Not drawn yet: a drawing of what it smells like.

Linalool

Ingredients · Herbs & lavender · top note

Linalool

Say itlih-NAL-oh-uhl

Fresh, light floral-woody with lavender, bergamot and lily-of-the-valley facets.

What it is
A molecule made in a lab.
Where it comes from
mostly synthesized, natural grades from ho leaf or rosewood
When you smell it
Top notes: the first minutes.
What perfumers do with it
One of perfumery's most-used molecules: airy floral freshness for citrus, lavender and white-floral accords.
Worth knowing
Its two mirror-image forms smell different: lavender carries mostly the woodier (R)-form, coriander the sweeter (S)-form.
Rules
Limited. Oxidizes to skin sensitizers; peroxide value must stay low
Also called
3,7-Dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol; linalol

On the label of 212 of the 232 perfumes read so far

No. 5Chanel · printed “Linalool”SauvageDior · printed “Linalool”ShalimarGuerlain · printed “Linalool”MitsoukoGuerlain · printed “Linalool”Eau SauvageDior · printed “Linalool”AngelMugler · printed “Linalool”

Sources