Love the earthy, almost cedar like
Love the earthy, almost cedar like cypress smell.
Before you buy
Free standard US shipping over $39, and free FedEx 2-day to Mainland USA and Alaska over $100. Ships from Keaau, Hawaii within 1 to 2 business days. Local pickup at Miracle Botanicals Keaau is usually ready in 24 hours.
Returns accepted within 45 days of delivery. Reach out and we will arrange the return or the exchange for another single essential oil.
Amber glass. Keep the cap sealed and store away from heat and direct light.
Hinoki Essential Oil (Chamaecyparis Obtusa)
- Hinoki wood oil from Middle Honshu, Japan. Timber distilled, not leaf distilled, from Chamaecyparis obtusa, the Japanese cypress.
- 26.27% alpha-Pinene, the largest named constituent. Ahead of tau-Muurolol and delta-Cadinene in a wood-distilled hinoki. See the chemistry.
- Dry, fine wood with a lemon edge. The bright opening goes first, then the wood settles in and holds.
- An oil we use ourselves. Like everything we sell, this is an oil we use at home.
- Third-party tested. Outside-lab tested, like all of our oils.
- The same oil in every size. Pick the bottle that suits you on the Compare tab, and start small if hinoki is new to you. Compare sizes.
Botanical name
Chamaecyparis Obtusa
Origin
Middle Honshu, Japan
Plant part
Wood
Extraction
Steam Distillation
Perfumery note
Top
Aroma
Woody, Spicy, Lemony
$22.00
In stock. Ships from Keaau, Hawaii in 1 to 2 business days.
Sold out. This size is temporarily unavailable.
Choose sizeBigger bottles cost less per ml
Quantity
Free gift: Niaouli Organic 5ml, a $10.97 value
Unlocks on orders over $100
100% pure, nothing added and nothing removed
GCMS batch report published on this page
Pickup at Miracle Botanicals Keaau, usually ready in 24 hours.
Store information.
Single origin
Hinoki wood, Middle Honshu, Japan
GCMS published
Batch report on this page
Steam Distillation
Middle Honshu, Japan
Family owned
Big Island Hawaii since 2011
Product specification
Botanical NameChamaecyparis Obtusa
Common NameHinoki, Japanese Cypress
Plant PartWood
Method of ExtractionSteam Distillation
Country of OriginMiddle Honshu, Japan
Oil Color / ConsistencyClear with Straw Hue and Thin Consistency
AromaWoody, Spicy, Lemony
Perfumery NoteTop
Main Componentsalpha-Pinene 26.27%, tau-Muurolol 13.58%, delta-Cadinene 10.94%
Batch transparency
View the full composition
Main chemical components
alpha-Pinene
a monoterpene found in conifer and rosemary oils, hinoki's main constituent
26.27%
tau-Muurolol
a sesquiterpene alcohol behind the soft woody dry down
13.58%
delta-Cadinene
a sesquiterpene that adds dry woody depth
10.94%
Balance, trace constituents
49.21%
Hinoki, the wood oil of the Japanese cypress
6 benefits of Hinoki Essential Oil
The hinoki bath at home
Hinoki is the bath tub wood of Japan, and a few drops in the water bring that scent into an ordinary bathroom. Blend the drops into a little carrier oil first so they spread through the water instead of floating. The scent is the point, the same dry wood that fills a bath house.
Forest air from a diffuser
In a diffuser, hinoki wood oil smells like a cedar forest after rain, and to our nose it runs softer than cypress, without the sweetness some woods carry. It carries a room without shouting, which is why it suits a workspace as much as a room at home. Start with a few drops.
A dry down that outlasts the citrus
The bright opening of hinoki comes from alpha-Pinene, and the part that stays comes from tau-Muurolol and delta-Cadinene, two heavier sesquiterpene compounds. The citrus top fades first and the wood stays. On a wood block or a cotton pad the wood is still there long after the citrus has gone.
A perfumer's anchor under citrus and woods
Hinoki wood oil holds a blend together, keeping lighter citrus notes in place while adding a dry wood of its own. Perfumers use it where other woods run too sharp or too sweet. A drop or two in a citrus accord changes the whole character of it.
Wood oil for the connoisseur
Our hinoki is Middle Honshu wood oil with three named constituents, alpha-Pinene, tau-Muurolol and delta-Cadinene, which is the fastest way to tell it from a bottle that only borrows the name. A hinoki label rarely says what went into the still, yet the oil changes with it. It belongs with the rare oils we stock for people who know the difference.
A woody scent to wear, mixed into a carrier
Mixed into a carrier oil, hinoki makes a quiet personal scent that reads as clean wood rather than perfume. It suits people who find other woods too sweet or too sharp, and it sits close to the skin without turning powdery. By evening what's left is the dry wood, and nothing else.
How to use
Diffuser
In the airStart with 3 to 5 drops in a water diffuser for a medium room, then add a drop at a time until the room smells right to you. Hinoki carries well, so a little goes a long way. Diffuse for 30 to 60 minutes, then give the room a break for the same time, with some fresh air moving.
