Animal ingredients

Animal extracts are always used in minute concentrations because of their overpowering odor. When they are diluted to the right proportion, they give a glorious effect. They give the scent a richness and warmth that only an animal note can give. They are chemically very close to our own sexual aromas. Animal extracts are an essential part of many commercial fragrances. Most animal notes today are synthetically produced to decrease cost and increase supplies.

1- Ambergris

Ambergris is found in oily gray lumps primarily in the Indian Ocean. There has been much speculation as to the origin of this material. It is found in the ocean in one to seventy pound lumps. The lumps have strong odor that is very unpleasant in its raw state. It must be dissolved in alcohol. After it is processed, the fragrance is very persistent. It was used in scented gloves because the odor would last several years. Today synthetic ambergris is primarily used in replacement of genuine ambergris. 

2- Castoreum

Castoreum is a secretion from the preputial follicles of both male and female castor beavers. It has a strong, disagreeable odor until it is considerably diluted. It then becomes highly fragrant. It is an excellent fixative and gives perfumes a spicy or oriental note. It is very commonly used in men's fragrances due to the sultry, leathery, smoky note. It is also used in oriental women's fragrances. Synthetic castoreums are now available, and can be as good as the real thing. 

3- Civet

Civet is one of the most important animal materials used for perfume. It is taken from a pouch under the tails of male and female civet cats. Civet has a very strong smell, but is diluted and used in minute quantities. The scent is similar to musk, but has a more smoky, sweaty aroma. It is an excellent fixative, and used in many top-quality perfumes today. Civet is available in artificial substitutes. 

4- Musk

Musk is perhaps the most powerful of all perfume fragrances, and the most expensive. Musk comes from the male musk deer. It is extracted from the deer in the form of grains. Musk has been a key constituent in very many perfumes since its discovery. It is currently found in 35% of all men's perfumes and fragrances. It is a very good fixative, and is exceptionally long lasting. There are many synthetic musks, and musk is one of the most important ingredients in perfumes. Musk in its natural or synthetic form can be found in 90% of all fine fragrances

Fruits, leaves and roots 

1- Vanilla

Vanilla was discovered in Mexico, and used as a spice for food. The aroma of vanilla is present in the vast majority of all fine fragrances today, although it is often synthetic.

2- Patchouli

Patchouli is a unique perfume ingredient used in about half of all men's fragrances. It has the strongest aroma in the plant kingdom. It is found primarily in India and Indonesia.

3- Orris

Orris is the dried bulbs of the iris plant. The scent is similar to violet, and is often used to make synthetic violet fragrance. The orris root is dried for two years. Orris root has been prized as a perfume since the time of the ancient Greeks. It is one of the most important perfumery materials.

Two leaves essential to the perfumer are labdanum and patchouli. Patchouli, an East Indian mint, has a musty fragrance and is found in many perfumes. It grows in Malaysia and Sumatra. Labdanum is a sweet, sticky substance exuded from the leaves and twigs of a species of rose. It is found in Crete, Cypress, and other Mediterranean regions of Spain and Morocco, and is valued as a fixative

Flowers 

Many flower fragrances are used in perfumery. The soil, climate and variety of each flower influence its scent enormously. In fact, the raw materials used to make perfume are found all over. Fields of flowers and aromatic plants are found in the Mediterranean. Sandalwood and vetivert come from India. Madagascar produces the delicate ylang-ylang flower. Oakmoss from Yugoslavia and roses from Bulgaria also contribute to the array of materials used in the manufacture of fragrance.

The essential oil in plants, which give them their particular aromas, are found in flowers, leaves, fruit, bark, roots, gums and resins, and seeds all over the world. The costliest and finest of perfume oils, called the "absolute," are obtained from certain flowers. The natural oils of the rose, jasmine, and orange flower are the most important. It is also important to note that every superior grade perfume contains a certain percentage of one or more of these flower oils, which impart to the fragrance a smoothness that is unobtainable with any other ingredient.

