Champaca is traded under many names: oil, attar, absolute, extract. For a sourcing team the words are not interchangeable, and the difference is worth stating precisely.

What counts as an essential oil

In the international standards used by the fragrance industry, an essential oil is a product obtained from plant material by distillation — with water or steam, or by dry distillation — or, for citrus fruits, by mechanical expression of the peel.

Products made with a solvent sit outside that definition. Concretes, absolutes, resinoids and CO₂ extracts are extracts, not essential oils, however they are named commercially.

Where L’Or Champaca sits

Our materials are obtained by solvent extraction of fresh flowers under ultra-high vacuum. Champaca Absolute Oil is therefore an absolute. The word “oil” describes its liquid form in trade usage; it does not make it an essential oil. Champaca Absolute Wax and Champaca Powder are co-products of the same extraction.

Why it matters to a buyer

• —Labelling and specifications should describe the material as an absolute.
• —Safety data sheets are prepared for the extract as supplied.
• —Under REACH, natural extracts of this kind are generally treated as substances of botanical origin; registration duties usually sit with the EU importer. Our status is confirmed with the importer of record.
• —Documentation for IFRA, Ecocert and clean-beauty supply chains is prepared on request.

Precision in naming is the first form of traceability.