As many perfumers and enthusiasts are very aware, there's a measurable consumer backlash happening against synthetics, and especially synthetic musks. Two musks that are cited in many studies as the epitome of evil are Galaxolide and Tonalide - they have been claimed to be endocrine disrupters (i.e. hormonally effective) and environment-destroyers (since they don't really biodegrade). How do most perfumers view such studies or claims?
One thing I immediately thought of was that maybe the fact that these synthetic musks are hormonally active isn't such a huge deal - I mean, otherwise they wouldn't be musks, i.e., they wouldn't be tangibly sexy. (Though, like anything, perhaps too much could be bad?) Basically though, I don't feel too horrible using it on myself because I'm guessing that like many of the eco/organic/natural trends in like every sphere of everything, the danger is overstated; and the choice to not use artificial materials is less about health than it is about a certain lifestyle aesthetic.
That being said, I have had some people specifically request scents from me that do not have synthetic musks. Now as I understand, not all musks are created equal. Are the only ones thought to be bad by the scientific community polycyclic? I want to give people what they want, but I also want to make sure they aren't missing out on the whole party just because they don't like one person. I've composed a perfume that has Galaxolide. I'm now thinking about replacing it with a macrocyclic/other type of musk to appease my customers. Which musks do you think come closest to the effect that Galaxolide has on a perfume?
One thing I immediately thought of was that maybe the fact that these synthetic musks are hormonally active isn't such a huge deal - I mean, otherwise they wouldn't be musks, i.e., they wouldn't be tangibly sexy. (Though, like anything, perhaps too much could be bad?) Basically though, I don't feel too horrible using it on myself because I'm guessing that like many of the eco/organic/natural trends in like every sphere of everything, the danger is overstated; and the choice to not use artificial materials is less about health than it is about a certain lifestyle aesthetic.
That being said, I have had some people specifically request scents from me that do not have synthetic musks. Now as I understand, not all musks are created equal. Are the only ones thought to be bad by the scientific community polycyclic? I want to give people what they want, but I also want to make sure they aren't missing out on the whole party just because they don't like one person. I've composed a perfume that has Galaxolide. I'm now thinking about replacing it with a macrocyclic/other type of musk to appease my customers. Which musks do you think come closest to the effect that Galaxolide has on a perfume?
