Name: Perfume making courses with AbdesSalaam Attar
Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Author: AbdesSalaam Attar

Doctoring commercial frags

Thread starter AbdesSalaam Attar
Start date Feb 26, 2017
https://basenotes.com/threads/muskrat-pheromone-project-first-step.504611/

MUSKRAT PHEROMONE PROJECT

Muskrat is a rare ingredient of perfumery and is the scent nearest to the famous synthetic white musk. It is just it, but it is even better, exactly like Vanilla real is better than synthetic vanillin.

The project consists in adding the muskrat tincture to commercial fragrances and to report your observations in this thread. Has it an effect on their longevity, volume and trail? This is only the first step of the research,

The second part will regard the psychological aspects and we shall try to ascertain if this pheromone has an effect on the opposite sex, with scientific method. There will be a series of guided experiments to ascertain facts in regard.

Now we shall start the first part of the project. If you are ready to experiment with your favourite frags, tampering them with Muskrat pheromones and willing to report your findings in this thread, a free bottle of the tincture is available to the first 15 volunteer researchers and reporters.
You will pay only the shipping. Contact me by PM.

If you are just curious to know this rare scent but you do not feel to participate in reporting on experiments, you can order my muskrat tincture here.
https://naturalnicheperfume.com/shop/perfumetherapy/muskrat-tincture/

A few of you have received their muskrat bottle and more are about to receive it tomorrow.
We can start our experiments with our favourite frags.

The first thing we can try is to layer Muskrat on the skin or on the sleeve then spray our perfume over it. This is very primitive but very simple and is good enough for a start.
A second way to proceed is to spray a little of your fragrance in a small vial and add a drop of muskrat tincture. You must have a second vial in which you will put your perfume without muskrat. This is in order to be able to put the same quantity on each hand or on each sleeve.
Mark the vials in order to avoid confusion.

Try with different perfumes. Have a nice research!

Le vagabond

This is a fascinating project. I am really looking forward to smelling the tincture, and am curious to know what the guided experiments will involve:smiley:

Lellabelle

Hello Salaam,

I would love to be a part of this new pheromone project! Your muskrat tincture is very interesting and I’d love to test how it impacts and improves some commercial fragrances, particularly florals. Happy to share my results and findings with the group . PM sent, thank you!

Lellabelle

So excited to be joining the research group! Looking forward to testing and sharing my findings with everyone!

mumsy

Count me in for an online research project. I am always willing to smell unusual things… Thank you for the opportunity to do so. Fascinating.

Currently Wearing: Ambergris by Houbigant

All life as I ever knew it, is still on hold whilst I care for my dad now. One day I’ll be back.

the_good_life

If there’s still a seat on the muskrat express, I’d like to join .

mumsy

Thank you,

The parcel has just arrived and I am already wearing muskrat on my right hand because I am insatiably inquisitive.

It is a curiously gentle and very fatty musk. It hasn’t developed yet so I am happily and curiously waiting to see what it does with time and body heat.

What concentration is this? I’m guessing 3% but for how long was it tincturing? It is an interesting thing indeed.

the_good_life

My muskrat just arrived safely. Also curious I applied a drop to my arm. Sharply animalic, salty fishy (reminding me of Vietnamese fish sauce) for a short moment, a bit of rodent cage, it then quiets down instantly into a sweet musky skin vibe with faintly Indian hair oil traces (but that just may be perfume traces from my sweater…).

Lellabelle

My muskrat arrived today. What beautiful packaging! Just opened it an hour ago and testing a little on the back of my hand this evening.
A slightly sharp opening, no doubt from the alcohol in the tincture, and a strong animal muskiness in the opening. Quite fruity and warm, with some similarities to castoreum in the fruitiness, though much softer. It transitions through a very salty phase shortly afterward, and was briefly reminiscent of ambergris in this regard; I understand the good life’s reference to ‘salty fishy’, though it was definitely more of a salt sea vibe on me, rather than fish. Very pleasant, like salt on skin, with the slight fruitiness hovering in the background. It’s currently in its third stage so far, a very creamy, soft, muskiness, with a balance of sweet and savoury that’s quite hard to describe. The closest thing I can liken it to is white truffle (tuber magnatum pico), with a little white chocolate. Very pretty, indeed.
As an aside, my dog is absolutely entranced by it.

Lellabelle

Thank you Salaam, for including the samples – it was wonderful to be able to sample Cuoio dei Dolci after the group discussion recently! A blast of castoreum to start, with an ambery, almost medicinal aspect that reminded me of a visit to the dentist for a few moments. Like birch tar soap, or antiseptic, with an ambery backbone. Is there a touch of labdanum in this? It transformed into a very plush tonka shortly after, with vanilla and cocoa supporting for an overall very soft gourmand feel. The tobacco is subtle, I love the note so perhaps I don’t perceive it as keenly as others. The coffee takes a milky aspect, in combination with the other notes. Like a cocoa dusted cappuccino. Extremely well balanced, and very wearable. Quite different to anything else I’ve tried. Unisex to my mind (I would happily wear this), but I can see this appealing to a male audience particularly. Its a very masculine gourmand. I’d recommend this to anyone who likes coumarin, tobacco, suede (the leather in this turns very soft as it develops!), coffee or cocoa notes. Very skillfully done!

mumsy

Funny you should mention the dog. My dog was also very enthralled by it but wasn’t quite confident about the hand I had it on.

AbdesSalaam Attar

Because it was on both hands. It is enough to touch the bottle to have on it such a quantity that a dog can percieve.

