Rose Crystals (powder)

Base Note
CAS# 90-17-5
Manufacturer: Ventos

Odor description: rose-sweet, powdery, rose jam

A classic perfumery material and an indispensable part of every perfumer's working repertoire for rose accords. Industry has known it under many synonyms: Rosatol, Rosacetate, Rosalin, Rosone, Rose Acetal, and Trirosol.

In its pure form it is a white crystalline powder with little expressive odour of its own — and this is precisely what makes it so fascinating. Rose Crystals do not so much "smell of rose" as release and amplify the rose quality in other ingredients of a composition. Steffen Arctander, in his classic reference work, described the famous experiment: compare the scent of pure phenylethyl alcohol (PEA) with the same alcohol carrying just 5% Rose Crystals — the difference is spectacular. With this crystalline fixative added, PEA becomes far more rosy, far longer-lasting, softer, warmer and — in Arctander's own words — "three-dimensional instead of two-dimensional".

It has a deep, powdery, balsamic rose with light soapy, "cosmetic" facets. Its character reveals itself fully only in dilution and — above all — in combination with other rose ingredients. A material of remarkable longevity and phenomenal fixative power.

Practical tip: due to its crystalline form, the material dissolves poorly in cold ethanol. The best approach is to dissolve it in PEA (10–20% solution), in perfume oils, or in the finished concentrate before chilling. Some suppliers offer it pre-dissolved in PEA at 5–10% — a convenient solution for direct use in formulations.