Why 4 Of The World’s Priciest Scents Are So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider
From frankincense and myrrh to agarwood, jasmine oil to sandalwood, join us as we revisit what makes these scents so expensive. First, we’re heading to the rainforest of southeast Asia to see why infected agarwood can sell for as much as $100,000 per kilogram.
Intro 00:00
Agarwood 00:30
Frankincense and myrrh 06:51
Sandalwood 12:55
Jasmine Oil 22:18
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Why 4 Of The World’s Priciest Scents Are So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider
during the jasmine portion, i appreciate the emphasis on the agricultural labour being performed as highly skilled. too often, we see agricultural labour falsely described as “unskilled labour” as an excuse for starvation wages. these workers often have to endure extreme work conditions and deserve a living wage, same as everyone.
100%. Most people wouldn’t be able to do what those “unskilled” workers can.
People always liable farmers as stupid man, its so annoying, they are much smarter than any of us
@Adam Fontenet adam… my brother in christ… “agricultural labor is super chill and not at all back breaking” is a DELUSIONAL take.
It’s not used to determine low wages. When it’s a job anyone can do, anyone does it and there’s no end to available workers. Thus the low pay
@@demeter-the-greatwanna bet?
The sandalwood story is sad one in south India , those who know the real story can relate , the government banned private growers from growing the tree , so the wood became very scarce, this caused the price to rise and the illegal smuggling industry grew . today the illegal industry is so big and dangerous that private growers don't want to risk their lives growing this tree. If you search the net even well protected goverment buildings are not able to protect this tree from smugglers. Recently the government has opened the market for private growers ,but it's too late now . No one want to risk it and security is a problem . So this is how the Indian government killed an entire industry and will drive the tree to extinction.
Thank you for that information.
even the police are arresting people with some other wood and say it's smuggling of sandelwood and arrest them. Happend to a middleman i knew who used to sell birch wood and and alot of other wood which are legal and inexpensive.
@underground leaks 101 Hindus are not supposed to be vegetarians, you need to get your basics right. Some sects of hinduism do want the followers to follow satvic diet. Even Jainism and Buddhism promote strict vegetarian diet.
@underground leaks 101 wait I don't get it, how is this relevant when they're talking about state laws
@underground leaks 101 what are you trying to say?
These "they are so expensive because a lot of work and care go into it" series is so satisfying to watch
Well sandalwood is not expensive we drink its juice here in pakistan . Its cheaper than a 2.5 litre coca cola bottle.
@@VICTOR-uj1lz you're talking about sandal sharbat, the juice is not entirely made out of sandalwood, genius. It just a sugar syrup boiled with few grams of sandalwood in it for flavour
Also because these things are getting harder and harder to get because the entire species of plants and who knows what else relys on those plants are dying or getting endangered due to over harvesting
@@VICTOR-uj1lzhow are things in Pakistan right now by the way? Lol
Are they Booming???
I went to Egypt in 2021 and became OBSESSED with oud. Now I wear it daily. What a beautiful scent. Love it
The lady spent so much time to delicately pick each individual bud and look at the treatment the buds get at the market and the factory.
And the fact they get stepped on barefoot by the workers makes it worse
I'm Vietnamese and im quite proud that my country is the first one to appear on the list, thanks Insider Business.
$80000 for a litre of oud oil is a gross understatement. I own a bottle of 1gm of cultivated (not wild) oud oil which was $130 and this was one of the cheaper offerings of this seller. Priciest wild ones go for around to $5000 for 3 gms.
Why are the same people who claim to be into sustainability and "all natural" so invested in essential oils? It's not "natural" and production is incredibly damaging to the environment. From unsustainable harvesting threatening extinction of species to the amount of heat and water needed for extraction and ending in even more impact from transport there's negatives in every aspect.
Like a lot of things, the majority of people will only support the causes that are convenient for them or have clear ulterior motives
Cuz they're fuckin Hippocrates
init
Hypocrisy
really depends on where you’re getting them from
I'm surprised the fragrance houses have not gone fully synthetic on ingredients.
All my child hood I have seen Jasmine plants in EVERY house. Everyone grows their own and it smells darn good. Also its a trope for seduction in movies and novels lol.
So Sandalwood is basically the tenderloin of the tree
Tenderloin is expensive for it's quality. Sandalwood is expensive because the nonsensical high demand 😛
Only if you're obsessed by food.
@@laus7080 n,
@@laus7080 nnnnuazgn
And so agarwood is basically the scent of burning life. 😂
31:00 The way he describes Mon Guerlain makes me want to spend the $100/oz just to smell it for myself.
it's marvelous 🎉
I really enjoyed this video. It was very informative. Thank you.
