Year: 2008
Notes: aldehydes, lily of the valley, rose, patchouli, vetiver, cedar, civet, ambergris, musk
Comment: Musc 25 is the City Exclusive for Los Angeles
Musc 25 is a refined version of The Body Shop's White Musk, with both a sprightly and powdery demeanour.
Based on the desire to create a fragrance of "angelic whiteness with a dark core of sin", it starts off well with a laundry fresh white musk married with aldehydes. A little later, a faint rose accord emerges, while the lily of the valley maintains its fresh aura with a subtle ozonic touch. The earthiness of the woody components are rather reserved yet lend further gravitas to the sweet, synthetic and puritanically clean proceedings.
However, over time, the composition smells more metallic or sour, which isn't that off-putting. Maybe it's due to the heavily touted component, Ingredient X, described as "a synthesized representation of human semen". But, with a nod towards État Libre d'Orange's Sécrétions Magnifiques, one isn't particularly interested in such cheap attention-seeking gimmicks.
Developed by Frank Voelkl, it's an attractive but inoffensive floral musk for the greater part, which should appeal to fans of Serge Lutens' musk offerings. It's just a shame it has to be so ostentatious and overpriced.
Based on the desire to create a fragrance of "angelic whiteness with a dark core of sin", it starts off well with a laundry fresh white musk married with aldehydes. A little later, a faint rose accord emerges, while the lily of the valley maintains its fresh aura with a subtle ozonic touch. The earthiness of the woody components are rather reserved yet lend further gravitas to the sweet, synthetic and puritanically clean proceedings.
However, over time, the composition smells more metallic or sour, which isn't that off-putting. Maybe it's due to the heavily touted component, Ingredient X, described as "a synthesized representation of human semen". But, with a nod towards État Libre d'Orange's Sécrétions Magnifiques, one isn't particularly interested in such cheap attention-seeking gimmicks.
Developed by Frank Voelkl, it's an attractive but inoffensive floral musk for the greater part, which should appeal to fans of Serge Lutens' musk offerings. It's just a shame it has to be so ostentatious and overpriced.
