Cedarwood

There are two distinct cedarwood ingredients in perfumery, and they behave very differently. Virginian cedarwood (Juniperus virginiana) has a dry, pencil-shaving quality from its high cedrene content. Atlas cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica) is softer, warmer, and more ambery from its atlantone and β-himachalene compounds. Cedrol — the primary sesquiterpene alcohol in both species — is responsible for the characteristic fresh, dry, slightly camphoraceous quality that makes cedarwood a foundational base material in modern perfumery. Cedar has an unusual property in skin chemistry: it projects differently depending on individual body temperature and pH. On warm skin it reads drier and more pronounced; on cooler skin it settles into a softer, more ambient presence. This variability is part of what makes cedar-dominant fragrances feel personal — the same fragrance reads differently on different people. Cedarwood is one of the most sustainably managed fragrance raw materials: Virginian red cedar is a fast-growing species that is selectively harvested, and Atlas cedar is cultivated specifically for the fragrance industry. In AURĒ's Lucid, cedarwood forms part of the base alongside ambergris and sandalwood. Its role is structural — preventing the clean freshness of the heart notes from becoming flat by adding a quiet, dry depth that holds the composition together in the final hours.