Opoponax gum resin

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Opoponax resin is a scented resin for use in fragrance products.

Use

Opoponax resin can be used in frankincense and similar mixtures. For this it is usually necessary to reduce the resin chunks.

A tincture can be made for use in perfumes. Grinding the resin is also important for this. Then, for example, 40 grams of opoponax can be put in ± 70 ml alcohol (or cosmetic hair water) (to a total volume of 100 ml). Put this in a jar that can be closed airtight and put it away in the dark for at least a month. Then the liquid can be decanted or filtered.

The tincture thus made can be used as a raw material in perfumes. For professional use in cosmetics, a maximum concentration of 0.6% opoponax in the end product applies in the EU. For a tincture that contains a maximum of 40% opoponax resin, this is therefore a maximum of 1.5% tincture. Incidentally, the IFRA has slightly stricter standards.

Properties

We supply this resin as dark yellow to dark brown chunks, pieces and powder of unequal size. It may contain a few percent of pollution, such as sand, jute or plastic.

Opoponax, also called opopanax is the resin of the sweet myrrh shrub, botanically mainly Commiphora erythraea (Ehrenb.) Engl. although it can also (partly) come from other Commiphora species. The resin comes from Somalia or Ethiopia. Not to be confused with species of the Opopanax family, which is a very different plant that grows in Spain and other countries around the Mediterranean.

Winning

Opoponax resin, like many resins, is a typical commercial product that has been marketed in a similar way for centuries. It is collected wild as a side income for the local population. They sell it to itinerant traders and through other traders it then arrives in Europe.

It is repackaged and sorted every time. Not in an ultra-modern hygienic space, but on a dusty floor where animals walk around and do their needs. On the same floor, the food is made and perhaps sawn, sanded, bricked. The resin therefore always contains a certain percentage of other things than the pure resin as it runs out of the bush. Think of sand, stones, but also plastic or jute from the packaging, staples, other resins, dead insects. This is unfortunately an aspect of the resin that we can't do anything about, it has grown this way historically and will probably continue like this for a while.

Nevertheless, we think that it can indeed be made into a tincture for use in own perfumes and for R&D purposes. Keep in mind that the refined opoponax extracts used in professional perfumes are made from the exact same raw material. However, take into account a certain percentage of mess in the resin and filter the tincture to remove the unwanted things in this way.

Packaging

We supply the resin in sealed plastic (LDPE) bags.

Dangers

As an unprocessed natural substance, this resin does not fall under REACH and CLP, the tincture that you may make yourself is. In any case, take into account a possible allergic reaction, as is possible with so many fragrances.

Codes

Item number: 26004"