If your nose has been twitched by a resurgence of musk, it’s not your imagination — musk fragrances are everywhere. But if you’re joining in on the trend, be sure you’re wearing a clean scent. Here’s how.
Kylie Jenner’s new fragrance, Cosmic, includes notes of star jasmine, peony, amber, and vanilla musk. Jenner describes the perfume as “sweet, warm, and magnetic” which she says she hopes to transport fans into “another dimension.” She’s not alone. Rapper Drake has also ventured into the beauty sector with the launch of a roll-on fragrance under his Better World Fragrance House brand. Named “Carby Musk” after the label’s best-selling candle of the same name, it boasts a blend that includes lily of the valley, ambergris, oakmoss, skin musk, and amber wood. In total, it boasts 13 musk ingredients. Twelve are mixed into the liquid, while the thirteenth interacts with the individual’s body chemistry, resulting in a deeply personal scent experience that is unparalleled and unique to each user. The brand highlights, “creating an unparalleled and deeply personal scent experience, unique to each individual’s musk.”
According to Google Trends data, searches for musk perfume have increased more than 100 percent in recent months. And there’s a good reason musk is back. Just like styles ebb and flow (are skinny jeans back yet, by the way?), so do fragrances. After all, they’re as indicative of the times as anything. In the 1950s, for example, the floral Nina Ricci L’air du Temps was a top seller. It was post-World War II times, the nuclear family had women leaning into femininity and soft florals fit the bill.
But, by the 1970s, the less overtly feminine fragrances like oak moss and musk were popular for their earthiness — a nod to the counterculture movement of the time. Clean beauty pioneer Aveda launched its first natural fragrance, and gender-inclusive scents were quickly becoming popular, too. Which is why it’s no surprise that musk is back in a big way. The 1970s are having a resurgence in our food, fashion, and culture — even psychedelics are back.
What is musk scent?
While the name musk comes from its original source — a musk gland found in deer — that practice is now banned and musk fragrances are mostly made in a lab, but perfumers are also blending botanicals to mirror the scents. It’s that animal origin though that makes people think of musk as overpowering and heavy, when that’s often not the case.
Synthetic musk has some caveats, though. It can often include ingredients linked to human health and environmental issues. Both nitromusks (moskene, musk xylene, musk ambrette and musk ketone), and polycystic musks (galxaolide, tonalide, and cashmeran) are restricted in the E.U. Others include macrocylic musks (muscone, ambrettolide) and aclicylic musks (helvetolide, romandolide).
Synthetic musk has been found in human fat and breast milk and can remain there for years. The scents are estrogen disruptors that can cause reproductive issues, metabolic issues, and increase the risk of certain types of cancer. The chemicals also persist in the environment, accumulating in aquatic environments as well as air and soil.
There are natural musk alternatives, coming from botanicals including angelica root, tobacco, labdanum, ylang ylang, and rose, as well as combinations of scents including jasmine, lavender, and geranium. The most coveted natural musk scent comes from the ambrette seed, but it’s prohibitively expensive and used sparingly.
What does musk smell like?
Musk scents can be quite subtle, even powdery. They serve as balancing notes that bring warmth and depth to a fragrance. You’ll find musk in a number of fragrances as middle or bottom notes to help tie the scent together. Some experts describe musk as having a skin-like scent, especially skin coming just out of water. And bucking its masculine, earthy past, some perfumers pair it with florals like rose for well-rounded scents.
Clean musk fragrances
If you’re looking for some clean musk fragrances to try, these all deliver generous amounts of musk in gender-neutral formulas.
1. Le Labo Another 13
From the clean scent gurus at Le Labo, Another 13 was developed in 2010 as an exclusive for AnOther Magazine. The result is a provocative, mystifying scent that uses a synthetic animal musk for a deep soulful base along with jasmine, moss and ambrette seeds absolute. Like all of Le Labo’s scents, Another 13 borders on addictive. Each batch is made at time of purchase from the highest quality plant-based ingredients and never comes with gender recommendations.
2. D.S. & Durga Rose Atlantic
A floral gender-inclusive fragrance with top notes of citrus and petals, middle notes of linden, dune grass, and rose accord, and bottom notes of muscone, saltwater, and white moss. It’s summer in a bottle. D.S. & Durga make perfume and cologne in small batches using premium-sourced raw materials. All scents are created exclusively in-house and rely on herbal wisdom, native ritual medicine, lore and legends, historical movements, and Americana.
3. Henry Rose Sheep’s Clothing
New to Michelle Pfeiffer’s Henry Rose family but fitting right in comes Sheep’s Clothing eau de parfum made with the brand’s commitment to Laboratoire Monique Rémy pure and natural extracts, the scents bring transparency, and commitment to environmental management and sustainable development. Its newest scent brings everything you want in a fragrance: floral, woody, and a hint of spice. Top notes of pink peppercorn and rose settle into Egyptian oranger flower, Turkish rose absolute, and orris and bottom notes deliver amber woods, ambrette absolute, and musk.
4. Phlur Missing Person
From the clean fragrance favorite, Phlur delivers a warm, sunny scent with deep musk and citrus notes. Made without artificial colors, phthalates, formaldehyde or formaldehyde releasers, among other harmful chemicals, you won’t notice anything is missing here. Missing Persons delivers hints of floral jasmine and orange blossom mix with transparent woods for a truly provocative scent you’ll want to linger in.
5. Ellis Brooklyn Myth
Airy and breezy, Ellis Brooklyn’s Myth bursts with jasmine petals and tiger orchid for a warm and woody scent. Top notes of bergamot, ambrette seeds, and cassis, middle notes of tiger orchid, pink lotus, and jasmine petals, and bottom notes of patchouli, liquid musks, and white cedarwood. If cozy were a scent, this would be it. Like all of Ellis Brooklyn’s scents, it’s free from parabens and phthalates and comes in recyclable glass with a biodegradable cap.
6. Dedcool Milk
Layer this soft musky fragrance from Dedcool for a personalized, unique scent. That’s exactly what Dedcool does — this is the “secret ingredient” in all of the perfume label’s fragrances. The blend includes bergamot, white musk, and amber for a dreamy, ethereal scent you’ll crave.
7. Maison Louis Marie Antidris Cassis
Cassis, white rose, and musk deliver a strong, earthy scent via this luxe roll-on from Maison Louis Marie. The result is a warm, oaky, clean musk fragrance you’ll want to wear again and again. Total transparency is Maison Louis Marie’s motto, and it is as committed to eco-packaging and sustainable manufacturing as it is to clean and non-toxic fragrances.
8. Kylie Cosmetics Cosmic Kylie Jenner
Cosmic Kylie Jenner is the mogul’s latest foray into fragrance — and it’s nothing like her lip-shaped 2019 collaboration with her half-sister Kim Kardashian. This sweet, vegan, and cruelty-free scent includes warm, ambery florals with vanilla musk notes that make the scent “magnetic, addictive, and out of this world,” according to Jenner.
9. Better World Fragrance House Carby Musk Roll-On Perfume Oil
Drake’s Carby Musk fragrance oil is similar to the popular candle of the same name (crafted by world-renowned perfumer Michael Carby and adopted by Drake as his personal scent). This one is made from 13 musk scents — 12 are in the formula and the 13th is the individual wearer’s skin, which impacts the final fragrance notes creating what Better World says is an “unparalleled and unique scent that lingers in the air longer, leaving a lasting impression for each individual’s musk.”
Related on Ethos:
All products featured on Ethos have been independently selected by our editorial team.
When you buy something through our links, Ethos may earn an affiliate commission.
