Guaiacwood essential oil (Bulnesia sarmientoi) is often used to enhance the healing restorative function of therapeutic skincare products though it’s more popularly known as a flavor or fragrance enhancement in foods, beverages, candles, soaps, and perfumes. Guaiacwood essential oil is found in a number of PHYTO5 skincare products: Zen Body Exfoliation, organic certified Zen Massage Oil and organic certified Ageless La Cure Nourishing Cream.)
Guaiacwood essential oil is observed to help tighten skin by contracting blood vessels and skin tissue for a more youthful appearance. Its diuretic properties support the movement of excess fluid. The important antioxidant properties of guaiacwood combat free radicals that help mitigate aging of skin. It is non-irritating, non-sensitizing and anti-inflammatory helping to heal and soothe skin. It’s also very purifying especially for skin.
Guaiac is an endemic tree from the Gran Chaco region(1) of South America that produces this beautifully fragrant wood. It’s used currently by the local population as a multipurpose folk medicine and has been for hundreds of years. These remedies are infusions brewed from the tree’s bark, crust or leaves which provide a whole range of health benefits to individuals living in the regions where it grows, however today the benefits of guaiacwood essential oil are widely known across the globe.
The wood has a particularly high density and quite a high content in resin. For these reasons, guaiacwood is considered an excellent wood for use in some construction, in floor parquetry and in various handicrafts.
Guaiacwood essential oil is obtained as a water distillation byproduct of heartwood,(2) sawdust and wood leftovers of the tree Bulnesia sarmientoi. It is very viscous as an essential oil and highly utilized as a supporting fragrance ingredient by the cosmetic and perfume industry for its excellent fixative properties and its delicate wood-rose odor.
Guaiacwood essential oil smoothes out and balances strong or harsh fragrances with a sweet, delicate balsamic fragrance reminiscent of tea roses. It provides the woody notes, for example, to support the rose notes in Chanel No. 19.
In soaps made of some synthetic ingredients, guaiacwood essential oil is used to potently mask any unpleasant chemical odor.
In many cosmetics, guaiacwood essential oil is utilized as an excipient or medium for the delivery of other ingredients in the product.
As a flavor component, guaiacwood is used in baked goods, meat products, gelatins, puddings, confectionary, beverages including alcoholic, and in frozen dairy desserts.
The wood of the deciduous tree from which this essential oil is derived grows 20 to 65 feet tall. The age of the guaiacwood tree determines the potency of the essential oil it produces. It principally grows in the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and to some extent in Brazil. The annual output of guaiacwood essential oil is roughly 100 metric tons.
In the Gran Chaco region, palo santo is used locally as a blood cleanser, perspiration inducer, diuretic, gastric pain reliever and wound and skin healer. In addition, serious diseases and conditions such as syphillis, leprosy, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis are also treated in the region with palo santo. The oil has also been historically successfully used to treat common colds, asthma, flu symptoms and headaches.
Guaiacwood goes by many names: champaca-wood, pockwood, lignum vitae (wood of life), essence bois de guaic in French and palo santo (holy wood) in Spanish. The name palo santo originated in the jungles of Northwest Argentina.
Guaiac resin is an entirely different product from guaiacwood essential oil. It is the resin of the tree Guaiacum officinale of the Bahama Islands which is used to produce drug store stool tests that looks for hidden blood in a sample. It is only very rarely used in perfumery. The tincture prepared from this resin has a pleasant balsamic vanilla-like odor with a slightly smoky undertone. This is the very tincture that Sherlock Holmes used to identify blood stains on a murder scene.
Once reserved strictly for use as incense, guaiacwood is now protected and its trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The benefits guaiacwood offers as incense are similar to the benefits commonly derived from the burning of sage and cedar.
The essential oil of guaiacwood is:
tonifying and healing to the skin
antioxidizing (for slowing down the visible signs of skin pore tightening)
energetically cleansing and healing
anti-fungal (for the skin, especially)
anti-inflammatory
anti-rheumatic
antiseptic (therefore good for acne and oily skin)
aphrodisiacal
astringent
diaphoretic
diuretic
laxative
stimulating (to the genitourinary system)
sudorific (stimulating sweat)
balsamic (sharing a root with the word ‘balm,' balsamic here means healing)
Guaicwood essential oil is known to:
purify the tissues
support venous and lymphatic circulation (so necessary for radiant skin)
calm, relax and relieve tension (slows down reflexes)
uplift mood
sharpen mental clarity
bring balance to an anxious or depressed emotional state
relieve emotional pain
enhance creativity
support restful sleep
soothe swollen or injured skin tissue
loosen up tight muscles
ease respiratory challenges
enhance the meditation experience
Of special note are guaiacwood's high levels of the odorant terpene compounds.(3) Comprising roughly two thirds of its terpene composition are guaiol and bulnesol. Its terpene makeup is highly complex. Terpenes bear many properties positive to elevated health and when they naturally come together in a plant such as guaiacwood, a symphony of health benefits is created. Guaiacwood is composed of approximately twelve different terpene compounds.
Click through the following links to learn about terpenes in our articles on the topic:
The Terpene: Most Fundamental Fragrance, Flavor and Healing Component of Essential Oils; and
Scent, Flavor and Healing Are Found In All Plants Because of Terpenes
Bear in mind that natural essential oils are quite potent. It takes an enormous amount of wood to yield just one drop of guaiacwood essential oil so if you are using the oil by itself it is important to dilute it with a carrier oil such as almond, jojoba, or coconut oil. It is always safest to use products that have been expertly formulated with the most appropriate amount of essential oils.
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(1) The Gran Chaco region is a lowland plain in central South America that extends from southern Bolivia through Paraguay to northern Argentina.
(2) Heartwood is the dense inner part of a tree trunk, yielding the hardest timber.
(3) Terpenes are aromatic metabolites found in the oils of all plants. Almost without exception, when a plant produces a scent or flavor, that odor or flavor comes from the terpenes present in the plant.
Sources:
Tissandié L, Viciana S, Brevard H, Meierhenrich UJ, Filippi JJ. Towards a complete characterisation of guaiacwood oil. Phytochemistry. 2018 May;149:64-81. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2018.02.007. Epub 2018 Feb 23. PMID: 29477626.
Schmidt, Erich, and deGroot, AntonC.. Essential Oils: Contact Allergy and Chemical Composition. United Kingdom, CRC Press, 2021.
Arctander, Steffen. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. N.p., Lulu.com, 2017.
Abourashed, Ehab A., and Khan, Ikhlas A.. Leung's Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients: Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics. Germany, Wiley, 2011.