Musc Maori 04 by Parfumerie Generale, 2005

I first sampled this at Les Scenteurs in London. There were three men in the shop - all turned round and said 'you smell gorgeous' (or words to that effect). So, does it matter if you smell like chocolate milkshake with a cocoa dusting and a raspberry on top - or that men think you smell great. If the point of perfume is to chop it into components and judge it's artistry maybe this scent is simplistic and silly, but if it's to wordlessly alter the perceptions of oneself and others then this straightforward delicious juice has it nailed. And I like chocolate milkshake!

OH DEAR ! Wearing this clearly means "eat me !". I makes one smell like a very highly edible chocolate cake with a gorgeous milky vanillartouch and maybe a little red fruit (raspberries ?). I tried it on, looking for a scent for a man who loves chocolate, but I'm not sure he'd like to smell like he IS the chocolate. However, it is a delicious (...) scent on a very cold winter day in Paris : wearing it efficiently makes one feel warm. What excapes me is the name as there is to my mind nothing 'musky' in Musc Maori.

One of the very few compositions by Parfumerie Generale that I strongly dislike. An extremely realistic dark cacao note, some coffee and a strong creamy/milky vibe. I know it may sound blasphemous of me but it smells like Starbucks minus the cinnamon. As a friend used to say, this is not simply a gourmand, it's more like something you could spray directly inside your mouth. Not for me...

Opening with a Christopher Brosius-like conjuring trick, Musc Maori smells for its first 15 minutes like a box of dark chocolates, accompanied by a hint of its plastic tray and occasional foil wrapping. Thereafter it relies on a combination of tonka, vanilla, and the remnants of that cocoa note. On the spectrum of chocolate themed fragrances ranging from the deplorable 100% Love to the delectable Borneo 1834 Musc Maori sits a little behind the halfway point, on the queasy end of the scale. This is the skilful execution of a silly concept, for Musc Maori is both too simple and too sweet.

My Wife has been wearing this for 3 years now. She gets compliments whenever she wears it. I love smelling her when she wears it. It's simply an addictive fun, sexy scent.

This smells like real genuine dark cacao. Nothing fake about it! I imagine a 50's lady wearing a white musc perfume making chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I feel the smell of freshly buttery chocolate cakebatter with nuts, vanilla, and her white musc perfume mixed with that. After a while this smells like those first 5minutes you set the cookies in the oven,just before the cookies start "cooking". Yum!

Musc Maori opens with a strong almost-cocoa note deep and dark. Im not sure of the quality of the note it has the depth of dark cocoa done well but I think the actual cocoa note is closer to surreal than real, possibly because of a dark coffee note in the accord. The chocolate note is impressive, but not necessarily enjoyable. The scent is essentially linear so its drydown is simply the diminishing of the cocoa accord along with the slow expansion of some discreet amber and tonka bean notes.

Musc Maori is an ok scent but I think it exhibits a definite lack of character; Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 does this concept much better, I think.

Plasticky jasmine & eau de chocolat faux. Scrub. Repeat.

Rich, yet light. A close to the skin scent.

Playful, short lived chocolate, like a smartie.