What Is Musk and Where Did It Come From

When you see "musk" as a noted smell in your cologne, you probably think of lumberjacks chopping wood in Maine.

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But you'll never guess where that "manly" smell actually used to come from: an animal you've probably never heard of, according to the Huffington Post.

Musk is a heavy base note scent that is usually compared with woodsy and earthy smells. It was originally the name of the odor coming from a male musk deer, from which it was harvested.

Though perfumes are made through synthetic chemical engineering processes now, back in the day, a glandular sack about the size of a golf ball would be taken from the musk deer. That sack holds a liquid that is sprayed by the deer and used to attract a mate.

When the deer died, the sack would be taken and dried to produce something called a "musk pod." Once that was broken open, you'd find the fragrant musk grain, which would then be soaked in alcohol, producing the scent we would refer to as "musk."

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The scent has also been found by perfume makers in other animals, including the vomit from a sperm whale and most other "musk" animals, like the muskox, musk shrew, and the musk beetle.

Fortunately, perfumers no longer use animal-derived ingredients, instead moving to more sustainable (and cheaper) synthetic chemicals. The one used to mimic musk is appropriately called muscone.

So don't worry — you're not actually wearing whale vomit (phew).

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