The animal notes: the scent of scandal

Sensual and even sexual, animal notes have always been a hot topic in the history of perfumery. In the 19th century, the smell of certain notes was even compared to the scent of vaginal secretions. Surprised? We tell you all about their history, their prohibition and the various surprising alternatives that allow us to reproduce them in our perfumes today.

The history and origin of animal raw materials

In perfumery, animal notes are scents that have become essential. They are mainly derived from animals and are used in very small quantities as they are strong and persistent. They are used to underline and reinforce other notes already present in the perfume and are usually present in the base notes.

A very old practice

The use of animal notes in perfumery is far from recent. Their use dates back to ancient times. In ancient Egypt, these warm and powerful scents were used to embalm bodies and communicate with the divine. Almost all perfumes of the time were made with animal notes, prized for the roundness they bring to fragrances and for their role as fixative.

Some animal notes, such as civet, were used for curative purposes. Indeed, it is said that Cleopatra required her fragrances to be made from civet secretions to cure her ailments.

The Renaissance saw the rise of animal scents. Firstly for their medicinal virtues but also for a very specific reason. Animal scents became a symbol of the bourgeoisie. It was common for the world's greatest people to become intoxicated with powerful animal scents to show their high social status.

Surprising extractions

In perfumery, 6 animal notes are mainly used to make beautiful fragrances, and you will see, their origin is less glamorous than you think... Sensitive souls, please refrain!

• Animal musk: an animal raw material which in its pure state releases an extremely strong and intense odour with woody, animal and even faecal notes! Animal musk is used and adored by perfumers and by most of you. However, the extraction of musk is less of a dream. Musk is found in a pouch under the belly of the male chevrotin: an animal that lives in the mountains of China, Tibet and Tonkin. This gland, the size of a small orange, is produced during the rutting season. It was the Chinese, in ancient times, who discovered the power of the scent of animal musk. They even used it for therapeutic purposes.

  

  The method of extraction also raises eyebrows, as it is necessary to slaughter the animal to obtain the fragrant substance. When fresh, musk has the consistency of honey and a reddish-brown colour. When it dries, it forms a hard, granular, blackish mass with a very strong but pleasant smell. In fact, its scent is so strong that, according to Jean Chardin, a 16th century French writer and traveller, in order to detach a pouch from an animal, the hunter would wrap a cloth around his nose and mouth to avoid haemorrhaging caused by the violence of the scent.

• Beeswax: This is surely the softest! Produced within the hive by the bees, it allows us to obtain the absolute of beeswax. To obtain an even more powerful scent, we recover the wax from old hives. Beeswax is often used to bring a natural effect to floral notes, it is also used to create tobacco and dried fruit notes.

• Hyraceum, also known as African stone, is actually made from the purified urine of a South African rodent, the Cape Damsel. We warned you, it's not very charming.

• Ambergris: This time, I promise, it's less disgusting! Well... whatever. Ambergris comes straight from the intestine of the sperm whale! It is a fatty and very fragrant substance that is collected on the beaches of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It brings warm, greedy and even woody notes.

• And what about castoreum? Nothing more than an oily secretion produced by certain exocrine scent glands located in an organ called the cloaca (you can't make this up) of two North American beaver species. And how is the oily substance extracted in the beaver?

This small animal breeds en masse in the United States and Canada, so it is hunted to prevent overpopulation. Pockets of the desired substance are taken from it, as well as its fur, which is also highly prized. Once again, to collect the castoreum produced by two glands, the animal must be killed... 

• The best for last: civet. This very fragrant substance is secreted by the anal glands of the musk cat, also called civet. The substance is collected by curettage from a pocket near the genital glands. This is possible thanks to civet cat farms established in Asian countries.

Are all these animal secretions poured directly into our bottles? Not really. You can imagine that a long process is put in place to achieve their olfactory... and visual transformation.

A mandatory laboratory visit

To introduce and transform these ingredients into essences that can be used in the manufacture of perfumes, two main techniques are used:

• By infusion or by extraction with volatile solvents. This method consists of dissolving the fragrance of the animal substance in a solvent which is then evaporated. This is a method used for odorous substances from civets in particular.
• By maceration: simpler than extraction, this method consists of letting the animal raw material macerate in alcohol. This method is notably used to obtain beeswax absolute.

To learn more about the different extraction methods, click here.

