What is RIGHT AMBRA, GRAY AMBRA, AMBERGRIS?

The true gray amber (Ambergris in English) is a solid, waxy substance that forms in the digestive tract of whales, specifically the giant whale (Physeter catodon, macrocephalus.)

Ambergris occurs only when rare disease occurs in the digestive tract of a Whale, when its indigestible food remnants accumulate in its small intestine. These excrements thicken to the shape of a stone. The second hypothesis is that it is a natural substance that sperm whales produce for better digestion.

Occurrence of amber:

But whatever it is, this solid, waxy substance, when expelled from the whale's body along with the droppings, floats on the surface like a large, gray-black tuft. It can also be found as a sediment on rocks. The right amber will not come to light until the whale dies. This is not the very end of the development of true amber. This must be followed by some time of development in the water, when this excrement floating on the surface is exposed to weather conditions and, of course, seawater. There is several chemical reactions, along with the penetration of salt water and the absorption of odors from the environment. The longer it remains in the water, the lighter the color, shade and the softer the scent.The smell of black (fresh) amber is unbearable.

The result of this process is "floating gold." The fresh amber of animal origin (or also gray amber), smells unpleasant, but as it ages the it changes to a pleasant to earthy aroma. Its color also changes from gray-black to orange-yellow to amber.

How does Ambergris-Ambergris smell?

It all depends on the stage of development, but in general, its scent is intricately described as, balsamic-sweet, velvety with animal chords, and a touch of salty sea tones. Ambergris has a different, hard-to-describe scent, depending on the type, and its stage of aging. It adds an animal, salty, sea, hay and sweet tobacco tones to perfumes.

Ambergris is clearly a pheromone that resembles the scent of women, as well as musk, civet and castoreum. It is very valuable for its aphrodisiac, healing and fragrant effects, and has been used since ancient times.

Use of amber-Ambergris:

However, amber sometimes does not have to be smelled at all in the scent, but in this case it serves purely as a scent fixer and fixator, prolonging the time for which the perfume smells significantly. Perfumery workers also work with 50-year-old tinctures. This Ambra-Ambergris is one of the most expensive ingredients least available for perfumery. It is so rare and expensive that any supplies that are found are immediately bought and disappear somewhere in the Middle East. Due to its scarcity and high price, it was replaced by a synthetic variant. The rule still applies that this raw material is incredibly highly valued and very well paid. It is also used in the food industry as an aroma.

Which resins are most often hidden behind a "false" Amber?

Labdanum: most commonly used, comes from the plant Cistus ladanifer, growing in southern Europe and northern Africa. It is said to be collected by removing it from goat hair that graze around these plants. It smells like a forest and dried fruit.

Benzoin: paradoxically comes from a tree of the Styrax species (ambrosia), its aroma is soft and sweet with a vanilla aspect.

Styrax: comes from other varieties of Styrax trees, it has a spicy, cinnamon, sweetly warm aroma.

Tolu and Peru balms: both come from the Myroxylon tree grown mainly in South America, they differ from each other in the way they are obtained and consequently in their smell.