Animal perfume ingredient Ambergris:

Animal perfume ingredient Ambergris:

• Ambergris, a solid waxy substance originating in the intestine of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon). In Eastern cultures ambergris is used for medicines and potions and as a spice; in the West it was used to stabilize the scent of fine perfumes. 

• Ambergris floats and washes ashore most frequently on the coasts of China, Japan, Africa, and the Americas and on tropical islands such as the Bahamas. 

• Because it was picked up as drift along the shores of the North Sea, ambergris was likened to the amber of the same region, and its name is derived from the French words for “gray amber.”

• Fresh ambergris is black and soft and has a disagreeable odour. When exposed to sun, air, and seawater, however, it hardens and fades to a light gray or yellow, developing a subtle and pleasant fragrance in the process.

• Not to be confused with the amber stone and its orange color, the amber used in perfumery comes from the sperm whale. After ingesting a large amount of food, the cetacean expels naturally an intestinal concretion. 

• This substance will sail along the currents to finally run aground on the beaches and harden. Ambergris resembles a large block of gray or whitish stone. Its smell diffuses a very sensual, warm and enveloping perfume.