Mystery of Musk: Sensual Embrace by JoAnne Bassett, Drifting Sparks by Artemisia Natural Perfume reviews

I smelled a lot of fragrances made of all naturals for the Mystery of Musk project. Some went for carnality (see Kewda), some opted for sensuality (see Eau Natural), others were firmly into gourmand territory (Craving anyone?) and others still were bacchic (Graines de Paradis and Dionysus). Sensual Embrace by JoAnne Bassett was a surprise: Uncitrusy citrus on top (mandarin and clementine have a mellower, sweeter aspect than what we usually associate with tangy tart citrus, i.e. bergamot and lemon), almost aqueous progression, a hint of violet and rose of all things and then less suprisingly tobacco muskiness; honeyed and smooth, baby, yeah, let's get into that groovy feeling! Not exactly what we have come to associate musk per se (or at least what most people conditioned into drugstore musks have come to expect), yet very animalistically and pleasantly so (jasmine pairs incredibly well with musky smells, its indoles enhanced). Sensual Embrace is a proper perfume rather than a plain musk "accord" for sure, like a diaphanous and creamy-retro scent for dilettanti. The only drawback is its lasting power is rather short.
Joanne Bassett's site can be found on this link.


Difting Sparks was composed by Lisa Fong and if your idea of musk is close to powdery rose and honey (or if you like Lorenzo Villoresi's take on his Musk, to make things simper), then it's a must try! Mastic gum for instance gives that hazy, fluffy, and at once oleaginous feel that could be close to a rose-musk. The rose here is resting atop polished woods, like a parqueted floor in an old appartment: aristocratic, classy, inviting, warm. Ambergris provides the right touch, someplace between an object and human flesh. The intriguing ingredient of motia attar I learned is jasmine sambac from India co-distilled in sandalwood, producing a soft note without the heaviness of traditional full-on jasmine ~curiously enough. Makes your mouth water at the thought of those two delicious essences coupled...Still, very well blended, so you can't pinpoint it as such, you just feel the creaminess and the depth.
I found that the overall smoothness, almost linear (after the first three minutes), assured progression and the good manners of this perfume managed to please me, even if a muskier or more animalistic composition was at the back of my mind initially. I can't see Lisa having too much trouble selling this one!

The notes for Drifting Sparks are mastic absolute, beeswax absolute, rose otto, bois rose and cedarwood for the top; rose absolute, orange blossom absolute, jasmine sambac absolute, and essential oil of the blossoms of the nyctanthes aboritistus tree, from India for the heart; ambergris, agarwood, angelica root, ambrette seed absolute, black current absolute, motia attar, sandalwood and siam wood for the base.
Lisa Fong resides in Oakland, California and her Artemisia Natural Perfume site can be reached here.

Please visit the rest of the participating blogs and fora on the Mystery of Musk project following the links provided.

Pic via img3.visualizeus.com

Mystery of Musk: Temple of Musk by SIP, Cravings by Ambrosia reviews

Two musk submissions by two very different artists: one by a rather well-known perfumer in her niche with ties to Hollywood, the other a small indie one hailing from the far away land of Australia. Result: I tend to prefer the latter and not without good reason.

Alexandra Balahoutis (head perfumer of a perfume lab in Los Angeles and owner of a retail store) first ignited my interest when I saw her ripped apart for the prose on her site of Strange Invisible Perfumes on a certain expert's now defunct blog back in 2005. You gotta question why someone is getting so much attention and that makes you wonder about the work produced, no? The prose was indeed less than satisfactory at the time and has now been removed from her site. Of course, even though her business seemed doomed at that point, after the perfume enthusiasts' siding with the expert on this, Alexandra has remained totally unscathed by a business point of view and goes on strong. Still, I never actually pursued to test her perfumes till this project came along, which I recognise is an error on my part. Pity that my first encounter with her Temple of Musk proved less than satisfactory.

