Olefins and methods for making the same

A method comprising selectively hydrogenating, in two or more stages, a conjugated terpene comprising at least three olefinic bonds wherein two of the at least three olefinic bonds form a conjugated diene to make a composition comprising at least about 50% mono-olefinic species and about 20% or less di-olefinic species in a mixture of hydrogenated reaction products,

• wherein the hydrogenating comprises catalytic hydrogenation with a catalyst, a catalyst loading, a reaction temperature, and hydrogen pressure,
• wherein the catalyst, the catalyst loading, the reaction temperature, and the hydrogen pressure are selected so that less than about 10% of the molecules in an intermediate product have a conjugated diene moiety after the first hydrogenation stage.