Cutting the bark of a Styrax tree makes it weep a resin, and that resin is what benzoin is extracted from. It smells of vanilla and warm balsam, which is why it turns up in incense and as a fixative that slows other scents from evaporating. Benzyl benzoate and cinnamic esters carry that smell, and the resin has been used on wounds across Southeast Asia and Europe for centuries.^[1] Testing the resin extract confirmed it acts against bacteria.^[2]