The Dark Side of Perfume
Laurie is an avid lover of animals and a volunteer for the Wildcare Center for wildlife rehabilitation. But when she began to study natural perfumery, she discovered to her surprise and dismay that animal musks are used extensively in making perfume, and not only in commercial or “mainstream” perfumes. Because animal musks are technically a naturally derived product, many perfumers call their perfumes “natural” even though they include ingredients that are harvested from animals at the cost of terrible suffering. The facts that Laurie learned as she began to investigate further into the musk industry she found deeply disturbing, and not at all in line with her desire to make perfumes that reflect her awe and respect for the earth and its precious resources.
The main sources of animal musk are the secretions of civet cats, musk deer, and beavers. Civet cats, who cannot be bred in captivity, are captured in the wild and held in tiny cages barely larger than their bodies, where they are kept without release for up to 15 years. Every ten days or so the musk is brutally extracted from the glands of the conscious civets, who often cease to eat after the first time extraction is performed, preferring to starve themselves to death. [1] Musk deer are killed for their scent-containing pods, to the point that they have been placed on the “vulnerable” list as they near extinction. [2] As recently as ten years ago the European beaver was on the edge of extinction, due to overhunting for pelts and the scent-containing castoreum sacs. [3]
Laurie feels it is important that people know the real story behind the ingredients in the perfumes they wear so that each person has the opportunity to make a truly informed decision based on their feelings about not only the beauty of a scent but also the more far-reaching global and health implications. Musk has a distinctive scent and is a good fixative for perfumes (which means it helps the scent stay longer). But for Laurie there is no advantage that can outweigh the cruelty and species-endangerment of the musk industry. Many commercial perfumers have switched to using synthetic musks, but unfortunately these compounds are actually bad for human health – they are suspected carcinogens and may stimulate cancer tumors. [4] Velvet and Sweet Pea perfumes never use animal fixatives or synthetic ingredients of any kind. Instead, plant fixatives such as orris (Iris root), vanilla, and vetiver are used as fixatives. This may result in the need to reapply your perfume during the day, but we think it’s worth it for your health and the health of the planet.
(Because beeswax and honey is used in some Velvet and Sweet Pea perfumes, not all perfumes will be appropriate for strict vegans. Please email info@purrfumery.com if you need information on which perfumes contain no beeswax or honey.)
And all your courtly civet cats can vent
Perfume to you, to me is excrement.
- Alexander Pope, Epilogue to Satires (dialogue II, l. 188)
1. Civet Farming: An Ethiopian Investigation. World Society for the Protection of Animals report.
2. Perfume Trade Imperils Musk Deer. BBC News webpage.
3. European Freshwater Species Strategy. World Wildlife Fund webpage.
