Il Profumo Musc Bleu: fragrance review

Among "white musk" fragrances which are reminiscent of clean laundry off the line, Musc Bleu by Il Profumo is among the best, eschewing the metallic screechiness present in other white musks and possessing a baby soft silkiness making it extremely popular, like an wide-eyed, amiable ingénue at a Vienesse ball would be. If it weren't for that latter element, Joan Crawford might be scrubbing her fingernails with the stuff, in a fit of cleanliness ritualistic mania after a wire hanger episode. But you see, Musc Bleu is softly voiced, not harsh. Ever. Childlike in its softness, yet cool. It's almost "ice-princess" like, yet with a hint of sensuality, like Estella in Alfonso Cuarón's version of Great Expectations. But not much, beyond a naughty kiss.

Musc Bleu was created by the Italian brand Il Profumo and the perfumer Silvana Casoli in 2004. There is a European feel about it, no doubt, as it avoids the mall associations and the dense, heavy feel of most musks found there, as well as the pervading, cut-through-the-air sharpeness some of them in the "white musk" camp possess (aimed at cutting through the mall smells of cinnamon rolls and candied popcorn emanating from the multiramas).
The tradition of Eau de Cologne underscored with musk for its lasting power is ingrained in the Mediterranean basin and people react well to those undefinable base notes, so it doesn't surprise me that this is an Italian product.
Personally, I have little use for such an opaline musk, unless I had been stranded on a deserted island on which the givens of civilization were severely compromised and I needed to create distractions that would fool me into believing I'm in less hardship than I would really be in. Nevertheless, I cannot deny its wearability and "easy", polished feel which accounts for its tremendous appeal to those hankering after "clean" smells reminiscent of dryer sheets, yet without any allegiance to "drugstore musks". Or those who are in favour of "scent layering", a process in which one sprays a "base" fragrance underneath a second one which is more nuanced and in a different style. Musc Bleu would be the perfect canvas, exactly because it's so pliable to just about any other material coupled with it. Again, not my thing, but I can see how others would like it a lot.

The scent of Musc Bleu doesn't reveal floral facets ~beyond a hint of ylang ylang and the "scrubbed" aldehyde that stands as cyclamen~ like most "white musks" do (refer to our article on types of musk). Instead it has a delicate powdery and soapy feel which is girlish, comfortable and dicreet. It oscillates between a tonic freshness and cozy warmth, which bridges the gap that several musk fragrances create, veering as they do to either one or the other direction. It wouldn't be out of place in the office or the seat right beside at the underground and it fits well in the evenings as well, if you're after an innofensive smell which will be detected only when you hug someone. In fact, I bet several people might be anosmic to it, due to its lightness. Musk anosmia is a phenomenon common with people, as musks are just about the maximum size of molecules a nose can handle, so perfumers routinely use a couple of different musky ingredients (please refer to our article) to combat that. Still, there are people who have an "umbrella effect" anosmia. For those, something else might break through. For the rest, it is a light musk, don't expect anything potent.
Even though Musc Bleu seems light and vanishing into skin in about an hour, it doesn't disappear. It becomes a "skin scent" (a scent that feels like your own skin) with a very satisfactory lasting power if you lean closer. The concentration is described as "parfum" by the company (denoting concentrated essences), but it reads as a lasting Eau de Parfum to me. There is a pronounced reminiscence with Musc Blanc by Les Bains du Marais, another clean musk which doesn't read as "metallic", yet the latter is a little more expensive and to my experience a little less lasting.

Two versions are available by Il Profumo, Musc Bleu and Musc Bleu Absolu Osmo. Between the two, the Absolu is richer, fuller with a silkier feel to my nose, probably due to the abcence of alcohol in the formula. Please note the latter doesn't come in a spray, but as a splash or dab on. Available at Luckyscent and First in Fragrance and also as of this minute, at a nice discount, on Amazon on this link.

