Wild Blackberry Musk
by Ava Luxe

1) EDP sample review:

On first impressions, it definitely smelt more unisex than Mure et Musc Extreme. It started off with this nice (and slightly sharp) citrus blast, with the blackberry in the background. After a short period of time, the blackberry became stronger on my skin but the citrus notes still remained present, albeit less intensely. Personally, I found the citrus notes (which smelt more mandarin-like than lemony) to be a nice touch and felt that this gave the overall composition a bit more edge.

At times, all I could smell was a faint blackberry-scented musk but, occasionally, the blackberry note seemed to re-emerge with a vengeance. When I woke up the following morning, I could still detect traces of it on my skin (although the citrus notes had long disappeared by this stage).

Brilliant stuff!


2) Full-sized bottle (EDP) review:

So, I decided to buy a bottle, after being so impressed with the sample. However, it ended up smelling like urine on my skin! The way it performed on me was extremely different to the sample.

Was the sample in parfum concentration? Well, the label did state EDP. So, either the quality of the sample was totally different from the full-sized bottle I purchased (not a great indication of the consistency between batches) or the sample was indeed parfum concentration but with an EDP label (which would indicate possible deception).

Either way, I’m never going to purchase another Ava Luxe scent again.

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

This kicks off with a gorgeous, fruity blackberry - not a smidgeon of cat's pee - just lovely jammy goodness. The scent did not stay on my arms for long (I type on a laptop at work so scents tend to rub off) but remained on my chest all day. I did not get much musk from this, however, though it is a sensual fragrance.