Transition into cooler days without losing your sense of summer with Chasing The Sun. The deliciously beachy aroma calls on coconut, warm sand accord, orange flower, and warm musks to evoke the feeling of a salty, late-summer day spent by the water that softens into a cozy beachside bonfire as the sun sets. 

Its heart notes drench your skin in a bouquet of orange flower, ylang ylang, tuberose, and jasmin sambac, while warm musks, vanilla, benzoin, myrrh, and patchouli soak into your skin for a sensual gourmand embrace that radiates the summer heat all year-round. While you can let its sensual glow envelop you all year round, you’ll definitely find yourself reaching for it come spring. It is—dare we say it—the perfect warm-weather scent.

What Is Musk And How Does Musk Show Up In Fragrances?

Often used as a base note to balance other top and mid notes, musk is what’s known as a natural skin scent. In fact, musk was traditionally formulated using animal byproducts, but many formulations—including Dossier’s—have called upon near-identical, cruelty-free, and vegan synthetics that offer a similarly magnetic aroma that smells like a second skin.**

Above all else, the smell of musk is inherently attractive.

**A note from our nose: Our new modern musk molecules from Dossier––from a scent profile perspective–are dissimilar from original, animal-based musk notes. These notes are brighter and have been engineered to have smoother, more refined scent profiles that closely mimic the warmth, smoothness, and powdery elements of natural musks without their quite dirty and animalic facets.  

Why Are Musk Fragrances So Popular?

Few fragrance notes can boast variation the way musk can. In some scents, the ever-elusive ingredient is deeply complex and earthy, with an animalistic subtlety, while in others, musk can lend a clean, brighter finish—even reminiscent of your favorite laundry detergent. As one of the fragrance world’s most popular base notes, musk is typically reserved as a complimentary note for many warm, sensual formulations. On its own, musk can be difficult to classify but combined with other notes, it’s magical.

Something unique and interesting about musk notes is their ability to adapt slightly to an individual’s skin chemistry. While they often combine beautifully with other notes, musk in any form often takes on the primal properties of its wearer. Its clean, skin-like sensual aroma and slight adaptability are why the musk fragrances are often called “second skin” scents. Designed to enhance the natural scent of its wearer, a second-skin scent can take on various properties and smells a little different on everyone. Most of all, the best second-skin fragrances smell like a true signature scent.

The Dark History of Musk vs. Modern (Dossier) Musk

In decades past, animal-derived musks had a very pungent aroma, but by today’s standards, the ingredient would be considered unethical and quite, well, crude. But musk can be more difficult to develop as a cruelty-free note because it’s evocative of a specific kind of attraction.

We developed Dossier’s combination of in-house musk notes using high-end raw materials in the same general olfactive arena—but these notes have a light, more contemporary, and cleaner scent to them. Our innovative, cruelty-free take on musk reflects our dedication to traditional luxury perfume-making techniques that prioritize premium quality and sustainability. In essence, we’ve freed the musk by liberating it from outdated tradition.

How To Layer Musk Fragrances

In general, musk notes are subtle; robust yet delicate. They layer well with soft scents like citruses and florals but can be masked by heavily fruity, ambery, or gourmand notes. And while you can choose to combine two similar scents for a mutually elevating mix, don’t be afraid to play around with some more unlikely pairings that can add dimension to an already faceted fragrance.

Fragrances To Layer With Free The Musk:

Free The Musk x Musky Musk = Second skin perfection.