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Writer's picturesoulofscents

Habanolide

Updated: Aug 28, 2021



A versatile, modern musk fragrance described by the manufacturer Firmenich as follows: "Extremely elegant musk fragrance. ... A very powerful musk. Combines the strength and tenacity of aromatic musks with the grace and elegance of macrocyclic musks. Excellent in all applications."


Habanolide is specifically known for its characteristic "hot iron" note, thanks to which it has become the backbone of a number of modern musk accords.


Often associated with hot-ironed linens, Habanolide's metallic character is one of the so-called "white musks" along with several other synthetic fragrances. The "white musks" are characterized more by a fine woody, sometimes fruity freshness, rather than having truly animalic aspects. The prototypical white musk accord was created by Alberto Morillas in response to the brief for Emporio Armani's fragrance "White for Her" (2001), in which Habanolide was combined "with 8.8% Helvetolide" (Helvetolide, unlike Habanolide, goes in the fruity musky direction).


Probably one of the most famous fragrances with "White Musk" is the fragrance of the same name from The Body Shop. In this fragrance, about 9.4% of the scent is said to be white musk (Galaxolide 7.7%, Tonalide 1.6% and Cashmeran 0.1%). The last fragrance (Cashmeran) is technically an amber fragrance, as described in our post about it, but it is often treated as a musk fragrance because of its fragrance character.


In addition to the mentioned fragrance "White Musk" by The Body Shop, however, there are also newer appearances that repeatedly take advantage of Habanolide. For example, Habanolide has a large contribution to the fresh metallic note of the worldwide bestseller "Dior Sauvage".


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