Alluring, sensual, enticing… Musk is well-known for its aphrodisiac powers. Perfumers play with a myriad of synthetic musks to fix, blend and mold ingredients in a number of intoxicating accords. These notes are clean and transparent—lending a velvety, skinny effect. Musk notes in perfume used to be processed from the actual musk glands of animals to impart a gamey, warm, and sensual texture. But this practice is illegal in modern times, and nowadays musk notes in fragrance are entirely synthetic. Musk’s tangy aroma can range from sheer, metallic and bright to very animalic and even as intimate as the scent of warm, damp, human skin. Musk adds a sultry, sensual feel to demure feminine scents, as well as making masculine notes like tobacco and leather vividly expressive in cologne. For perfume fans who enjoy the alluring scent of warm, clean, skin - musk is a must-have note in fragrance.

Ambrettolide

Ambrox, a synthetic substitute for its enigmatic counterpart ambergris, is used in perfumery as a base note for more complex fragrances. The molecule extends a perfumes’ trail—allowing the delicate fragrances to dance and linger a little while longer. Providing a sensual, skin-like smoothness, Ambrox is a complex molecule with musky, woody, and animal-like tones. For some, it recalls a warm softness while for others, it brings to mind the amber-like character of labdanum or clary sage.

Tobacco Blossom