Musk blends

[Ambolt]

What blends do people use for musk base accords? I'm keen to create some "white musk" notes for mens and womens fragrances, and am looking for some ideas. Stuff a little more commonplace instead of creative. Stuff that might be obtainable for a beginner... is the one on perfumersapprentice any good?

[jsparla]

Hi Ambolt,

PA has two musk accords, their white musk is very faint to me. But i know that i'm not always able to smell all musks. It's strange, but sometimes i do smell Ambrettolide and sometimes i don't... Olfactory is a strange and complicated thing ;-)
The ambery musk from PA has my personal preference, i like it a lot, not only for my perfumes but also for my soaps.
I've come up with a musk accord myself, which has a rather complete spectra of different musks, with their different qualities. It gives a broad pallet and almost everyone should be able to pick up a set of musk tones from it.

Hope this helps, best
Jeroen.

[Ambolt]

Jeroen, thanks for your reply. I might check out the amber musk as I do love amber very much. Is it long lasting?

Any chance of buying some of your musk accord off you? It's going to cost a bit to buy all those ingredients separately, especially since I'm getting in on a split for l-Muscone from PK.

Ryan

[jsparla]

Hi Ambolt,
Yes, the amber musk is certainly long lasting, on a blotter at least a couple of days.
If you mail me your address i'll be glad to send you a sample of my musk accord, no probs.
Best regards,
Jeroen.

[gido]

i used to simply select the musks based on the other materials, based on what i wanted to accomplish, the general idea or shape of the creation. some shades of musk go good with this or that, some are great fixatives, others are not. some smell fantastic, others less so. but fit and cut are most important.

perfumers are unlikely to use a 'musk blend' for this reason (among others). they will usually select the musk molecules that suit the job. exceptions are certain ideas containing a lot or even mainly musk, like a musk tonkin base.

'white musk' and so on are usually perfume oils. these are not used by professionals, and generally not by knowing amateur perfumers either.

ps. i seem to remember that chris has a breakdown of common musk molecules somewhere on his blog. look it up if you're interested in the topic. if you avoid the ones that do not readily dissolve in alcohol it really isn't any more difficult than using a perfume oil.

[Chris Bartlett]

ps. i seem to remember that chris has a breakdown of common musk molecules somewhere on his blog. look it up if you're interested in the topic. if you avoid the ones that do not readily dissolve in alcohol it really isn't any more difficult than using a perfume oil.

This is the post on musks.

In addition I do have a range of musky bases that I've designed for my own use (one of which I have enough stock of to sell some if you like but I'm afraid it does not come complete with the formula). Besides that or getting some from Jeroen who has kindly published the formula for his, you could use one of the standard industry blends such as Auratouch which incorporates four or five musks. Or you could start with a selection of, say, 5 musks from the selection at PA, Hekserij and Hermitage and experiment with blending them yourself. Hermitage provide pre-diluted versions of some of the more difficult to handle ones too such as Musk Ketone and Celestolide, which is easier to start out with: if you find you like them you can always go on to buy them in crystal form later.

[Ambolt]

jsparla, I just received a sample of your musk! It smells incredible! Nice and sweet and smooth but relatively dry and strong + long lasting! Thank you so much! I can definitely vouch for that combination of musks on your website now.

Is it already diluted? What do you suggest I dilute it to if I want to try it in a blend?

[jsparla]

Hi Ambolt,

Glad you received the sample in good order and nice to hear you like the Musk Accord i composed. No, it's not diluted yet, so be prepared for another musk explosion when you do
I would recommend diluting between 10% and 25%, depending on how you are going t use the musk accord in your formulations. If you need strong musks you could dilute to 25%, but if they have to make a faint background dilute to 10% or maybe even 5%.
And remember, it's easy to get 2 drops of 10%, but tricky to get 0.5 drop of 40%

Happy perfuming!

[Skelly]

Just discovered this today, and thought it might be useful.

Apparently, 'Galaxolide 50' is in fact a solution of 65% Galaxolide. The '50' added to the name refers to the main isomer content of 50%. So if you follow any formula that uses 'Galaxolide 50' and you're making your own up, dilute accordingly.

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[jsparla]

Thanx Skelly!

The Galoxolide i bought is from PerfumersApprentice, and the label reads: Galaxolide 50% IPM. So now i'm puzzled... do you think it means 50% main isomer or 50% diluted in IPM? I always thought IPM stands forIsopropyl Myristate and is a solvent for diluting.

Best regards!

[David Ruskin]

Thanx Skelly!

The Galoxolide i bought is from PerfumersApprentice, and the label reads: Galaxolide 50% IPM. So now i'm puzzled... do you think it means 50% main isomer or 50% diluted in IPM? I always thought IPM stands forIsopropyl Myristate and is a solvent for diluting.

Best regards!

Galaxolide at 100.0% concentration is so viscous it is virtually a solid and really difficult to handle. Galaxolide 50% IPM is indeed diluted with IPM, for ease of handling. You can also get Galaxolide in DEP or in Benzyl Benzoate.

[Ambolt]

Random related question.. I have a tonka bean absolute tincture (at 10%) and it phases in and out of solid bits of material appearing in the tincture. Sort of seems to depend on the room temperature but I'm not certain (when I first dissolved it, it was warm, and 100% liquid). Any ideas how to keep it as a liquid? Dilute it more? (it's very strong)

[pkiler]

Ambolt, yes you could cut it in half again to 5%, which would do the trick. Or just put it in your pocket to warm it before you want to dispense from it, that might be enough to keep the crystals from regrowing.

[Skelly]

Thanx Skelly!

The Galoxolide i bought is from PerfumersApprentice, and the label reads: Galaxolide 50% IPM. So now i'm puzzled... do you think it means 50% main isomer or 50% diluted in IPM? I always thought IPM stands forIsopropyl Myristate and is a solvent for diluting.

I think 'Galaxolide 50' refers to an actual product - sold as 'Galaxolide 50' - rather than pure Galaxolide diluted by weight to 50%. So if you or your supplier are diluting 100% Galaxolide, you need to take this into account. You'll have to contact your supplier to see what they're doing.

The formula should also specify, say, ten parts of 'Galaxolide 50' rather than ten parts of Galaxolide at 50% dilution.

I was given the information by a friend who works in the industry. He's not a fully qualified perfumer but his job is to make reduced priced versions of fine fragrances for different markets, so he'll be given a formula and told to make it for a certain price per kilo. I'm pretty sure you need to know your materials for that sort of work.

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