Our Ethical Raw-Material Sources
Real perfumery does not begin in the laboratory but in the field, in the forest, on the coast. Every animal and rare plant raw material we use has an origin story – and we are responsible for knowing and answering for that story. This page documents where our most important materials come from and under what conditions they are obtained.
Deer musk – CITES-certified
Deer musk is the gland secretion of the male musk deer (Moschus moschiferus). In the past it was often obtained by killing the animal – a practice we categorically reject and which is illegal today in all reputable countries.
Our deer musk comes exclusively from CITES-certified sourcesin which the musk glands are harvested without killing the animal – comparable to collecting eggs from hens. The animals live in protected, regulated husbandry and are monitored according to strict international species-protection criteria.
Every batch of deer musk that enters our atelier is backed by an official CITES certificate – including country of origin, stock number and official export permit. More on our deer musk ethics page.
Ambergris – beach find, never hunting
Ambergris is a natural secretion of the sperm whale. The whale releases the material into the open sea, where it "matures" over decades through sun and salt water – after 10–30 years an originally foul-smelling substance becomes one of the most valuable and complex fragrance materials in the world.
We buy exclusively beach-found ambergris – collected on the coasts of South Africa, Madagascar, Australia (in legal zones) and New Zealand. No sperm whale is ever affected for this raw material. The suppliers we work with are mostly small family businesses that have searched along particular stretches of beach for generations.
In our Ambra Al Hambra real beach-found ambergris works at the heart of the composition.
Oud – Aquilaria plantations
Wild oud from unregulated sources is an ecological disaster: Aquilaria trees are felled illegally, often with no regard for the age or degree of infection of the heartwood. We therefore work exclusively with certified plantations in Thailand (Trat, Prachinburi), Cambodia, and selected sustainable projects in Assam.
On these plantations Aquilaria trees are grown under control, artificially inoculated (with the same fungus as in nature), and harvested only after sufficient heartwood development. For every tree harvested a new one is planted. Distillation takes place on site in artisanal distilleries – often family businesses in the third or fourth generation.
Our Oud Royal Thai Trat is sourced directly from one such plantation in Trat province on the Cambodian-Thai border.
Castoreum – regulated, never hunted specifically
Castoreum comes from the glands of the beaver (Castor canadensis / Castor fiber). We source castoreum exclusively from the USA and Canada, where the beaver population is strictly regulated and managed predominantly through natural deaths and within regulated population-management programmes. No animal is killed specifically for perfume – castoreum is in all cases a by-product.
See Leather 4 LOVE! XDP for our castoreum reference composition.
Plant raw materials
Our rose absolute comes from the Turkish Isparta region, sandalwood from New Caledonia (not from endangered Indian Mysore stocks), labdanum from Andalusia, tonka beans from fair-trade cooperatives in Venezuela. Each of these raw materials has its own documentation trail.
Traceability – our promise
For every single fragrance in our collection we can disclose on request the origin of the main raw materials: country, supplier, certification, harvest year (where relevant). This information is no secret – it is a core part of our quality promise. Anyone who buys from us knows what they are smelling.