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Straw

Q: Is Straw natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: No commercial straw extraction. Hay absolute is the closest natural material. Straw character is reconstructed from coumarin, lactones, and dry-vegetal synthetics..

NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC, POPULAR AND WEIRD / earthy · floral · fruity

Straw

Category	NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC, POPULAR AND WEIRD
Subcategory	earthy · floral · fruity
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Triticum aestivum (wheat straw, most common) · various cereal grasses
Appearance	Colorless to pale yellow clear liquid
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	Global agricultural regions
Pyramid	Heart

Dry, dusty, sun-baked vegetal. Cut hay left to cure in a barn: warm, slightly sweet, with coumarin and lactonic undertones from drying grass.

Scent
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Dry, warm, faintly sweet. Coumarin-lactone sweetness of cured grass. Less green than fresh hay, more vegetal than pure coumarin. Dusty, sun-warmed, with a barn-like undertone.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Dry dusty green with sweet coumarin edge

After a few hours

Warm vanillic-lactonic sweetness

After a few days

Faint coumarin-sweet persistence, dry and warm

The Full Story

Straw is dried cereal grass after grain harvest. Its scent comes from coumarin developing as coumaric acid breaks down during drying. Lactones and furfural contribute additional warmth.

In perfumery, straw notes reference this agricultural dryness. Warmer and sweeter than green-leaf notes, less sugary than hay absolute. Built from coumarin, furfural-type molecules, and dry woody notes.

Straw functions as a heart-to-base modifier adding rural atmosphere, warm dryness, and sunlight.

This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Did You Know?

Did you know?

Coumarin, the molecule that gives straw its sweet smell, was first isolated from tonka beans in 1820 and was the first natural substance synthesized in a laboratory (William Henry Perkin, 1868).

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: No commercial straw extraction. Hay absolute is the closest natural material. Straw character is reconstructed from coumarin, lactones, and dry-vegetal synthetics.

Molecular Formula	Complex mixture; key odorants: coumarin (C₉H₆O₂), furfural (C₅H₄O₂)
CAS Number	Not assigned (no standardized essential oil)
Botanical Name	Triticum aestivum (wheat straw, most common) · various cereal grasses
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	Colorless to pale yellow clear liquid

In Perfumery

Heart-to-base modifier providing warm agricultural dryness. Key molecules: coumarin, furfural, lactones. Adds rural atmosphere and sunlight warmth. Pairs with lavender, dry woods, tonka, and honey.