I have a confession… I detest heavy musk fragrances . I will also confess that I have tested 2000 fragrances or so over the past six years and only wear 15 on a regular basis; three are discontinued, and two are natural fragrances.
The popularity of the iconic Musk Ravageur by Maurice Roucel for Editions de Parfum de Frederic Malle was a mystery to me, until I began writing about fragrance six years ago and began testing fragrances on many different skin types where it blossomed. That's when I learned that, as in the words of Jean Claude Ellena, "A perfume must tell a story on the skin"… even if it isn't my skin. When I was the first fragrance writer to review Strange Invisble Perfumes Musc Botanique, I told its story in second person, after testing the botanical musk that started it all for many bloggers who wrote predominately about musky synthetic perfumes. .
With eleven of the twelve submissions in, I chose to write about the Mystery of Musk fragrance that told MY story…. Charna Ethier's Musk Nouveau.
We travel back twenty five years to Paris, where we meet the author as a young art student at the Sorbonne, with a pierced nose, wearing vintage flea market dresses, big hoop earrings and long dark hair to her waist which she braided, so as not to fall into the pigments she hand ground for her paintings.
A glimpse of the author in her 20s? She was a rebel, a disco queen with a soupcon of funk and punk, who left the USA to pursue art, adventure and love in Paris..
She chain smoked Gauloises (the champaca) note upon rising bleary eyed after a night of dancing and other activities (the opening).
She drank six cups of espresso every day ( the coffee note) and drank cognac neat (the boozy note) at a nightclub called Le Tabou where she met her first husband.
Back to first person, Musk Nouveau brings back memories of the guilty pleasures and the vices of my youth. Althought the fragrance card lists oud, night blooming jasmine and spicy pepper, these notes remain hidden on my skin. Musk Nouveau used fine ingredients, (my nose does not lie); I was impressed with the quality of the chamapaca and patchouli, which pulled that heavenly chocolate note evoking the artisnal truffles and ganaches sold at La Maison du Choclat on the Rue Fauborg. I believe Ms. Ethier should refine this fragrance (which she only had a few months to create) to increase its longevity and sillage. It is a stunner on my skin but like a memory, it is ephemeral.
I visited Providence Perfumes website and must admit I am curious to smell Osmanthus Oolang and yes, Divine, developed for a "glamourous friend who was never without her lipstick….with its notes of orange blossom and vanilla, they beckon.
– Michelyn Camen, Editor-In-Chief
Editor's Note: The works of Alphonse Mucha, an illustrator of the Art Nouveau era were ubiquitous in the small cafes of Paris.
Reminder: Alexandra Balahaoutis of Strange Invisble Perfumes Temple of Musk is the bottle we are giving away at CaFleureBon. We will draw from among all comments on The Mystery of Musk articles at the end of the project.