First of all, it was among the last bunch of samples I got. It even managed to arrive a day later than something all the way from Australia! So tsk tsk tsk, I thought the project seemed a little rushed. I understand that SIP had other fish to fry and all, but hey. And smelling the strips and then on skin, I can see that it was a bit rushed, including the tiny quantity sent: A harshly medicinal musk with murky facets and vine-like nuances (possibly the stated myrtle could do that, it reads a little lemony though) which I couldn't pull apart, like a vice grip from which one cannot escape make heads or tails of. It's heavy and "catty" (blackcurrant buds?), but it's not the kind of "heavy" which we associate with opulent orientals or retro scents. It just sat there refusing to do anything... What can I say? I don't want to bash small indie perfumers and prefer to keep silent when I find something they produce subpar. I am making an exception today because I have heard many good things about her work from people whose opinions I respect. And hope her ~undoubtedly more carfully turned out~ Musc Botanique is exactly my cuppa...Someone has promised me to introduce me to her other perfumes, because Alexandra is clearly capable of so much more. I have absolutely no doubt it is so.

Craving by Ambrosia on the other hand proved rather delightful, if only tempting me to dive into a cookie jar of home-made biscotti to scoop darl chocolate ice-cream with! The name is of course delectable, by nature...
The perfumer, Ambrosia Jones, impressed me first of all with her professionalism. Although the scent sample took its while to arrive all the way from half the world over (a given), she was among the very very first to inform me of her intentions and send me info on the creative process. Kudos, Ambrosia, this is how business is contacted. Regarding the perfume itself, she explained: "It's got all the animalistic base notes you'd hope to find in a decent musk perfume, with middle notes of warm roasted hazelnuts, sweet caramel and dark sultry cocoa liquor. OK, so I'm a food head. I can remember someone asking me years ago wether I prefer Sex or Food...and I honestly couldn't say!My idea of a perfect afternoon involves lot's of sexy nakedness...pheromones and wild passion....with intervals of chocolate cake, roasted nuts and more......Hey, why not make it perfect and combine them both?!"

To accomplish that she blended cocoa absolute (this stuff smells like real chocolate with an edge of human skin), real oud, two varieties of vetiver, hyraceum (harvested from a small animal cruelty-free and smelling intensely animalic), ambrette seed for that touch of vegetal muskiness and of course Australian sandalwood. The result smells like you're having an intimate dinner where the course is yourself and the drippings of caramelised chocolate are just the appetizer...You've been warned, this is sexy, comforting and tittilating stuff! She needn't have worried so much about the competition, her submission has been one of the best received ones!
Now, I'm more than psyched to try her Death by Chocolate. Perfume by Nature by Ambrosia can be found on this link.

Please visit the rest of the participating blogs and fora on the Mystery of Musk project following the links provided.

Photos by Paul Kiler on Mystery of Musk project.

Mystery of Musk: Dionysus by Lord's Jester review

The name Dionysus, coming from the classical god of wine but also of sacred ecstasis/έκστασις (i.e.divine madness), is indicative of the mood set: restlessness, abandon, raw energy. Then again the fragrances by Lord's Jester ~composed by all-naturals perfumer Adam Gottschalk~ do often bear ancient names (Ares, Zephyr, Demeter, Hera, Phoebe, Selena etc). Does it have to do with a Grecophile German-roots past? Is it a homage to an august culture that was so in tune with its natural surroundings yet managed to harness them through reason, as natural perfumers would hope to do with natural ingredients? Dionysus is indeed wild, untamed, very potent, with a rich trail like a strong moschato wine. The formula seems short, focused on the raw potency of a few select ingredients rather than delicate accords of numerous essences.

Perhaps there is a wine note in the opening, or the effect which I associate with it, the tannic facets in cognac essence, which I know natural perfumers use. The Bacchic, orgiastic ambience is rendered through a lush floral with an oily, narcotic backdrop (possibly narcissus) and the powerful inclusion of African stone, more commonly known as hyraceum. Possibly repulsively sourced, as it is reconstituted via the excrement of a small African animal, but providing a strong pheromonic and territory-marking aroma that would have animals go wild nevertheless.
Still, the overall composition is not what I would call musky or floral musk, not in the manner that real deer musk smells (rather urinous) or in the mould that the fragrance industry has accustomed us to musk (warm, powdery, nuzzling), diverging from my own preconceptions. It's pheromone-rich, growling at several feet away, but of a different kind than human, bringing out the Cat People. Or a modern day Maenad.