Asha

I received my package late yesterday–many thanks to AbdesSalaam Attar for such generosity and sharing of a beautiful, artistic gift! I applied some muscrat tincture directly to my skin this afternoon. More came out than I expected, so it ended up being around 3 drops. My initial impression–upon first application, the smell is that of arousal. It seems somewhat feminine-leaning, but perhaps unisex in the sense of a scent of two joining together. A little ways into the development, the waxy and soapy qualities emerge. Soon after it melds to the skin quite thoroughly, and stabilizes to a somewhat sweet and briny dry down. I can understand the potential for an intoxicating subliminal effect of this ingredient….

AbdesSalaam Attar

A few of you have received their muskrat bottle and more are about to receive it tomorrow.
We can start our experiments with our favourite frags.

Try with different perfumes. Have a nice research!

Darvant

Count me in as well, curious to experiment the muskrat tincture combined with commercial fragrances, giving my humble contribution to discussion.

Lellabelle

I tried a first experiment today, with Houbigant’s Orangers en Fleurs… there’s still snow on the ground and I’m longing for spring to finally come!

I’m not sure it was a good choice, as I suspect the Houbigant has a pretty hefty dose of synthetic ‘musk’ in it already. Certainly, that’s a major component of the dry down. I knew that going in, and wasn’t sure how it would affect the side by side wearing. I thought I’d give it a try though, as it’s a very clean take on orange blossom, without much in the way of indoles – a miss in my opinion, and I was curious if the addition of muskrat would help fill some of this ‘gap’.

So, probably not the best choice to start, but here are my observations, nonetheless:

1. Longevity. I have to say I didn’t notice an appreciable difference in longevity. Applied 14 hours ago and it’s still easily detectable on both arms. Pretty sure that what I can smell is a combination of an ISO type woods with synthetic musk though, and nothing else at this point. Back to my original reservation about this as a choice!

2. Silage. Silage is pretty good on this one normally, so I’m not sure there was an appreciable difference. If it altered the silage, I wasn’t able to accurately determine it.

3. Scent profile. Interestingly, this was where it made the biggest difference to my nose. Almost immediately it started changing the character of the florals. It made them much more honeyed. I would describe the overall effect as being like the difference between warm and cool lighting on the same object: the muskrat made the perfume much more golden. Warmer overall, and much richer. Almost syrupy, like honeyed orange blossom. It was noticeably sweeter, as well as richer. This impact was most prevalent in the first four hours, and is least evident now. As for the missing indoles, it didn’t make it any dirtier, but it did reduce some of the ‘clean’ effect that comes with synthetic musk. The unadulterated version still smells cleaner, and harsher, to me, even at this point.

4. Overall preference. For me, I preferred the version with muskrat, mainly because it reduced the ‘clean’ aspect, which I find tiring after a while. The change to the floral character was very pleasant, and certainly brought out different aspects. It made it a little sweet for my taste – I like my orange blossoms a little more narcotic . The scent profile was definitely more interesting, and it developed differently through the day, whereas the unadulterated version was a simple progression. I tested it with a few different people to see if they noticed a difference. Most were unsure, but were able to give a slight preference. Roughly an even split (2 for muskrat, 2 against). The two who preferred the muskrat version are more familiar with perfumes. The two who preferred it without, less so. No one could give a reason why they preferred one over the other.

Thanks for reading, and I’m looking forward to trying it with something else tomorrow. Looking forward to reading others experiences too. I’m not much of a reviewer so hope this is okay to get us started

the_good_life

I added a drop of the muskrat tincture to about 1.5 ml of Givenchy Vetyver, a hazy, elegant, nutty vetiver that I quite like even in the contemporary formulation. It is a scent that could easily integrate a musk. In a first arm test with small dabs I could not tell any difference,except for the adulterated version having a more forceful presence. It seemed more pronounced without smelling differently.I will repeat today.

hinjo

If its still possible to contribute in this experiment am willing to take part in it

mumsy

I’ve blended it with a Wild Orange Leather perfume and it is sitting there melding nicely. I shall do the side by side later.

AbdesSalaam Attar

Good-life, I think that one drop for 15 ml is not enough, yoy should try one drop for one or 2 ml.

Le vagabond

Hello all, yesterday I did a first experiment of muskrat in Eau d’Hermes (older version). The ratio used was one drop to 0.65 ml. With equal quantities applied to each arm of the original perfume and the new blend.

My conclusion is that the muskrat version didn’t have any effect on longevity (roughly four hours). The muskrat version was simply ‘meaner’ and more ‘angular’ smelling and somewhat ruined the delicate balance of the original. It didn’t smell bad but it didn’t add anything remarkable.

I will try next with something completely different.

nwguy

Hey All,

Glad to finally be able to post after the forum outage.

I received my muskrat tincture and will be reporting back soon.
Now…to decide which fragrance will go first

AbdesSalaam Attar

Vagabond, the ratio you chose of half ml (20 drops) for one drop of Muskrat is very good because if some alchemy occurs, you would surely see it.
Ratios much superior such as one drop for 5 ml could be tried in a second time in order to find out what is the minimum quantity of tincture that keeps an effect.

Increase in longevity could be expected on perfumes that lack longevity. those of you who have cats and dogs can check which version they prefer of the 2 scents. Even horses are good at that.

Let other people try the 2 perfumes only on their own skin or sleeves, and do that only to verify your impression after you have noticed that there is indeed a difference.
Always put the same version on the right hand of people (for instance the muskrat one) in order to avoid confusion to yourself. Do not tell them beforehand what is the difference and what you have added. Only after they have made their mind tell them that the right hand version contains pheromones of muskrat.
Take care to put the same quantity of perfume on each hand otherwise one of them would result stronger and longer lasting.

have fun!

