spermwhale

Animal scents

In the past, perfumers used large amounts of aromatic substances produced by some animals.

Today their price and their rarity prohibit their use in the modern scents of mass perfumery. The molecules of synthesis, poor substitutes, are good enough to trick the consumer’s nose and the deep aspirations of its spirit.

In effect, these animal aromatic substances are used by mankind since the dawn of civilizations, for the curative scope as well as for pleasure, and they belong to all the traditional pharmacopeias.

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The Civet (from the Arab Zabad) is a small African animal from the mongoose family. The absolute of Civet is obtained through purification of the animal’s perineal secretion in alcohol. The Civet rubs his bottom on trunks and on stones of his territory to signal its presence to rivals and to females.

Its odor really seems fecal at first approach, but its olfactory exploration reveals a world of deep emotions. The prophet Muhammad said not to despise the scent of Civet, and it is still used in Arabia and in Africa in order to cure heavy hormonal dysfunction in women (hair loss).

A person who wears it provokes a respectful fear. This is the effect that felines have always provoked on man, who is a possible prey. It is a conquering scent and its effect is exploited in a very civilized way in the perfume Tartar leather.

The Civet is a feminine scent like Ambergris while the beaver absolute with its massive and strong smell is essentially male.

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The absolute of Beaver (Castoreum) is extracted in the same way as the absolute of Civet. Its odor is leathery, at the beginning very much animal and makes you just visualize the wild beaver, but with the passing of time, the smell changes on the skin into a delicate and very persistent leather fragrance. For more on Beavers click here.

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The Sperm whale that produces Ambergris

The archetype of animal perfume is the Musk which comes from the Musk deer, by now nearly extinct, and that very few human beings have had the privilege to smell.

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The deer that produces Musk

The priceless particularity of Deer Musk, as as well as that of Ambergris resides in its likeness to the human fragrance in its higher spirituality (is the scent that emanates from the body of the prophets and of saints).

Honey bee

The absolute of Beeswax is extracted with alcohol from old waxes that the bees have used for more than five years to store honey and pollen and larvae. Because waxy matters absorb the aromatic molecules, the Beeswax with the years becomes soaked with the aromas of honey, propolis, and the very smell of the bees, which is constituted of the pheromone molecules that are the olfactory identity of each bees family. That smell is so distinctly perceivable that the beekeepers recognize their boxes by the nose, approaching them in the fields.

The beeswax absolute has a most pleasant fragrance that directly reminds of honey perfume and of its symbolic meaning, the sweetness and the fullness of spiritual nutriment. Its scent communicates warmness and protection, equilibrates, gives confidence, comfort, and helps to harmoniously integrate the contrasting aspects of personality. When we feel disappointed, bitter, or wounded, its aroma that irradiates the solar force of the light heals the inner pains, opens the heart and brings us into contact with our own positive emotions.

The perfume of beeswax emanates, shining like the sunlight, the joyful energy of the bees perpetually busy in singing the divine praise through their happiness to work. This fragrance appeals to hyperactive persons who must draw from their organizational capacity.

AbdesSalaam Attar, Perfume Composer

 

 

 


See also:

Natural perfumes

Introduction to natural perfumery

Pheromones part 1: Understanding pheromones

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions on natural perfumes

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