Please visit the rest of the participating blogs and fora on the Mystery of Musk project following the links provided.

Dionysus and a Maenad. Apulian R.F. by the Bendis Painter 360 BCE. VUW Classics Museum via Cornell University Library

Mystery of Musk: Graines de Paradis by Sharini review

Graines de Paradis is the alternative name of spice called "maniguette", a close relation to cardamom pods with a more peppery scent (hence the vernacular Pepper of Guinea), coming from a small perennial plant out of Africa. But in Graines de Paradis by Sharini Parfums Naturels, the paradisal spice is all its own and not due to any Amomum melegueta. Not that it would have hurt: The Arabian inclusion of the spice in rich dishes featuring flower petals in the traditional cuisine is not miles off the lush, taste-buds titillating floral musk that Sharini produced.

Sharini Parfums Naturels is a very small company based in Aniane, near Montpellier, headed by Nicolas Jennings, a perfumer who is also contributing to the harvesting and producing of some of the essences used in his all-natural perfume. Not only are they natural (a growing niche which has been knowing a true renaissance) but they're also bio-certified (Eco-cert), according to the website, where little bottles topped with wooden caps with a rough top-side hint at the somewhat rough experience of getting to know organic perfumes (I'm sorely tempted by Iris Véritable and Jasmin Céleste, too, I can tell you). Sharini was part of the German organic exhibition in Vivaness as well, while their workshop is open for the public from the spring equinox (March) till the autumn one (September) at Atelier des Sens, 8, Rue Font de Portal, St Guilhem le Desert 34150. It does look like a mighty fine cave of precious wines...

Sharini's submission for the Mystery of Musk project was amongst the first samples to arrive at my door for evaluation. Kudos for being so professional Nicholas! A lesson for all. And a nice experience it has been wearing the perfume for a few days.
Graines de Paradis (Paradisal seeds) is woven around the musky scents of angelica and ambrette seed, seeping in and out of the composition at regular intervals, while tiaré, neroli, jasmine and the unusual, bracken-like broom lend their own rich aromata. The flower essences yielded their spirit by the -now almost obsolete but utterly charming- method of enfleurage which captures the dying breaths of them as they wither in layers and layers of animal fat (in this case it was vegetal fat, please note), the process repeated for 20 to 25 times by the industrious Nicholas and Crystel (who harvested the broom themselves). The thick precious pomade resulting is then treated with solvents to release the aromatic droplets, gathered one by one; one can almost feel the anticipation, the drops of sweat on the brow dropping with an audible "plong" while waiting for the other, sweet drops to fill the glass vials...
Not only flowers, but other more succulent ingredients enter the formula of Graines de Paradis as well: wild cherries, Rooibos red tea and vanilla enter in the form of tincture. Tincture in perfume speak is an "infusion" of the materials which are seeped in alcohol until a light-smelling but sufficiently aromatized liquid is produced. This is the method that natural perfumers use to "fix" their alcohol via "heavy", animalic ingredients such as ambergris or other good fixatives (like blond tobacco or vanilla if the formulae are thus inclined). A bit like creating an aromatized grappa liquor by adding rind of kumquats! (Do try it!) Nicholas Jennings is using corn grain alcohol. There is a hint of musty bitterness too in the composition, which could be produced by the agarwood inclusion, which tempers the florals and the sweeter notes well.

The overall feeling of Graines de Paradis is rich, sweetly floral (very good quality flower essences) with the gourmand quality of almond paste in the background and intensely lasting on both blotter and skin, thanks to the tenaciousness of the base notes (patchouli, vanilla, ambrette seed).

The best thing of all? Only 25 bottles were produced, making it an almost bespoke scent for the very, very few. There was a draw for a bottle at Grain de Musc.

Please visit the rest of the participating blogs and fora on the Mystery of Musk project following the links provided.

