Green-bark freshness with a bitter, aspirin-like edge. White willow smells like peeling a twig near a riverbank: wet wood, salicylic sharpness, and cool green sap.
Green-bark freshness with a bitter-medicinal salicylic edge. Wet wood and cool sap. Less sweet than birch, less smoky, more explicitly green and waterside. An astringent quality from the tannin-rich bark. The impression is of peeling a fresh twig near moving water.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Green bark, salicylic sharpness, wet wood
After a few hours
After a few hours
Cool sap, bitter-astringent, waterside green
After a few days
After a few days
Faint green-woody, medicinal trace
Terroir & Maturity
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
White willow (Salix alba) is a deciduous tree native to Europe and western Asia, growing along rivers and waterways. The bark is the source of salicin, a natural precursor to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), and has been used medicinally for thousands of years.
The olfactory profile of white willow is defined by its bark: green, slightly bitter, with a particular sharp-medicinal quality from salicin and related compounds. The fresh bark smells of wet wood and cool sap. A green-herbaceous quality from the leaves adds freshness. The overall impression is of waterside vegetation: cool, damp, slightly astringent.
In perfumery, white willow provides a natural green-woody note with a medicinal edge. It functions in the heart of green, aquatic, and riverbank-themed compositions. The salicylic character distinguishes it from other green-wood notes, adding a specific pharmaceutical sharpness.
This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Albâtre Sépia. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Hippocrates prescribed willow bark tea for pain and fever around 400 BCE. It took until 1897 for Felix Hoffmann at Bayer to synthesize acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) from the natural salicin precursor, creating the world's first synthetic pharmaceutical.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Bark can be tinctured or extracted with solvents. Steam distillation is possible but rarely practiced for perfumery. The medicinally active salicin is the primary commercial interest, not the aromatic compounds.
N/A — no standard CAS for bark extract in perfumery
Botanical Name
Salix alba
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
Willow, Salix
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber viscous liquid
In Perfumery
White willow is a natural heart modifier in green, aquatic, and riverbank compositions. The salicin content provides a medicinal-bitter edge distinct from other green-wood notes. The waterside association gives it specific territory character. Functions alongside aquatic materials and green molecules in compositions evoking rivers and temperate wetlands.
