Fragrance Finder Selection

Animalic and Sensual Fragrances for Bold Spirits

The animalic note in perfumery is arguably the most controversial and the most fascinating — it touches something fundamental in our relationship to the body, to skin, to physical attraction and to the animality that civilisation attempts to sublimate without ever quite succeeding. Natural musk, now replaced by its synthetic equivalents, directly evokes the warm skin of a nearby body. Civet, ambergris and castoreum belong to the same register — carnal, immediate, leaving no one indifferent. Frédéric Malle's Musc Ravageur is perhaps the most celebrated animalic fragrance in contemporary perfumery — its vanilla, musk and bergamot create an accord immediately perceived as "skin", "sex" and "desire". Orto Parisi's Seminalis goes even further in exploring bodily chemistry. These fragrances are not for everyone — and that is precisely what makes them unforgettable for those they touch.