Miss Hesta Jones

Hi there
I’m pretty new around here, but I’d love to be involved in this – I’m a science student, so I love a good experiment!

the_good_life

Repeated the experiment: The muskrat does seem to intensify the Givenchy Vetiver, it was noticeable again (the ratio was 1 drop of muskrat tincture in 1.5ml of fragrance). I will have my wife dab my arms without me seeing which is applied where for a third round. Then I’ll proceed to applying it to Ténéré, which shouldmake a nice combination.

Lellabelle

Tried again today with Caron’s Farnesiana (current formulation). A definite improvement, and some interesting impacts to the overall profile.

Firstly, the Farnesiana (a mimosa perfume), was a much better choice for this experiment than the Houbigant I tried first. There is white musk listed in the notes, but it’s not particularly noticeable on my skin; on me, Farnesiana is primarily a mimosa and heliotrope perfume, with touches of hay and sweet almond as it develops. The heliotrope is actually the dominant note throughout. I have a large sample of this that I don’t wear often as, while I love mimosa, I find Farnesiana too powdery normally.
Adding the muskrat significantly changed this perfume on my skin, in a surprising and very pleasing way.

1. Longevity. I’m 12 and a half hours in and I can still detect it quite clearly on both arms, though it wears close to the skin. I expect this would be detectable for a couple of hours yet, so I’m not sure if the muskrat version will outlive the original, but I can say that all day the muskrat version has developed through its stages much more slowly than the version without. I would say it stabilizes it and slows its progression.

2. Silage. Silage is pretty good on this one normally, so I apply lightly. I’m not sure there was much of a difference; if anything I would say projection was slightly reduced.

3. Scent profile. So, here’s where it got really interesting. In its original version, this is heliotrope dominant on me, with the powderiness obscuring some of the more golden aspects of the mimosa. Adding the muskrat completely changed the scent profile. After a couple of minutes the difference was really pronounced. The heliotrope reduced to a sweet pastry note, very buttery but not overly sweet. But the muskrat made the biggest changes to the mimosa. It added a depth and richness to the mimosa that was missing before, simultaneously brighter and denser. It brought out an extremely pronounced leatheriness that was very like osmanthus absolute. Much more my kind of thing than Farnesiana usually is, so I loved this change! The other change was the most surprising and I can’t explain where it came from or what alchemy was involved, but for a short while in the beginning there was a very distinct saffron note. I’ve had the pleasure of sampling extremely high quality saffron, and this is exactly what I got. Absolutely beautiful and curious. For its opening phase, the muskrat Farnesiana was a mimosa/osmanthus/saffron/pastry and I couldn’t stop smelling it. This did evolve over time to a powdery, vanillic floral, but there is still more of the floral at this point in the muskrat version at this point, whereas the original is more vanilla.

4. Overall preference. For me, I greatly preferred the version with muskrat as it added all kinds of interesting complexity, as well as unexpected facets. It actually turned this into something I’d be more likely to wear for that reason, not usually being one for sweet/gourmand scents. I think I’m going to have to test it again tomorrow, in case this was a one-off. A big improvement!

AbdesSalaam Attar

Lellabelle, how much of the perfume did you use, and how much Muskrat?
Does someone else have Farnesiana to verify the results of Lellabelle?

Lellabelle

I decanted from a sample vial, and used the same ratio as vagabond: 1 drop of muskrat to 1/2 ml.

Le vagabond

Hello all, here is my second report:
Arabie – Serge Lutens (first edition) / 0.5 ml Arabie with one drop muskrat
Two sprays on both wrist.
The original version is very fruity and rich, almost honeyed.
The muskrat version starts as if a wild dog is running amongst the beautiful fruits and spices in the Arabian market. Soon this blends in well with the rest and has the effect of calming down the sweetness and making other elements more prominent, such as the bay leaf and clove.
Therefore, the muskrat balances out the sweetness of the rounded and heavy original, and gives it a certain animal element. Definitely less cloying. This is maybe the realism version of the Arabian market, and the original is the Technicolor one
Both lasted till I went to sleep (after 10 hours) but had become skin scents.

hinjo

Just got my muskrat thanks a lot abdessalaam
I shall initiate the experiment within the next couple of days

Darvant

Muskrat
First of all, muskrat on my skin smells immediately about dirty musk, bitter roots, mould, bran, hay, mushrooms and stale intimate-organic liquid (like humidity lingering there in the intimate body recessess). The aroma is dry and humid-mouldy at same time. At the beginning I detect a slightly alcoholic (acetone-like) vibe but overall is discreet and delicately warm. I get the white-musk’s effect but (compared to the latter) muskrat is probably dirtier, “leafier” and more woodsy. I’ve layered muskrat with hints of (one of) my favorite fragrances, namely Aramis classic and the outcome is really satisfactory in terms of warmth and general attractiveness (could be an illusion but I feel the juice even more stable, bold, complex and feral, even being itself in terms of typical “perfume”). First of all muskrat does not compromise balance, general characteristics and aroma in any form (it could be indeed like a secret dodgy complement for a certain type of animalic-boise creations), just it sounds like an animalic intensifier, providing a slightly earthier-muskier undertone (whilst the Salaam’s Castoreum, combined with Aramis, seems on the contrary to reinforce or enhances the typical leathery feel). In conclusion, while Castoreum smells more “temperamentally” and typically leathery (beyond its yet present woodsy hallmarks), Muskrat is, for the satisfaction of the most uncompromising sensualists around, like an excellent ghostly musky-dirty pheromonal ingredient for their animalic potions.

nwguy

So a couple tests,

2mL CO Bigelow Green Elixir to 4 drops Muskrat Tincture.
I wore the muskrat version on my left arm, unaltered version on the right-one spray each from the same style atomizers.
Most of my coworkers preferred the muskrat version.
I did the same another day but switched the arms, with much the same result.

