Ingredients · Spices · heart note

Methyl eugenol

Say itMETH-il YOO-juh-nawl

Mild spicy clove-carnation with a soft, musty-sweet tone.

What it is

A molecule made in a lab.

Where it comes from

occurs in bay, pimento, rose and basil oils

When you smell it

Heart: the first hours.

What perfumers do with it

Formerly used in carnation and spicy accords; now held to traces, even inside naturals.

Worth knowing

Male oriental fruit flies find it irresistible, so farmers bait pest traps with it.

Rules

Limited. Suspected carcinogen; tiny IFRA and EU limits, natural sources included.

Also called

Eugenyl methyl ether; 4-allyl-1,2-dimethoxybenzene