Tonkin Musk

I’m frequently asked by students and clients how to give the impression of animal musk in a composition so that it can be featured throughout a fragrance’s evolution. Erik and I spoke at length about my sharing an accord centred on musk, and there were a lot of avenues we could have explored, but this is my most frequently requested type of musk accord. Of course you have some of the usual suspects: Romandolide, which is extremely easy, comfortable, and understandable, forming a nice ‘canvas’ for the broader accord; Ethylene Brassylate, which is a workhorse, improving the sillage and tenacity of the overall formula; and Exaltolide, which for me is supremely elegant and works extremely well in helping a composition to relate directly to a person’s skin. From there, you have the more animalic musks: Muscenone, which is of course animalic but also brings some density and roundness to the composition; Muscone-Laevo, which is characteristic to the natural Musk Grain; and Musk Ketone, which is extremely powerful and, in this context, helps to bring the global composition into focus. I would encourage people to play with these animal musks and also consider Exaltone and Exaltenone. I chose not to include them because of their price and because they’re not often broadly available. There are subtle touches in the formula, too, and there is definitely room to play with some of those additions. For me, Helvetolide’s drydown has a facet almost of body odour, not unlike the drydown of certain types of Lavandin. I opted for a small dosage here to help give some nuance to the animalic notes. To make the accord comforting and closer to a human odour profile, there is a trace of Vanillin; but there is also Angelica Root Oil to add an earthy and urinous facet (natural Exaltolide there also!), and Para-Cresyl Phenyl Acetate to mimic sebaceous excretions in both humans and animals, having facets that are animalic & oily (like saliva, sweat; also synergistic with Muscenone Delta); floral and honeyed (synergistic with Romandolide); and phenolic with undertones of leather (synergistic with most musks).