Fraîcheur Muskissime (1988)
by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

Comparisons with L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Mûre et Musc aren’t too far off, but I think Fraîcheur Muskissime is an edgier and more distinctive scent, though possibly less easy wear. Fraîcheur Muskissime starts off with a very sharp, acidic citrus note, underpinned by a crisp herbal accord and the barest touch of something floral. The citrus mellows only slightly as the scent develops, while light, sweet florals and a delicate musk round out the heart. From this point on the scent is fairly linear, lasting perhaps three or four hours before fading to a gentle, sweetly musky skin scent.

Fraîcheur Muskissime distinguishes itself from the common run of fresh citrus scents through both the sheer, dry, steely brightness of its citrus note and the persistence of that note, uncompromised by any artificial sweeteners, until late in the drydown. (Maître Parfumeur et Gantier manages this same stunt in their newer Bahiana.) This sharp-edged, lasting citrus note stands in balanced contrast to the mellow, rounded musk foundation, establishing an olfactory tension that keeps Faîcheur Muskissime interesting to the last. Underexposed and underrated, this is a very nice summer scent that I think deserves more attention.

10th December, 2009.

I find this a tad weak on my skin though it is a nice, lemony musk with subdued sweet notes. And yes, it's "fresh".

19th September, 2008.

This is one of the nicest fruity fresh scents I’ve come across. It is totally refreshing and I don’t find it anywhere near cloying. Citrus and berry provide the clean fruit notes. I’ve always liked the light fruity smells of berries and currents and they are presented to perfection in Fraicheur Muskissime. As zztopp suggests, the lemon and grapefruit notes are not used primarily for themselves, but rather to cut any excessive sweetness that might occur from the berries—and the job is done with exceptional finesse. The presentation of the musk is another admirable accomplishment, musk is usually not my favorite, but here it is full and refined without being disproportionate. The “fresh” is never lost sight of in Fraicheur Muskissime. As with many superior scents, I find that FM contains contradictions: It seems very simple, and it is done so cleanly that it strikes me that this could easily be interpreted as one of those pretty but shallow fragrances: It isn’t! There is real depth to it—depth without obvious complexity. How do they do that? As for whether or not it is feminine…I think it leans a bit to the distaff side, but I don’t have a problem wearing it; I do not feel my masculinity threatened. This is an amazingly clean, subtle, and winning fragrance.

6th April, 2007.

This is very similar to Mure et Musc by L'Artisan. Both use a combination of a sweet fruit note and musk. I find Fraicheur Muskissime too cloying and too feminine. The musk note is very strong at first, but it quickly dies down and the fragrance evolves to something similar to berry ice cream. At least the longevity is good, particularly for a fairly subtle scent.

28th October, 2006.

The notes list from Aedes:

Top: Blackcurrant, lemon, grapefruit
Middle: Blackberry, raspberry, jasmine
Base Note: Mysore sandalwood, musk.

This stuff smells great ! As the name indicates, this is a musk dominated fragrance. Infact, it seems like the more feminine version of the much lauded Neroli Sauvage, and with better longevity. The berry, jasmine and the blackcurrant lend a dominant sweetness to it, but it never gets cloying because of the lemon and grapefruit notes. The drydown, consisting of sandalwood and musk, blends extremely well with the overall composition - despite the sweet notes, it does smell fresh, and I love the musk in this !

Bottle-worth it is !

25th August, 2006.