Ingredients · Spices · heart note

beta-Caryophyllene

Say itBAY-tuh-kair-ee-oh-FIL-een

Dry, woody-spicy warmth of clove and black pepper, sweet and tenacious.

What it is

Natural material from sesquiterpene isolated from oils rich in it, such as clove, black pepper and copaiba.

When you smell it

Heart: as it settles.

What perfumers do with it

Adds dry peppery-clove depth to spicy, woody and green accords.

Worth knowing

It switches on the body's CB2 cannabinoid receptor, and its oxidized form, caryophyllene oxide, is what drug-sniffing dogs detect in cannabis.

Also called

beta-caryophyllene; β-caryophyllene; caryophyllene; (−)-trans-caryophyllene

On the label of 119 of the 352 perfumes read so far

SauvageDior · printed “Beta-caryophyllene”ShalimarGuerlain · printed “Beta-caryophyllene”Eau SauvageDior · printed “Beta-caryophyllene”Good GirlCarolina Herrera · printed “Beta-caryophyllene”Bleu de ChanelChanel · printed “Beta-caryophyllene”Coco MademoiselleChanel · printed “Beta-caryophyllene”

See all 119