Notes for Il Profumo Musc Bleu:
Neroli, black geranium, ylang-ylang, cyclamen, musk, oakmoss, woods, white sandalwood.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: The Musk Series (ingredients & cultural history), Scented Musketeers: Musk fragrances reviews.

Photo La Ribambelle by anonymous.

Amouage Opens London Boutique (& Gives a Gift!)

Amouage is delighted to announce the opening of the new flagship store in 14 Lowndes St at Knightsbridge, London on Friday, 25th June.
"We are launching the new and exclusive Library Collection to celebrate this occasion. Please visit us to experience the beautiful fragrances in this collection. To show our appreciation, we are offering a special gift for purchases over £50 on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th June".
You can read about the new Amouage Library Collection (Opus I, Opus II, Opus III) following this link.

Kiehl's Original Musk & Musk 1921 oil: fragrance review

Amidst the plethora of musk fragrances on the market, some stand out as being individual and bearing their own signature. Decades before Serge Lutens came up with the beastly cajole of Muscs Kublaï Khan, the old New York pharmacy of Kiehl's had broken down that bastion with their Musk fragrance. Its voluminous, expanding earthiness will give you a jolt, searching for that hippy relic sitting some pegs below at the cinema or the theatre (or even the amphiteatre, but let's not go there now). The essence of a seriously funky persona which might have been travelling back from an ashram in India or some Goa hot-spot du jour! Alongside personal enlightenment in the 1960s, there came the musks and the patchoulis essences which characterised a whole generation. And it seems Kiehl's was intent on the pulse despite being founded as far back as 1851.

The archived date for the introduction of Kiehl's Original Musk is given as 1963. However, the company likes to hint with their Musk 1921 oil in the Essences collection (the "essences" are oils on which are thematically based the Eaux de toilette) that the recipe goes far back, since their pharmacopoia dates to several decades before. But here's the catch: It couldn't have. And the reason is one of science & history coherence. Simply put, the musks contained in the formula did not exist before WWII! Even though naturally derived macrocyclic musks like Muscone and Exaltolide existed before that date, their price was very high (Muscone's still is) and there could never enter the formula of a "drugstore" perfume. Therefore, the now banned nitromusks were the appropriate choice for those purposes. And this gives rise to another point, which explains the prevalence of so many "musk oils" in the market (certainly so in the 1960s and 1970s), especially at the very low end of the deal, such as Bonne Belle Skin Musk and Jovan Musk oil: These musky ingredients were almost insoluble in alcohol, rendering an alcoholic version of a fragrance very difficult. This also answers my own question, in regards to why some musk fragrances circulating today have a moniker of "musk oil" on their brand name, even though they're in alcoholic form, like the wonderfully rich Jean Louis Gady Musk Oil Eau de Toilette or the drugstore cheapie beautie Gosh Musk Oil No.6. The answer is, they are probably referring to a prior oil-based formula and have substituted the -now banned- nitromusks with an alcohol-diffusing musk component or two (after all, the polycyclics Transeolide, Celestolide and Galaxolide are very, very popular in the modern fragrance industry, as attested by our article on the subject linked)

Smellwise, Kiehl's Musk 1921 (and to a lesser degree the alcoholic Eau de Toilette Original Musk) is indeed close to Muscs Kublaï Khan, albeit a bit rawer and with a muted, hoarse voice instead of the baritone refinement of the Lutens. Compared to another musk fragrance with a certain reputation, Musc Ravageur by Maurice Roucel for F.Malle, it lacks the sweet spice and is a more to the point musk which can be worn by either sex. At the very start, there is also a similarity of Kiehl's Musk with Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent, which fades later on. The beatific darkness is peeking beneath the floral notes and reveals in fine print what the headlines try to conceal: Here is a living, emoting, squirting human being who hasn't really washed well for a while. If you're not absolutely fanatical about sterilisation, you might get the point in the above.

Notes for Kiehl's Original Musk:
Top: Bergamot nectar, orange blossom
Heart: Rose, lily, ylang ylang, neroli
Base: Tonka bean, white patchouli, musk.

