Musc Ravageur (2000)
by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

Musc Ravageur starts out sweet, but not cloying, and dries down through phases of complex spice, wood, animalic notes, and vanilla-musk. Almost tangible in its sensuality -- you just want to reach out and stroke it. A bit over the top? Maybe, but impossible for me to resist. Good sillage and moderate lasting power. Most certainly a "desert island" scent for me. Kmfdm10392 once wrote that "Jicky is the only unisex fragrance that matters." Well, move over Jicky, 'cause you've got company.

Much stronger and more complex then a number of the Serge Lutens I tried while at Barney's. Been wearing everyday this week. No compliments or complaints and I like how it smells a lot. 10 hours later I was told that someone could smell it on me.

Two women who I interacted with I found were leaning or pressing against me and had a glazed look in their eyes (never experienced that before except in crazy nights on the town in Japan or New York)

However, after about 4 or 5 hours I notice a smell like I was stuck near burning leaves or burning newspapers. Not sure if I just smell that or others can too.

I am a big fan of the complexity of this and find it masculine and sweet at the same time.

I bought this when it was first launched as the top notes are wonderful. I always felt slightly uncomfortable when I wore it though. The musks are fine, but in the end everything is swallowed up by a huge, jarring overblown amber. Be warned.

Overall Musc Ravageur is a gourmand niche take on musk. The opening is a non-chalant expose of bergamot, citrus, and white flowers followed by a spicy, edible heart of carnation, cinnamon, vanilla, rubber, and possibly nutmeg. The base notes reveal a little bit of clean musk and surprisingly…more vanilla. Decent, but probably not worth the over $100 price tag.

Disgracefully Good... If I know that I am going to up all night (wink wink), and that in the morning I am going to be lying there; exhausted, sweaty, filthy, and with pillows and clothes thrown all over the room, then this is the fragrance I wear because it compliments that situation perfectly, and also because it will last until the next morning too, hehe. Divine.

Blame it on the numerous positive comments ranging from supportive to enthusiastic, I heard and read about Musc Ravageur, but I was so disappointed from the very beginning. I was expecting something more musky and exquisite and I just got a nice sweet scent instead. Perfumers sometimes, in their effort to create scents that stand out and actually make the difference, come up with interesting but strange and misleading blends, and I think this is the case for MR. Strange opening (sorry, no bergamot for me, just a sweet and oily lavender note) that leads to a loud cinnamon spice heart that gets better with time. Not great though. I can see the use of cinnamon as a way to innovate, give power and some longevity to the blend, only I am not sure it will please the majority of Musc lovers (they will have to search a lot in order to find a note that resembles to musc, at least at its usual form). The base is quite pleasant but fails to project its woody character. More feminine and definitely not sexy for me.