p-Cresyl Phenylacetate

What p-Cresyl Phenylacetate smells like

p-Cresyl phenylacetate is an animalic floral with honey and narcissus. The Good Scents Company lists animal, rose, honey, narcissus, lily and hyacinth; a glossary calls it animalic-floral, leathery and narcotic, faecal or barnyard at higher concentrations and a creamy floral-animal depth at trace levels. A supplier calls it virtually indispensable for a narcissus accord. Poucher, quoted on a forum, judged it a better narcissus base than the acetate because it lacks the acetate's horse-urine note.

Leading note

Honeyed animalic narcissus

Clear facets

Honey

Supporting facets

Leathery

Faint facets

Rose, hyacinth, urinous

Character

Heavy, animalic, narcotic, sweet

• animalic
• honey
• narcissus
• leathery

What makes p-Cresyl Phenylacetate distinctive

The narcissus base: honey and leather with the animal heaviness of the flower, softer than p-cresyl acetate's stable note.

Concentration and dilution

Faecal or barnyard at higher concentrations; a creamy floral-animal depth at trace levels.

How p-Cresyl Phenylacetate is used

Used in traces in narcissus, jonquil, hyacinth and animalic floral compositions, and in animalic bases.

Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend); fixative (slow to evaporate; helps a blend last and holds lighter notes).

How p-Cresyl Phenylacetate differs from similar materials

p-Cresyl Acetate*

Poucher judged the phenylacetate the better narcissus base because it lacks the acetate's horse-urine note; the acetate is sharper and more phenolic. (compared directly by a cited source)

Phenylacetic Acid

The acid is honey with a urinous edge; p-cresyl phenylacetate adds narcissus, leather and a narcotic floral heaviness.

Narcissus Absolute*

The absolute is the whole flower — green, honeyed, hay-like and indolic; p-cresyl phenylacetate gives its animal-honey heart. (compared directly by a cited source)

An asterisk marks a difference that a cited source states directly. The others compare the published descriptions of each material. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Formulation considerations

Powerful; a little goes a long way.

Identity and classification

Type

Aroma chemical

Origin

Synthetic

Odour family

Animalic / Floral

Note position

Base note

Physical form at room temperature

Solid

Also known as

p-Tolyl phenylacetate

CAS number

101-94-0

Molecular formula

C15H14O2

Molecular weight

226.27 g/mol

IUPAC name

(4-methylphenyl) 2-phenylacetate

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 60997, whose own record lists this CAS number; checked 19 October 2026.

Safety and compliance

Hazard classification of the neat substance, as PubChem summarises it, read 26 October 2026. Companies notifying the ECHA C&L Inventory report it as not meeting the GHS hazard criteria (1,558 of 1,558 reports). Unless it is harmonised, this is the notifiers' own classification, not a binding one.

This page is general information, not a safety assessment or a specification. Confirm identity, composition, IFRA status and allergen content from your supplier's documents for the lot you hold.

Materials it works with

• p-Cresyl Acetate

  Aroma chemical · Animalic / Floral — animalic, narcissus, floral

• Phenylacetic Acid

  Aroma chemical · Animalic / Gourmand — honey, animalic, sweet, waxy

• Methyl Phenylacetate

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Gourmand — honey, sweet, floral, musky

• Narcissus Absolute

  Absolute · Floral / Green — narcotic, green, honey, hay

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 5 published formulas

p-Cresyl Phenylacetate is an ingredient in 4 perfume formulas and 1 accord in the Formula & Accord Library.

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

• Beeswax Throne

  RUŌOD House Creation · listed as “p-Cresyl Phenylacetate 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

• Black Saddle

  RUŌOD House Original · listed as “p-Cresyl Phenylacetate 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

• Feral Jasmine Accord

  RUŌOD House Accord · listed as “p-Cresyl Phenylacetate 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

• Narcissus Hay Loft

  RUŌOD House Creation · listed as “p-Cresyl Phenylacetate 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

• Night Jasmine Foundry

  RUŌOD House Creation · listed as “p-Cresyl Phenylacetate 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

Further reading

• How to Build a Honey Accord

  A honey accord from phenylacetic acid and its esters: the building blocks, beeswax and honey absolutes, an illustrative vegan version, handling and records.

• Animalic Notes in Perfumery: From Civet to Synthetics

  The classic animal materials — musk, civet, castoreum, ambergris — why they went, and how indole, skatole and synthetic bases recreate animalic warmth.

Questions about p-Cresyl Phenylacetate

Sources

• PubChem — compound 60997, checked 19 October 2026.
• PubChem — GHS classification (the ECHA C&L Inventory notifications and any harmonised EU entry), read 26 October 2026.
• The Good Scents Company — animal odour category (p-cresyl phenylacetate) — odour database.
• Premiere Peau — Para cresyl phenyl acetate — published perfumery reference.
• Fraterworks — para cresyl phenyl acetate — distributor's description.
• Basenotes — favourite cresol esters (forum, quoting Poucher) — published perfumery reference.
• Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 20 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.