Character
The Story of Animal notes
Animal notes encompass natural aromatic substances sourced from animal glands and secretions, historically including civet, musk, castoreum and ambergris. These powerful base materials once defined classical perfumery, lending fragrances their characteristic depth, persistence and sensual warmth.
Heritage
Animal notes have perfumed humanity since antiquity. Alexander the Great documented them around 330 BC, though Egyptians employed them earlier. Cleopatra reportedly favoured civet. By the early twentieth century, nearly all classical perfumes relied on animal note compositions serving as fixatives, base notes and roundness enhancers. When integrated with florals like rose, jasmine and ylang-ylang, raw animalic notes softened yet improved fragrance cohesion. The 1960s saw intensive musk deer hunting, with prices reaching 200,000 euros per kilogram. International conservation efforts, culminating in CITES 1973, and IFRA prohibitions largely ended natural animal note usage in perfumery by the late twentieth century.
At a Glance
6
Feature this note
Multiple origins
Primary source region
Ingredient Details
Glandular secretion and synthetic alternatives
Anal gland secretions (civet), musk pod, castor glands, whale excretion
Did You Know
"Jasmine contains indole, a compound also found in animal secretions, explaining its unexpectedly animalic facet at certain concentrations."
Pyramid Presence