Musk Maceration Pics ; Please Include Region ,ratios,etc

[Mr.P]

I have a Siberian musk Kashan rose maceration I’ve been sitting on for a while, I think I posted a photo in this thread.
To this day, the musk and rose are still fighting, I don’t know how but it smells like the rose is too much and more musk is needed but at the same time it smells too musky, that’s why I like to dilute it in sandalwood it becomes so much more wearable.
It still crystallizes even at 22c, has a nice rich cherry rouge color, clear when liquid with musk sitting at the bottom, and cloudy when frozen.

I do think there's something to be said for diluting some materials to a moderate level of intensity. Just based on how the nervous system works… If you turn the brightness up to 100% on your monitor, your stereo up to maximum volume, you only use 100% saturated undiluted hues when painting, you are limiting your experiences.

when I set up my workbench to start the whole perfume project, I made 10% stock of everything I wanted to use in my perfumes and basically studied each of those on blotter paper, took notes in a little spreadsheet on the characteristics, longevity, etc. A lot of it was not surprising but there was quite a bit that was amazing to me... For example example a very delicate beautiful floral note can come from galbanum of all things!

 

[Arabiad07]

I have a Siberian musk Kashan rose maceration I’ve been sitting on for a while, I think I posted a photo in this thread.
To this day, the musk and rose are still fighting, I don’t know how but it smells like the rose is too much and more musk is needed but at the same time it smells too musky, that’s why I like to dilute it in sandalwood it becomes so much more wearable.
It still crystallizes even at 22c, has a nice rich cherry rouge color, clear when liquid with musk sitting at the bottom, and cloudy when frozen.

I have been hesitating to macerate musk in rose. It seems like the rose will always dominate

 

[Joe]

I have been hesitating to macerate musk in rose. It seems like the rose will always dominate

I'm not familiar with macerating; I've never done it, but musk will always enhance the rose. Rose and musk will equally hit you if blended in the right proportions. They're made for one another.

 

[harshabhat86]

Malay oud and Tibetan musk @10%. The malay oud is sour. Has tamarind and ripe berry note and has slight incensy notes later. Tibetan musk is like milk chocolate.
Now I’ll let them talk and be best friends.

 

[Zuah1]

And choose your rose oils carefully! The best are so much better than the worst. it's also worth noting the remarkable difference between Rose absolute and Rose otto - something I was looking at a short while ago and which this post reminded me of.

check out these GCMS reports showing Eden's rose otto and rose absolute. These reports are mostly over my head, but notice one particular component: phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) which I highlighted. This chemical gives a classic full rich sweet dewy honey aquatic rose aroma very true to the flower.

The magnitude of the number following each compound gives you some indication of its prevalence in the mixture.

PEA is by far the greatest component of rose absolute and almost 10 times more abundant than the next most abundant component! Yet in the rose otto, there is hardly any at all - and there is 10 times more geraniol than there is PEA!

These two materials (absolute and otto) are chemically completely different from one another (in terms of the ratios of the components), and the only way to get a full Rose smell is to mix the two...

if you ever are curious, purchase a sample of PEA natural isolate, it doesn't come from Rose is extracted from some other plant but it's wonderful stuff and will help you to understand Rose absolute.

(the reason why Rose essential oil has so little PEA is because it's distilled over water, and PEA is also water soluble and in that case it all ends up in the rosewater).

You can get PEA from rose too. Beautiful a little goes a long way

 

[Saudalhajri]

I have been hesitating to macerate musk in rose. It seems like the rose will always dominate

Brother, the smell of a maceration isn’t just the mere smell of the musk and the oil.
It’s not 1+1=2, no, it’s 1+1=Z. It’s a different new perfume. Especially the case with Oud, just a tiny pinch of musk in Oud won’t give off musky smell, but it will transform the Oud oil into a completely new thing, it will open up new smells within the Oud itself subhanallah, it transmutes it like the philosopher’s stone.
With rose it’s more difficult because rose itself is very powerful and needs careful preparation and planning I find, I still can’t tame it with musk, but it can be done, dilution in an Oud or sandalwood oil works for me.

 

[DubOudh]

I have been hesitating to macerate musk in rose. It seems like the rose will always dominate

Depends on the type of musk you are using. Siberian musk that is fresh can calm the rose down (depends on which rose oil used as well) Mongolian can as well but needs more time then three months maceration.
Kashmiri/Tibet usually is quite old/mature buying nowadays as it is extremely difficult to get today and only really gets sourced by knowledge of who actually has it anymore.
I have some macerations that are over three years old now and the dynamics mentioned in the equation by @Saudalhajri above is very true. Plenty of time and patience are needed with these two ingredients. It is a very serious marriage and I guess like all marriages, you need to put in the time to make it work....

 

[Saudalhajri]

Depends on the type of musk you are using. Siberian musk that is fresh can calm the rose down (depends on which rose oil used as well) Mongolian can as well but needs more time then three months maceration.
Kashmiri/Tibet usually is quite old/mature buying nowadays as it is extremely difficult to get today and only really gets sourced by knowledge of who actually has it anymore.
I have some macerations that are over three years old now and the dynamics mentioned in the equation by @Saudalhajri above is very true. Plenty of time and patience are needed with these two ingredients. It is a very serious marriage and I guess like all marriages, you need to put in the time to make it work....

