The drawing: cumin, seed heapThe drawing: cumin, dry fruiting stem
cumin

Ingredients · Spices · heart note

Cumin oil

Say itKOO-min oil

Warm, sweaty-skin spice, pungent and earthy, like curry and armpit.

What it is
Natural oil from seeds of Cuminum cyminum.
Where it comes from
India, Egypt, Iran
When you smell it
Heart: the first hours.
What perfumers do with it
Tiny doses give sensual, skin-like warmth to florals, leathers and orientals.
Worth knowing
Perfumers use it to hint at body odour; a little reads sensual, too much reads unwashed.
Known in
Déclaration (Cartier, 1998)
Rules
Limited. IFRA limits it because it is phototoxic.
Also called
Cuminum cyminum seed oil