Cashmere wood smells warm, soft and slightly musky, like a woollen blanket with a faint trace of polished wood and dry spice. It is one of the cosiest notes in modern perfumery.
Despite the name, there is no cashmere tree. The note is built around Cashmeran, a synthetic molecule developed by IFF in the 1970s. Chemically it sits between woods and musks, giving a rounded, velvety effect that bridges the two families. Perfumers often support it with sandalwood, iris, vanilla and clean musks to exaggerate the textile-like softness that suggests cashmere fabric.
Cashmere wood is a base note and a modern signature. Perfumers use it to add plush warmth to floral-woody compositions, to soften amber and gourmand bases, and to extend the life of fragrance with an abstract, skin-close woodiness. It pairs beautifully with rose, iris, vanilla, tonka and musk.
Cashmere wood performs best in autumn and winter, in evening wear and layered clothing, and gives fragrance a distinctly comforting, cocooning quality.