'Now that we've killed all the trees, I am certain that this industry will never fail, and will double in production in the next few years' - Ernest P Worrell and Wile-E-Coyote
This video is very informative because it documents the processes how the essential oils are obtained. It is fascinating. However, I am saddened by the fact that human’s need for self satisfaction and greed as well as a way of finding ways to sustain one’s livelihood may in turn cause the demise of some of these precious trees.
No it's not, it sucked, I'm not even going to watch it.
@@JeffreyAllanBackowski then skip lol, why comment here 🤣
@@arc8218 well...😋 I'm so awesome, ask anyone, I knew for an absolute fact that this video is bad in a malicious deceitful way, without having to watch it. KZhead recommended this video of lies, basically shoved it down my throat, so I clicked on it, and I commented on it, now the KZhead algorithm thinks I have a hardon for expensive incense videos.
@@JeffreyAllanBackowski tell me what part of this video have "malicious deceitful way" ? Look like you just a troll that dislike everything
@@JeffreyAllanBackowski The algorithm is not that specific, trust me I know. Common plebian mitake
I've had a bottle of Oud Wood for several years. I rarely wear it because it's such a special scent. It's also rare that people know and understand why a smell is so important or desirable
u talkin about Tom Ford's Oud Wood? If yes, there's hardly any Oud in that if at all.
@@lettuce1305 indeed. Modern fragrances are just chemical concoctions brewed in a lab.
colognes only have a 3 year life span they don't last forever or age like wine they don't get better over time
@@luiscarrillo8178 expiration on perfume is generally stated to be 5 years but this is a known fallacy. Vintage perfume collection is real. Most perfumes if kept in the right conditions, ie dark and room temp, can last decades. Like wine occasionally you will have one spoil.
I tried a sample of Tom Fords, literally it’s a high I’ve been chasing. The smell is unreal.
Nice thematic blend of older episodes, good idea.
This is amazing. Thank you for the video.
I love these videos thanks Business Insider for making such fantastic content ❤️❤️. Much love to everybody as well!.
There is another fragrant flower Shenbagam (tamil) OR champaka which is from the tree of the same name. I don't know whether it is used in scents. Read that they are used in scents of luxury brands like Chanel, Dior etc. There are so many naturally fragrant tropical flowers. Sambangi is one too.
Frangipani - yes, it's used in perfumes
yes and the largest producer of champaka is Malaysia.
Yes it is. Tom Ford Champaca Absolute is probably the most popular fragrance to use Champaca note.
Any thing is expensive when there is less supply and more demand . So that is applicable to all products
Ok boomer.
look, bottling my farts takes time
@@paddington1670 Can u reserve an order for me
It's sad how all of these are native to India but the fragrance industry in this part of the world is so small, historically it was one of our most favoured exports and look at it today. We need to start branding and stop exporting mere raw material.
Branding might actually make it worse. Monopolies can be very destructive and cause more slavery and child labor especially in vulnerable countries such as India. Unfortunately withd emand and price compared to creating alternatives, it's a lose-lose situation. Where artificial creations lower demand for the real stuff which while yes can save the plants (has also caused eradications of plants in the past too) also puts people out of a job. Limiting the use of the real stuff and banning artificial versions actually can give people a job until that plant no longer exists because of over harvesting and unsustainable practices caused by high demand. Then they're out of a job because why work for something that doesn't exist that doesn't produce anything.
@@rivitraven I don't mean we need big companies with monopolies, that isn't possible in most of India anyways - land is too fragmented and no one will sell it to companies because we're primarily agrarian (this is also why we don't already have big brand native companies and only sell raw material), what I'm talking about is a cooperative company like Amul where all farmers growing the raw materials come together to build their own brand. Local people usually make sure not to abuse the resources (or themselves) for excess profit.
Frankincense and myrrh is native to Somalia.
@@falischika6221 yeah myrrh is but frankincense is native to multiple regions including India
Similar to the Himalayan salt video, where it was being mined in Pakistan then exported to India for processing and selling. Pakistan changed regulation to stop the export of the salt to India because they were reaping the most profits whilst Pakistan (where the salt is native to) was not seeing as much profit.
The Agar story saddened me deeply. Seeing the abuse and over harvesting of these trees really is just depressing.
As much as I love such natural scents, I am also grieved at man's treatment of trees worldwide. We need things, but how much?
It’s for Jesus. The stabbing of the bark represents the Jew that stabbed Jesus on the cross and the collecting of the oil represents Jews drinking the blood of Jesus.
