RUŌOD Lab

Poplar Bud Absolute

Absolute · Resinous / Fruity

honey, fruity, resinous, balsamic — heart to base note.

Aroma illustration for Poplar Bud Absolute: honeycomb and a drop of honey, bright abstract fruit-coloured spheres and drops of golden resin, for its honey, fruity, resinous and balsamic notes. It illustrates smell associations, not the material or its source.Illustration of a black poplar twig with young leaves and resinous brown buds. The absolute is extracted from the buds.
Aroma View: an illustration of what Poplar Bud Absolute smells like (honey, fruity, resinous, balsamic), drawn by RUŌOD Lab — not its appearance or its source.An original illustration of the botanical source by RUŌOD Lab — not a photograph of the material.
Images

By the RUŌOD Lab TeamRevision 1Updated

In short

Poplar bud absolute is a solvent extract of black poplar buds. It has an unusual scent of honey, fruit and resin and is a useful fixative.

What Poplar Bud Absolute smells like

Fraterworks describes poplar bud absolute (Biolandes, solvent-extracted from buds from Eastern Europe) as a wonderful fixative with the most alluring and unusual scent of honey, fruit and resin, usable like styrax but in far greater amounts, and notes its use in Edmond Roudnitska's Prunol base. Biolandes' own technical sheets class its 50% dilution in TEC as floral — fruity, honeyed, spicy and powdery — and the pure absolute as balsamic-vanilla, salicylic, fruity and dry.

Leading note
Honeyed resin
Supporting facets
Fruity, balsamic
Character
Warm, tenacious
  • honey
  • fruity
  • resinous
  • balsamic

What makes Poplar Bud Absolute distinctive

Honey, fruit and resin in a fixative that can be used like styrax but in far greater amounts.

Concentration and dilution

Fraterworks sells it diluted to 50% in triethyl citrate at the source.

How Poplar Bud Absolute is used

Used like styrax but in larger amounts, to give body and longevity to fruit bases and accords.

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

How Poplar Bud Absolute differs from similar materials

Styrax Resinoid
Fraterworks notes that poplar bud absolute can be used like styrax but in far greater amounts; styrax is the smokier, leathery balsam, poplar bud the honeyed, fruity resin.

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

Thick; commonly sold diluted to 50% in triethyl citrate. The botanical name follows the CAS number's substance record (Populus nigra).

Identity and classification

Type
Absolute
Origin
Natural
Odour family
Resinous / Fruity
Note position
Heart to base note
Physical form at room temperature
Viscous liquid
Also known as
Peuplier absolue
Botanical source
Populus nigra L.
CAS number
921202-04-2

The CAS number was checked on 25 October 2026 against a PubChem substance record that gives it for this material. A natural material is a mixture, so it has no single formula; its composition varies with origin and processing.

Safety and compliance

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

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 2 published formulas

Poplar Bud Absolute is an ingredient in 2 perfume formulas in the Formula & Accord Library.

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

  • Apple Cellar

    RUŌOD House Original · listed as “Poplar Bud Absolute 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

  • Fig Jam Brioche

    RUŌOD House Original · listed as “Poplar Bud Absolute 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

Further reading

Questions about Poplar Bud Absolute

Is Poplar Bud Absolute natural or synthetic?

Poplar Bud Absolute is natural. It is a concentrated extract obtained from plant material with a solvent, then washed with ethanol to remove the waxes.

What is the CAS number of Poplar Bud Absolute?

921202-04-2, the registry number for the absolute as a substance rather than a single molecule. It was checked against PubChem on 25 October 2026.

Which published formulas use Poplar Bud Absolute?

Poplar Bud Absolute is used in 2 published formulas in the RUŌOD Lab Formula & Accord Library: Apple Cellar and Fig Jam Brioche. Each is listed with a link under "Used in formulas and accords" on this page.

Sources

Your own records, next to the reference

Keep your own record of Poplar Bud Absolute — supplier, cost, stock, dilutions and where it is used — in RUŌOD Lab's material library.

The material library All materials