Here are some things to look out for!

While perfumes may smell like flowers, wood, fruits, spices, or citrus, sometimes some of the ingredients come from animals. Secretions and excretions from musk deer, sperm whales, civet cats, beavers, hyraxes, and bees are commonly used in perfumes. We think this begs the question, why - and how - did anyone ever decide to experiment with these particular products to create scents in the first place?

Many perfume brands also test on animals, you can learn more about that here. While it can be difficult to find out what ingredients make up a perfume, brands that do not contain these ingredients will say they are vegan and cruelty-free. This article explores how these ingredients are obtained, the cruelty involved, and the alternatives available.

Musk

Musk is taken from the musk deer and civet cats, and is commonly used in perfumes to create a woodsy and earthy smell.

Musk Deer

The males of three small and gentle species of musk deer - dwarf, alpine, and Siberian - excrete the musk smell to attract a mate.

In order to use musk, the males are killed and their 'musk pod' - a preputial gland in a sac under the skin of their abdomen - is removed, so that the musk can be extracted. Despite the killing of musk deer being illegal in many countries, poachers continue to do so because it is valued at three times that of gold, making it one of the most lucrative products of any animal exploitation. The demand, financial benefits, and lack of legal enforcement have caused their population numbers to drop desperate levels in Russia and Mongolia.

Civet Cat Musk

Civet cats release the musk smell to mark their territory.

Unlike musk deer, civet cats are not killed for their musk - but they suffer just the same. Wild civet cats are caught and kept in small cages on farms, similar to that of battery hens. Every 9 to 15 days, they are held by their neck and their rear end is lifted to expose their perineal gland, which is squeezed to release the musk. This procedure causes frequent distress to the animal and can cause injuries, which are often not treated. Additionally, the cages cause psychological damage and many self-mutilate because of the emotional toll. They can exist in these dreadful environments for around 15 years.

Castoreum

Castoreum smells like vanilla, with a hint of raspberry, and leather.

Despite its sweet smell, castoreum is an anal secretion from a beaver. They use it to mark their territory, share information about their health, make distinctions between family members and outsiders, and waterproof their fur.

Initially beavers were killed so that their castor sacs could be removed, however, now they are more likely to be anesthetised and 'milked' by a human. The castoreum plays an important role for beavers and milking it can impact their populations. Research has found that “scent manipulation can be used to reduce human–beaver conflicts, and aid reintroduction success through reducing stress and territorial conflicts, and by influencing dispersal and settlement.”

Castoreum may also be used in foods from frozen dairy, lollies, puddings, and non-alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, bourbons, and raspberry or strawberry flavourings. The early demand for castoreum caused a sharp decline in beaver numbers, due to trapping and hunting.

Hyraceum

Hyraceum smells like a mixture of musk, castoreum, civet, tobacco and agarwood.

Hyraceum is made from the dried-up, crystalline faeces and urine of hyraxes, also called dassies, which are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals, with short tails. Thankfully, they are not harmed in the process!

These small animals often defecate in caves and the build-up of fossilised remains combined with vegetable matter becomes as hard as a rock. This matter is also known as Africa Stone. The material is harvested without disturbing the animals by digging out sites containing this matter - some of which are over 50,000 years. It is often used as a humane option to musk and castoreum.

*If you are a vegan you may wish to avoid this ingredient.

Ambergris

Ambergris is used for both its musky scent and as a fixative in perfume, for a longer-lasting scent.

Ambergris is formed in the intestines of the sperm whale, but how exactly it is excreted is still not fully known. Sperm whales are not able to digest parts of their food, including the sharp ends of cuttlefish, beaks and pens of other sea animals. When it sits in their digestive tract, these parts bind together and slowly become a solid mass, called ambergris. Ambergris sizes range from 15 grams to 420 kilograms. scientists believe that the ambergris protects the whale's internal organs from the sharp squid beaks. The whale either passes it with faecal matter, vomits it, or the mass eventually causes their rectum to rupture. The clump can then be found in the ocean or washed up to shore. It is thought that the longer it is floating around the ocean the better the scent is.

Despite only being a rare occurrence, produced by less than 5% of sperm whales, sperm whales were hunted for their ambergris. When removed from whales, it is said to have a faecal smell, but "becomes more pleasant" once it dries out.

This expulsion of bodily matter has been used in perfumes for over 1,000 years and can fetch up to $70k per lump. Fossilised ambergris has been dated back to 1.75 million years!

In Australia, ambergris is considered to be a whale product and its export and import are regulated under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999. This, however, does not stop perfumes that contain ambergris from coming into Australia.

While some may feel this product it okay to use, it creates a bigger issue that whales and their bi-products are commodities that can be used by humans.

Beeswax

Beeswax is often used as a fixative and to accentuate other properties in the perfume.

While it may seem harmless, taking beeswax can stress out colonies. Taking beeswax means destroying the comb, which is used to house young bees and store their food (honey). Young female bees secrete the wax, chewing it until it becomes more pliable and uses the pieces to build the comb. The process of producing the comb is also quite taxing, and something humans can go without.

Animal Testing

Testing perfume on animals is called applied research, and it’s aim is to assess toxicity levels, impacts of ingredients, efficacy and give a safety rating. It determines if ingredients/products cause any eye irritancy, toxicity, skin corrosivity/irritation, skin sensitisation, dermal penetration, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, ecotoxicity, and pyrogenicity. During these experiments, animals are forced to eat or inhale substances, have them rubbed into their eyes, skin, or injected into their bodies. The animals are then monitored and subjected to further testing to assess the results. Most are also killed, so researchers can see if the ingredients had any impacts on their tissues and organs.

To learn more, please read our article on animal experimentation.

Cosmetic testing on a rabbit - Credit: PETA

Alternatives

When purchasing products, it is important to keep an eye out for these ingredients, check with the company, and kindly ask businesses who still use them, to remove them from the ingredients list. Thankfully, there are a myriad of synthetic alternatives, fixatives, and enhancers available to create beautiful vegan perfumes. Companies that produce vegan products also do not test on animals!

Here are three of our favourite companies that sell animal-friendly scents to delight you.