To my nose, muskrat reminds me of a less cereal-y and less fatty ambrette, with a character similar to Cosmone.

Lellabelle

Two updates today:
First, I repeated the experiment with Farnesiana and got the same result. The muskrat definitely does something interesting with that particular formula.

I tried a new experiment today with Amouage Fate. I picked this one as it has a couple of elements in common with the Farnesiana: on me it’s a powdery floral. While the listed notes are different, both the powdery and floral elements of Farnesiana were the most impacted by the muskrat in my last experiment, so I thought I’d try the Amouage and see if it affected the same things. I’ll add a note that I think Fate is a perfume that smells very different on different people, which is why I’m starting with this description, as I wouldn’t recognize it from some of the reviews I’ve read. I’ll follow the same structure as previously for comparison:

1. Longevity. This is an all day perfume on me normally, and I’m currently 12 hours in. The muskrat version is much stronger at the moment, so I’m predicting this will outlast the other by several hours. It also seems to have slowed the development, and has more notes still detectable at this stage in its development.

2. Silage. A bit of a reversal here. From initial application through the first few hours, silage was noticeably reduced on the muskrat version. It deepened and flattened the scent, and reduced its projection in the first few hours. At this point, the silage is greater in the muskrat version than the non-muskrat version. The muskrat Fate has been more consistent through the day, whereas the non-muskrat version started bigger, and has subdued through the day.

3. Scent profile. I tested this perfume specifically to see if the powdery and floral elements would be impacted. As in the Farnesiana, the powder was definitely tamed by the addition of muskrat. I didn’t get the buttery feel that occurred in muskrat Farnesiana, but the powder was dialled back to a better level. I struggle a bit with powdery notes generally, so in both cases this was a welcome change for me, and made both perfumes easier to wear. As for the florals, Fate has jasmine and rose, in addition to narcissus, but it’s the narcissus that is most evident for me. Rose is a difficult note for me, but I don’t detect it in a noticeable way here. I love jasmine, but find it similarly hard to pick out of the overall blend here. The daffodil is the star on my skin: the big yellow kind. I didn’t notice much difference in the scent profile of the florals when adding the muskrat. They do hang around a lot longer though. There’s still a clear floral character to the muskrat Fate 12 hours in, whereas the non-muskrat version transitioned into vanilla, spices and powder several hours ago. Adding the muskrat seems to stabilise and extend the overall scent profile, though it does flatten it somewhat upfront. An additional point to note is that when I looked up the notes for Fate just now, Amouage’s website lists castoreum as an ingredient. I haven’t seen this mentioned before. If there’s an animalic already present, that may explain why the changes weren’t as significant as they could have been otherwise. My conclusion is that the muskrat is more effective at prolonging the floral elements than the castoreum that is already present. I think there’s benefit to both, and their impacts are different.

4. Overall preference. Once again, I prefer the muskrat version overall. The effect it seems to have to subdue powderiness is one that works well for my personal preferences. I also like that the floral heart of this perfume is extended, without altering the recognizable floral character. For the first couple of hours though, it does flatten the whole thing out. It loses a little something in projection and diffusion, which might be a negative for some.

Hope this helps, and looking forward to hearing more from others experiments. Am having lots of fun!

AbdesSalaam Attar

A second type of experiment could be tried: put 5 drops of muskrat in a vial, one drop of your perfume (one spray inside the vial), and put it all over your clothes, for instance, a scarf or a sweater, or a jacket. Then go out and observe the people if they react in one way or another to the perfume.
the advantage of perfuming the scarf is that when you do not want anymore to be perfumed, you just put in in your purse or your pocket.
I shall try it myself.
To have the maximum smelling effect, spread the perfume over the largest possible surface on the cloth.
In order to understand if people react differently to your presence, wear the perfume in familiar ambients and situations.

Miss Hesta Jones

I received my Muskrat yesterday – again, thanks so much for the opportunity to contribute to this research.
A few quick first impressions – the muskrat alone is extremely animalic, as expected. As a kid, I used to keep pet rats and this extract is *very* ratty for the first few minutes. It settles smooth and creamy, melding with my own skin extremely well, becoming a part of me very quickly.
I layered it with Iris Nobile EDP, just one drop underneath 2 good sprays, and kept the other wrist as a control with unadulterated Iris Nobile.
My impressions were very similar to Lellabelle’s – the volume and astrigency of the white florals was softened immediately and the fragrance became much softer and rounder. I have thirsty skin which gobbles up just about anything within a matter of hours, so I’ll double doses tomorrow; all I can detect now (after 3 hours) is texture, really.

I’ll go and get the opinion of a few colleagues shortly and will ask them which they prefer. It will be interesting to see whether men and women respond differently to it (I’m female).

Such fun… :smiley:

AbdesSalaam Attar

My experience is that the best way to have people willingly test perfumes is to present them on perfumer’s strips. Numbered 1 and 2. Tell them what is the difference between the two only after they have smelled and commented. Let them blindly smell several times. changing at random the position (left and right) of the strips. Only if they like the perfume let them try it on their hand.
If you have a different approach tell us how you do it. Thank you.