Mystery of Musk: Verdigris (Belly Flowers perfumes),Tallulah B (Jane Cate)

Reflecting upon the musk fragrance samples I have received (a couple still missing in action) for the Mystery of Musk project, I am reminded of how the mind works and what associations and -sometimes received- expectations we place upon things. The Mystery of Musk began as an innovative project in which natural perfumers tried to render a viable, sustainable animalic musk through non-animal (musk deer) sources. As we had announced, this was an across the globe project challenging us into coming with terms with different interpretations of what each of us holds as "the standard" of what musk should smell like. Some of them deviated from the path; fledging full compositions which gained independence and "indie-pendance".
What I mean by that: Most of the time, one cannot forget that they're smelling artisanal perfumes produced along a specific set of parameters, although they accomplish some of the aesthetic criteria we've come to expect. But in the arena of musk specifically, there are unexpected twists and turns to be taken and today we're tackling two of them. To cut a long story short, two musky versions which are not particularly...musky. But they have other things to recommend them, should you find yourself interested.

Jane Cate of A Wing and a Prayer Perfumes was inspired for her Tallulah B by classical Hollywood glamour and specifically the bon vivante Tallulah Banckhead who liked to proclaim she was "as pure as the driven slush". With role models like this... Still for Tallulah B the perfumer went for a subtle, botanical vibe which feels like a daguerréotype: the focus is not verisimilitude, but rather an impression of a person or object. The scent feels indeed like a woody floral, a delicate one with the trail of ambrette pods. Much like Connie Porter in Lifeboat (1944) by Alfred Hitchcock, it seems like it laughs in the face of heavy, seductive type musk recalibrating our perception of it, proposing a fragrance that utilizes the note in a roundabout way, underscoring subtly the soft florals (child-like linden blossom, a tincture of muguet...is that really possible? Would it produce a spectre of the little bells?). Cynical like Porter? Not really. More like a different take from someone who admits "I don't usually blend with musk".

Disclaimer & correction: Jane Cate has issued two versions of Tallulah B, recalling the first one (hereby reviewed) in favour of Tallulah B2 which is muskier, meeting the requirements of the project. Since I haven't received the 2nd version yet, I limited myself to the first (sorry for the confusion), but will amend when having sampled the second one. Watch this space!
Wing and Prayer Perfumes appear on the official site and on Etsy.


Verdigris by BellyFlowers Perfumes says it all by its name, a paronomasia uniting "ambergris" and "verdant" but also evoking the patina on copper or bronze metalware, the greenish tinge that the French called "vert-de-Grèce" (Greek green) when referring to the specific colour in painting. Probably inspired by both those references as well as the lush tropical feel of the Florida state where the perfumer Elise Pearlstine is stationed, which would be conductive to not only copper oxidizing into copper acetate but to inhibitions also, Verdigris is presented as "musky and green, rich and sexy".
Green, the scent certainly is, mating green accents of lavender, clary sage and violet absolutes, folded by a heart of powdery soft opoponax absolute. In the base, the muskiness is achieved through the synergy of ambergris tincture and labdanum absolute (the latter is clearly detectable). The opening has the herbal aroma that herbalists would prescribe for a case of rebalancing, while the progression veers into an earthier palette with the deep, hypnotic lappings of labdanum. Compared to sweeter and more body-conscious renditions, we're dealing here with a fragrance that doesn't aim to provide a heavy-lidded, khol-eyed musk and this is quite apparent: Whether it was the intended goal, I leave it to the perfumer, but something tells me that it was.
Belly Flowers Perfumes are accessible here.

Both fragrances have average tenacity, which means they perform pretty well for all-naturals compositions, considering.

Please refer to this list for the other participating sites on the Mystery of Musk project.

Photo of Tallulah Bankhead via Film Noir Photos blog and of verdirgis design of rbanches on black scalloped ring via Miss Fickle Media Com blog.

Mystery of Musk: DSH Musk Eau Natural (Review & Bottle Giveaway)

Musk Eau Natural by DSH is a wordplay on the Americanized phrase "au natural" (from the French au naturel) and "eau", denoting nudity and intimacy. The feeling was inspired by the Art Deco period, the 1920s and 1930s that is, when musky fragrances entered the vernacular again after almost two centuries in absentia, alongside with a fascination with the Orient and its hedonic mysteries. The perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz intended this fragrance to have a vague chypre feel which is also in keeping with some of the popular styles of perfumes in the Art Deco period (alongside the westernised Orientals of course). The simplicity of the fashions, following the revolutionizing by Jean Patou and Coco Chanel, fitted the structured character of streamlined compositions: vast expanses of -usually ivory- skin, a decided marked contrast with architectural-looking hair (bobbed or not) and select ornamentation getting to the point demanded straightfoward fragrances that weren't limp-wristed or wallpaper-ish.

