Musc

Ajmal Musc is very straight forward. On my skin, it's a nice tutti frutti blend where strawberry and passionfruit are the most notable notes. Of course, you will smell musk, but not that clean white musk that is usually used because its tenderness. It doesn't reach the elevation or airyness of white musk, so I assumed that it's some kind of black musk. In the base there's some woods to add a little bite to it. Just enough to balance the sweetness. There's a dry spicy oud if you smell it very close to the skin, but only up close. I would have loved a little more vanilla in the base for a more rounded fruity profile. So, it's fruity but not too sweet. It's musky but more woody, in my opinion. Fairly linear. Nothing too complex compared with others in the Purely Orient line. To be honest, I was expecting a fragrance with a radiant and opulent musk accord, however, in this one musk is very shy. I'm not saying that it's bad at all, but I own other Ajmals where musk is way more dominant and they don't even have "musk" in their names. Beast longevity. 12+ hours on my skin... easily! About projection I'm not pretty sure because I think I get nose fatigue with this one. Excellent for summer, which it's what I was looking for. Very easy to use. Totally unisex. My girlfriend loves it! I think the quality of ingredients are quite good and presentation is excellent. I purchase my bottle for a ridiculous price of... 35 USD so I'm happy... even if I had paid 100 USD.

I own six Purely Orient scents and Musc is my favorite at this point. Like the others, it is distinctly oriental, but not in a generic way. The apple and musk are the dominant opening notes. A delightful, airy fruitiness and a smidge of oud add to the composition. As it dries down, the ginger shows up, giving it some eccentric playfulness. The vanilla and cedar are harder to detect. Musc is a good mood in a bottle. Not too heavy for even the hottest weather. Unique and enjoyable– a love for me.

This one is more of a white musk tahara type smell. These can be amazing, creamy, heavenly light scents (Ajmal Wisal and Anthony Marmin’s Tatoouine come to mind)...but can often be too light, too soapy, too fruity, etc. They can come off like a shampoo, a bar of soap, bubble bath, etc. My sample of this smells very fruity, light, and lipsticky. I wish it had more oud, or some spice, or some bergamot or sandalwood. It smells like something for a teenage girl, in my connotations. After sampling this one and the Saffron one of this line, I’m concerned that another middle eastern house is making the usual mistake of only marketing their clones and westernized scents to the US. I wish Ajmal and others would understand that there is enough of a niche following in the US that they should have stores here with the same loose Attar oils they have in India! It’s annoying that I have to hunt down and special order the good stuff (Mukhallat Rashid, Misk A, etc)!!! I’m also alarmed that these scents have that same weak, watered down performance of many other brands lately. Ajmal is supposed to be the powerhouse brand! I just proclaimed their greatness in a recent review but this line is so disappointing. It’s odd that, with their skanky ouds, Ajmal seems to go the white musk direction, with musks. I keep hoping for their take on a black deer musk type profile.

Another fav from Ajmal Oriental collection. Still like Incense more. But this was a huge surprise. Ofcourse there is no real musk, its not dirty or musky in any way whatsoever. However, this is truly beautiful and beastly. I would call it a perfect Fruity Oud. Opens with a bright and crispy citrus, juicy green apple, strawberry like sweetness, creamy luchee and a touch of plum. Ginger nicely start to balance it and thankfully it not goes in to a cloying fruit punch juice direction. Very soon Woody dry and smoky cedar start to dominate with a generous touch of Indian oud. White musk here is delicious and it brings that beastly performance and a balance between strong oud and juicy fruits. Fragrance fiil a large room with just a few sprays. Others will smell sweet and Fruity creaminess wheres up close it is quite heavy on dry smoky wood and very oudy. Very unique combination of authentic Indian oud and exotic fruits perfectly balanced. Big surprise. Very easy wear for summer. Will finish bottle fast!