The dream in every perfume - amber (whale's vomit)/Al-MadinaPerfumes
A rare, waxy substance called ambergris, known as "floating gold", is a treasure in the perfume industry - because it upgrades and fixes pleasant smells in perfumes and colognes.
This is a substance produced by the digestive system of sperm whales (sperm whales) and is actually their vomit.
"This is a very valuable substance that is known for its unique smell and its fixing qualities," explained November Nichols, perfumer and owner of Chémin, to POPSUGAR last week, "It improves the longevity and quality of the fragrances it's added to."
Gray amber is excreted from the digestive system of the humpback whale, the largest toothed whale in the wild — which is endangered. "Grey amber is made to protect the whale's gut from sharp objects that it swallows, and over time it is expelled and can be found floating in the ocean or washed up on the beach," explained Nicholas.
Gray amber is a fragrant, solid, wax-like substance that smells like feces in its creation but later, after long exposure to the sun, acquires a sweet and earthy smell. From the amber An odorless alcoholic substance called ambergris can be produced that helps the fragrances of perfumes last longer. Ambergris comes from sperm whales that eat large amounts of sperm whales - marine animals such as squids, octopuses and squids. Its rarity makes it so expensive that it is usually only found in luxury perfumes.
Harvesting gray amber is generally considered an ethical practice because it is only collected after it has naturally exited the whale's body, without touching or harming the animal.
However, due to it being endangered, there are regulations surrounding the trade in gray amber.
"In some countries, it is illegal to trade or possess gray amber," Nichols said.
According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, it is illegal to kill sperm whales almost anywhere on Earth - and some countries have made the possession and trade of gray amber illegal to reduce potential harm to the whale population.
The sperm whale became an endangered species after its hunting became popular, especially starting in the first decade of the 1800s, according to the Ocean Conservancy.
Before the whaling industry took off, there were about 1.1 million sperm whales in the world.
Now only about 300,000 remain.
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Scientists still aren't sure what the exact origin of gray amber is, but it's widely believed to be formed when the whales eat irritants, such as a sharp beak, and produce a slippery substance to protect their digestive organs from the offending parts, according to National Geographic.
It seems that the amber helps the head to "wrap" those sharp parts in its prey.
It is estimated that only 1% of sperm whales are able to secrete gray amber.
Due to the scarcity of whale vomit, one gram is worth around $27 - half a kilo can be worth more than $10,000.
While it is very difficult to find whale vomit, some people have come across "floating gold" quite by accident.
A nugget worth more than $250,000 was found inside a sperm whale that washed up on Nogales Beach in La Palma, Canary Islands, in May 2023. The nearly 20-kilogram chunk of amber caused chronic obstructive inflammation of the animal's colon, according to experts at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
In 2020 a poor Thai fisherman found the world's largest whale vomit worth $3.3 million.
Due to its unique properties and smell, gray amber has been used since the beginning of history.
In ancient Egypt they burned the gray amber to be used as incense.
The substance was known to the Arabs, who used it in medicine, cooking and perfumery.
It began to be exposed to Europe only in the Middle Ages and during the Black Plague it was believed that carrying a gray amber orb could protect the bearer of the orb from the disease.
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