Is it real ambergris? or synthetic?

Real ambergris istelf is no longer used to make fragrances. This is because it comes from whales, and whales were put on the endagered species list. So, the fragrance industry switched to synthetics a long time ago - products which are chemically equivalent to the odorants in real ambergris, but are made now from clary sage plant extract, are readily available to the perfume trade.

For the historical perspective: A typical tincture would have been a 3% solution = 3 g of Ambergris and 97g of denatured alcohol. They would seal the bottle, and age it for at least a year away from sunlight and excessive temperatures before use. They would filter out the undissolved bits and small amounts of this filtered tincture would give a very strong amber effect. It was used sparingly in most compositions.

Does that help???

That sure helps me! ;) I try to avoid fragrances that use animal products, and I didn't know real ambergris was no longer being used. Scenter, do you also know if real civet is still used? Thanks, 'Mare

Yes, real civet is still being used. This is because it is a secretion from the civet cat, which is not mutilated nor killed in the removal process. If a product is labeled 'animal free' there should not be any real civet in it anyway. Usually civet is not used in any product except wearable fine fragrances due to its prohibitive cost.

Musk also, like ambergris, is not used any longer because of the endangered spicies staus of the Himalayan musk deer. All musks nowadays are synthetic.

I've heard that ambergris is skimmed off the sea surface, it's supposed to be whale vomit...but not sure about that, lol!

Mersiepoo:

Yup. That's what ambergris is. When a whale eats certain foods, like a squid, the hard parts irritate the whale's stomach, which produces ambergris to coat the irritant (much in the way an oyster does with a pearl) once it has been coated, the whale eliminates it from his system by throwing it up. It then floats around on the ocean being acted upon by the salt water and sunlight, whence some of the materials therin break down into ambrox - the chemical responsible for the aroma. When the whaling industry was at its height, the ambergris could be harvested from the stomach of the catch and then used. Since the whales are endangered, this is no longer available, and only the miscellaneous pieces that float ashore are available - not enough to use comercially, so synthetics were developed. Some of these are actually chemically identical to the ambrox in ambergris, but are made from vegetable sources, most famously from sclareol [sklah-ree-awl] isolated from the clary sage plant. I have provided a link to an ambergris page that is probably TMI, but enjoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ambergris

Hi Scenter, Sorry it took me so long to reply. It is real ambergris. My son picked it up off a beach in Hawaii and brought it home to me because it had a funny feel and he knew I liked all kinds of different rocks. It has such a funny texture every time anyone touches it they react with an exclamation and quickly put it down. I just thought it was a strange rock or some funny beach thing for the longest time until I read an internet article of someone finding ambergris. I knew immediately that was what I had. I performed the needle test and sure enough the needles instantly penetrated and the ambergris liquified bubbled around it. Now of course I smell it all the time...it is lovely. If I hold it in my hand I don't smell much, but if I hover above it the smell is wonderful and is what I have read...a bit like leather, vanilla and the sea. Your answer was the best I have as of yet gotten. Thank you so much.