Ethiopia Oils and Resins
Our variety of extraordinary frankincense and myrrh oils are produced by a chemist, researcher and master distiller in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. These fine oils are distilled in small quantities from wild-harvested resins.
Our distiller produces these on order from Floracopeia, and often these products can are only available as special releases for a limited time.
Boswellia papyrifera is one of our finest frankincense essential oils, a true world-class aromatic treasure. When distilled, this resin yields an amazing essence that is unique among frankincense oils, full of sweet floral and fruit notes over a clean and clear bouquet of more typical resinous aromas. This is one of our best-selling frankincense oils and one of our “specialty oils,” produced exclusively for Floracopeia in small amounts. Because of the low concentration of essential oil in the resin, distillation produces only a one percent yield; B. papyrifera oil is therefore precious from the standpoint of labor, production, and availability. Unlike some other species of frankincense that are over-harvested, Boswelia papyrifera is abundant in Ethiopia, yet underutilized for economic purposes. You will often find Frankincense papyrifera essential oil out of stock on our cart for these reasons.
Boswelia rivae is another unique species of frankincense that we offer from Ethiopia. It is a darker resin with purple hues that comes in large chunks. As an incense it burns slowly with resinous, earthy and cinnamon-spice notes, which are also reflected in the essential oil.
Floracopeia's Frankincense & Myrrh essential oil co-distillation is a achieved by distilling Commiphora myrrha, true myrrh with Bowelia rivae resin to created a unique and compelling oil that is a Floracopeia best seller. Myrrh oil is thicker and more viscous than frankincense oils and is therefore not suitable for nebulizing diffusers. Distilling it together with frankincense creates a more pleasant and easy to use essential oil than pure myrrh. It has excellent therapeutic properties and outstanding olfactory characteristics for perfumery purposes.
Major Marker Peaks of GC of Frankincense and Myrrh co-distilled oil:
- Alpha pinene (10%)
- Limonene (9%)
- Furanodiene
- Furanoeudesma 1, 3 diene (13%)
- Lindesterne (4%)
- 2-Methoxy furanodiene
Frankincense and myrrh essential oils are without a doubt the world’s most interesting, valuable, and important. They have a long history as medicines and sacred incenses. We offer an extensive monograph on this subject, which can be found in our Articles section.
Boswellic Balm
Our Boswellic Balm is a unique topical salve with a light, bright scent. This Floracopeia exclusive combines the skin-soothing benefits of frankincense and the incredible anti-inflammatory action of boswellic acid...
It contains zero synthetic additives — plus, it’s brought to you by a unique extraction method and a fascinating whole-plant preparation process.
Ethically Sourced, Pure Ingredients + Innovative Extraction Methods
Our Boswellic Balm contains Frankincense papyrifera extract that’s rich in boswellic acid — along with creamy, sweet, unrefined Nilotic Shea butter from East Africa.
Frankincense Papyrifera
Frankincense Papyrifera, also known as Boswellia papyrifera or Sudanese frankincense, is a species of flowering plant and frankincense that’s cultivated in Ethiopia. Known for its valuable resin, the incense smoke is beloved for its fresh, lemon-pine scent.
Our chemist/distiller in Ethiopia has developed a new extraction method to create the boswellic acid rich resin tincture we use in our Boswellic Balm.
Our chemist/distiller in Ethiopia macerates the resin in alcohol, then carefully filters and removes the alcohol from the finished extract. This meticulous processyields very high levels of boswellic acid of up to 8%...
This resin is an ideal ingredient for topical healing remedies and products like salves, cremes, oils, tinctures — and of course, our Boswellic Balm.
Nilotica Shea Butter
This frankincense extract is then combined with pure, unrefined Nilotica
Shea butter. Our Nilotica Shea is higher in olein content — and softer and creamier — than other traditional West African Shea butters.
While the political climate of Uganda makes the sourcing of Organic Nilotica Shea Butter difficult, we’re honored to partner with our chemist/distiller in Ethiopia to protect valuable trees while also supporting the economic growth of the regional tribes.
Native to Africa, shea trees bear their fruit (nut) once annually once they’re approximately 20 years old.
Africans traditionally refer to shea trees as God's gift to Africa because of their long, 300-year lifespan and the rich, highly nourishing butter they yield.
West African Shea Butter is traditionally pressed from the fruits of shea trees of the species Butyrospermum parkii, and Nilotica Shea Butter is pressed from the fruits of East African shea trees.
While both West African and East African (Nilotica) shea butters offer impressive benefits, Nilotica Shea Butter possesses a higher olein content and is softer, creamier and sweeter in aroma than West African Shea Butter.
As with all of our premium quality organic ingredients, our Organic Nilotica Shea Butter is non-GMO. It is certified organic by CCOF, a USDA-accredited organic certifying agency, and it fully meets USDA organic regulations.
The result is a Boswellic balm that has the light, bright scent that makes our Frankincense papyrifera essential oil such a favorite. It’s combined with sweet, nutty shea butter to produce a whole-plant medicinal balm for pain that nourishes the skin.