The fragrance is presented in pure parfum/extrait version (30% concentration of essences) for two reasons: the rich feel of musk dictating a lusher concentration and naturals having a problem of tenacity; the extrait version would help the scent linger. We're hosting a giveaway of a very generous 5ml extrait de parfum of Musk Eau Natural courtesy of DSH Parfums des Beaux Arts. (The photo represents the actual bottle, we're talking about pure parfum here, folks! It should last you months.) So comment away, saying what you find exciting about musk if you want to enter the draw to win it! And to make it a bit more interesting I will pick the entry I find the most interesting!

But back to the fragrance and its creation process, a very intriguing one indeed. Dawn followed the directions of the Guild in regards to which sustainable essences provide a musky note to a T while composing her fragrances. Here is the list of natural sources of musk components, the first three coming from non-cruelty animal sources, the rest of botanical nature:

Ambergris
Beeswax
Hyrax
Goat musk
Ambrette seed
Angelica root
Sandalwood
Labdanum
Vetiver
Spikenard
Oud
Vanilla
Musk rose
Black currant
Jasmine sambac
Patchouli
Cumin
Black pepper
Costus
Seaweed and Carrot seed

Only two of the botanicals ~ambrette seed and angelica root~ contain macrocyclic musk molecules same as the natural deer musk essence, as we have noted before. And from that limited palette Dawn chose to only use beeswax out of the non-cruelty-animal-derived choices. Plus she omitted vetiver, vanilla and patchouli, so as not to overwhelm the botanical bouquet, as these are notes that bring their own potency into a mix. Talk about a true challenge!
Dawn admitted after seeing what others had composed: "My own understanding of the Mystery of Musk project was akin to Iron Chef (how to be creative with a limited palette), now I realize it was more like painting class (make your own interpretation). Oh.OK." And she goes on to explain how her mind ticked while composing: "If you have ever smelled costus root oil, you will notice some things that are very interesting. One, it has a strong but sweet musk-like odor and at the same time, well, a bit of “hefty bags” that comes up. I kind of like it in a perverse way. The same way that I like styrax for it’s sweet honey-spiced-leather-resin smell mixed with “airplane glue”. It’s fun to sense the multiplicity of things and the potential that lies within. Another note that I love is Cassis / Black Currant bud. It smells of pine trees and cats; I am fascinated by its ability to push toward fruity / green and civet at the same time. It’s a wonderful catalyst to activate other notes that might no be so easy to work with, like the carrot seed (which likes to stand out in many designs); seaweed, which can come off as flavorless and cumin, which is certainly musky but smells (especially to the American palate) a bit of ‘sweaty men’ and BO. You have got to be careful with cumin. It has a delicious sweet, musky spice but too much and you can end up with curried armpits."



I am happy to report that Musk Eau Natural doesn't smell of stale body odour at all. The finished scent is pure carnality, the way classic Tabu (minus the carnation) and Yves Saint Laurent legend Kouros (heavy costus root) speak of intimate expanses of hairy skin, moist with the aftermath of a sex-fest. I feel the strong presence of labdanum which gives animalic, lightly leathery nuances alongside a waxy feel. The labdnum note is very apparent on drydown, reminding me of all the sexy and sweeter facets presented in another scent which exploits this side, Madame X by Ava Luxe. Those of you who have tried that one, should definitely give Musk Eau Natural a shot, as you'd most probably love it.
But is it really chypre-like, you ask. The version which I am testing (there is another one, called ESME see below, which is truer to the chypre motif) isn't truly chypre-structured, lacking the familiar perfume-y mossy-powdery chord of classic examples. Still, the beeswax inclusion, the scent of honeycomb, reminds me of the place that modern iconoclastic chypres hold, such as Moss Breches (the name itself alluding to api-culture, via "brèches" in French) by Tom Ford, where the chyprish top starts in a big way and then a very musky note is revealed slowly. Maybe Dawn envisioned a third way of going around the chypre problem, tackling its muskier components. It remains to be seen whether more will follow in this path.
Tenacity of Musk Eau Natural is quite good, certainly very good for an all-naturals, going strong for about 5 hours on my skin, with medium sillage that wouldn't overwhelm.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz notes for Musk Eau Natural ESME:
Top notes: Black Currant Bud, Black Pepper
Middle notes: Ambrette Seed, Angelica Root, Centifolia Rose Absolute, East Indian Sandalwood, French Beeswax, Labdanum No. 3, Sambac Jasmine, Spikenard
Base notes: Brazilian Vetiver, Costus, Cumin Seed, East Indian Patchouli, musk eau natural accord, Oude (Agarwood), Seaweed, Vanilla Absolute