Miss Hesta Jones

Yep – I will get some testing strips and try that too. I did not tell people what the difference was until after they’d commented. Everyone noticed the difference in the expression of the floral top notes.

hinjo

Hello
First report from my side
I added one drop on my rest and to be honest at the first day it was hard for me to pick up anything from it after the alcohol was gone!
But I kept on sniffing it again and again
with the next drop I used after the alcohol was gone a very easy light animalic smell(almost blue cheese) showed itself but this was brief it didn’t take long until it was gone.
The funny thing comes now
After that, a faint vanilla-like smell started appearing animalic kind of smell deep but vanilla-like but close to the skin very close to the skin!
Then I did something I don’t know if I should do, I took one drop and put it on a smelling strip. Here it was different the animalic opening was stronger a bit. And the vanilla smell was a bit more apparent. But the thing that I can’t explain or understand is what my wife picked from the smell hhhhh
It smelled for her like a flower garden but not very strong she described it as having a “peaceful” smell
. Smells peaceful
After that I smelled again this time something different was there it was fresh solventy smell faint but you could feel it it had a body an ora. That interesting smell this is my part waiting for my brother in law to report
Thx abdessalaam

Lellabelle

A shorter update, from my test on Wednesday (catching up). I wanted to try something completely different, as my tests so far have been florals. I tried the muskrat with Arquiste’s Anima Dulcis, a chocolate chilli perfume. Quite a noticeable difference with this one.

1. Longevity. Longevity was substantially improved. Anima Dulcis lasts about 6-8 hours on me, after which its strictly a hint of vanillic spice on the skin. Adding the muskrat extended this through the end of the day, and I could still detect a sweet, chocolatey musk into quite a portion of the next day.

2. Silage. I couldn’t say if silage, or projection were increased, but they certainly weren’t diminished. I would say similar on both counts.

3. Scent Profile. The addition of the muskrat changed the profile quite significantly. Non-muskrat Anima Dulcis (AD for brevity) is chilli infused dark spiced hot chocolate. Very sweet, and it gets creamier and more vanillic as it progresses. It turns from dark to milk chocolate, over the course of several hours. Adding the muskrat caused some hidden florals to bloom! Definitely a white floral of some sort, perhaps a jasmine, or even an orange blossom, but I can’t find anything to confirm this. Whatever it is, it changes the perfume profile completely and it becomes a really rich, spiced white floral on a deep cocoa base. Very unusual and rather lovely!

4. Overall preference. I really liked both versions, so don’t really have a preference this time around. They’re very different, and the surprising presence of the florals in the muskrat version adds a whole new experience of the perfume. I had no idea they were lurking in the background, as they’ve never expressed themselves before. Now I know they are there, it will be interesting to see if I can detect them without the muskrat!

AbdesSalaam Attar

Lellabelle, maybe it is your skin that drinks these components. In order to check this you could try the 2 versions on perfumer strips.

AbdesSalaam Attar

I have a friend for whom I prepare his custom perfume since years. It is his signature scent, he cannot leave with it. There is no one better than him to judge if Muskrat will change his beloved fragrance in any way.
The perfume is based on Frankincense, Patchouli, and Peppermint. I prepared 2 spray vials, one with the regular perfume and the other one adding 5% Muskrat tincture.

I sprayed both forearms. It was clear to both of us that the regular version was stronger and more intense, with the peppermint more in the forefront:

I gave him the 2 vials and told him to observe and call me in the evening to tell me how the scents would evolve.

He did it and called me on the phone. The Muskrat version lasted longer. it had evolved becoming stronger compared with the regular version that was becoming dimmer.

This is quite conclusive, it shows that Muskrat as a fixative works also on 100% natural perfumes.

There are no floral notes in his scent, but I would be curious to know how a 5 % addition of muskrat would change your perfumes with floral, Asha, Lellabelle, and Bshell.
5% means 4 drops for 2 ml.

mumsy

I had left the muskrat infusing with my perfume and just placed one large amount on each hand. Left with and right without.

Each teenage boy was asked to smell the hands and comment on them. The oldest boy smelled the right hand with the plain perfume and said how fresh and citrus it was, he then smelled the left hand and jumped back in recoil. He said it just hit him in the face with it’s musky power.

I then proffered these to the second boy who normally has not much opinion. He smelled the right and said it was fresh and nice, then curled his nose at the left. He said it was oily. Then smelled again and said it was thick and woody by comparison.

The muskrat intensifies and makes the perfume much ‘fatter’ and more tangible. Interestingly the boys preferred it without. I shall try on females next… and the dog.

… the dog was indifferent but thought I had some food in my hand, so wasn’t behaving.

Husband came in and also immediately slightly recoiled from the musky hand and preferred the fresher hand.

No females here to try against, but another male is coming later.

I have the muskrat fairly strong with this perfume. It is about 1:3 musk to perfume. I shall try again with much less.

This perfume has a large citrus content and a large sandal content. A lesser floral leather centre. It is my wild orange cologne entry from the other DIY game so that I could know what is in it to know where this sits.

The male guest has arrived and immediately rejected the left hand.

… and a daughter has just returned. She immediately preferred the left hand with no doubt. She said it was softer and more florally.

So far in my little experiment, the men have rejected the rat and the women prefer. I need some more women but don’t have any more to play with today. I shall keep an eye open for my neighbour.

AbdesSalaam Attar

One to three muskrat to perfume is an interesting experiment. It will affect the perfume drastically. If women continue to like your concoction, it would show that it is an ingredient to use in male fragrances. In much smaller doses of course. Probably 5 %.

Lellabelle

Thank you Salaam. I shall try it with your perfume also.