Kiehl's now circulates an alcoholic Eau de Toilette Blend No.1 version of their Musk -apart from their famous oil Musk 1921-, which is tamer (probably due to the exclusion of nitromusks), less skanky and somewhat close to White Musk for Men which The Body Shop introduced a couple of seasons ago. It retails for 39$ for 1.7oz. on the site.
The current ownership by L'Oreal probably means that the cosmetic concerns overshadow any potential adherence to old formulae even more pressingly.
Related reading on Perfume Shrine: The Musk Series (ingredients & cultural history), Scented Musketeers: Musk fragrances reviews.
Photo by Robert Mapplethorpe, Thomas Williams 1987 via cegur.com.

Byredo Palermo: new fragrance

The abundantly rich history of Palermo, capital of Sicily, is captured in the new fragrance by Swedish niche brand ByRedo:

"With clacking oars the Phoenicians arrived millennia ago to found their center of ancient exchange. Under golden Roman yoke the port gained gleaming palaces and mosaics. Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Byzantines alternately wrecked and rebuilt. Moorish and Berber emirs dug irrigation and harvested new fruits – the Bergamot oranges they planted still grow. Norman kings wrested the island back from the East. Garibaldi's thousand redshirts galloped through, and Italy was born. All those centuries of interleaved layers, one bled into the other, remain palpable in the air, the water, the art, the architecture, the spirit. Our "Palermo" opens with Bigarade and Sicilian Bergamot. The heart consists of Fresh Musks and Rose Absolute and reveals a base of Skin Musks and Ambrette Flower."
Sounds just the thing for summer, doesn't it?

Available on the official site: 100ml of Eau de Parfum for 115 euros. Also at Barney's.

Amouage Library Collection: new fragrances

Amouage, the Omani line which has established itself as the purveyor of true luxury in fragrances with its precious essences and unbridled budgeting, comes out with a new trio of fragrances, called Amouage Library. The three scents encompass different families and were devised by artistic directot Christopher Chong, each given a code, an opus number reflecting their status as a completed work within a greater collection.

According to the press release:

"OPUS I. A glorious Chypre fragrance, built around a warm, floral heart of Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine, Rose, Lily of the Valley and Tuberose . Top notes of Bigarade, Plumm and Cardamom add spice and individuality, whilst woody base notes of Guaiac, Cedar and Sandalwood, along with Tonka Bean, Vetiver and the House's signature note of Frankincense provide an epic and bold closing chapter. The narrative, olfactory
evolution of this fragrance was inspired by the start of a pilgrimage in search of knowledge.

OPUS II. A majestic Fougère inspired by the heady and evocative fragrances of old books, dark wooden shelves and antique leather armchairs . Opus II opens with a rare and magical combination of Pepper , Pink Bay, Absinth and La vender in the top
notes. These notes unfurl to reveal a hear t of Jasmine, Rose, Cinnamon and Cardamom. The base of Cedarwood, Amber, Frankincense and Patchouli conclude the fragrance with a soft , smoky, masculinity that contrast beautifully with the floral heart notes .

OPUS III was inspired by the art and science of the creative process, from the darkest moments of frustration, to the brightness of enlightenment and discovery.
This radiant Floral Orie ntal fragrance is built around daring heart notes of Violet,
Jasmine , Orange Blossom and Ylang -Ylang. These are introduced perfectly by top
notes of Carnation, Broom, Mimosa, Nutmeg and Thyme . The vibrancy of the
fragrance is anchored by earthy notes of Ambrette Seed, Papyrus , Benzoin , Frankincense and a trilogy of woods in the base".

Read full reviews of each of the scents on this article.

All three fragrances are available in 100ml for 195 BGP each.
The Library Collection will be available at Selfridges, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason as well as leading department stores and boutiques globally. The collection will also be available at Amouage’s soon to open flagship store in London’s Knightsbridge - 14 Lowndes St.

