Musk Maceration Pics ; Please Include Region ,ratios,etc

[Alamande]

Started another one today.

I make this to be approximately 23% by weight Siberian grains in a mixture of Yusa 1995 Mysore and Fas by Habzoud

There is a little under 2.5g oil here, and I make it a bit under .8g musk, so 23% seems about right. Looks like more, though. I know any professionals reading this will probably be aghast at my lack of precision, but ‘seat-of-the-pants’ has worked for me so far 😅

The sandalwood mixture is approximately 2/3 Yusa and the remainder is Fas, so I’m hoping the result should have a more neutral/less white-woody contribution from the sandalwood.

Part of me wanted to keep some of the Yusa ‘for reference’, but I would probably never have referred to it…oils are meant to be used, IMO.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Started another one today.

I make this to be approximately 23% by weight Siberian grains in a mixture of Yusa 1995 Mysore and Fas by Habzoud

There is a little under 2.5g oil here, and I make it a bit under .8g musk, so 23% seems about right. Looks like more, though. I know any professionals reading this will probably be aghast at my lack of precision, but ‘seat-of-the-pants’ has worked for me so far 😅

The sandalwood mixture is approximately 2/3 Yusa and the remainder is Fas, so I’m hoping the result should have a more neutral/less white-woody contribution from the sandalwood.

Part of me wanted to keep some of the Yusa ‘for reference’, but I would probably never have referred to it…oils are meant to be used, IMO.
View attachment 53492

Just be prepared for a very strong outcome. Fine if you like strong musk infused oil. My first maceration was near the same as this one of yours, also with Siberian grains. The result has become something I can't personally wear due to it's strength. I can't even open the bottle without the residue left on my fingers knocking my head off. It's been about a year and a half now. Around 6 months ago I removed the grains and put transferred the oil into a larger bottle with a bit more headroom. I'm hoping that this may tame it some given enough time.

 

[Alamande]

Just be prepared for a very strong outcome. Fine if you like strong musk infused oil. My first maceration was near the same as this one of yours, also with Siberian grains. The result has become something I can't personally wear due to it's strength. I can't even open the bottle without the residue left on my fingers knocking my head off. It's been about a year and a half now. Around 6 months ago I removed the grains and put transferred the oil into a larger bottle with a bit more headroom. I'm hoping that this may tame it some given enough time.

sounds awesome 😁

 

[Shiningrobes]

Patchouli Cola and musk update.

Not to overshare on this thread but I’m curious as to how others are faring with their macerations. I think I’m at the two month mark and it’s crazy to be wearing so soon but wow this is incredible. Maybe the most active maceration or even blend I’ve done in terms of how fast it’s changing. The cola note is back in the opener, the burnt, bitter orange peel smell is now candied orange peel and the whole oil is taking on a spiced note somewhere between tulsi and what I imagine clove flower would smell like. Also an intensely musty, rooty, damp earth vibe combined with flat cola and an ancient patchouli almost vanilla.

I really hope I have some left by the time it’s fully mature.

 

[Faris]

Patchouli Cola and musk update.

I had a gram of Yusas’ PatchCola (perfume on it’s own) & I sprinkled some kashmiri grains soaked in rose simply out of curiosity & now the blend smells like noble musk emanating lovely florals.

This is the kind of perfume/perfumery I feel most connected to 🌹

 

[Alamande]

Patchouli Cola and musk update.

Not to overshare on this thread but I’m curious as to how others are faring with their macerations. I think I’m at the two month mark and it’s crazy to be wearing so soon but wow this is incredible. Maybe the most active maceration or even blend I’ve done in terms of how fast it’s changing. The cola note is back in the opener, the burnt, bitter orange peel smell is now candied orange peel and the whole oil is taking on a spiced note somewhere between tulsi and what I imagine clove flower would smell like. Also an intensely musty, rooty, damp earth vibe combined with flat cola and an ancient patchouli almost vanilla.

I really hope I have some left by the time it’s fully mature.

Hi - I need to try mine again (mine is 7% by weight).

Last time I tried it, my impression was that it had blunted the bright top notes of the patch and foregrounded the earthiness. I like your description of the spice notes. Will try it again hopefully tomorrow.

I still have a lot (nearly a tola) of the neat patch, so I should be able to compare before and after easily enough as it develops.

I had a gram of Yusas’ PatchCola (perfume on it’s own) & I sprinkled some kashmiri grains soaked in rose simply out of curiosity & now the blend smells like noble musk emanating lovely florals.

