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This is Ambergris, a rare substance produced as waste by sperm whales around indigestible squid beaks. This strange whale waste can become extremely valuable after aging in the ocean and has historic… (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/interestingasfuck@lemmy.world
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Full title: This is Ambergris, a rare substance produced as waste by sperm whales around indigestible squid beaks. This strange whale waste can become extremely valuable after aging in the ocean and has historically been used in luxury perfumes as a fragrance fixative.

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[–] 6 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I really, really want to know who the first person to try putting it in perfume was, and more importantly, why? Does is smell good? I can't imagine it does, so what was their thought process?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago

    it does have an interesting kind of funkiness that was extremely popular as part of perfume. It's difficult to find the real thing to smell these days (it's banned, and there is a synthetic substance used instead that's allegedly similar but with all the edges sanded off), but if you know anyone with vintage perfumes, they might have something that actually contains it

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