Splendid Cedarwood

Written by Maryka Malano

Reading time: approximately 2-3 minutes

We use a lot of Cedarwood. You may be wondering where it is from, and do we grow it in Australia? Well, there are many countries that grow Cedarwood trees. We use a variety of Cedarwood in our products. The few species that we use are Cedarwood Himalayan - Cedrus deodora, Cedarwood Atlas - Cedrus atlantica, Virginian Cedarwood - Juniperus virginiana, Texas Cedarwood – Juniperus mexicana, Chinese Cedarwood also called Chinese Weeping Cypress, these trees are called Cedar, but they are not a true Cedarwood as such, botanical name - Cupressus funebris, the Cupressus types are usually Cypress woods. I decided to put this in purely because it is sold as Chinese Cedarwood. We also have a Western Red Cedar – Thuja plicata. The Western Red Cedar is very strong and contains high levels of a-thujone, b-thujone and camphor, so it is used in aromatherapy in very low doses.

We often have conversations with people at the market and try to explain some of the cautions with essential oil use. Some people don’t want to hear it because they have believed the major marketing campaigns around the use of essential oils. Always remember that essential oils and absolutes are like medicine, they are used for health, and you would not take Panadol for no reason, so essential oils must be used for a reason. Always read the cautions and do the correct research.

On a bright note, Cedarwood, particularly Himalayan is a good oil to use around pets. It is used extensively for perfume and a lot of modern body products. We use Cedarwood extensively with deodorants, soaps, body wash, beard oils, aftershave balms, skincare, perfume with purpose, Repair Ultra Soothe Cream, Shampoos, Conditioner, candles, oil reeds, essential oil blends and parfum.

Why is Cedarwood so good? A great question. Due to it’s astringent properties, Cedarwood is another great raw ingredient to help reduce hair loss, great for oily skin, so excellent for people who suffer breakouts, it improves the skin feel by softening and toning. Cedarwood is also a great oil because it is anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and helps reduce the severity of itchy and damaged skin.  We use all types of Cedarwood because each oil has different qualities that we prefer for use in the products we make. Himalayan Cedarwood is a little bit sharper and slightly stronger in scent compared to Atlas or Cedrus atlantica. So, in short, some Cedarwood trees are in the Pinaceae family and some are in the Cupressaceae family.

• Pinaceae family – Atlas (Cedrus atlantica), Himalayan (Cedrus deodora).
• Cupressaceae family – Virginian (Eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana), Texas (Mexican cedar, Juniperus Mexicana Schiede), Chinese (Chinese weeping cypress, Cupressus funebris Endl), East African (Juniperus procera Hochst), Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata).

The chemical composition of Cedarwood varies between all oils, to explain this we would need to focus on one oil per entry, which is a bit out of the scope of an ingredient general focus. Suffice to say, Red Cedar contains chemical compounds such as plicatic acid, thujaplicatin methyl ether, methyl thujate, 1,4- cineole, hinokitiol just to name a few and these constituents can be quite effective with natural medicine practice. Whereas, Himalayan Cedarwood contains a-Himachalene, a and y atlatone, B-Himachalene, cedrene, thujopsene and B-cedrene just to name a few. As you can see there are different chemical compositions in essential oils, therefore each oil has it’s unique position in products.

Cedarwood is just another amazing and magickal beauty that Mother Nature has provided for us. We are so grateful for the blessings we receive and live in complete awe by Earth.

If you have any questions or would love to know more, reach out to us, we are so delighted by your enthusiasm for nature as we are.

Many blessings.

The Malano Family xx