The Resins Collection

The resin Collection combines the major resins from the desert climates: Frankincense and Myrrh as well as Elemi from the tropical climates of the Phillipines

The steam distillation of the Frankincense and Myrrh resins is not trivial. Care has to be taken that once the distillation mixture heats up the resin does not clump together into one large sticky ball that will not efficiently distill over. Maybe because of the difficult parameters of steam distillation, yields are low and prices for genuine distilled products are often quite high.

As a consequence, it used to be that most refined true steam distilled essential oils were produced in France by the fragrance houses which had the necessary know how. Because of high prices and sketchy availability of the true essential oils, Carbondioxide extracts of the Frankincense and Myrrh resins became the dominating form of extraction.

Frankincense is characterized by rather unclear botany. While people as far away from the origin as the US will fret over proper attribution of species names, specifically of Boswellia carteri and Boswellia sacra, the scientific literature is really not clear which specimens are B. carteri and which sacra and whether or not they are not the same species after all.

In this collection we offer those Carbondioxid extracts which allow a modicum of precision in their attribution.

Interestingly B. serrata and C. mukul have found popularity in Western supplements. B. serrata as an anti arthritis agent and Guggul as a Cholesterol lowering substance.

Elemi is the essential oil distilled from the soft resin of the Canarium luzonicum tree. It has a long history of traditional uses. Recently it has been viewed with some reserve because of its content of 0.3% Methyl eugenol, which is a carcinogen. However the long traditional use of the aromatic might indicate that the whole essential oil does not pose any extraordinary risk factors. Elemi has been understood as an endocrine stimulant and as an agent to treat skin maladies. In classic Chinese medicine it is considered to clear fire toxins and recent French research attributes anti depressant qualities to the oil as elemicin has been recognized as a Mono amine oxidase Inhibitor.

5ml Frankincense (Boswellia carteii)
5ml Indian Frankincense (Boswellia serrata)
5ml Myrrh (Commiphora molmol)
5ml Guggul (Commiphora mukul)
5ml Elemi (Canarium luzonicum)