Cinnamyl alcohol

Say itSIN-uh-mil alcohol

Sweet, warm balsamic hyacinth with soft cinnamon-spice and powdery-green facets.

What it is: A molecule made in a lab.
Where it comes from: occurs as esters in storax, Peru balsam and cinnamon
When you smell it: Dry-down: what stays.
What perfumers do with it: Hyacinth and lilac bases; a mild balsamic fixative in florals and ambers.
Worth knowing: Chemists first obtained it by splitting styracin, the crystalline ester in storax resin, and that route still works.
Rules: Limited. IFRA sensitizer limit (1.2% in fine fragrance); one of the original EU label allergens, not added in 2023
Also called: cinnamyl alcohol; cinnamic alcohol; alcool cinnamylique; alcool cinnamique; 3-phenyl prop-2-en-1-ol; 3-phenyl-2-propen-1-ol; styrone; styryl carbinol