I’ll also test the Anima Dulcis on strips this week and report back.

mumsy

I’m blending a new one at only 5% and will repeat the experiment on the same people to see if there is any difference.

the_good_life

Muskrat boosted the rather anemic Amouage Memoir Man (magnetic cap version, not the sublime original). Amplification, rather than modulation, is my impression, as previously. Inevitably an improvement in this case. I haven’t found any victims yet for testing…

hinjo

Hello
I have 2 perfumes
1. Tender jasmin by Yves Roche
2. ever bloom by Shiseido
Can you guide me through the percentages
And what to do next
Thank you

AbdesSalaam Attar

Basenotes Junkie

I think that 5% is alright to change the perfume without changing its smell. In other types of experiments, we shall use a higher percentage.

hinjo

Ok I shall do that

Coralc

Yesterday evening I received my package, I took it slowly as the packaging is so exquisite its a real thrill, there is something so luxurious about it, that is so simple and somehow so ethical, its truly beautiful. I so treasure the box in which the sample and perfume I ordered came…
finally the bottle of Muskrat…I have two cats, Russian Blue’s and one has territory issues which he expresses with copious amounts a pee in any worn clothes that he finds on the floor, (and which, I kid you not, I have manged to reduce by dropping two drops of my own urine onto his bed) he has even been known to pee sideways to catch a nice leather jacket hanging on a chair.
I opened the bottle with trepidation, obviously any rattling box will bring the cats immediately so I had both of them on my lap and I really didn’t want to trigger another “episode” from the male, I took a deep breath straight from the bottle and most extraordinarily it seemed like there were two channels of smell because the first breath was creamy vanilla almost lemon biscuit, and a mere couple of seconds afterward the distinct flavor of pure cat pee kicked in, to be overlaid after a couple of seconds later again by the vanilla, almost as though my smell receptors were vying to send messages to my brain.
I am quite an expert in cat urine unfortunately and know the difference between the male, before he was castrated and now and the female who smells different when she is on heat. And this one tended toward female and on heat.
The female cat leapt onto my hand and started smelling the bottle intensely, she is a cat who goes into ecstasy very easily, but she seemed more pleased and interested than ecstatic, but she loved it, she was holding onto my hand that was holding the bottle to get at it better. She even tried to lick it.
I passed the bottle over to him and he gave me much the same kind of response and displayed calm. It seemed to calm them and interest them intensely. I put a drop n my skin and allowed them to smell that with the same effect. She tried to lick my wrist and the bottle.
On my skin the first drop smelled intensely of pee and then settled down in to creamy baked lemony vanilla to completely “disappear” after about twenty minutes. It was as though it had melted straight into my skin tones but it was still there because the cat was able to smell it for a couple of hours afterwards, I felt it worked on a subconscious level and found the effect calming. I am keeping it on with no other perfume interested to see what the unconscious reaction of my partner will be. I like it very much despite that strange initial animal urine smell.

Lellabelle

Aren’t animal essences fascinating? . Welcome to the group, hinjo and coralc!

Lellabelle

Am testing my custom perfume with and without muskrat this evening. The overall experience of the perfume is very similar. There are some differences as it progresses though. Initially, the muskrat version feels more forceful. It settles over the first hour and becomes softer.

The muskrat version has a more rounded feel to it than the non muskrat version. Softer edges between the notes. It brings out the chocolatey aspects of the castoreum and slightly sweetens the scent overall. The frankincense is still very present, but the texture feels different. It’s fluffier somehow; more like frankincense smoke, rather than the raw resin. A couple of hours in, it’s closer to the skin than the non muskrat version.

The version without muskrat is much greener and more resinous. A couple of hours in, it feels stronger than the muskrat version, but that may just because the frankincense is unfettered; green and piney with a sharpness that pairs beautifully with the fruitier aspects of the castoreum that are present in this version.

The narcissus is a little easier to detect in the muskrat version. It’s a sense of petals, rather than a fully fledged flower. Softer and yellower, versus the rooty greenness of the non muskrat version. As it progresses, the soft smokiness of the muskrat version shares some aspects of high quality vetiver. If you told me there was a touch of the best vetiver in this, I would absolutely believe it. I don’t know if there’s actually any vetiver in the mix (Salaam, please let us know if there is!), or if this is due to the interaction of the muskrat.

The muskrat version is softer overall, and very animalic. There’s a sense of warm ‘den’ and fur that runs through the scent. The non muskrat version is also very animalic, but in a different way. The castoreum in the original is leathery and fruity and has a raw, sexual aspect to it. The muskrat version is comforting and feels familial, while the non muskrat (which has castoreum) speaks more to arousal. This may be a reflection of how I respond to the different animal pheromones, rather than impact to the scent itself.

AbdesSalaam Attar

Thank you Lellabelle, No, there is no Vetyver in your perfume. How much of Muskrat did you use in your experiment?

Coralc

My first perfume experiment was with a darling little perfume I use for daily wear which is Fiore del Onda from Erbolario, I love this perfume for its ozone-y watery smell and also because of its white flower notes which recall lily of the valley, one of my atavistic smells inherited from my grandmother along with rose. My only problem with this lovely light breezy perfume is that its longevity is moderate to say the least: I love the slight hint of lime as it opens and then the white flowers which do include a touch of rose and somewhere on its base, something mossy with a very light touch of vanilla.
I was interested to see the difference the Muskrat would make to it. I simply layered it, a couple of drops of muskrat and a spray of perfume.
Wow, it was as though I had turned the lights on, as though I had put a brightening filter on the white flowers, the florals popped straight out and it lasted nearly twelve hours before it faded away completely.
The flowers never became overwhelmingly “floral” because it also brought up a mossy musky amber-y base note which remained constant the whole time. The projection which has always been quite close on this one, didn’t change too much but the sillage improved somewhat. Great improvement.