The musk accord employed in the base uses 15 of the 18 ingredients, including the remaining component, Carrot seed, in the topnotes, a different beeswax (Honey Beeswax) in the heart, and Ambrette Seed exposed in the base.

The notes are presented for ESME, a true chypre variation of Musk Eau Natural on her website including the notes she omitted for the simpler version, as well as two other editions (one of them the Musk Accord contained in Musk Eau Natural here reviewed; the other Musk of the Mosque, a more orientalised, incense-rich version) which she envisioned during creating for the Mystery of Musk project. A nice musk-rich full wardrobe at the flick of the fingers on the laptop!


Please refer to this list for the other participating sites on the Mystery of Musk project.

Illustration by Pierre Laurens, 1929. Photo of sample by Paul Kiler via Mystery of Musk perfumes.

Mystery of Musk Project: Kickstarting with Kewdra by Anya's Garden

The Mystery of Musk began as an innovative project in which natural perfumers tried to render a viable, sustainable animalic musk through non-animal sources. As we had announced, the time has come and now we're reaping the benefits of that effort. Samples have flown across the globe, mixing the arcane with the imaginative and the puzzling, challenging us into coming up with the right words to do them justice. Expect to see posts tackling these new perfumes and a giveaway of a whole bottle of them tomorrow. So check up daily for news and updates!

As homage to the instigator of the project and the president of the Natural Perfumers' Guild, I decided to kickstart with Anya McCoy, no stranger to these pages, whom most of you know from her fragrance line Anya's Garden. Literally, as she grows all sort of interesting and lush things in her Miami Shores garden, things that would take your breath away.
Her entry? Kewdra, a “modern Indian-style musk perfume”, inspired by Alobar’s Hindu beloved, the highly-fragrant Kudra, as featured in Tom Robbins’ famous novel Jitterbug Perfume. Anya introduced it thus: Kudra surely loved the Kewda flower of her native India and would have blended it as a masala formula that spread the gardenia and boronia flowers in a seamless heart that beats over the Kama-Sutra evocative "smell of your lover's skin" base notes.

Natural perfumes create their own web of intricacy, their drawbacks just as a many as their advantages, the challenge lying into making the materials pliable and tenacious enough to conform to classic perfumery needs. Pandanus has been already used in her unique Fairchild while an animalic note from the most improbable source (tincture of a real living rutting billie goat's hair) was explored in Pan. So you could say that Anya knows more than a few things about how to construct a complex animalic.
Pandanus flower- aka Kewda or Kewra- is the star performer in the new fragrance, a diva-esque scent which reminds me of an ample-blossomed lady spilling out of her tube top. I knew Pandanus flower from Indian chutneys which customarily accompany meat dishes, where its honeyed facets reveal themselves like liqueur; I also knew boronia from my trip to Australia, where the magical smell permeates the air when in season.
Then of course there is also beeswax in there, an exalted animalic note produced through a gentle technique involving bees' complex constructions without harming the animals.

In Kewdra pandanus makes its entrance all a-bust, proud, heavy, rich. But the effect dissipates soon, leaving a mingle of flower essences (Anya used a rural Chinese 5-petal gardenia which I can only assume is supremely costly) and natural sources of musk (such as angelica root and ambrette seed). These blend into a sweet, smooth vibe which licks the skin the way an Indian heroine in the Kama Sutra would.

