Ingredient

Benzoin Resinoid

Styrax tonkinensis Pierre

With a sweet and earthy aroma, benzoin has been enjoyed in incense and perfumes for centuries across the world.

Where do we get it?

Lush purchases this ingredient from a supplier in Laos. They work with 80 farmers who collect resin from Styrax tonkinensis trees, using traditional methods and focusing on quality. 

What are the benefits for people and the planet?

The trees are grown and harvested sustainably, and the forest is managed according to agroforestry principles. Farmers receive fair payments and labour security and safety.

What are the benefits for you?

• Has a complex sweet scent, with spicy and earthy notes.
• Brings comfort and calms the mind with its aroma.
• Soothes the skin and keeps it healthy and firm.
• Has a thick consistency that creates a thin protective and conditioning film on the skin and hair, which helps prevent moisture loss and gives hair shine.
• A fixative, it helps other fragrance ingredients to blend well and last longer on the skin.

Unique stories

Benzoin is a natural resin that can be collected from two types of styrax trees: Styrax benzoin, native to Sumatra, and Styrax tonkinensis, which grows in Southeast Asia.

Although often referred to as gums, resins are slightly different, as they contain many more essential oils and are not soluble in water. When they're injured, it flows off tree trunks and hardens with air exposure, like a bandage protecting the tree from disease. Once collected, the hard resin can be ground into a powder or refined with solvents to make a scented extract called a resinoid.