YSL "new" Opium: Death of Classic, Reformulation, Brand Repositioning (& a footnote on Belle d'Opium)

Just when we were lamenting the death of Opium, the fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent which marked our youth and stayed the course as a faithful companion, Yves Saint Laurent is busy issuing new marketing tools introducing us to the "new" Opium.
"New", because reformulation was necessary due to the IFRA restrictions on spicy ingredients (eugenol and iso-eugenol) which were necessary into the creation of the carnation heart of the memorable modern classic from 1977. If you love the older, richer bouquet with its characteristic pressed linens accord and carnation spice, stock up. I have because I love it so. [click for review]

In the new site What is Your Opium we're not spared any truths. It's up there in black and white: "This week Yves Saint Laurent unveils an addictive new fragrance. Crafted by renowned perfumers who found inspiration in a modern floral oriental. A scent born from a thousand inspirations".



They go on to reveal that each day will see a new feature or video involving the inspirations behind the fragrance, especially to the noteworthy perfumer Honorine Blanc (mentored by Sophia Grojsman) who was working on the scent for four years and talks about what she notices in the video. And they invite consumers to join: "To fête this modern elixir YSL will host an exclusive event in New York City on June 17th. Each day we’ll take you behind-the-scenes to meet the people creating this extraordinary soirée. They’ll share their inspirations and below we invite you to share yours. Tell us what inspires you". There is also a launch party, which according to Twitter, Alexa Chung and Alexandra Richards will be spinning, and rumored guests include hipsters like “The Cobrasnake” Mark Hunter and model Cory Kennedy. Todays' teaser on the Opium site has a video of the preparations. Obviously blogs are the new teasing tool for big companies to create Internet buzz.



Yet, the old is now most officially proclaimed dead...Whan Honorine talks about in the vid, "When a fragrance comes on the market, it's unique, it has its own signature, it's a true fragrance...it stays forever", sounds ironic.
Never before has a death being banged about with brass playing upbeat, inspiring military tunes!

Edit to add (19th June):
Dear sirs at YSL communication, if you're issuing something "new", old, revamped, whatever, it would be best if you were absolutely clear about what that thing is unless you do want us confused. To witness, the first email communication I got read:
"Hi,
Just wanted to send over a note letting you know that yesterday afternoon YSL launched a blog to help celebrate the release of their new Opium fragrance.The link is here: http://www.whatisyouropium.com/Each day on the site there will be a new bit of content released leading up to tomorrow's launch party and then following up on the event a few days afterward. Today, you can watch the 'setting the stage' video to see how the party is coming together. Hope you enjoy."
Now, a day later, they send this (please note how there was no mention of name in the above, while there is one now):
"Hi!
If you haven't already seen coverage from last night's YSL party be sure to check out today's Belle D'Opium blog post with event photos: http://whatisyouropium.com/day_after/And not long from now The Cobra Snake photos will be live online too".

I mean, geez, Belle d'Opium! Can you be any more misleading and contradicting? Is this a new flanker, like the summer editions? Is the whole campaign utterly confusing or what?

The bottomline is the old Opium HAS been reformulated to its detriment, as attested by many fans. That doesn't change, no matter how it's marketed.

Fan di Fendi: new fragrance

Three years after Palazzo and one after the announcement of discontinuing their whole line, Fendi is issuing a new feminine fragrance as a turnaround move in the market of fragrance, Fan di Fendi. Hopefully, the brand believes it will do better commercially than the previous efforts. (On that note, it's ironic that everyone's discontinued fragrance is Fendi's very own Theorema and yet it remains discontinued). But the new fragrance presents several interesting subplots which is why I chose to highlight its launch.


The juice in Fan di Fendi has been developed by Delphine Lebeau-Krowiakj, working with Parfums Luxe International, while the new flacon bearing the familiar entwined F of Fendi was designed by Fabien Baron. Probably the F in Fan corresponds in the logo which had fashionistas everywhere amok with the handbags, earning them their own moment of history in Sex & the City. Talk about emblazoning one's brand name into consciousness. But I digress.