The controversy surrounding animal raw materials

Do you find the methods of extraction of these animal notes not very friendly to our furry and feathered friends? Neither do we! Rest assured, this is why their use is now perfectly regulated. If natural animal notes are less and less used in perfumery, it is for three main reasons:

• Because they are rare: indeed, these animal raw materials are often difficult to obtain. If we take the example of ambergris, only 1 to 5% of sperm whales produce it. Its harvesting is therefore uncertain and this raw material is used less and less.
• Because they are very expensive: the famous saying "everything that is rare is expensive" is true in the case of animal notes. You should know that a kilo of animal raw material can easily be sold for several thousand euros (ambergris can even reach €10,000 per kilo). In a context where brands seek to minimise their production costs, it is unlikely that your perfumes will contain natural animal notes.
• Because animals must be protected: as you have understood, the extraction of musk sometimes involves killing the animal, or at least breeding it in conditions that are not always very respectful. This is why today, their extraction is highly regulated by legislation. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) protects the musk deer, for example, by limiting its hunting. In addition, strong pressure from environmental movements is also leading to a ban on some of these natural animal raw materials. One thinks in particular of civet farms which are now banned, thus no longer allowing the use of natural civet in perfumes. This note was however often used - it was found for example in the prestigious and well known Chanel n°5! The brand therefore had to adapt to reformulate its fragrance by finding other alternatives.

However, some brands - such as Bastille - still mention the use of notes such as amber or musk in the ingredient list of their fragrances, despite the fact that they are controlled and some are even totally banned. So, what are we talking about here?

The alternatives to animal notes: synthetic and natural

At a time when we are particularly concerned about animal welfare and our olfactory sense can hardly do without such beautiful notes, perfumers have sought and imagined solutions.

To recreate these sensual and enveloping notes, they called upon... chemistry ! Thanks to reproduction techniques that you will find here hereFour types of synthetic musks can be used, which have in common with natural musks to act as a fixative in perfumes and to provide sensual base notes. However, you will find that they do not smell quite the same:

• Nitrated musks: discovered at the end of the 19th century, they bring a powdery touch to fragrances. Much cheaper than animal musk, the discovery of these artificial musks revolutionised the world of perfumery, until they were banned in the 1980s. The reasons? Their toxicity, stability, safety and photosensitisation problems... It was a bit too much, we grant you.
• Polycyclic musks: forbidden at Bastille ! Discovered in the 50s, these musks are much more stable than their predecessors, cling to fabrics well and have the added advantage of being fairly inexpensive (only a few dozen euros per kilo). This category of musks also marks a turning point: whereas their scent was originally powerful and animalic, the new musks now smell clean. Unfortunately, these musks are not biodegradable. So none of that here!
• Macrocyclic musks: the most used today in perfumery. In terms of biodegradability, these new musks no longer pose a problem. On the other hand, they are much more expensive per kilo. They can come from ambrette seeds or angelica juice and bring a fruity side and a clean smell to fragrances.
• Linear or alicyclic musks: the new generation musks. They bring a cocooning touch, between linen and cotton, to fragrances.

But there are also alternatives in the form of natural ingredients. Certain plants allow us to recreate the power and animality of these wild notes: all this is made possible by the remarkable work of our perfumers.

Some plants are totally vegan alternatives to animal raw materials, such as leeks, which smell like ambergris, or cauliflower, which has musky and powerful facets.

As you can see, science and plant-based alternatives have taken over. There is no longer any need to bother our animal friends to smell good. Animal-based ingredients are almost non-existent - there is still beeswax and ambergris, which do not involve animal suffering - since their use is now highly regulated or even banned. Even if in some regions of the world, less careful than Europe in terms of regulations, perfume brands still use these banned notes...

For Bastille, don't worry: our fragrances are vegans and cruelty-freeThis means that none of our ingredients are of animal origin, and none of our ingredients have been tested on animals. By the way, if you like musk, you can discover a superb musky fragrance in our collection : Demain Promis A wrap-around fragrance with a cocooning effect and a comforting, fresh-sheets feel. Its main ingredients are lavender, sage, sandalwood and magnificent musks such as ambroxan, cahsmeran and helvetolide. Ready to succumb?

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Photos: Pexels, Inconnus and Nick Prideaux
Sources: La Grande Histoire du Parfum by Élisabeth de Feydeau, AuParfum, Le Parisien