GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES / earthy · fresh · green
Oak Leaves
Category
GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
Subcategory
earthy · fresh · green
Origin
Volatility
Heart Note
Botanical
Quercus spp.
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber liquid
Odor Strength
Medium
Producing Countries
Europe, North America
Pyramid
Heart
Tannic, dry, faintly astringent green turning to brown. Oak leaves smell like autumn underfoot -- crisp when fresh, leathery and earthy when decaying, always carrying the ghost of tannin.
Tannic, green-to-brown, astringent. Fresh leaves read as a crisp, slightly bitter green; dying leaves add a leathery, tea-like quality; decomposing leaves bring forest-floor earth. The tannin component is the thread -- a dry, mouth-puckering astringency translated into scent. More structured than generic 'green leaf' notes.
Earthy, mushroomy forest-floor, quiet and persistent
Terroir & Transformation
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Oak leaves in perfumery refer to the foliage of Quercus species -- not the bark or wood, but the leaves themselves at various stages: fresh green, drying, and fallen. Each stage has a different olfactory character. Fresh oak leaves are green, slightly astringent, and tannic. Drying leaves develop a leathery, tea-like quality. Fallen, decomposing leaves contribute earthy, mushroom-like petrichor notes.
No commercial essential oil of oak leaves exists. The note is reconstructed using green-leaf aldehydes (for freshness), methyl salicylate (for the tannic astringency), castoreum or castoreum-type molecules (for the leathery drying-leaf quality), and geosmin or vetiver (for the forest-floor decomposition stage). The tannin character can be suggested with gallate esters or tea-leaf notes.
Functionally, oak leaves work as a green-to-earthy modifier across the heart-to-base transition. The note provides a specific deciduous-forest reference point: temperate, European, autumnal. It works in forest, chypre, and nature-themed compositions.
This note in Première Peau. Simili Mirage · Gravitas Capitale. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Oak leaves contain up to 10% tannins by dry weight -- enough to tan leather. Medieval European tanners used crushed oak bark and leaves as their primary tanning agent, which is why the process is called 'tanning' (from the Germanic word for oak: tanna).
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No commercial essential oil or absolute of oak leaves exists. The note is reconstructed from green-leaf aldehydes, methyl salicylate (tannic astringency), leathery molecules, and earthy modifiers (geosmin, vetiver).
Complex mixture: various tannins, phenolic compounds, leaf alcohols
CAS Number
N/A — natural plant material (absolute available; no single CAS)
Botanical Name
Quercus spp.
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
Oak leaf, Feuille de chêne
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber liquid
In Perfumery
Oak leaves provide a deciduous-forest green-to-earthy modifier across the heart-to-base transition. The note captures multiple leaf stages: fresh (green aldehydes), drying (leathery, methyl salicylate), and decomposing (geosmin, earthy). It provides a temperate-European forest reference in chypre, forest, and autumnal compositions. The tannic character distinguishes it from tropical or coniferous leaf notes.
