Musc Immortel

#1033 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Yesterday I ran into my friend Rebecca, who having started a new job that takes advantage of her workaholic nature has been out of circulation for a month. She is a stunning woman and joy on two feet. She complimented me on the Carner Barcelona "D600" I was wearing and thanked me for her birthday gift, Atelier des Ors "Larmes du Desert", which after I smelled it on her I regretted not keeping that one for myself. That meeting prompted to me to pull out this decant I've had for over a year and try it out. This is another home run from Atelier des Ors and I absolutely love it. Dead center unisex. The notes here are a very hard combination to beat. Still, I would rank their "Iris Fauve" slightly ahead of this because of the stronger iris note that I prefer, and "Larmes du Desert" for it's lovely incense, and I would place this ahead of "Rouge Saray" which is a bit feminine for me, but I don't see anyone being unhappy with this fragrance. I can't actually pick out immortelle as a note, but I know it's the source of the spicy, herbal sweetness in a dozen scents I either have or have gifted to the women in my life, like Amouage "Sunshine Man"', the Amouage "Interlude Woman" I also gave Rebecca on a previous birthday. It's a note you'll find in Francesca Bianchi's "Etruscan Water", "Sex and the Sea" and "Sex and the Sea Neroli", "Unspoken Musk", which competes well with this scent (Bianchi is another house that never seems to miss). Also a note in one of my all time faves, Les Indemodables amazing "Ambre Supreme." I think this is car pool, elevator, small office safe. This is most definitely date wear. Good sillage for several hours. Skin scent all day long. I gotta own a bottle of this one.

The opening is fantastic. A whiff of beautifully blended vetiver and cypriol oil and immortelle. I could also detect patchouli, grapefruit and clary sage just like the notes listed. It smells exactly like the liquid in the bottle - golden, sparkling. 10 minutes later, some of the fresher notes are gone and now it reminds me strongly of a discontinued gem - Tom Ford's Sahara Noir. The scent still paints a golden picture, this time much less like an immortelle field and more like a desert. An hour later, a strong styrax note appears and it is here to stay, making the whole scent profile a lot more plastic-like. Now it certainly lives up to its name - Musc - but this is no real musk, in fact it reminds me very much of synthetic fur coats, but sprinkled with brown sugar. Still pleasant, but not as pleasant as its initial phases for me. Not sure if full bottle worthy for me but I can imagine there are others who might enjoy this.

I got a sample along with Iris Fauve and they are similar in the opening, with the iris more pronounced in IF of course. Atelier Des Ors has a way with iris that simply needs to be experienced.. I love the opening of this fragrance, really surprised me given the unique composition of notes. Masterfully blended and not what I expected it to smell like. Progression and dry down is beautiful, so smooth and refined. Like a sensual caress, it won't rough you up in the wilderness like some musky frags, but it will tousle your hair and linger just so.. As far as musky fragrances I've encountered, this one is best in class in my opinion. Not even a hint of stale or dusty.

My bottle has arrived! The opening to my nose is very similar to iris fauve from the same line. After further investigation the musk starts to develop nicely and gives this a slightly animalistic touch. The dry down compared to iris fauve are completely different. This dry down is gorgeous, the ambrette and musk combine for a beautiful sweet musky dry down:) longevity and Sillage are monster on my skin and my skin usually eats fragrance up. Although the opening is very similar to iris fauve I think both are bottle worthy because they are iris done in different ways and both so great. Plus can we talk about the bottles?! 24k gold flakes give it that bougie touch

Woodiness in this one, maybe because of the sweetness, smells very akin to chocolate found in perfumes. It's bitter, powdery and sweet. Not my cup of tea but not a horrible smell. EDIT: Oh wait, there's more. After several hours, yes hours, the bitterness completely subsides and whatever chocolate notes I was tripping back there. It becomes this purely warm almost honey like (but no cloying sweetness) smell with a bit of immortel and musc. So very feminine and radiating, nothing not a single bit of artificial notes I can detect. It stays for days on your clothes...