Kiehl's Original Musk (1963)
by Kiehl's

This is possibly one of the most delicious musks I've ever tried. Forget Narciso Rodriguez for Her, Kiehl's simplistic musk takes the cake.

Opening quite feminine and fragile on the skin, Kiehl's Original Musk is a mixture of soapy powder and delicate florals, with only a subtle spiciness underneath it all.

It's sexy in a very clean and crisp sense. I imagine it to be something you'd wear while curled up near a fire on a warm rug next to your lover who whispers sweet love poems into your ear. To put it in basic terms, Original Musk is sexy in a strict, conservative way, that tends to be more romantic than wild or exotic.

There's something somewhat animalistic about musk despite its clean and soapy feel. It blends perfectly with your own natural chemistry, making it very personal and inoffensive. I find it in some ways, highly addictive.

I can be anosmic to musk at times, however in the case of this fragrance, I was able to smell it throughout the duration it stayed on my skin, which was well over six hours.

I'm a little dubious to see this fragrance listed as a unisex fragrance, simply because it's so feminine and subtly sweet on my skin. However I won't rule a man wearing this out of my mind completely, because I haven't had the chance to smell this on a man's skin just yet.

14th November, 2011.

The poor men Muscs Koublai Kahn. Much more simpler, linear and surely more approachable than the Lutens (which in this case means less animalic and less compelling) but still one of the best bang for the buck when it comes to dark muscs. Great longevity but poor sillage. Good.

4th November, 2011.

This fragrance reminds me of the Tres Flores hair pomade my grandfather used back in the day... Not a bad thing though!

Anyway, Original Musk is a classic, sexy fragrance that I feel confident wearing. One of those musk fragrances at a good price.

13rd October, 2011.

When I first tried the edt during the winter, this stuff was potent and harsh. I made my mom smell it and she said it smelled like soap and that the pretty girls use to wear it when she was young.

I was completely dumbfounded when she told me that. I could not smell what she smelled at all. It was manly and smelled like a bottle amla oil with a hint of gasoline. Now comes summer and it smells like soap. Not the soap bar Im familiar with like zest, coast, dove, ivory or irish spring. Shortly after spraying it smells more like gas station bathroom pink liquid soap and lotion mixed together.

The longer it wears the softer and creamier it gets. Plus the further away I am from where I sprayed it on my body the better it smells. Its actually really light right now and mildly sweet. i almost like it.

So for me this would only be worn during warmer weather.

26th August, 2011.

This scent really forced me to think about how I approach the musk genre as a whole. I'd consider it unisex because the florals are more of the perfumey type than the soapy type. Initially there isn't much beyond alcohol, which for me masks whatever top notes there may be. The very sweet musk and rose (?) come through after a few minutes, but I'm surprised how weak it seems this time...maybe because I sprayed directly into a small spot on my shirt? Before, I remember it being strong and insistent, with a honey-like sweetness which to me usually brings a cloying quality. One of the notes has a cool sharpness, which cuts through and helps a lot with that issue, but also I believe it's the dreaded note that always bothers me and makes me think of wintergreen. My main concerns: is it too feminine because of the heavy sweetness, or masculine enough because of the spices and soapiness? Is musk in general so clearly identified with decades past that it will seem dated, no matter how it is tweaked? I fear that the musk genre is unpopular now because today's consumers have the same qualms with it as I do!

28th July, 2011.

To those who find the EDT concentration too floral, I strongly recommend trying the oil version of Kiehl's Original Musk. I once owned the EDT spray and swapped it away because - you guessed it - it was too floral. The musk didn't seem to mesh with the strong, almost soapy flowers in the heart. I saw what the scent was aiming for: that interesting but difficult to execute juxtaposition of clean and dirty accords, a la Kouros. But instead of coming together to make something interesting, the notes seemed to be fighting each other in the EDT.

Fast forward a couple years. I read some reviews of the oil that indicated a less floral musk blend. So I picked up a .25oz vial of the oil, and sure enough, it was everything I hoped the EDT would be when I first bought it: that rich, attractive, interesting and almost savory musk note comes into focus here. It is incredibly attractive and versatile. The florals are still present, but they're definitely subservient to, and almost embedded in, the dominant musk. Like the other oils in this line, it has excellent longevity.

The oil version of Kiehl's Original Musk is outstanding, and the price is certainly right. $25 for the .25oz vial of oil, and $35 for the .5oz bottle. Both oil options will last as long as or longer than the 1.7oz EDT spray.

27th July, 2011.