Since ancient times, aromas have been used to mask the natural smell of the human body on the hunt, to please the gods, or simply to hide the unpleasant smell of sweat.
The earliest perfumes were made up of natural ingredients. Toward the end of the 19th century, the development of modern perfumery began. Natural components still played an important role in it, but chemicals began to mix with them.
Moreover, many of the “fragrant” chemicals (as well as a large number of natural ones) are unusual and even disgusting. Here top 7 weird perfume ingredients. You would hardly want to touch them with your hand.
7. Deer musk
Male deer musk deer on their belly have a special pouch used to spray musk. It attracts females. Perfumers have long appreciated this substance, as it enhances the durability of the perfume composition.
Unfortunately for deer, a bag of fresh musk is easier to obtain when the animal is dead. This ingredient was so highly regarded that it was used in all spirits until the 1970s. Currently, musk deer fishing is limited, but deer are grown on farms in different countries, in which musk is obtained by introducing a catheter into the musk bag. True, the animal is not killed, it sleeps under the influence of sleeping pills.
6. Beaver stream
Secretion from the preanal bein glands. A beaver uses this substance to mark territory. The smell of the jet has a pleasant resemblance to the smells of wood and leather, and for this it is used in perfumery.
And the beaver stream is still used as a natural food supplement to improve the taste of strawberries and raspberries.
5. Ethane sulfide
One of the strongest chemicals in perfumery. It has a penetrating, repulsive smell of sulfur and onions. It is not surprising that such a fragrance is found in nature in onions, asparagus and durian fruit. Surprisingly, still in the rose and geranium.
Ethane sulfide is used in perfumes to enrich geranium oil, to give a more natural basic smell of roses and to reproduce the smell of the sea, as it is one of the chemicals present in the air on the beaches.
4. Costus oil
It was a very common ingredient in classic perfumes and was found in popular men's perfumes such as Aramis and Patou Pour Homme. Want to imagine the smell of costus oil outside perfume? Sniff wet dog hair. The real magic of this oil manifests itself in combination with other ingredients of animal origin, such as beaver stream or civet musk.
3. Amber
Voskopodobny intestinal secretion of male sperm whales. Scientists are not entirely sure whether the ambergris is the result of the pathology or normal functioning of these magnificent marine mammals, but it is known for sure that it stinks very much.
After prolonged exposure, most of the repulsive smell of ambergris disappears. In perfumery, this ingredient is used as a fixative. Even the smallest drop is enough for the perfume to be felt on your skin for several days.
2. Musk civet (cibetin)
It is a dense secretion from the glands of the wyverns, a mammal living in Africa and India. Best musk is Ethiopian civet. The powerful and unique aroma of cibetin will remind you of rotten foods. But in a very dilute form, it becomes very attractive, with a floral tint.
In the past, civet musk was often faked. The main fillers of the fake product were honey and baby feces. Can you imagine how terrible real musk smells?
1. Skatol
There can be no two opinions: the skatol stinks. It is a compound that is found in feces and coal tar. This is the quintessential stink, for this skatol and was in first place in ranking the most disgusting perfume. It is all the more surprising that it can be found in extremely small doses in jasmine and orange blossoms. In combination with indole, skatol helps to give these colors a bright erogenous odor.