Musk: King of Fragrances

Musk is a legendary fragrance that gives numerous perfumes their special scent. In addition, musk is a sought-after natural product for Chinese folk medicine. But what exactly is behind the substance? What does musk smell like and where does musk actually come from? We provide the answers to the most important questions about musk.

What is musk?

Musk is a fragrance produced in the musk sac – a gland the size of a walnut – of the male musk deer. It is a dried, powdery, and extremely odorous secretion that muskies use to attract females.

What does musk mean?

Derived the word can be from the Greek “moschos”, from the Latin “muscus” or from the Persian “musk” and means testicle or scrotum. The musk sac has been compared to this – but in fact musk is not obtained from the testicle of the musk deer. The term is also used for secretions of other animals and plants that have a musk-like scent. In the case of animals, these include the musk ox, the musk buck, the muskrat, and the musk duck. In the case of plants, they are, for example, the juggler‘s flower, the musk mallow, the musk weed or the abelmoschus.

How is musk extracted?

Naturally, musk is produced in the musk gland of the male musk deer, formerly known as musk deer. Until the end of the 70s, one also still used this real musk for the production of perfumes. However, this is now no longer allowed for reasons of animal welfare. Because very many musk deer had to give up their lives for the extraction of musk – a musk gland contains namely only about 30 grams of the secretion. Even today, the musk deer is threatened with extinction. Therefore, musk nowadays comes from a synthetic production. Moreover, artificial musk can be produced quite cheaply, whereas the natural product is extremely expensive. In essence, four varieties can be distinguished:

  • Tonkin musk from Tibet and China.
  • Russian musk
  • Assam or Bengal musk from India
  • Bukharian musk

In total, there are about 1,000 substances whose smell resembles musk – use as a musk substitute, however, find only about 30 of them.

How does musk smell?

Both as a natural secretion and in its synthetic production, musk has a tart animal odor on the one hand and a radiant sweet odor on the other. The typical odor description characterizes the animalic musk scent by leathery, hair and urine-like fragrance notes.

Musk as a perfume

Musk plays a particularly important role in perfumes. Although the fragrance usually occurs there only as a subnote, it is contained in almost every perfume. Musk scent should never be perceived consciously, because too much of it is perceived as intrusive body odor. To many perfumes, a light musk scent gives a warm character, enhances the fragrances and rounds them off. In addition, human skin absorbs musk very well, so that the smell of perfumes with musk lasts a long time – musk serves here as a so-called fixator. However, the musk smell can also be combined well with other fragrances, such as patchouli or ambergris.

Musk fragrance: effect

Musk perfume or musk oil creates in people on the one hand a feeling of warmth and security, but on the other hand also sexual excitement and sensuality. Responsible for this are certain aphrodisiac components of musk, which are similar in structure to pheromones. Pheromones are a secretion emitted by vertebrates to influence the behavior of other individuals of the same species, for example in the mating process. However, depending on the combination with other fragrances, musk can produce different effects. For example, musk in combination with other fragrance components can have the following effects:

  • Eroticizing
  • Exhilarating
  • Relaxing
  • Or even promoting concentration

By the way, musk has an attractive effect on men. Surveys have shown that in addition to fresh perfumes, men also like fragrances with a mochus, spicy or woody note on women. Certain musk perfumes have been developed specifically for this erotic effect and attraction.

Is synthetic musk harmful?

There are now numerous detergents, cleaning products and cosmetics that contain synthetic polycyclic musk compounds.But these artificially produced substances are not biodegradable and accumulate in human fatty tissue. Therefore, the cosmetic use of musk is controversial.


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Older generations of synthetic musks are even suspected to be toxic and may promote the development of cancer. Because of poor degradability, synthetic musks can only be partially removed from wastewater in sewage treatment plants. For these reasons, researchers are looking for musks that are more friendly to health and the environment.

Musk in medicine

The demand for natural musk still exists today, because in Chinese medicine musk is still considered an antispasmodic, nervine and invigorating panacea. Especially with cardiovascular, nervous and respiratory problems musk is supposed to be able to help. Musk is also said to be beneficial for potency. With the Crusades, musk also came to Europe, where the fragrance gained notoriety as an aphrodisiac.

The musk animal

It has long been assumed that the deer-like looking musk deer are relatives of deer, which is why they used to be called musk deer. However, there are some key anatomical differences: unlike deer, musk deer have a gall bladder; in addition, musk deer have elongated upper canine teeth but no antlers. And, of course, the musk gland crucially distinguishes the two animals. Musk deer live in herds, are herbivores, and are mostly native to forested mountain areas in southern Asia, especially in the Himalayas – they are already extinct in Europe. To get to leaves and twigs as well, musk deer are good climbers.

* Sources and further information

  • Federal Environment Agency (2016): fragrances. (Retrieved: 03/2019)
  • Federal Environment Agency (2014): Environmental compatibility of detergents and cleaning agents. (Retrieved: 03/2019)
  • Greenpeace (2005): Facts_Chemistry. Artificial musk fragrances. Chemical flavorings in everyday products. (Retrieved: 03/2019)