Perfumes with Civet

Civet smells intense, animalic and faecal when concentrated, but warm, skin-like and almost floral when diluted, giving a fragrance a sensual, lived-in depth.

Historically it came from the perineal glands of the African civet, mostly in Ethiopia; for ethical reasons modern perfumery almost entirely uses accords built from synthetics such as civetone and indole. Off-putting on its own, civet in tiny amounts enriches white flowers and leather. It sits mainly in the base of a fragrance. It pairs with jasmine, tuberose, rose, leather, labdanum and musks.

Civet appears in 1,225 perfumes in the Fisfis catalogue and is used mostly as a base note.

Popular perfumes with Civet

Notes most often paired with Civet