The most interesting part is that the artistic direction of the new feminine Fendi fragrance was monitored by Francois Demachy, head of fragrance development at LVMH and especially Dior (see the Escale cruise collection). The new group structure is going to be called LVMH Fragrance Brands and this is going to occupy the luxury media for a while, I bet! It points to very specific directions within the LVMH Group and a desire for an umbrella supervision which would be a bit troublesome for some brands within the group with more of a characteristic fingerprint (Guerlain, Dior...)

Fan di Fendi is aimed at women who are "free, sensual, joyful and electrifying" (Sounds like they would give you a nasty jolt, but fear not) . The TV commercials are going to be appearing next September, with a "hot and rock n'roll" image that is scheduled to shock.Starring Anja Rubik, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Karmen Pedaru will be art directed by Fabien Baron and photographed by Darius Khondji, while the Kills will play in the background. It remains to be seen...

Notes for Fan di Fendi:
Pear, blackcurrant, Calabrian mandarin, pink pepper from Reunion, rose from Damascus, yellow jasmine, soft leather accents and Indonesian patchouli.
(Via Parfumerie Hyves Nl, thanks to Jakub)


Available in 30ml for 52 euros and 75ml for 90 euros, from September 2010 at major department stores.

By Kilian Love & Tears (Amour & Larmes): new fragrance

The 9th installment in the By Kilian line L'Oeuvre Noir is announced: Love and Tears (Amour et Larmes).

The fragrance is centered around jasmine, with facets of iris, hesperides, white flowers and animalic notes garlanded around it. With such a composition, what other subtitle would you expect but Succumb? (In the manner of all the little commands of L'Oeuvre Noir scents in the By Kilian line).
Love and Tears by Kilian will be officially launching in September 2010 and will cost from 45 up to 165 euros, depending on packaging and size. (Yes, that means there will be travel refil options for you)


Related reading on PerfumeShrine: By Kilian news & reviews (scroll)

Info was brought to us as a heads-up first from the sweetest person imaginable.

Giant Ormonde Jayne bottle of Ta'if

“Having admired for years & years the huge bottles of perfume that Chanel & Dior have used in their adverts,
I felt the time was right for Ormonde Jayne to have one of our own & celebrate Ta’if.”
This is how Linda Pilkington explains the giant bottle of Ta'if which was designed and photographed at Harrods to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the scent. Feast your eyes on it!

Ta'if the fragrance is made with the pink ta’if roses that are grown on a dusty hilltop in the Arabian mountains & picked at dawn. This "sophisticated gourmand" Ormonde Jayne scent includes pink pepper, dates, saffron, freesia, broom & amber.

Serge Lutens Bois et Musc: Fragrance Review & a Draw

Among the four variations on the original Féminité du Bois, which in 1992 catapulted Les Salons business into the niche market (namely Bois de Violette, Bois et Fruits, Bois Oriental and Bois et Musc), this one is possibly the most polished, the most seamless, the most like natural skin scent and yet the lesser known. The latter possibly because it has never so far been issued in the export line, resolutely remaining a Parisian exclusive. Alongside Un Bois Sépia, Un Bois Vanille, Santal Blanc and Santal de Mysore, these woody fragrances form part of an informal family pegged as "Les Eaux Boisées" which cemented the Lutensian canon as we know it today.

Bois (pronounced "bwah") means of course woods and Bois et Musc is a fragrance which marries the two components of the name exactly as promised, in equal measure; first experienced in rapid succession (woods first, musk second), then in unison. The synergy of Moroccan cedar and smooth musk is at the core, while the usual Lutens accord of spice & dried fruits, with which he has invested his orientalised compositions for long, is subdued to the point of transparency. I seem to detect a creamy note of rosy sandalwood too, even though it is not officially mentioned, like those traditional incense beads fashioned in India and the Middle-East. The effect cannot be described as anything less than silky...
This is a fragrance which enters the scene like a shy guest who radiates the room with their quiet presence even though they don't utter a single word and are bespectacled. You'd be hard-pressed to find dainty features, or beauty writ large over them, but they just exude a positive energy that surrounds every living thing within a one-foot radius. Contemplative, sensuous, brainy with the kind of wits that don't show off. Compared with the other Bois variations on Féminité du Bois, it is closer to Bois de Violette, but without the shadowy ambery backdrop.