Coralc

Also I wanted to add that my beautiful box contained a sample of Cuoio dei Dolci for which I am deeply grateful.
Every one of AbdesSalaam Attar’s perfumes are like wearing jewels and this is no exception, this one makes me feel like I am wearing red velvet with amber.
First whiff from the bottle was a nostalgic note of candied angelica, I haven’t had that since I was a kid and it took a while to sort through the memories to figure it out.
On the skin it opened with predominant ylang-ylang with a slight touch of citrus and a slight sugary, vanilla which remained through the dry down to a delicious buttery amber tonka and a strong leathery incense. It feels dry and ashy and warm which I presume is the tobacco and that perfectly balances the sugar of the vanilla and faint traces of cacao. It has quite a delicate close sillage which I like as it seems to envelope one in warmth and sweetness without taking anything away from its nice firm masculine base. It seems to be lasting well, but more so, I feel good wearing it.
I sometime work with kids and I like to wear scents that children like, I often use rose or vanilla when I am with children and I think this would be a good scent to wear with children. Enough softness for them to feel safe and loved, but a nice firm base for them respect my authority.
Its delightful and intriguing, I love it.

Lellabelle

Interesting, thank you for confirming. I used the same ratio as for my other experiments.

As an update, I can still detect frankincense and castoreum on my arm today from yesterday’s test… on the original version. The muskrat version did not last as long in this test.

Miss Hesta Jones

More on-skin tests with 1 drop of muskrat beneath a simple white floral on one wrist and the floral alone on the other. The people I asked were not aware of what the difference was between the two samples they were sniffing – I just presented them with my two wrists and asked them what they could smell, if they felt there were any differences between the two scents, what the differences were and which they preferred.
Results were similar to the previous tests – the top notes of the floral were softened and the fragrance seemed to be drawn closer to the skin without being weakened in intensity. Overall, women seem to prefer the addition of muskrat, saying it was ‘softer’ and ’rounder’, while men prefer the unadulterated floral, perceiving it as ‘prettier’ and ‘brighter’.
The next time I wear the muskrat, I’ll try it with Nahema, instead of white florals.

Lellabelle

No more updates? Testing today with carnal flower. Will report back.

Lellabelle

This one was a poor choice for the test. I’d forgotten what a synthetic bomb this was. No discernible impact, other than the relentless headache, scratchy throat and wheezing this caused all day. This completely masked any effect the muskrat might have had. I’ve held out as long as I could, but am washing it off finally.

hinjo

Hello everyone
Reporting my part of the muskrat experiment
Test objects: 1 tender jasmine, Yves rocher
2 ever bloom shiseido
1. Th,yr
Projection:
originla 4/10
Mixed 8/10

Odour description!
Original: mild jasmine with green and banana note smooth smill not so hard on the jasmine as much as on the green note.

Mixed: extremely strong jasmine smell accompanied with heavy green sour kind of indolic smell, the perfume smells like jasmine, green note jasmine leaf-like smell, banana note with vanilla, all of those became so strong so cloying and extremely radiant. The way the smell felt in my brain: imagine walking through the countryside on a hot summer day and wheat is on both sides of the street and there is this cockroach that makes this sound zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Or like a glowing object that glows and goes faint and then glows again
The smell of the perfume went really strong that my nose bled from it.
“My wife said that the mixed sample was flattened” lost its smell

Longevity
Original 4-6 hrs
Mixed 12+ hrs

Silliag (if it means diffusion)
Original 0
Mixed 0
………………
2. E b,ss
Projection:
Original 7/10
Mixed 4/10

Odour description!
Original: extremely strong rose, green rose stems cloying smell suffocation metallic (not my taste at all)

Mixed: very settle very rounded beautiful “ta’if rose” like smell with fresh roses smell more natural than the original but less projection smells like more refined version of it, beautiful indeed I don’t know what did the musk do to it but I prefer it over the original.

Longevity
Original 2-3hrs
Mixed 4hrs

Silliag
Original 0
Mixed 0
…………
This is much it for now hope that it’s ok. what should I do next? l

hinjo

Thank you for welcoming me lellabelle
The animal scents are beautiful

Lellabelle

Is anyone else still testing? This was a really generous offer, and I hope that AbdesSalaam Attar was able to get enough responses to make this worthwhile!
I tested again this week with Penhaligons Ostara (a narcissus scent) and with a simple natural blend of my own based around osmanthus, Peru balsam and magnolia.
Ostara:
This is a perfume profiling narcissus. I think it has some real narcissus absolute in it, as I’d heard the scarcity and cost was one of the reasons it was discontinued. Regardless, it’s a skillfully constructed perfume that captures a very realistic daffodil scent, right down to the rooty, green, earthy and almost musty aspects of the plant, from flower to bulb. It’s not a natural perfume, but is cleverly constructed to paint a picture that’s complete and recognizable.
Adding the muskrat actually increased the projection substantially on this one (it was reduced in my other tests). It emphasised the yellow, floral aspects, and warmed the perfume overall, making it brighter. It reduced the rooty, earthy aspects and made it all about the flower, not the plant. I expect this would be an improvement for anyone who likes the smell of daffodils but finds the smell of the bulbs or cut stems unpleasant. It also increased the longevity more dramatically than any of my previous tests. Ostara is normally relatively short lived on me: around 4 hours. I got at least double, and nearly triple the longevity out of the muskrat version. Very interesting.
For my own blend, I found adding the muskrat changed the focus of the osmanthus in a noticeable way. The original version focuses on the leathery aspects of the osmanthus; its rich, but leans more toward leather than flower. Adding the muskrat really made the floral aspects open up. The apricot became much stronger and it developed a fruit tree blossom character that wasn’t present previously. Not sure if this latter change was coming from the magnolia, but it was certainly pretty. I didn’t notice much difference in longevity, but this one is delicate and short-lived.
How is every else getting on?

hinjo

What should I do next?

