These two ants are still in one piece after 5 years in a bottle. How?

Today, when I “discovered” the mysterious bottle by chance in my garage. I picked it up and looked at it, and my memories came back. 

5 years ago, in a hot summer day, when I took out the very last drops an Evergreen Oud oil bottle for a customer, I did not close the cap immediately. 

The reason: I was going out of the room to get some rubbing alcohol, to clean the bottle and made myself an Oud hand sanitiser. After all, I have not seen anyone made oud hand sanitiser in the market so it would be great to have one.

Eventually, I got some alcohol and felt excited. 

When I came back, I found a surprise.

I saw two ants which were inside my bottle of Evergreen Oud Oil. Unfortunately, they were dead.

I checked around; there were no other ants around. How they came inside the room is still a mystery today. Anyway, I did not end up pouring my alcohol inside my oud bottle. I decided to close the cap and stored the bottle away because quite frankly, I did not know what to do at that time. Life got me, and I completely forgot about this bottle.

Until today, when I found it in the garage, and I wondered how the oud smells after 5 years. I opened the bottle.

Super smooth honey-like is that I felt. Despite the two 5-year-old “dead ants”, there was no fault smell—what a pleasant feeling !

By the way, the two dead ants body are still in one piece. It did not decompose after 5 years. While I don’t know the exact reasons, I guess it is the “antibacterial” and “antifungal” properties of the agarwood oil that preserved it.

Why am I telling you this?

You see, 

Most of the essential oils will last about a year or two. 

After that, they will go rancid. That is why you will find “best before” or “expired date” on the label.  

Here is what makes agarwood oil different.

This Evergreen Oud does not last for a year. It does not last for 2 year, 3 year or even 5 years. It lasts forever, and the aroma gets better every year. 

For these reasons, some cosmetic manufacturers chose agarwood oil to make high-end skincare products. 

Begum (2015), and Wang (et al. 2016) showed that Agarwood oil has Antibacterial and antioxidant properties. One practical use of that is to make a disinfectant spray or hand sanitiser out of it by mixing agarwood oil with alcohol, especially from the empty vials or bottles that you finished, like I did.

Agarwood oil is made up from Terpenes, Esters, Aldehydes, Ketones, Phenols and Oxides. Amira Ahmed Kamal El-din El-Anssary (2019) showed the properties of the above.

Wang (et al. 2018) show the Anti-Inflammatory properties of Agarwood oil. 

Usually, you will find on skincare product, there will be some compounds that had this anti-inflammatory properties.

I applied a small dab of oud oil on my skin, and I could feel it smoother.

And here is a side effect of Agarwood oil that could interest you

I learn that Terpenes in essential oil repel insect. But I don’t know if it is true.

So I decided to try it out.

Beryl Park is a park near my place. I love this park because it has an exercise playground. 

But here is the problem

Near the playground is a small water creek. When there is no rain, the water is stagnant. After 5 pm in summer, there are many mosquitoes come out. In the past, after having a few bites, I decided to go home. 

But I  wanted to stay longer because in summer, the sky was still bright at 6.30 pm.

So next time, when I came back to the park, I  wore long sleeves, shirts and pants and cover my face with a blend containing Evergreen Oud oil Jojoba oil.

I stayed in the park from 6.00 pm to 7 pm and did not receive a single bite from the mosquito.

 So not only you smell good when using Agarwood oil,  from what I experienced, it also repels mosquitoes? An additional nice "side effect" that agarwood has to offer.

Personally I enjoy its aroma and side effect. How about you?

when you use Oud oil, do you experience the same thing? Please let me know

P/S: About these two ants, I stored them away and will revisit in several years later. Will keep you posted.

PPS: I know these ants are in the bottle for 5 years because my son is now 6 years old. When I had this Evergreen Oud bottle, my son was 1 year who just learnt to walk.