On the skin
TopicalDilute hinoki to 1 to 2 percent before it touches skin, which is 6 to 12 drops in 30 ml of a carrier like Hawaiian kukui nut oil. Keep to 3 to 6 drops per 30 ml for the face. Patch test a small spot on the inner forearm and wait a day before wider use. We don't apply this oil neat, and it stays out of reach of children.
Bath
In the waterStir 4 to 6 drops into a tablespoon of carrier oil or an unscented bath oil, then add it to the water once the tub is full. Oil and water don't mix on their own, so the carrier is what lets the drops reach your skin diluted, not neat. Swirl the water and get in.
3 recipes using this oil
Tap a recipe to see the full formula and method.
4 dropsHinoki Essential Oil
2 dropsFir Needle Essential Oil
2 dropsBergamot Essential Oil
Method. Add the drops to a water diffuser and run it for 30 to 60 minutes. The bergamot lifts the top and the fir sharpens the green edge, so the hinoki sits underneath as the wood.
15 mlHawaiian Kukui Nut Oil
4 dropsHinoki Essential Oil
2 dropsBulgarian Lavender Essential Oil
Method. Stir the drops into the kukui oil, then pour it into a full tub and swirl before you get in. The lavender rounds off the wood without covering it. Rinse the tub after, since oils leave a film.
30 mlHawaiian Kukui Nut Oil
8 dropsHinoki Essential Oil
3 dropsCedarwood Atlas Essential Oil
1 dropVetiver Essential Oil
Method. Mix the drops into the kukui oil in a small bottle and roll it between your palms before use. Apply to the shoulders and the back of the neck, where the wood sits close without carrying across a room. Keep it capped and out of sunlight, and use it within a few months.
Technical information for this batch
ComponentShare of batch
alpha-Pinene26.27%
tau-Muurolol13.58%
delta-Cadinene10.94%
Balance of constituentsSee GCMS report
What alpha-Pinene means for you
At 26.27% this batch is dominated by alpha-Pinene — a monoterpene found in conifer and rosemary oils, hinoki's main constituent. tau-Muurolol sits at 13.58%, delta-Cadinene sits at 10.94%. The oil is clear with straw hue and thin consistency, and it reads as a top note in a blend.
Compare sizes and pick your value
Every size is the same oil. The larger the bottle, the lower the price per ml.
SizePricePer mlValue
Frequently asked questions
7 answers drawn from the product specification and our own use of this oil.
Hinoki essential oil smells of dry, fine wood, spicy underneath and lemony on top, bright at first and then a warm wood that lingers. The lemon edge fades within minutes and the wood stays behind. It sits closer to a clean sauna than to a pine forest.
Yes, hinoki is the Japanese name for Chamaecyparis obtusa, the tree sold in English as Japanese cypress or hinoki cypress. It's a different species from Cupressus sempervirens, the Mediterranean cypress behind our own cypress essential oil. Both belong to the cypress family, Cupressaceae, but they don't smell alike.
Hinoki essential oil is a wood oil, distilled from the timber of Chamaecyparis obtusa rather than from its leaves. That's what gives ours the dry, lasting scent of seasoned wood. A label that only says hinoki doesn't always name the part of the tree, so it's worth checking that yours is a wood oil before you buy.
Yes, hinoki essential oil can go on skin once it's diluted to 1 to 2 percent in a carrier oil, and it's never applied neat. Do a patch test on a small area first and keep the face at a lower rate. If you're pregnant, nursing or have reactive or sensitive skin, ask your clinician before adding any essential oil to your routine. Keep it away from children.
No, Japanese hinoki wood holds only about 0.02 percent hinokitiol by dry weight, even though the compound carries the tree's name. It was first isolated in 1936 from the heartwood of Taiwanese hinoki, and other cypress-family trees like hiba, Thujopsis dolabrata, carry more of it. What this bottle carries is the wood's own alpha-Pinene and sesquiterpenes.
Hinoki blends well with bergamot, cedarwood and fir needle, and it holds under almost any citrus, wood or resin. Use it where a heavier wood would turn sweet or sharp, and keep it low in the mix.
The difference between hinoki and cypress essential oil starts with the tree, Chamaecyparis obtusa for hinoki and Cupressus sempervirens for cypress, and then with the part that gets distilled. Our cypress comes from leaves and twigs grown in Crete, and it smells fresh, green, sweet and balsamic. Hinoki wood oil comes from the timber and smells of dry timber with a lemon note, softer and drier than cypress. Both lean on alpha-Pinene, but the wood's heavier sesquiterpenes give hinoki its longer dry down.
Customer reviews
5.00
★★★★★
Based on 17 reviews
Every one of the 17 reviews for this oil is a five-star review.
5 star174 star03 star02 star01 star0
J
Joshua
★★★★★
N
Nicolett Olson
★★★★★
Amazing product Beautiful crisp clean scent
Amazing product Beautiful crisp clean scent. Light lemon grass like start, ending in a rosewood mingling with teak finish. A little goes a long way. I blend it with rose and it makes a perfect summer scent.
Showing 1–2 of 2 published reviews
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