Id like to add to that the higher quality and more complex the oil is, the more it’s affected by the musk.
I don’t claim to be an expert, but this is what I observed. And it might be from the actual species of the deer musk.
Siberian and Kyrgyzstan musk in small quantities can turn oud fruity, sweet like gummy bears or jelly beans, oranges papayas you name it. Kashmiri can make it a little bitter, darker deeper leathery a little, Tibetan is a different species (or what some call Chinese musk, or Korean musk in the gulf) I’m still not sure of its affect as it’s still a new maceration.

And then again, its effect in rose is a whole other story, and in sandalwood it’s a different story, it’s not a mere ingredient but also a tool, so little is needed. I’ve heard some people use it in as little as 0.01% of musk grains their attars and blends if you can imagine.

 

[Ibn ehsan]

since this is a musk thread wanted to ask the experts of the musk and its different facets
so i have not smelled a lot of musk but here are my experience
1. kasturi : this one is very animalic and musky some people even say the smell of urine but its very strong and last very long if you put it on clothes maybe a week or so it has very strong animalic acidic and i get safron notes as well the thing is this kasturi that i have has no grains its dark brownish in colour i have asked several they say its kasturi the one abdul samad sells they bring it from thier backdoor in a steel container that goes for 5,000 is similar
2. oud and musk by oudlogie : i tried it at their store it was musk grains in oud oil i could not really smell the musk i think because we had smelled so many stuff and we were inside the store
3. musk maceration: i believe it was in ethanol now this is the most unique i had smelled it was powedry creamy and chocolaty with the animalic note but it was in the back the most prominent notes were powdery,creamy and chocolaty

so that was interesting for me i knew musk from different regions smell differently but didnt know the diffrence was so big

whats your opinion i am sorry if its the wrong thread for this

 

[Ibn ehsan]

guys I was wondering how a gram of deer musk grains or even less lets say 0.1 grams of or 0.5 deer musk grains look like in quantity if anyone can share it would be wonderful to see the quantity before making a purchase
thanks

 

[Musk Rahil]

guys I was wondering how a gram of deer musk grains or even less lets say 0.1 grams of or 0.5 deer musk grains look like in quantity if anyone can share it would be wonderful to see the quantity before making a purchase
thanks

get 1 gram atleast,you wont regret it if you are into blending

 

[Alamande]

I started this off two days ago @ 25% cleaned Siberian grains by weight in about 2g of Fawz by Habzoud topped up with about 0.5g of Yusa’s 1995 vintage Mysore.

It’s already starting to smell like musk even after 2 days. 😵‍💫

Question to the experienced noses - would you recommend topping the bottle up with more Mysore now, or is it a good idea to leave the present amount of headroom in the bottle?

This is the same ~25% dried Siberian grains by weight in a mixture of Fawz by Habzoud and 1995 Vintage Mysore by Yusa.

3 month check-in - already smells really good, but I will avoid using it until 9 months.

 

[Mr.P]

This is the same ~25% dried Siberian grains by weight in a mixture of Fawz by Habzoud and 1995 Vintage Mysore by Yusa.

3 month check-in - already smells really good, but I will avoid using it until 9 months.
View attachment 51108

that's a generous dose of musk! I think that's the way to go with sandalwood infusions, I'll bet you that will turn out to be a treasure...

 

[Joe]

This is the same ~25% dried Siberian grains by weight in a mixture of Fawz by Habzoud and 1995 Vintage Mysore by Yusa.

3 month check-in - already smells really good, but I will avoid using it until 9 months.
View attachment 51108

I dread waiting, but it's worth it!

 

[Alamande]

that's a generous dose of musk! I think that's the way to go with sandalwood infusions, I'll bet you that will turn out to be a treasure...

I think the amount looks even crazier because the grains were dried - looking like Nescafé granules - when I started, so by weight it half-fills the 1/4 tola bottle.

It certainly seems to be moving in the right direction. I want to start another of these and start thinking about a rose and/or patchouli infusion next. All tips from the experts gratefully received. 😇

 

[Mr.P]

I think the amount looks even crazier because the grains were dried - looking like Nescafé granules - when I started, so by weight it half-fills the 1/4 tola bottle.

It certainly seems to be moving in the right direction. I want to start another of these and start thinking about a rose and/or patchouli infusion next. All tips from the experts gratefully received. 😇

this just inspired me to apply a little dab of @Goodness Nose 's patchouli musk infusion. It is absolutely an amazing aroma, it's a bit of a cedary patchouli, and as someone who has spent a lot of time smelling patchouli, the musk is immediately noticeable and produces a really nice accord. I am the lowest level of experience when it comes to musk but this stuff smells fantastic to me.

 

[Alamande]

this just inspired me to apply a little dab of @Goodness Nose 's patchouli musk infusion. It is absolutely an amazing aroma, it's a bit of a cedary patchouli, and as someone who has spent a lot of time smelling patchouli, the musk is immediately noticeable and produces a really nice accord. I am the lowest level of experience when it comes to musk but this stuff smells fantastic to me.

That sounds really nice. What sort of musk-patchouli ratio are people using in practice? I was thinking 10% for both rose and patch, but I’d love to hear what others have tried.

 

[Mr.P]

That sounds really nice. What sort of musk-patchouli ratio are people using in practice? I was thinking 10% for both rose and patch, but I’d love to hear what others have tried.

This I don't know, it's not a material I use in my own experiments. Perhaps if @Goodness Nose sees this he can share his approach.

 

[Goodness Nose]

patchouli is stronger than sandalwood, and needs a few extra percent to make a noticeable difference... one of my favorite combinations to date though!

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Hmm.. could I mix some of my Siberian musk oud with patchouli? Or would it be all to base heavy?