Bois et Musc is totally unisex, completely ageless and a superb skin-scent (i.e. smelling like human skin would if only angels and devils had cradled it), what the French call "à fleur de peau". Possibly, the idea which perfumer Christopher Sheldrake had in mind when describing a "sexy", attractive scent. And this is even more so the case than in Clair de Musc which misses by an inch via its opaline soapy florals that read as ethereal. In contrast this is nothing like a white musk: In fact it's closer to intimate and impolite, but it's so noble that it invests naughtiness with impecable manners. A sort of Fanny Ardant in a François Truffaut film, totally French.

Amidst subtle woody musks, this Lutens stands as a personal favourite ever since I had sampled it during a rather rushed visit (I had exited craddling a bell jar of La Myrrhe which had just been issued and which is also beautiful). Bois et Musc would make a wonderful musk choice for anyone who finds the concept of animalistic and outré Muscs Kublai Khan ~which I love, love, love~ quite attractive, but is leery of wearing such a potent musk outside the bedroom.

Bois et Musc is a Paris exclusive, sold at Les Salons du Palais Royal only, in the beautiful bell-jars of the exclusive line 75ml Eau de Parfum for 110 euros.

For our readers: One lucky reader will receive a big-sized decant of this exceptional, Paris exclusive fragrance. Comment if you want to be eligible. Draw will be open till Sunday midnight.



Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Scented Musketeers (musks reviews), The Musk Series: ingredients, classification, cultural associations


Photo from the film La femme d'à côté (Woman next door) by François Truffaut, 1981.

Serge Lutens Clair de Musc: Fragrance Review

Contrasting Clair de Musc to heavy-lidded, grimy and intimate Muscs Kublaï Khan by the same house, they couldn't be furter removed from one another in either concept or execution: Celestial creaminess on the one hand, afterglow raunchiness on the other. One feels platimum white, the other tawny.

Clair de Musc is ~atypically in the Lutens canon~ an angelic semi-vegetal musk (ambrette seed alongside synths, Habanolide I would wager); aldehydic, yet not totally soapy (Fleurs de Citronnier has a soapier musk base) neither "sharp" (à la L'Eau par Serge Lutens). It twists the idea of musk into an ethereal version of talcum-powdered chubby-peachy cheruvim with a floral underside, hold whatever "dirty aspects" i.e. indoles those flowers initially possessed; a skin-scent of juvenile, crisp flesh which almost "cracks" underneath the teeth. Which might explain why men love it on women. In our eternally seeking the youthful culture, Clair de Musc is a seduction that doesn't pose as seductive: The "innocence" of shorn pubes...but without a iota of crassness or malice.

In formula terms, there is a clear reference of aldehydics and florals of the past, intertextuality scatterings amidst the authoring, of which perfumer Chris Sheldrake surely was fully in control: the luster of both Chanel No.22and No.5, the cool vibrancy of powdered class of Iris Poudre by F.Malle, even the drydown phase of Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier (a cologne formula almost entirely comprised by musks anyway)

For what it is, a delicate "white musk" composition, this Lutens creation issued in 2003 can be deemed overpriced, as there are indeed lots of musks of that concept (albeit not exactly of that stature, this is smoother than most) across different price points. And it is no match for more complex musk fragrances such as the delightful and lamentably discontinued Helmut Lang. It is superb for layering purposes nevertheless, if you're after that sort of thing, and it is among the easiest to approach in the eclectic Lutensian portfolio. However, my own personal preference is always the dirtier, cosier brother with the heavily-bearded visage, Muscs Kublaï Khan...

