Papyrus
Dry, earthy wood with a smoky, leathery edge, like sun-baked reeds and old baskets.
You may know it from A dry woven reed mat
Where it comes from
Steam-distilled oil from the roots of the papyrus sedge.
Worth knowing
It refers to the plant, not the smell of ancient paper.
About papyrus
Papyrus is a sedge, Cyperus papyrus, a tall plant of flooded swamps and lake margins across Africa, with the Nile Delta among its homes. The material in perfumery comes from the rhizome, the underground stem. For the essential oil it is dried in the sun to shake off the soil and then hydrodistilled.
Solvent extraction gives an absolute instead, thicker and more complex than the oil. One supplier calls it sepia-coloured and pourable. Sources differ on which part of the plant goes into it: a retail glossary says rhizome, while a supplier of the absolute names the flowering umbel. The same glossary calls Egyptian absolute the most prized grade.
The two materials read differently. Distilled oil is dry, woody and faintly smoky, with an earthy-spicy depth. ScenTree places it among woody and smoky materials, where it adds spice to woods and echoes the earthiness of vetiver. The absolute opens with an odd run of sweet, salty, soy, mushroom, rye-bread, leather and rubber impressions. Then it dries toward aged paper and damp leaves, with dry woods, rice and grain underneath. The Good Scents Company's entry for it reads salty, beany, earthy, mushroom, rye bread, leathery, phenolic.
In formulas it sits in the base. Perfumers use it to reinforce vetiver accords and to bridge woody and aromatic-green elements. A supplier of the absolute suggests pairing it with heavy white florals, or using it in place of cepes in mushroom accords. A retail guide lists Le Labo Santal 33 and L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu as having papyrus in the base, which is the seller's claim.
The plant itself has also gone into baskets, sandals, boats and incense. ScenTree reports that the oil is not restricted under the IFRA 51st amendment, though it carries an aspiration hazard warning and an aquatic hazard warning.
Accords it shows up in
How many of the fragrances listing Papyrus in our catalogue also carry each accord. We counted this ourselves.
Often paired with
The notes that appear next to Papyrus most often in our catalogue.
Well-known fragrances with Papyrus
Fragrances that list it in their notes, most-rated first.
Houses that use it most
Ranked by how many of their well-known fragrances list Papyrus.