I cracked open my bottle of Ho Wood (Cinnamomum camphora var linalool) for the first time and it. is. wonderful. I had no idea! To me it is a gentler, sweeter cinnamon? camphor? Like I discussed in yesterday's blog on Petitgrain (Citrus aurantium), it is so important to make note of the botanical name of the essential oil you use, and this means the entire botanical name including chemotype. An essential oil chemotype distinguishes essential oils that come from the same plant species, but have different chemical components. This takes me back to high school where I totally didn't understand chemistry and had a terrible time memorizing it all, and it never, stuck, but what do you know, here I am referencing chemistry.
The plant species Cinnamomum camphor produces several of these different chemotypes because of the environment in which the plant grew. Ho Wood essential oil is from the Linalool chemotype (Ho Sho), whereas Ravintsara Oil is from the Cineole chemotype (Yu Sho), hence Cinnamomum camphora L. ct cineole.
I'll be making a blend with this soon and I will write more about it soon.
