Opoponax Essential Oil - Wild Harvested Sweet Myrrh (5ml)

Many are drawn to myrrh and frankincense for the warm, sacred atmosphere they bring to a space and a ritual. Sweet myrrh offers all of that, with a softer, sweeter heart.

Opoponax, known as sweet myrrh, is the fragrant resin of Commiphora guidottii, a small, thorny tree of the arid drylands of East Africa. It belongs to the same family as frankincense and true myrrh, and its resin has been treasured as a sacred and perfuming scent for thousands of years. Where true myrrh can be dark and bitter, sweet myrrh is warm, golden and honeyed.

Our oil is steam distilled from its wild-harvested resin, gathered in Kenya, and offered pure and undiluted. There is more on its remarkable scent below.

In a world where so much is rushed, it is rare to find something gathered at nature's own pace. Our sweet myrrh is.

The resin is wild-harvested in Kenya, gathered where the trees naturally yield it rather than by cutting the tree. It is then steam distilled, distiller-direct, into this pure oil.

Three things define it:

• Single origin: wild-harvested Commiphora guidottii resin from the dry country of Kenya.
• Fully traceable: traceable from field to bottle, and every batch is independently lab-tested (GC-MS) for purity, so you know exactly what is in every bottle.
• Ethically sourced: gathered with care for the tree, with local harvesters in Kenya paid fairly and directly, creating work in a region where it is scarce.

Ingredients

100% Pure - Opoponax (Sweet Myrrh) Essential Oil

• 100% pure, undiluted opoponax (sweet myrrh) essential oil, Commiphora guidottii
• Steam distilled from wild-harvested resin
• Single-origin, wild-harvested in Kenya
• Resin gathered where the tree naturally yields it
• Nothing added, never diluted

Product carefully sourced from Kenya. Click here for info on our sourcing policy.

When you want a scent that feels warm, sweet and enveloping, sweet myrrh is a rare treasure.

Its aroma is rich and honeyed, warm and balsamic, with soft notes of vanilla and amber and a gentle, resinous sweetness. There is a velvety, almost smoky depth beneath it, and a lingering warmth that stays on the air long after.

It is the sweetest and most rounded of the sacred resins. Where true myrrh is sharp and bitter, sweet myrrh is soft and golden; where frankincense is dry and bright, this is warm and honeyed. Perfumers have long treasured it as a base note and a natural fixative, and for the warm, sensual heart it lends to romantic, oriental perfumes. It is a scent to reach for in the evening, as the day winds down, in a diffuser, in meditation, or worn soft and warm on the skin.

A little of this rich, lingering oil goes a long way.

• Scent a space: add a few drops to a diffuser or oil burner for a warm, sweet, resinous atmosphere. It blends beautifully with frankincense, palo santo, citrus and other resins.
• A warm, sensual perfume: a classic base note and fixative, long loved in romantic and oriental scents. A single drop, well diluted in a carrier oil, wears soft and warm on the skin and helps other scents last longer.
• Pause and reconnect: a drop on the palms or a tissue carries the aroma into moments of meditation, reflection or ritual.
• On the skin: always dilute first in a carrier oil such as jojoba or sweet almond, and patch test as you would with any pure essential oil.

This is a pure, undiluted essential oil, so a little goes a long way.

Please note: for external aromatic use only. Avoid contact with the eyes. Do not take internally. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a medical condition, seek advice from a qualified healthcare practitioner before using essential oils.

You may also enjoy our Boswellia neglecta (Black Frankincense) and Palo Santo essential oils, and the rest of our Essential Oils collection.