Reviews of Muscs Koublaï Khän (1998)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

To my uneducated nose this doesn't smell like musk at all. It smells like baby powder. To me this is much more to the feminine side. I don't smell a single note that smells animalistic or dirty. Quite sweet. Oh well, it was worth buying the small sample to discover this.

This is for men, not for women. It smells masculine, not in the sense that it uses notes for men, such as leather and tobacco, but that it smells like a man. First there is a burst of powder, and then a sweet cumin note of perspiration, and then a warm enveloping musk--the aroma of a man's clean groin. On a man, it's perfectly nice, but on a woman? It's too butch for me. The musk is perfectly naturalistic, neither too strong nor too dirty. (Ava Luxe Rasa Extreme was dirtier.) To me, the fecal notes are balanced and "aired-out" by the musk. Overall, I would choose something sweeter, more vanillic, and without the cumin. So, I'm giving it a neutral from my own viewpoint, as to whether I would wear it, personally. I have never smelled this on a man, but I would rate it positive in that situation.

Notes: civet, castoreum, costus roots, cistus labdanum, ambergris, Morrocan rose, cumin, ambrette seeds, patchouli

The notes are a powerful tour de force of all things animalic. I went in expecting smells of a wet dog, unshaved dirty hormonal crotches, sweaty armpits, dirty socks, etc. I came away confused.

I dont know whether its the skin chemistry acting up, but what I get from MKK is sweet light airy floral which dries down to a sexy musk scent with hints of civet. While a pleasant smell, it smells quite feminine, really. It must be one darn potent Moroccan rose in use here. Something like Kouros blows the pretentious animalic doors out of this one, while Musc Ravageur does the sex/sensual/pheromone with much more sexual panache.

Overall, MKK isn't a bad scent - its just not what I was expecting. Its a fairly tame, demure fragrance (never thought I would say that about a Serge Lutens fragrance!) with a light pleasant musky floral accord. Would I shell out the big bucks for a freaky bell jar of this one ? Definitely not. It doesnt stand out much in its composition, and cheaper alternatives about. All the talks of this smelling like Genghis Khans nether regions turned out to be false - it smells more like one his harems before the late night carnage of love making.

I really can't understand what all the fuss is about. All I can smell is a soft (and slightly feminine) musk that, unfortunately, doesn't do much for me.

I wanted this one to be good on me so badly. It's nice, but not the lyrically dirty musc that I read about. My body chemistry must be the problem: all I get is a floral. Oh well, I still have Chene and Borneo (as well as Daim Blond) as Lutens that really work on me.

I had extremely high hopes for this one, expecting something even more decadently beautiful than Musc Ravageur. However, I was sadly disappointed - this bears too much of a resemblance to Kiehl's Original Musk to justify the high price. Sure, its better with more depth and complexity, but only marginally.