The smokiness on my Virginia Cedarwood and Texas Cedarwood

[NarcisoM]

I read somewhere here that these two are not real cedarwood. When I think of cedar I think of Vertofix, Cedramber, or Cedryl Acetate. My Virginia and Texas Cedarwood are dry, smoky and quite aromatic, being Texas the drier and smokier. I have understood these two are not made from the woody parts but from branches or leaves. Is that the reason why they don´t smell like cedarwood or I have a really bad quality materials? Also, they are present right away in any composition, I like their smokiness and thier dryness, only thing I think I need to stop thinking on them as woods or basenotes. Am I right?

 

[mnitabach]

My understanding is that Texas & Virginia "cedars" are not cedars at all, but junipers. Dunno about Virginia, but I have a Texas cedarwood I really like, and it smells just like you said. So I don't think you've got bad quality materials.

 

[ourmess]

Virginia "cedar" is Juniperus virginiana and Texas "cedar" is Juniperus mexicana, which are indeed juniper bushes as the names imply.

"True" cedars are Cedrus atlantica (atlas cedar) and Cedrus deodara (Himalayan cedar).

The true cedars can have an unpleasant cat-pee note for some people, which is why the junipers are often used (because they smell cedar-y but don't have that downside). Personally I don't smell it at all in Himalayan cedar so that's mostly what I use, and Robertet also makes a fractionated cedar "heart" which is really nice.

 

[NarcisoM]

Thank you, guys. I was sure I had read here they are not true cedars, but I couldn´t find the entry, plus, I was confused since many times here these "cedars" have been talked as they were true cedars. I really like both, but I intended use them as they were cedar and certainly they don´t behave as such. I´ll start using them as what they are. I really love the bearded lumberjack vibe I smell on them.

 

[pazzoballando]

There's also that vertofix, cedramber, and other 'cedar' materials dont really smell much like cedar EO. They are sometimes derivatives and are known by that name, and you can find some of them in cedar eo if you dig for them, but they don't really represent what cedar actually smells like. On the flip side, if you see a perfume with a cedar in its notes, its more likely to be cedramber etc etc than it is to be cedar EO.