back up the steep and narrow stairs to the heat of the desert, deflated for not having smelled even a remnant of the resin. 

Myrrh was not only a status symbol in ancient societies, it held and still holds reverence for medical purposes having been studied extensively in areas addressing inflammation, dental care and stomach pain. It also has historically been used in incense making such as the well known Kyphi incense. Women were herbal perfumers (a name I refer to myself as) and were very much the preparers of perfume and incense using myrrh. I highly recommend reading HerbClip at herbalgram.org authored by editor (and friend) Lori Glenn for an in depth history of myrrh. I’ve always felt that the way incense smoke flows and folds into things within its area was very symbolic the way the resin itself flows and folds into the crevices of the Commiphora tree, much like the resin I collect from the deep crevices within the Canary Island Pine tree here in California.

Myrrh CO2  is one of those extractions that I felt was made specifically for our curated perfumery offerings. It hits those amber, mineral and ancient balsamic notes I love to offer the perfume community, truly a prize to work with. It is more refined as a CO2 and as such can be used when building accords within a perfume composition. Its addition is valuable as a fixative and can warm up wood notes within an accord.