Description
Hyraceum AKA African Stone is a traditional medicine and perfume ingredient.
Explaining exactly what Hyraceum is is always fun.
To be succinct, Hyraceum is the mineralized urine and feces of the Rock Hyrax which is the only other animal related to the elephant. (Even though it looks more like a Groundhog and doesn’t have a long nose.)
Rock Hyrax communities deposit their excrement in the same place for thousands of years. These smelly aggregates are called middens and also serve the function of territorial markers. These middens can be as old as 50.000 years.
The deposits are spread across the mountain-sides of Africa and the material is collected without impact on the animal population. Considering the small amount used in perfumery, this material is both ethically collected and sustainably sourced.
Rock Hyrax are most often found basking on warm rocks in sunshiny places from South Africa all the way to Israel and Lebanon. They are a favourite food of Vultures, Leopards and other predatory carnivores and for this reason, seldom stray far from the cracks and crevices of their mountain-side domiciles. (See photo above).
In traditional African medicine, an extract of the stone has been used as a remedy for epilepsy.
Hyraceum is better known for its use as a musk note and fixative in perfumery.
These dark and intensely fragrant rock pieces have a wonderfully warm musk-like animalic scent. Upon inhalation, one will discover notes of Castoreum, Deer Musk, leather, Tobacco and some of the subtle, floral notes of aged Civet tincture. I find the aroma oddly comforting and grounding.
To prepare a standard tincture of Hyraceum for perfume work, the material is ground fine in a sturdy mortar and infused at a ratio of 1:10 in ethanol @ 95%. (1 gram to 10 grams alcohol, 10 grams Hyraceum to 100 grams alcohol, 100 grams to 1 kilogram alcohol, etc.) I have found that it needs a full year to yield itself completely to the alcohol.
An absolute or resin absolute of Hyraceum can be prepared from a tincture, (at any ratio) if the alcohol is evaporated after maceration and filtration. It should dissolve readily in alcohol. Hyraceum does not yield itself directly to infusions in fixed/carrier oils. An intermediate solvent might facilitate this, but I have not found one yet.
Powdered or tinctured Hyraceum may have value in Incense -making. I will have to try it out…
Dan
Araceli Hansen –
Excellent product. I always have positive experiences with this shop
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Anjali Bergstrom –
Fantastic product and great seller!
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Jonathon Hermann –
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Theodore Anderson –
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Alysa Donnelly –
I'm using this in a tincture, and even though it's far from ready, I'm already liking the results.
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Raina Runolfsson –
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Katrina Kiehn –
I have the Hyraceum in alcohol and loving the scent that is developing. Thanks Dan
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Sarah Mohr –
good services and quality products
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Jenifer Kemmer –
Everything went well as always. One of the best shops I know on Etsy.
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Lucy Bayer –
Amazing ingredient! Great service and shipping!
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Marisa Buckridge –
Amazing product. This is a must have for every scent collector. Highly recommended.
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Kris Champlin –
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Octavia Turcotte –
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Camille Deckow –
Top class, dan is the man
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Oceane Hoppe –
Quality product as always, really enjoy this shop! Been experimenting with it using various resin combinations, and it produces a lovely animalic smell. Great for "Bringing the outdoors in" depending on the need. Best to combine with herbs and appropriate resins for best results IMO. Will get more and others~
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Branson Hammes –
Intoxicating smell….perfect for tincture.
well recommended
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Laura Hahn –
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Itzel Bradtke –
Dan always has great stuff! Highly recommend his shop to anyone. Matthew from Meleg Perfumes
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Lucy Murphy –
I am always thrilled with my purchases from ApothecarysGarden!
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Patsy Will –
Niiiice Love the animalistic scent that flows from it…. Thanks
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Mikayla Breitenberg –
Nice muskiness when used in incense.
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Audra Rowe –
This is very pleasant smelling surprisingly! Kind of smells like a day at the zoo but without dung I think haha. This was another one I got just to experience the isolated smell for reference. My cat loved this too! I had to keep him from licking it haha!
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Karson Heidenreich –
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Dominique Boehm –
Thus is the real deal! I was able to powder it, and the dust on my clothing smelled so musky and good. I plan on steeping for a year, filtering and enjoying.
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Mafalda Fay –
Superb as always! Getting started on my tinctures now.
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Yvonne Konopelski –
Matches description, very interesting ingredient, a bit pissy but kind of addictive, makes a great addition in very small amounts to perfume or incense
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Kenyon Weimann –
Este Hyraceum es fuerte y complejo pero se convirtió en mi nota animalica favorita, aunque es excremento fosilizado a diferencia de la civeta o el ambar gris, en este material no detecto una nota prominente a Scatol, me recuerda a un establo donde hay forraje para los caballos y aunque nunca he estado en la sabana africana, me hace sentir como si estuviera ahí.
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Esther Langworth –
good product and shipped and arrived
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Jeffry Heidenreich –
Hands down one of the best around. Not just on Etsy, but anywhere. Amazing plants gathered in a good way. And the best service around. Thanks, Dan!
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Erica Haley –
warning about EU import taxes
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Doug Kunze –
Nice seller and good product loved it
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Adan Kertzmann –
Very well packaged item, just like described and shipped promptly.
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Hellen Stoltenberg –
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Berry Becker –
Just what it says: real stone chunks from hyrax maddens. Tincture smells dusty, sweet and a bit fecal when too concentrated. Unlike the other fragrant offerings here, this one is hard like limestone, so be careful when crushing. Dan’s tincture of this is pure heaven… lightly sweet and dusty without any of the off-putting facets, so I am looking forward to mine settling over time.
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Robbie Fadel –
Thank You Dan Sir, for genuine products and nice packaging
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Alexandria Bednar –
Excellent. Fantastic. Terrific. Marvelous. Wonderful. I laughed. I cried. I peed my pants.
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Ara Rowe –
This is an unknown to me animalistic material. I am excited to try it in incense blends once my macerate is mature enough
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Ericka Miller –
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Dawn Fadel –
Fast shipping and Good advice
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Kaycee Leuschke –
Smells like horse crap, urine mineral, barnyard, awesome! I will buy some more later, ready to make a little bit of tincture, the price is affordable tha is a big plus 👍🏽
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Nicholas Weissnat –
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Patsy Will –
Always top quality with Dan
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Mikayla Walker –
I bought this for the fist time. It's quite intense and I can sense a amber note in the background. I produce a tincture with it. Grinding it using a ceramic mortar and pestle was hard but managable.
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Alejandra Wisoky –
Very strange "barnyard" smell and reminded me of the gorilla smell at the zoo. I'm excited to see what magical transformations this will add to my blends. I made a tincture as soon as I got it!
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Nia Thiel –
Merci Dan bien reçu parfait produit authentique tu es le meilleur vendeur sur Etsy je reviendrais bientôt.
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Mikayla Breitenberg –
I love this Hyraceum,
solid rocks of musky goodness.
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