Galaxolide
Galaxolide is a synthetic musk also called HHCB. Learn its clean scent profile, the meaning of supplier dilutions, and how it differs from a white musk accord.
Updated
Galaxolide is a synthetic musk, also known as HHCB or hexamethylindanopyran. Its rounded, clean character is associated with soft laundry and lightly sweet musky backgrounds. It belongs to the polycyclic musk group; “white musk” is a broader description of a smell.
IFF supplies Galaxolide in different forms, including a 50% solution in benzyl benzoate. The percentage names a raw-material dilution, not the amount in a perfume. Its persistence is useful in fragrance formulation, but cannot supply a wear-time prediction for a finished bottle.
Clean-smelling does not mean environmentally benign. IFF identifies this material as non-biodegradable, while ECHA’s substance record provides its regulatory context. Odor, environmental behavior and the rules governing an application are separate questions; a sensory description answers only the first.
- Galaxolide / HHCB
- A polycyclic synthetic musk identified by CAS 1222-05-5. HHCB is an abbreviation used in technical and environmental literature.
- Polycyclic musk
- A structural group of synthetic musk materials containing multiple rings. Membership of this group does not describe every nuance of the smell.
- White musk
- A perfumery description for a clean, soft musky effect. It may be built with several materials and does not prove the presence of Galaxolide.
- Galaxolide 50%
- A supplier dilution containing half Galaxolide by the stated specification. Check the named carrier when comparing technical materials; 50% does not describe a consumer perfume’s concentration.
- Individual perception
- People differ in how strongly they perceive some musk odorants. A faint impression from one perfume cannot by itself identify a genetic trait or establish that Galaxolide is present.