Animalic / Musk

Animalic and musky notes include different ingredients and olfactive profiles, ranging from powdery and laundry clean to dirty or sensual effects. Traditionally, notes such as deer musk, castoreum and civet were produces from animals, but because of ethical concerns most of these notes used in fragrances today are synthetic.

 

A couple notes that can still be sourced naturally without any harm to the animal are ambergris (naturally expelled by the sperm whale), petrified excrement of the hyrax, goat hair tincture, roasted sea shells and beeswax from beehives. Furthermore, some plants such as angelica and ambrette seeds can be used to produce musky notes.