@@mkseed9188weird
I'm surprised Ambergris wasn't one of the 4. They probably should have replaced Sandalwood or Jasmine Oil with Ambergris, as I would said it's more rare and expensive. For those who don't know, Ambergris is Sperm Whale vomit, and it's very rare and expensive but used in many fragrances. Particularly men's fragrances, and it's a note that's in some of the most popular men's fragrances in the world, such as Dior Sauvage and also niche fragrances like Creed Aventus. To be fair, although the note is used in many fragrances. It's not always genuine Ambergris, and in many of the less expensive fragrances it's a synthetic form of Ambergris such as Ambroxen. A small piece of Ambergris collected from a beach can fetch thousands of dollars. Because it's Sperm Whale vomit, it can't be harvested in a more controlled manner such as planting and treating a tree to harvest it's wood. I believe these things make it more worthy of being on this list.
Ambergris is not used in Sauvage. It is ambroxan, a synthetic chemical.
@@JustysFrank You mean, exactly as I said in my comment? Lol. Read it again, my friend. When mentioning Sauvage, I specifically said that to be fair, the less expensive fragrances use Ambroxen which is a synthetic form. There is also another synthetic called Fermenich's Cetakox, although Ambroxen is more commonly used in fragrances, they are the two most similar to Ambergris. It's funny how you call it a "chemical" as is countless fragrances don't use certain synthetic notes. If no synthetic notes were used in the fragrance world, nearly all fragrances would cost hundreds of dollars per 100ml bottle. Many use some genuine extract and oils as well as certain synthetics. Some all genuine, and some all synthetic. It really depends on the fragrance, it's notes, and it's price point.
@@closinginonclosure My fault bro haha
@@JustysFrank It's all good man
3:15 there is no oud in most perfumes, including Tom Ford's Oud Wood.
Correct they use oud accords basically the smell of oud made with other aroma chemicals and naturals
I deeply appreciate info blogs like this. It is both shockingly representative of underappreciated and crucially, remarkable cultures and people, who I am too distant of from the US. These folks are real leaders and keepsaker managers of unique and valuable resource wealth. Thanks for the story and for providing a spotlight for people @BusinessInsider
and they dont put the blame on someone else. I can watch this
The first tree we can also find it in Kalimantan. We call it Gaharu.
It's from India ....even the name Kalimantan is Indian
Gaharu is a colloquial or corrupt version of the Sanskrit word Agaru
Sup G I’m 20, grinding hard to get out the hood, I can’t be 30 with nothing to show for so i smoke weed on my youtube channel 👀👀xc
@@tamilthevdiya8993 Agarwood is also in malaysia...is the malaysia name from india too 😂
I had a sandalwood tree that grew on its own in my "wadi"(huge backyard with lots of fruit and coconut trees). We had to literally spend $1000 to get it registered and legal to grow. We had to take special care of the tree so it doesn't die, and could not sell it to private companies or gov until gov said so. It was a headache, same is the story with Teak wood tree in india both are highly protected.
This is very interesting. I loved this.
12:19 being paid to look at trees everyday seems like such a chill job
Very Informative video.
Enjoyed your video and so I gave it a Thumbs Up
Excellent video , very informative
This documentary does highlight pretty well how capitalism is driving our sacred scents into extinction. If we aren’t more cautious about the products we consume they won’t be around much longer. As a pagan, this has given me some insight and reason to re-examine what materials I use in my practice.
Ooohhh thas is nice Your contents are impressive 💖🙌💖
Agar grew abundantly in South India and is mentioned in ancient Tamil literature which is more than 2000years old. It was abundantly exported to Europe via Arabian trade routes and it is recorded in Tamil literature. I hope some credit is given to wide use of Agar in every household in ancient days, in day to day perfuming of households and went to North India from here so got mentioned in Sanskrit literature 1600 years back, if it is verifiable!
Which tamil literature specifically?
What about the gold?
They couldnt have every single one coming from India haha but yeah it is the hub of incense worldwide
@@TheSecondInitiate what? Don't be an ignorant ass.
so what?
This was fascinating
I hope they grow the resource as fast as they harvest them.
Amazing ❤️
Business insider is my favorite youtube channel
The frankincense and myrrh segment reminds me of the production of maple syrup, where they insert a tap into the trunk of the trees and then collect the sap to turn into the sweet stuff.
It’s a shame that the people who do all the work, get paid hardly anything.
I love agarwood. I was introduced to it a decade ago, and initially thought it was overrated. But as time went on I realised I was using way to much of the oil. It's an amazing scent that helps fix other notes in a perfume and lasts for over 12 hours. I can often smell it on clothes I have worn days ago. It's sad to see how the extensive harvesting has destroyed wild populations.
