Some considerations when making perfumes with veramoss: “It is deceptively powerful however and can have a significant effect on a blend. It is an excellent fixative and adds great depth and substance to almost any fragrance…Used alongside natural oakmoss it is possible to create a very effective facsimile of a traditional Fougère using this material, but it isn’t a full substitute for oakmoss on its own.” (Hermitage) “Evernyl offers the power and tenacity of oakmoss absolute. It is extremely versatile and is often used as an oakmoss replacement. Good substantivity. Great fixative” (CreatingPerfume.com) If you’re after a mossy effect it can help give it a boost, but from what I’m reading it isn’t a good substitute for Oakmoss. Chris Bartlett on Basenotes says, “Works very nicely alongside woods and musks.”
Scientific name: Methyl 2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethylbenzoate
a.k.a. Veramoss, Verymoss, Evernyl (Givaudan), Methyl Atratate
CAS#: 4707-47-5, 121-33-5
Supplier: Perfumer’s Apprentice
Note: Base
Family: Musky, Woody
Dilution: 10%
Diffusion: 5
Their nose: “the odour is described as mossy, oakmoss, woody, phenolic and earthy. In truth you have to work to detect most of those notes in this apparently unassuming material.” (Hermitage) Oakmoss, woody, phenolic, powdery, woody, sweet
My nose: from the get go, Veramoss is barely decipherable to my nose, I must slow right down, eyes shut, to really “get” this note. Musky, ambergris, hint of mothballs, a bit dark, austere, foggy day on the marsh sort of note, tawny, dusty, age. 15min and it’s still very hidden, I don’t get much time to sniff this one, yes, still ambergris, decay, ethereal. Haunting and evasive. 30min and my impression is very nuanced, parched, dry, it’s olfactive temperature is warm, pale and tempered. Very much a supportive, background player. 45min and it’s dry almost gone, musty, ambergris, animalic, very reserved, I almost can’t smell it anymore. I do my best not to force the issue and just set it aside. 1hr later and it’s now soft and delicate; I can smell it now again, but you can’t be in a hurry with Veramoss, it pulses feebly with life, obscure and faint. 2hrs on and it has a subtle softness like twilight, fragile, ancient, on it’s own it reminds me of a deconsecrated church, no real purpose but hollow, needing to be used by or with something else, lulling tranquil, waiting. 3hrs and it’s soft and deliberate, it has character, references to the ocean and the seaside, wind, wet, inscrutable, deep. After 7hrs it’s now beginning its decline. Warm, delicate, fragile, earthy, understated, but there is also a sense of isolation. 12hrs into the drydown and I get animalic, very subdued, it really hasn’t moved much just remained quite hidden, a gentle touch. 24hrs later and there is a hint of moss, wet, dark, ambergris, I would definitely use this as a substitute for ambergris or as an adjunct; slightly animalic, lovely and delicate.
Blends well with: woods and musks, but more specifically allspice, ambroxan, damascone beta, geraniol, frankincense, oakmoss, labdanum, etc. (TGSC)
Have a lovely week 🙂 Only 10 more days to go before Christmas!!!
MC
Her Two Scents 