Coralc

Hi Lellabelle
Thanks for welcoming me, and yes you are right, what a wonderful opportunity.
And yes animalics are fascinating!
I am totally enthralled, what one simple ingredient can do is just breathtaking.

I am so delighted at what this muskrat does to my favorite perfume that I have had a hard time tearing myself away from it to try out the others. But I have and herewith the notes.
I just want to say to start with that, I have this feeling that it does something to women. Somehow women seem more easy in my presence, I have a maternal presence and work a lot with women and children, so for me this is an added gift.
Also my cat went on heat and I let her smell it again, as previously she was very interested, but in the throes of her hormonal tempest she wasn’t much interested.

I used it with Cuio Di Dolci and I really felt it made very little difference, though it may have made the tonka a little creamier, I was expecting the flowers to brighten up and they didn’t noticeably and I lost a bit of the ashy incense leather smell. I also thought that it would give me longevity, it more than doubled the last one, but it lasted only an hour longer.

I tried it with my old love Shalimar, Shalimar had really good projection, sometimes I have walked into my own perfume and been surprised by the flowers, which close to the skin are not so obvious, it has a faint citrus, but the combination of rose and jasmine is what make me happy, though sometimes they can be overwhelmed by the vanilla and tonka. So I was hoping the muskrat would brighten the flowers and indeed that it just what it did, but it also seemed to round off the vanilla somewhat and make it softer. Shalimar lasts for ages, and stays in your clothes, which I just love, so the muskrat couldn’t compete, but I just loved how it creamed up the perfume turning the citrus a big lemoney and stepping up the flowers.
Again, this made me really happy and I thought it made the women around me happy.

Head in clouds of cosmic consciousness – body firmly grounded in sensual delights. Natural perfumes – my greatest joy.

AbdesSalaam Attar

I am just back from travel. I shall do more experiments with muskrat myself.
I hope that more of those who received the bottle of muskrat will experiment with it.

Miss Hesta Jones

Hello all.
I mixed Bal d’Afrique 3:1 with the muskrat. The muskrat was quite noticeable in the opening as a urinous note. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it gave this rather sweet perfume a slight sourness. Projection of the top notes was softened, as noted previously. It added a grassy-hay quality and gave texture – made it ‘furry’. In the opening, Bal d’Afrique became more masculine and very sexy.
The animalic/urinous note diminished in the heart and Bal d’Afrique began to smell more like its original self, although I noticed much more depth/projection and a darker overall tone.
Overall longevity was increased by a couple of hours.

AbdesSalaam Attar

Thank you Miss. Have you observed if your friends prefer the animal version or not?

Miss Hesta Jones

AbdesSalaam Attar – not with the Bal d’Afriques, I’m afraid. With other tests, generally, women have preferred the muskrat version, while men have preferred the unadulterated original.

hinjo

New member

Hello I have a coffee tincture @25% concentration should I try it with musk rat? And I got yesterday some agarwood from Saudi guests can it be tinctured so I may try it with the muskrat?
My brother in-law was on a vacation in Rome and he came yesterday I will check how far is he with testing

AbdesSalaam Attar

Yes, you can reduce the wood pieces into powder and tincture it. It should be ready in a few days. Let us know.

hinjo

I shall do that but what is the best concentration

hinjo

Just tried the muskrat with a jasmine oriental perfume
The perfume is called antique and has a dark blue pomegranate shaped bottle
I tried it on both my arms
Right arm the perfume alone
Left arm the perfume with muskrat

Right arm surprisingly the smell disappeared almost instantly although on clothing it has a longevity of 3-5hours!!!! I can be haaaardly detected by my nose! Actually it’s already gone.

Left arm I started with adding one drop of muskrat and one spray of that perfume it smelled exactly like wet dog with second spray it smelled still like a wet dog but less after the third time it smelled sour metalic animalic
The sour metalic character was the most dominating and the animalic became in the background. After like 1-3 minutes the smell turnd into red Apple sour with jasmine smell a smooth one
After 5-10 minutes the smell went back to being sour metallic animalic again???
After like 20 minutes the smell of apple and jasmine came back to the front but with a woody sandalwood incense smell
Now after like 2hour the smell of the jasmine is more chilled and better(not sweet ) the woody smell is dominating the scene along with a light animalic scent
Plus a smell that reminds me of old dried bread.
Am doing this while working sorry for the mistakes

AbdesSalaam Attar

A very special giveaway is to be drawn among those who have so far participated in this research.
A bottle of the last custom perfume I realized for Basenotes Brother Horns.
Jasmine Sambac, Narcissus, cedar wood, Ambergris and others. A beautiful floral that can be worn by men as well as by ladies.

hinjo

Would be lovely to try that beautiful scent. Count me in
……………..
I reduced the woods to powder and now they are in alcohol since 2 days
………..
We have a lot of muguet growing in the woods next to the house is there a possibility to tincture them as well and try them with muskrat??? Because I heard that the flower is so sensitive and its odour can’t be extracted in any way! But the thing it is a Poissones flower it was the most Poissones plant in 2014 so is it safe to tincture and would it even work? Help me please

Miss Hesta Jones

The jasmine scent sounds lovely – you’re very generous, Dominique.
What’s the next step with the muskrat research? It’s fascinating mapping the interactions.

AbdesSalaam Attar

Basenotes Junkie

Dear Miss, the next step is to douse yourself with muskrat and observe how people, especially the opposite gender behave towards you.
We have to find situations in which observation is possible.

NEXT STEP