Musk has been used in perfumes since ancient times, both for its own smell and as an oily base that, when mixed with more volatile scents, slows their evaporation.
It’s quite strange that it has appeared in so many women’s perfumes, since it’s a male sexual scent, but that may just go to show that women buy scents they like, not necessarily ones the men in their lives find attractive.
The word Musk comes from “muschka”, the Sanskrit word for testicle.
However, the scent doesn’t really come from an animal’s testicles.
Despite the many plants and animals that have musk in their name and natural odor, the musk used in perfumes comes from only one animal, the musk deer of Asia.
The musk itself comes from a gland in the abdomen; to harvest it requires killing the musk deer and cutting open its belly. Luckily for the musk deer, scientists developed a synthetic musk in 1937 that has largely replaced natural musk in cosmetics.
Unluckily, the deer is still being killed in large numbers because of an Asian superstition that its musk gland is an aphrodisiac.
We do what we musk.
What plant or animal does musk perfume come from, the muskmelon, the muskrat, the musk ox, or what?
Related Posts
-
What makes a Skunk’s Musk or Spray Smell so Bad and why does Washing make it Worse?
Six different compounds of sulfur and hydrogen make up the smelly skunk musk. The two musk glands, located near the skunk's anus, can squirt or spray musk up to ten feet. The odor…
-
What is the Fastest Animal in the World on Two Legs and Where Does it Come From?
The ostrich is the fastest animal in the world on two legs. The Ostrich, also known by its scientific name "Struthio camelus", is a large flightless bird native to Africa, and is the…
-
Why Do the Chinese Name Each Year After An Animal and Where Did the Legend Come From?
The Chinese have tied animal names to calendar years for centuries. According to the myth, Buddha invited all the animals on Earth to visit him on New Year's Day, but only twelve arrived.…
-
How Many Different Animals Come In Circus Animal Cracker Boxes?
First introduced as Bamum's Animals in 1902 by the National Biscuit Company, also known as Nabisco, animal cracker cookies have always come in a circus-wagon package. A century ago, the package was made…
-
Where Does the Tasmanian Devil Live and Is There Really an Animal Called the Tasmanian Devil?
There really is an animal called the Tasmanian Devil, and it lives in Tasmania, a large island off the southern coast of Australia. Scientists think it became extinct on the Australian mainland about…
-
How Do Animal Trainers Teach a Bear How To Ride a Bicycle or Tricycle?
Bear cubs and humans cubs are built in kind of the same way: they're sturdy, fairly well balanced, and capable of walking upright. In addition, they both put their heels down first when…