1- Roses

One of the most valuable elements of a fine perfume is provided by the rose, known as the "queen of flowers". Rose perfumes were very popular with the Romans and the Greeks. Roses are gathered at night since they are at their most fragrant before sunrise. The two main species of roses used in perfume are the Rosa centifolia, found in the South of France, and the rosa damascena (Damask Rose) located primarily in Arab countries. The damask rose is most widely grown for perfumery. Roses are found in 75% of all perfumes.

2- Jasmine

Jasmine, another "absolute," or pure essence, gives a perfume a well-rounded, finished quality. Jasmine flowers are harvested when their scent is at its peak just before dawn. The flowers must be processed immediately before their freshness fades. The jasmine must also be placed in special baskets to prevent the flowers from bruising, and unbalancing the flower's natural bouquet. Eight thousand jasmine flowers yield 1/25 oz of absolute. Jasmine and synthetic versions of jasmine are used in 83% of all women's perfumes  

3- Violets

Violets have been used in perfumes throughout the ages. They used violet in both perfumes and medicines. It has been used for cures from headaches to cures for cancer. There are two varieties of violets most commonly used in perfumes, the Victoria Violet and the Parma Violet. Violets only produce a scant amount of essential oils, and are rarely used today. A synthetic replacement for violet is most commonly used, along with other essential oils resembling the violet.

4- Orange flower

The orange flower is the traditional flower of brides all over the world. The bitter orange is one of the most versatile trees producing the essential oils for this scent. Its blossoms provide orange flower absolute. Orange flower oil or "neroli" was named after the Italian Princess of Neroli. She began the fashion of using the oil for scented gloves. The absolute is somewhat scarce, but Neroli oil is plentiful and widely used, especially in finer citrus colognes. Oil of "petit grain" is obtained by distillation from the leaves and twigs. Orange flowers are grown in the south of France, Spain, Italy and North Africa.

5- Orange oil

Orange oil is obtained from the peel of the fruit of the orange tree. Most orange oil comes from Italy, Spain and the United States. It is used in citrus-type colognes and other fragrances. One of the most important citrus oils for toilet water and colognes is lemon oil. When hand-pressed, the oil has a fresh fruit note. Most lemon oil comes from Italy and the United States. Bergamot oil is pressed from the fruit of the bergamot tree, grown in Calabria, Southern Italy. This oil is used in colognes with a citrus note, in chypre, and in other types of fragrances.

6- Ylang-ylang

Ylang-ylang is widely used for fine fragrance. This flower is found throughout South-East Asia. The ylang-ylang is not picked until the buds have been open for two to three weeks. After they have been gathered, they must be processed quickly. This oil is commonly used, but synthetic versions, and cananga oil is often substituted in less expensive perfumes.

Bark and roots are also of great value to the perfumer. The oil of the cinnamon tree has a sweet, spicy note. Vetiver, a grass whose essential oil comes from the root of the plant, is a good fixative used in a large number of fragrances. It is found in Asia, the West Indies, and in Central and South America. Costus oil, an excellent fixative grown in the Himalayan Highlands, can be overpowering even in small concentrations. 

7- Resins

Resins are the gummy substances that come from the barks of trees. Lichen, usually found around oak trees, exudes a resinous substance called oakmoss. Its aroma is unique, giving an earthy note to perfume essential to chypre fragrances and their derivatives. It is found in Yugoslavia, Italy, and the Central European countries. Frankincense is a well-known resin. It is still used in religious rituals, as a medicine, and as a purifying perfume. 

8- Woods

Sandalwood has long been considered a sacred perfume, wed in the religious rites of ancient India and by Chinese Buddhists. Having an easily recognizable scent and valued as a fixative, the oil finds wide application in perfumery. Cedarwood oil gives a woody undertone, and is also valued as a fixative. It comes from cedar trees that grow in Morocco, Lebanon and East Africa. Moroccan oil is said to be the best.

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