What Does Frankincense Smell Like? Perfume Ingredient Guide

What does frankincense smell like in perfume? Frankincense smells lemony, resinous and incense-like, with a fresh, peppery lift. It brings a luminous, spiritual quality to a fragrance.

Botanical name	Boswellia carterii / Boswellia sacra
Plant part	Gum resin from the bark
Origin	Somalia, Oman and Ethiopia
Extraction	Steam distillation and resinoid
Note	Base
Scent family	Woods & Resins
Odour	Lemony, incense-like and resinous, with a fresh, peppery lift
Perfume uses	Incense, woody and amber blends
Key molecules	α-pinene, limonene, octyl acetate, incensole
Odour impact	Medium
Odour life on a strip	Long: a day or more
Found in	Lissom Linden, Mocha Muscari, Rose Rondeaux, Whistle Moon

Used within IFRA limits. Impact and odour life are our own studio guide, judged on a smelling strip.

What Is Frankincense?

Frankincense, also called olibanum, is a resin from Boswellia trees that grow in the arid lands of Somalia, Oman and Ethiopia. Harvesters cut the bark and collect the milky resin once it hardens into tears.

What Does Frankincense Smell Like?

Here is how strongly each facet of frankincense comes through, from our own smelling-strip notes.

How Perfumers Use Frankincense

Perfumers use frankincense to add light, height and an incense-like glow. It pairs well with myrrh, rose, woods and citrus.

Frankincense and olibanum

Frankincense and olibanum are two names for the same resin. ‘Frank’ comes from Old French, meaning pure or high quality.

Smell Frankincense in Prosody London Perfumes

For frankincense at its most expressive, try Lissom Linden. Frankincense lends a luminous, resinous base beneath linden blossom and rose. You will also find frankincense in Mocha Muscari, Rose Rondeaux and Whistle Moon.