There's heaps of them in Papua New Guinea. Many thanks for all the explanations and a wonderful visit. Can't explain more.
All of my favourite smells in one video. Love it.
missing the scent of this flower "Michelia Alba". When partially bloomed, they smell heavenly. I would tie a flower to my hair and it never goes out of style. One of my coolest experience in South East Asia...that lovely Аромат ❤
Also the scent of Frangipani. When i first smelled the flowers at a friends house i was hooked. Would love to grow a plant at my home.
My favorites. Been using mysore soap for years now, great for every skin type
Was watching your vi de o, and reading some comments. I can't remember where I read about a flower named "MAGNOLIA GLANDIVORA" - it has its own excellent, soothing smell. Not sure if any company has any product from this flower. If anyone knows, please let me know. Moreover, I thank you for your great video to viewers. Wish you all the best. 👍👍👍
Grandiflora?
Magnolia champaka or the Indian shenbagam is the most fragrant flowers of the magnolia species..
I think it's Magnolia grandiflora,and not grandivora And it is grown here in India,and most of the Magnolia(family)flowers have very strong,unique and good smell,and ya lot of local and branded company produces perfume from its oil and it's expensive
Excellent thank YOU share with my children for knowledge information informing only,! Thank YOU
Dang it, it’s 2022!! Where is my smellovission??
We used to pick Jasmine flowers from our garden and made it into fragrant flower crowns or bracelets.
I like the smell of sweet grass being burned the most... I also like the smell of weed, that's pretty pricy incense...
interesting account of supply and demand, plus labour factors!
3:46 so which is it?? Are the tree endangered or are this specific tree that are not infected is the one going endangered.... Because i can tell you my village has a lot this tree, we mostly use for wood chipping..
Fragrance Foundation..such a great resource
This video made a lot of scents 👍🏽
Amazing video
That sandle wood factory is a bit of a shame, but must smell amazing omg!!
I prefer sandalwood I just don't use it as much.
This video really opened my eyes. We don't stop to realize what having certain things might be costing us - the world! When these natural resources are gone, there are no replacements. I don't know how cloning plants work, but it cannot be easy, and I bet it may be close to impossible in some circumstances. Like gum-wood trees requiring injury to produce the sap needed to grow agarwood - I did not know how destructive it is to the trees and the forests. A way must be found to replenish these trees. I am sure there is a way, but it will take big tech, time, and boatloads of money to figure it out before the species die out completely. When you have poor people and poor villages that try to capitalize on the market, they unwittingly help kill the very things that make them money. Maybe if there were teachers who could go out in the villages and teach people the correct way of harvesting, the loss of these wonderful trees could be overcome, or, at least slowed.
Sensible comments won't get likes, sigh!
Human greed and ego is a problem; with a population of 8billion doesnt make it easy on nature
So go and spent your life trying to fix this problem, instead of crying
Greed n Money rule
It's definitely not these hard workers fault that they are going extinct, it's the market, capitalism, the commodification of life, etc. They earn the least in this whole chain, work the longest hours and in difficult conditions, and have sometimes their whole local economy based on one product due to the pressure of its high demand by luxury brands.
in philippines specifically in mindanao agarwood is so natural... we just throw it, coz it cant be used as firewood..
so informative ..
In Pakistan we call it Agar Bati, it a stick when burnt it release beautiful aroma. Mainly people use it on sacred occasions.
Same in India. It's used during religious ceremonies
I was cutting out a bunch of honeysuckle and burning it, some of it had the blue infection that lumber sometimes has. The infected wood was very fragrant when burned, I wonder if it's something like agarwood.
More of these please
love form India here. Always been proud of this rich country that has thrived aesthetically, intellectually, and economically ...
As well you should be. 😊❤️🙏💞
Best video thanks 🙏👍💕
Gotta be interesting to live in a peace with such unique wood🤣
I am very much interested to know when this video was filmed. Very interesting subject.
Jasmine looks like sampaguita here in the Philippines. A national flower of our country. A very fragrant flower.
They are the same.
3:21 they show those ouds, but not maison francis kurkdjian oud smh one of the best imo
Deception of the heart
It's crazy to me that these trees just make this incredibly complex chemical - making it in the lab is super difficult, but just make a tree sick and bam you've got it
I came across a satisfying video about the preparation of incense, so the huge brown bark that the lady is scrapping to produce the powder for the incense is an agar tree.
Wild as hell I’ve never smelled agar wood and I probably never will because it’s so expensive and rare.
