Animal perfume ingredient: Civet

Animal perfume ingredient Civet : 

• Animal between the cat and the fox, the civet is also defined as a musk cat. To mark its territory, this small carnivore secretes a very odorous substance which comes from a peri-anal gland.

• In order to recover the precious liquid with the smell of fur, a curettage had to be performed. If the practice is still not forbidden, the civet has almost totally disappeared from the fragrances. 

• At first sight, its smell is quite unpleasant with a dominant excrement side. After a few hours and a good dilution, its perfume becomes more and more round and sensual.

• Pure civet is a crude, buttery-yellow paste that turns darker with age. At full strength the tincture smells fecal and nauseating, but when diluted it has a radiant, velvety, floral scent. It gives great effects in perfumes, smoothing out rough patches, adding a sense of shimmer, diffusion, and warmth.

• Civet is a catlike animal with a long tail and a long, pointed muzzle like that of an otter. Its various species are native to Africa and much of Asia. The paste is the potent secretion produced by the perineal glands of both male and female civets.