Reviews of Musc Ravageur (2000)
by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

I don't think I can join the bandwagon on this one. Just too powdery for my taste. I think the idea of a gamey musk combined with soft and sweet is pretty inspired in a way, but it's also flirting with disaster, and I'm not sure this one actually stopped short of the precipice, at least on my skin. Neutral rating for the quality ingredients and the recognition that this might work on some people (especially women).

I really don’t get all the praise for this one. As for being sexy… well, there are certainly sexier scents out there.

During the opening, all I get are cloves and spices. This persists for the first 2-3 hours on my skin. However, a lovely transformation soon takes place, where it evolves into this delicious vanilla and cinnamon scent. Unfortunately, that’s really as good as it gets…

Firstly, its sillage and longevity isn’t as great as others have stated. On my skin, its sillage dies down quite considerably (especially within the first couple of hours) leaving a lingering skin scent that can only be detected close-up. Personally, I would have liked a lot more ‘throw’.

Secondly, I originally got a lot of déjà vu about the drydown. At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it and then, suddenly, it came to me - Hermèssence Ambre Narguilé! Yes, the drydown of Musc Ravageur smells almost identical to this Hermès creation. Of course, this was released first but, if I already owned Ambre Narguilé, I would certainly not need to own Musc Ravageur as well.

As for which one is better, I really have no personal preference (simply for the fact that neither of them have much longevity or sillage on my skin). However, if you don’t like the smell of cloves and want to go straight to the drydown, buy Ambre Narguilé instead.

This has such a strong "old-lady" connotation to me. I had prepared myself for a sexy animalic musc, but the sweetness was overpowering, and there was a sour opening note that persisted and was actually a bit nauseating (like incontinent old lady). Had to wash it off. Twice. I'm disappointed that I was persistent in bidding for my sample; should have let it go at $25.00....*sigh* Live and learn...

MR is not a very complex scent and tries too hard too impress imo. I love its delicious beginning which has more to offer than the sickly sweet drydown which I can't stand any more and is btw very similar to T4T base. This is a romantic dinner/night out scent with good longevity, would never wear this to an office. There are better alternatives in this category imo, Angelique Encens being one of them.

I have to say this was one of the bigger let downs for me. I was expecting this to be the holy grail of scents, sadly I was mistaken. This opens up with a very strong licorice note, black licorice at that. From there it got better, though it did take two hours. I cannot imagine spending the money for this however.

To my inexperienced nose this is a classically hairy-chested masculine fragrance. The notes and movement of this fragrance are better described by other, more knowledgeable Basenotes members. I've worn it, but it smelt somehow 'wrong' on me. However, when I sprayed my frightfully butch, perfume-resistant hubby, suddenly it made sense. It's very sexy on a man in an old-fashioned, slightly seventies, way. If you're a woman, by all means try it, but also try the classics: Tabac Blond, Bandit and Poivre.

much better put together than epices noir in my opinion, very sweet and musky with a bit of amber and perhaps some woods? however it doesnt really have any je ne sais quoi to it to make it bottleworthy. this will end up another sampled and filed perfume in my history books.

I was left feeling indifferent about this one. I did not love it and did not hate it. I got a spicy amber scent with a hint of musk. Thats about it. Perhaps I missed something and more testing is needed but I was not moved enough to propagate another testing. I will not own this.

A provocative oriental if you can get past the highly aggressive elements of cinnamon and clove and don't mind the also rather pronounced lavendar, which works on some (men and women) but doesn't always agree with my chemistry. The drydown phase is very sweet and not all that intense for a musk; the name implies something far more savage than the relative tameness of the musk here delivers. I like this fragrance fairly well but don't find it spectacular. Some may be offended by the assessment, but Musc Ravageur is not all that far removed from Estee Lauder's Cinnabar or YSL's Opium in spirit. This one is more clear and "clean" than those others but has the same attitude of spicy-sweet sexy oriental.

"Good night, Doctor, and [ahem] good luck, for you're a cheetah on the prowl I should say!"

Funny my valet should have spoke this to me the other night, for I was certainly feeling the same. That is, until [b]Musc Ravaguer[/b] stalled out in the mid-notes and became cloying with its ambery sweetness. My kitten didn't seem to mind, indeed not one bit, but I truthfully grew somewhat tired. The musky, ambery, vanilla, tonka'ish mix also had a faint artificiality to it. I'll try it again, and though the response was everything I could have hoped for, I didn't enjoy the scent itself as much as I thought I would.

Wicozani

Smooth yet strong spicy-ambery oriental with deep musk notes under. When sampled I've just liked it but not that much to call this a masterpiece. Explicit amber note reminded ETRO Ambra without its woods. Maybe it's all my skin but it hadn't developed impressively.

The fragrance is ravishing indeed, but on me it disappeared, even when augmented by the body lotion.