It's extremely common as Oud. Check out any fragrance shop
I understand people need livelihood but then the trees are endangered. It's not important to have smell. Though it smells amazing the artificial method makes sense in today's world.
Watch puspha.
@@satyamARAS already did. 1 and 2.
Sandal tree is also found in Pakistan
dont take seriously , some guys definitely arent bad , but pak as a country is awful
@@vaishaliakalwadi6118 At least we have toilets India is awful with most polluted cities and garbage piles
Great to hear Charlie Floyds voice again!
Wow, that's crazy *Sprays Oud Wood on neck*
Isn't it interesting that in a these 3 cases, it is only when the west gain interest in a product, that it becomes an unsustainable and threatened plant and production. Like with so many other things. That said all 3 of these plants aren't just there for beautiful scents. They offer extremely powerful healing properties, especially frankincense. It is of course for the scent that South East Asia produced and consumed them, but it is very much also for their healing properties that they were harvested, produced and used. These are a part of old knowledge.
Four cases, not three. Agarwood, Frankincense/Myrr, then Sandalwood, and lastly Jasmine flours. But otherwise, I agree with you.
dont blame others for demand, blame locals for unsustainable supply.
@@anastasiab9506 The wouldn't be unsustainable supply, if there wasn't an ever increasing demand for these items. Before any of the presented scents became world renown and highly sought after, the supply was enough to match the demand.
It’s not a matter of “the West”. Because these products had religious and class connotations the majority of the people in South Asia would never have had the opportunity to possess them. Sandalwood, Oud and Jasmine oils were prohibitively expensive or outright prohibited to those of “low birth”. All the West has done is industrialise the process and make it available to a wide variety of people in different forms and that naturally disrupts the natural cycle as we are harvesting more of it. The problem is the quantity harvested not “the West”. If India had taken initiative to sell its sandalwood on its own in massive quantities then they would be to blame instead.
@@anastasiab9506without locals there would be no demand.
Another one that's rare is Ambergri or whale vomit which is used in very expensive perfumes.
But as far as I understand ambergris has no (or little smell). It is used to "Fix" the oils in the essential oils.
All of these materials are frequently used in Arabic traditional perfumes such as Oud. Never knew they’re that expensive
Beautifully Done ✔.
Agarwood Also available in India Assam it's Natural not Artificial
Классный канал, от подачи не устаёшь
One of many reasons why the natural infection rate is so low is because of the mass use of pesticides being used throughout the world. This is one of the reasons why it’s difficult to farm Agarwood through natural infection
I have a new respect for Tom Ford's Oud Wood EDP
Awesome video. But Tom Ford Oud Wood has synthetic oud according to the sources. It is one of the earliest fragrance from a mainstream designer brand to have an "oud" note in it and to make it popular
I love sandalwood but don’t see it as much as in the 60’s.
Omg, this is fun to watch. 😆 cause im selling authentic agarwood bracelet and the burn. Btw aquilaria malaccensis is originated from Indonesia.
Some of these endangered trees sound like the perfect trees to reforest parts of America not to mention the financial value theyd bring.
Terrible idea it would be a invasive species we tried the same using the koi that are such a problem
5:52 Insha-Allah can someone please verify that narration? I looked it up in Sahih al-Bukhari with the reference number and can't find it. Jazakallah Khayran
Beautiful story so interested
Everyone should grow a sandalwood tree!
Thanks for such information...we are distiller and manufacturer of natural essential oil.we also face difficulty in quality management due to over exploitation of natural resources as farmer cut trees in their early age..which produce less oil and quality also decrease, pollution also decreasing quality of essential oils..
the fact about indole blew my mind
So artificial agarwood is not actually artificial, right?... or did I misunderstand? The tree is still producing the resin to fight the infection, but the infection is caused by hand
Synthetic agarwood would be made in a lab from multiple aromachemicals. Real agarwood is formed in nature both through natural infection and infection by men (the result is the same)
Similar to the lab made diamonds. Yes that thing is diamond but it won't fetch high price. Similar is the case with artificially produced pearls.
For synthetic oud, they usually mix patchouli with cypriol oil and synthetic woody molecules
There’s wild oud (the most expensive), plantation oud (like the Vietnamese one in the video), and synthetic oud, produced by oil companies, and most frequently found in perfumes. In the video, artificial oud is most likely referring to plantation oud. I wish they’d do a better job researching their topics. None of the examples given (perfume examples) are good examples
Fascinating.
Great!
Red Sandalwood is the final boss after you've gone through these 😹
Tropical zones of the world have these environments for the plants, trees and in flowers to develop these characteristic scents through evolutionary process to attract insects and to an extent humans to propagate themselves.