Although to any lover of classical music the instinctive association would be with Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune, I chose a different, less troden path, which is none the less evocative: "Dance with my own shadow" from Gioconda's Smile album by Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. (set in a beautiful video by Omiros2)




Notes for Serge Lutens Clair de Musc:
bergamot, iris, neroli, jasmine, orange blossom, sandalwood, musk.

Clair de Musc is part of Serge Lutens export line, fragrances carried at select stores around the world, presented in the familiar oblong bottles of the brand.

Other noteworthy reviews: The Non Blonde, grain de musc, Pere de Pierre.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Scented Musketeers (musks reviews), The Musk Series: ingredients, classification, cultural associations

Screenshot from Les enfants du Paradis film, via screenshotworld blog

Coty Wild Musk: Fragrance Review

There are few images more precious to an adult than one that involves angst-ridden teen years, when we spent our time snatching vintage stuff of our mother's wardrobe, coupled with a few of our dear father's, lining our peepers in black khol like some Siouxsie wannabe and riding the Coty Wild Musk shelves out of their inventory stinking up every place we went to in the process. But now that Wild Musk is becoming increasingly difficult to find (and a reformulation or two have been implemented to disfigure a little of that fresh raw face that smiled beneath the angled fringe that recalled Flock of Seagulls) we view it with the nostalgic melancholy reserved for bruises that are slowly fading into yellow, having pained us for so long we sort of miss them when they're gone.

Musk notes are experiencing a revival lately, especially vintage animalic stuff which growls a bit teasingly when you approach, and Wild Musk is among the very best in a field that is becoming crowded with more pretentious and more expensive upstarts. But what sets apart this inexpensive beauty apart is that there is a cozy barber-shop atmosphere about this floriental, hot towels and shaving cream paraphernalia on smooth skin, a little rose and sandalwood powder in the air as well. And yet this is a fragrance that although can be unisex it has a very cuddly quality about it. Gentle, yet bawdy, warm and unobtrusive, but with a flirtatious edge, it deserves to be carried into adultdom with no intersections along the way. Not to mention that there is a special synergy between this creamy scent and the smell of sweat, carrying itself into intimacy without vulgarity. Compared to Jovan Musk the similarity is there, although I find Wild Musk creamier, a little sweeter and softer, especially in the oil edition. Not "dirty" or spicy as Muscs Kublai Khan or Khiel's older oil, yet not sanitized "clean" like the plethora of white musk offerings around (from Musc Bleu to The Body Shop White Musk), Wild Musk with its great lasting power on clothes and its vanillic trail stands at the utopian crossroads between the two directions.

Wild Musk came out in 1973, just when Coty and Coty International were united after being sold to Pfizer & Co ten years earlier (Imprevu is another one which is a follow up after this take-over), issuing a handful of popular products including Styx, Sweet Earth, and Wild Musk fragrances and the Equatone beauty-treatment line. This is also the time when the production facility relocated from New York City to Sanford, North Caroline, thus heralding a new era for the brand.
Perhaps the most characteristic trait is how Wild Musk had been taken over in that time-frame by arty types and carried over as a small hint that underneath the existentialist ennui and their assertions that culture is going through an agonizing death they were sensitive, affectionate souls after all.

Notes for Coty Wild Musk:
A solid note of musk is accented by bergamot, lavender, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, amber and vanilla

The formula of Wild Musk by Coty circulated as both an oil and an alcohol-spray version. The oil is superior in aspects of smoothness, although the spray is not bad either. The newer version does bear a difference to the older, due to the substitution of the musk components for reasons of biodegradability (see Musk Series part 2 for more info on nitro-musks) which makes it significantly tamer and with a more alcohol-prominent top. Intermediary-age boxes of the Cologne concentrate spray carry the swoosh design in a single ribbon instead of the flou, hazy rendition that the newer ones have. The even older ones had a completely different graphic as depicted in the ad, some of which had a rectangle bottle with a red cap and label (similar to Musk Patchouli).Bottles of the latest edition are carried at Walmart, Target's and drugstores, while older versions circulate on online etailers and Amazon.

What about you? Did you wear musk fragrances when you were (very) young? What were your choices?