HS3

Tom Ford recently released his new White Musk series, consisting of Jasmine Musk, Urban Musk, White Suede, and Musk Pure. All 4 of them were pretty impressive to my nose. Musk Pure is like a new interpretation of Kiehl’s Original Musk and Serge Luten Musk Koublai Khan, but with a twist. Jasmine Musk is a good take on what the title says, White Suede is a creamy leather with light, sweet musk notes, and Urban Musk (which I found to be the most daring of the bunch), adds a dirty note to the opening and heart and dries surprisingly sweet on my skin. Tom Ford calls this one “carnal.” I talked myself into getting Urban Musk recently at a Tom Ford event at Saks and have been enjoying it quite a bit. My SA threw in a huge factory spray of White Suede as well so I’ll be set with that one as well.

Here are a few shots of Urban Musk… I think they could have done a bit more with the bottles than just make them clear with a white top, but it’s still pretty striking.

Recently, the house of Narciso Rodriguez released a his and hers limited edition version of their hugely popular musc series in EDP form (and a new, different formulation). I was in Saks over a month ago when my SA showed me the limited edition musc for him tester they had from under the counter. She said that they had only gotten 3 bottles, and they had all sold the day they got them. I tried the tester and got the familiar Narciso musc notes, but with a twist. This is like a combination of the musc oil for him and the regular musc for him EDT. It is said to be “a tribute to musk” and it lives up to its billing. It’s by no means a dirty musk – you won’t be howling or wondering whether people will think you just forgot to bathe. Among the listed notes are musk, iris, and pink berries.

A few weeks went by and I got an email from my SA that she had gotten a couple more bottles in and had one put aside for me. It was only $59 (minus the 10% off for a Friends & Family event), but the difficulty of tracking a bottle of this down makes the price a non-factor. It’s no easy feat to find one. I eagerly picked it up (and was also talked into a bottle of the new Tom Ford Urban Musk by the Tom Ford reps on hand during the event… another fabulous musk) and wore it that night.

The bottle is gorgeous as well – it’s similar to the regular musc for him, but the lining inside the heavy glass is metallic. The sprayer is also just as full and sturdy as you’ll find on the EDT. I am by no means a one scent kind of person, but if I was forced to narrow it down to 10, this would certainly be a top contender. I’ll post a few more photos of the great bottle this week.

I really love orange blossom scents. They really seem to agree with my skin and are perfect in summer heat. I wear it to the beach, to work, you name it. My two current favorites are Fleurs d’Oranger by Le Labo and Orange Blossom Cologne by Jo Malone. Naturally, I sought out more to add to the genre. I thought I’d explore the world of Neroli – the blossom of the bitter orange tree, a spicier, slightly less floral cousin to the sweet orange blossom so common here in Florida. I ordered samples of Diptyque L’eau de Neroli and Profumum Neroli from Luckyscent.

Diptyque L’eau de Neroli. It started perfectly – this was it… the bright, light sweet orange blossom scent that I love, with a touch of zing from bitter neroli and verbena. The verbena added something extra in the opening that was gorgeous. In about 10 minutes though, all that was gone. The scent got sweeter by the minute, and creamy (luckyscent says that’s the beeswax talking). It’s a nice scent, but I’m not after orange blossom with a creamy musk base. I want the crisp and tart, but light and floral take. Next.

Profumum Neroli. This started in a huge classic way – traditional EDC notes led by sharp citrus, and less about blossoms. It stays crisp and dry throughout, never veering the creamy sweet way the Diptyque did, but I’m looking for something a bit more about the blossom, and less about the sharpness classic citrus structure.

The search continues!

Olivier Durbano Jade – This opens as dusty mint laden tea leaves. It’s a very lush, earthy mint – not like the smell of common mint flavoring, but rather the smell of the mixture of the soil with the moist mint that grew in the woods behind the house I grew up in. It seems to follow the pattern of Durbano’s previous releases and shares a number of qualities. There’s something about them that actually does bring the image of rock to mind – gritty, dust covered rock. This particular one seems to sit very close and keep its projection at bay. It stays dry and austere with classic notes of vetiver, patchouli and herbs that linger long after the initial mint and tea trip.

Omnia Granato – I’ve read a few places that this is supposed to have some dirty, animalic notes to it. I personally didn’t get much of that on the first few tries. I was pretty excited to try it in anticipation of those animalic notes, but luckily I still like the result quite a bit. What I do get is an initial blast of sweetened musks and vanilla, followed by a smattering of spices and smokey cedar and vanilla. I get a considerable semblance to Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale, but seemingly not quite as complex and a bit sweeter in its drydown. As it settles, a few notes creep out that may be construed as “dirty,” but one might assume much of that claim was included in a PR brief. Either way, it works well.