Cedar Element

This is a traditional cedar scent consistent with the bark version of cedar essential oil. It can be used as the primary note, or a background note and is potent enough that a little goes a long way. It adds that little extra depth to my tobacco blends and helps to tame some of the deeper ambers I am so fond of. I tested it in 464 and found it to have excellent hot throw with minimal discoloration of the wax. Cedar is a near perfect amber wood that can enhance and deepen almost any note from any of the other fragrance groups, so I lean heavily on it in my signature scents. I am not a big a fan of cedar as a standalone because of the medicinal undertones, but I use it frequently to build a base with both the aquatic and the ozone elements when creating clean or rain scents. I really appreciate the elements series from CS. It makes customizing blends straightforward and consistent. Building fragrances is still just as slow as it ever was, but it is much easier to get consistent and reasonably predictable results with these elements.

I was a bit disappointed when I first smelled this out of the bottle. I found it really off putting. However! I don't like things to go to waste, so I did test with it. I mixed it with a little bit of bergamot, and it ended up being such a nice scent. I'm glad I gave it a chance!

When I saw these launch, I immediately ran to this as I want a *true* cedar scent and while there is definitely cedar in there, there's also a heavy smoke scent to it. While it's lovely and it actually worked for something completely different than I had planned on, it's definitely not a straight cedar scent which kind of bummed me out.
I'd probably rename it to a smoked or smoky cedar instead.

This is a dynamic cedar fragrance oil! Some things to know before diving in. It is the smoky and spicy side of cedar with a hint of sweetness, but generally fairly dry. I found notes of cured tobacco leaf were a major component. I also get a very vague sense of Cinnamic Aldehyde, giving it spiced undertones. This did have a slight acrid quality OOB--sharpness and almost fishiness--that wasn't pronounced in wax, but overall adds to its perfect application in smoky concoctions. Mixing this with a bit of Smoke Element, I got great bonfire vibes in both hot and cold throw. Mixing it judiciously with Green Leaves Element added some of the sweetness and green wood fragrance many might be looking for. I can imagine this playing beautifully against a contrasting floral note like lily of the valley, lavender, or rose. Very grateful to CS for offering these paired down elements for us to experiment with!

This one is more like smoked cedar, like sauna type of smoke. If you are looking for something more close to fresh cedar barks, don't go with this one. As for me, I'm in love. Very natural scent, resinous, pepper-ish, smoked. Not very green, but crispy fresh undertones hard to describe.