This is the kind of perfume/perfumery I feel most connected to 🌹

That sounds wonderful! Congrats! I did wonder about reusing grains….can you just scoop them out and put them in the next batch?

 

[Saudalhajri]

Patchouli Cola and musk update.

Not to overshare on this thread but I’m curious as to how others are faring with their macerations. I think I’m at the two month mark and it’s crazy to be wearing so soon but wow this is incredible. Maybe the most active maceration or even blend I’ve done in terms of how fast it’s changing. The cola note is back in the opener, the burnt, bitter orange peel smell is now candied orange peel and the whole oil is taking on a spiced note somewhere between tulsi and what I imagine clove flower would smell like. Also an intensely musty, rooty, damp earth vibe combined with flat cola and an ancient patchouli almost vanilla.

I really hope I have some left by the time it’s fully mature.

Thanks for reminding me I need to do mine

 

[Faris]

That sounds wonderful! Congrats! I did wonder about reusing grains….can you just scoop them out and put them in the next batch?

You can if they have life (strength) left in them 😃

Since mine were macerated in rose, the chocolate musk had absorbed the rose oil. If you wear the grains neat on skin, you would get chocolaty rose notes. Now that same chocolatey rose note is fusing with patch cola & enhancing it further 🌹

 

[Tangyuan]

Hello everyone, may you all be filled with fragrance.

I want to know how you all preserve musk grains. The trouble is, I have obtained some precious grains, but I don't have a proper idea of how to use them (or I want to preserve them permanently). For example, should I put them in a sealed bottle, or put them in the refrigerator? Unfortunately, I don't really know what to do. If I put them in the refrigerator, I'm worried about condensed water (it's always a hassle every time I want to see them), and if I don't store them at low temperature, I'm afraid they will go moldy.
(Here, I also have a small question: can moldy musk grains still be used? What is the difference between moldy and non-moldy ones?) I'm really confused about this.

Besides, I've had an idea recently: add some of the grains into sandal/oud oil and carry it with me. Body temperature and shaking will accelerate the infusion of the grains, and there will be a different experience every period of time! It's just like raising a pet, right? What do you all think?

Lastly, I wish you all well and extend my most sincere and respectful greetings.

 

[DubOudh]

Hello everyone, may you all be filled with fragrance.

I want to know how you all preserve musk grains. The trouble is, I have obtained some precious grains, but I don't have a proper idea of how to use them (or I want to preserve them permanently). For example, should I put them in a sealed bottle, or put them in the refrigerator? Unfortunately, I don't really know what to do. If I put them in the refrigerator, I'm worried about condensed water (it's always a hassle every time I want to see them), and if I don't store them at low temperature, I'm afraid they will go moldy.
(Here, I also have a small question: can moldy musk grains still be used? What is the difference between moldy and non-moldy ones?) I'm really confused about this.

Besides, I've had an idea recently: add some of the grains into sandal/oud oil and carry it with me. Body temperature and shaking will accelerate the infusion of the grains, and there will be a different experience every period of time! It's just like raising a pet, right? What do you all think?

Lastly, I wish you all well and extend my most sincere and respectful greetings.

I have been keeping mine in a glass jar/vial for years with no issues. Just keep away from sunlight and preferably some what cooler as well.

 

[Saudalhajri]

Hello everyone, may you all be filled with fragrance.

I want to know how you all preserve musk grains. The trouble is, I have obtained some precious grains, but I don't have a proper idea of how to use them (or I want to preserve them permanently). For example, should I put them in a sealed bottle, or put them in the refrigerator? Unfortunately, I don't really know what to do. If I put them in the refrigerator, I'm worried about condensed water (it's always a hassle every time I want to see them), and if I don't store them at low temperature, I'm afraid they will go moldy.
(Here, I also have a small question: can moldy musk grains still be used? What is the difference between moldy and non-moldy ones?) I'm really confused about this.

Besides, I've had an idea recently: add some of the grains into sandal/oud oil and carry it with me. Body temperature and shaking will accelerate the infusion of the grains, and there will be a different experience every period of time! It's just like raising a pet, right? What do you all think?

Lastly, I wish you all well and extend my most sincere and respectful greetings.

If you want to preserve the fresh musk scent, One good way I’ve learned from a dear friend is to store in an airtight container and add just enough sandalwood to cover the musk, or wetten it, to kind over cover the grains and saturate them think of it like a 90% maceration 😁

 

[Mr.P]

Hello everyone, may you all be filled with fragrance.