Getting into the process of Kewdra requires a little patience but once you're there, the drydown cannot but appeal. Its sweet, intimate aspect evokes the scent of honey dribbled on skin. I am reminded of Baroness Moura Budberg, a Russian aristocrat who allegedly became a Soviet spy. Enigmatic to the end, she famously led an affair with the British spy R. H. Bruce Lockhart during the Revolution and later became the lover of both Maxim Gorky and H. G. Wells. Now Wells wasn't a pretty man, not attractive in any visual way. Moura’s own explanation for the unlikely liaison was that the attraction was sexual, even as she refused to marry him or remain faithful - "Wells’s skin", she said, "smelled of honey"...

Kewdra will be available at Anya's Garden e-boutique shortly and the 10ml bottle depicted will be given away by the Non Blonde soon!
Participating Sites on The Mystery of Musk Project:
Yahoo Natural Perfumery group
I Smell Therefore I Am – Abigail Levin
Perfume Shrine – Elena Vosnaki
The Non Blonde – Gaia Fishler
Indie Perfumes – Lucy Raubertas
Bitter Grace Notes – Maria Browning
CaFleureBon Michelyn Camen, Mark Behnke, Ida Meister, Skye Miller, Marlene Goldsmith
Olfactarama – Pat Borow
First Nerve – Avery Gilbert
Olfactory Rescue Service – Ross Urrere
Grain de Musc – Denyse Beaulieu
Basenotes



Painting Mother India by Maqbool Fida Hussain via razarumi.com

The Mystery of Musk: Revolutionary Joint Project in Animalic Notes

Do you miss a little skank in your life? Do you often wonder how does real musk smell or would like to find beautiful alternative fragrances to your cheap or oil favourites? It is my honour to announce to our readers that under the kind invitation of the Natural Perfumers' Guild I am organising an exciting and truly pioneering new project, called The Mystery of Musk. The project took the form of inviting several worthy perfumers who dabble in naturals on occasion of the 4th anniversary of the Guild to come up with that most elusive element of them all: a real-smelling animalic musk base for perfumery! Musk is possibly the number one subject of interest among those who love all kinds of perfume, both natural and synthetic. Musk fascinates! Many perfumistas realize that natural perfumers don’t use synthetic musks and civets and such, but that they search for alternatives that give the same effect. The Yahoo Natural Perfumery Group, the Basenotes forum contributors and a pleiad of prominent bloggers will be evaluating the fragrances thus produced in a few weeks. Best of all, each and every one of these musk perfumes will be optioned for a bottle giveaway through the participating venues, just for you! (one bottle giveaway for each blogger, one for Basenotes and one for the Yahoo Natural Perfumery Group, so you will have several opportunities to enter to win). Considering these are very costly creations to begin with due to the high prices of the essential oils, absolutes and essences used, I know you will appreciate this unique chance. The giveaways and reviews will roll out at the beginning of July. And in preparation of that, the Musk Series on The Perfume Shrine will be enriched with more musk reviews and relevant commentary for your enjoyment!


So without further ado, may I present you the participating perfumers.

Participating Perfumers for The Mystery of Musk project:

Adam Gottschalk – Lord’s Jester

Alexandra Balahoutis – Strange Invisible Perfumes

Alfredo Dupetit – BioScent by dupetit

Ambrosia Jones – Perfume by Nature

Anya McCoy – Anya’s Garden Perfumes

Charna Ethier – Providence Perfumes

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz – DSH Perfumes

Elise Pearlstine – Tambela Perfumes

Jane Cate – A Wing and a Prayer Perfumes

JoAnne Bassette – JoAnne Bassett Perfumes

Lisa Fong – Artemisia Perfume

Nicholas Jennings – Sharini Parfums Naturels

The evaluators members at the Yahoo Natural Perfumery Group as well as those from the Basenotes forum are announced on the respective venues. The president of the Natural Perfumers' Guild, Anya McCoy, will keep you abreast of the details.
The participating blogs will be: Bittergrace Notes, Ca Fleure Bon, First Nerve, Grain de Musc, Indie Perfumes, I Smell Therefore I Am, the Non Blonde, Olfactarama, Olfactory Rescue Service, and of course the Perfume Shrine.

Stay tuned for all the exciting new features!
Related reading on Perfume Shrine: The Musk Series


Pic copyrighted by the Natural Perfumers' Guild, reproduced with permission.