I want to know how you all preserve musk grains. The trouble is, I have obtained some precious grains, but I don't have a proper idea of how to use them (or I want to preserve them permanently). For example, should I put them in a sealed bottle, or put them in the refrigerator? Unfortunately, I don't really know what to do. If I put them in the refrigerator, I'm worried about condensed water (it's always a hassle every time I want to see them), and if I don't store them at low temperature, I'm afraid they will go moldy.
(Here, I also have a small question: can moldy musk grains still be used? What is the difference between moldy and non-moldy ones?) I'm really confused about this.

Besides, I've had an idea recently: add some of the grains into sandal/oud oil and carry it with me. Body temperature and shaking will accelerate the infusion of the grains, and there will be a different experience every period of time! It's just like raising a pet, right? What do you all think?

Lastly, I wish you all well and extend my most sincere and respectful greetings.

it depends to some degree on whether the musk has been dried properly or not. Wet grains need to be processed quickly or frozen. When I say wet I mean where there's still a significant water content, I don't know enough about musk to know at what percentage it becomes tangibly dry and at what water percentage it can start to grow mold..

Once they are dried, the risk of mold forming is low and storing them in a glass jar makes sense. If you were very worried about humidity, you could have them in a small sealed bottle that is placed into a larger jar filled with desiccant.

 

[abeerbalbeera]

Just started this a few days ago.
Vintage Yunnan Musk (somewhere in the 70s) in Manipur Oud @15%
The Oud is kinamic, varnishy, camphoric, slightly spicy, and the drydown feels like high-quality oud chips burning on low heat
The Musk is very delicate...cardamom, vanilla, chocolate and airy.
Can't wait to see how the musk and oud gel together, might have to add a bit more musk down the line since it is very soft.

 

[Shiningrobes]

A mortar and pestle is a game changer!
3ml plus* of Fraterworks Mysore (the oil that only I seem to love). White and gold ambergris at 50/50 with an equal amount of Siberian musk. I’m sure this will settle a bit, but this is 12 hours after mixing. Not shaken in either pic. When I went to bed it was an ombré color; like a sunset. Golden oil fading into that red/brown sludge. I first made a loose paste of the annimalics, transferred that very sloppily to the bottle and then used more sandalwood to wash the mortar and added that via pipette. The scent is already affected. It smells supercharged, like an NTT. The general cloud is pure ambergris maceration. Just beautiful. I’m hoping the grinding jumpstarts the reaction faster than any of my other macerations where I just used a razor blade and mirror.
*Bonus is that there’s still sandalwood and residue in the mortar because I added too much for the bottle trying to clean it. I have to figure out what to do with that besides just wear it. I wish I had some blank rose oil on hand that i was willing to part with. Everything I have is already macerating or too good to mess with. Having the right tools is amazing.

 

[Saudalhajri]

*Bonus is that there’s still sandalwood and residue in the mortar because I added too much for the bottle trying to clean it. I have to figure out what to do with that besides just wear it.

tip : weigh the mortar and pestle before doing anything. after you're done, weigh the whole thing again, subtract the weight of the mortar and pestle, and multiply the remainder by 4. say the result is X, X=the amount of alcohol to use to wash the whole thing in, then bottle, age and spray away. that way nothing is lost, and if its good, it can be replicated.

 

[Shiningrobes]

tip : weigh the mortar and pestle before doing anything. after you're done, weigh the whole thing again, subtract the weight of the mortar and pestle, and multiply the remainder by 4. say the result is X, X=the amount of alcohol to use to wash the whole thing in, then bottle, age and spray away. that way nothing is lost, and if its good, it can be replicated.

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I’ve wondered about that. The math is very helpful.

 

[abeerbalbeera]

Siberian in Mysore Sandalwood (Root Oil)
I find root oils work really well for musk macerations if you wish to blend them further, since the creamy top is gone the musk can take over and present itself rather than be blanketed by the strong sandal smell which I'm not particularly crazy for.
I've first cleaned the pod and divided into 4 sections (grains, inner membrane, outer membrane and hair) so I can use them at my discretion depending on what profile I expect from a maceration, I want this one to show the sweetness of the grains (this was a particularly sweet pod) while retaining its animalic edge.
Here I've done 50g @15% and will age it for a few years, lets see how it grows!