Musc Ravageur

Disclaimer: this is definitely one of my lengthiest reviews. If ur not reading allat then don’t? If u are then enjoy babe love u 🫶🏻 Mmmh don't you just love the smell of a skanky sexy time on sweat-soaked red velvet sheets? Lipstick stains, rose petals, and melting sensations. In the dim lights of your lair, your partner’s face is obscured by the darkness but their unmistakable sweet delicious musk sure is wafting in the air with every motion. Moments like this call for minimal lighting, almost pitch black, to really set the mood because with just one flick of a light switch, the bright lights will expose your partner’s true identity—the pillsbury doughboy :D 🤘 yipee anyways i was just doing an impression of how some yall sound like when you’re glazing this fragrance, so now imma just write random words so the punchline doesn’t end up sitting right at the end making it too obvious woop woop distraction skills. Ok, now the review. Hmmm sorry but this isn’t what any of yall claimed it to be. Sex beast sex god sex blah blah or maybe some of you were just too horny when yall smelled it 😩 because there’s nothing remotely sexual about it. I expected warm spicy, sweaty, dirty animalics but this is simply an avalanche of baby powder and a thunderstorm of baby oil. Sorry, how many of u associate sexy times with baby powder and baby oil... “that’s weird that’s suspicious” - cardi b I’ve always wanted to challenge myself when it comes to sniffing new things but god this is like returning to square one back when I obsessed over aldehydic scents like girl this is in the same sweet, soap-ish, baby powder impression you’d get from byredo blanche... Sure, maybe it’s quite dirty but that’s only on the initial spray where it smells like the raunchy scent of greasy unwashed hair but duh that’s not enough to justify almost everyone’s claim on how “filthy” this thing is because that skanky beginning quickly develops into a cinnamon flavored gum. The funny thing is we don’t even get to mingle with the cinnamon gum for an extra 5 seconds because the baby powder on steroids is just way too pumped and excited to take the spotlight and sit on the drydown throne for the next 12 hours. Oh, and please, stop waiting for that “dirty” aroma because this thing is super linear once u reach the BABY POWDER ON STEROIDS stage. This thing is soooo FULL-ON powder that it reminds me of that one Mean Girls scene where Janis told Cady she smelled like a baby prostitute 🎀 like at this point I know it was canon for them to name this as anything that’s associated with “powder” but when i picture “1000 bottles of baby powder by Frederic Malle” it’s sooo not their branding so they wanted to be edgy with 😈musc ravageur🤘 but did it make sense? Was it really a devastating musk? No. In my opinion this isn’t devastating in the sense that you BADLLYY wanna hump someone because they smell “sexy” 😭 girl be fr do u find baby powder the scent of seduction? 😭 do you guys find baby powder sexy? 🤨🤨🤨 DO YOU??????????? Ok maybe it is subtly sexy for some people but like where do people find the “hot sex” in this fragrance? WHERE?! 👹 because all i’m getting is a lady all dressed in rococo—HELLLLLL this would’ve made more sense if it was the actual “Portrait of a Lady”. When I smell this all i can think of is the painting entitled “The Swing” which has some naughty details but nothing too sexual. That’s just the amount of sexiness in here, not some raunchy sweaty sex like some of yall claimed. Surprisingly tho, despite it being such a linear baby powder on steroids smell, there are times when I get caught off-guard because when it’s wafting through the air I get a very subtle smell of milk tea 🧋 Yes Milk. Tea. but fully coated in BABY POWDDERRRRRRR It’s not like a gourmand milk tea or whatever but it’s a really creamy black tea scent, almost like the milky tea you’d get from Gris Charnel but sweetened it with—of course I can’t stress this enough—BABY POWDERRRRRR. Regarding similar scents, I did get this in the hopes of getting a dirtier CK Obsession for men (and I LOVEEEE that fragrance) because some people voted it as similar. Is it truly similar? hmm, honestly, it’s confusing. It’s there but quite not there. CK Obsession has that same sweetened baby powder smell of FM’s MR but the sexy whisky + cola note in CK’s OfM is just way too loud. They smell more similar when ur just randomly catching it in the air I guess? Tho I do get MR in Obsession for Men if I really have to dig my nose through it and find that MR aspect in it. It’s there but it needs corrective lenses for clarity. I’d say Bal a Versailles is a closer smell to Musc Ravageur more than CK Obsession. It has the same sweet BABBYYY POWDDERRR loudness. As a bonus, BaV is where the missing “skankiness” in Musc Ravageur takes action. Bal a Versailles is literally how y’all explained Musc Ravageur to smell like. BaV is where the hot sweaty sex is at 😭 I wouldn’t say it’s a 1:1 dupe but they sure do have some similar facets !! My only problem with BaV is that she can smell a bit too “grape cough syrup” that reminds me of a nostalgic pissy bed (she does smell a bit pissy too) and childhood fever dreams but it’s a great alternative if ur craving Musc Ravageur but want to save ur wallet from the hefty price tag (and yes CK Obsession for Men could also work). My beautiful take on these similar fragrances tho is that MR, BaV, and OfM aren’t triplets but more like an erotic trilogy Musc Ravageur - Before sex Bal a Versailles - During Obsession for Men - After Maybe mixing the other two can make them smell more identical to Musc Ravageur? Umm i guessssssss. Another fragrance that reminded me of MR was Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant except you replaced the extreme clove sweetness with suffocating baby powder. Again, not a 1:1 dupe but super similar in character !! It’s like they have the same milk tea/chai latte base but they said “Hey, so we have two test subjects. Let’s choke one sample with the sweetness of the whole population’s supply of baby powder and douse the other one with the sweetness of 983646383975449 cloves” It’s crazy how I even thought the arm I sprayed with Kenzo was Musc Ravageur after 30 mins of wear because they have the same intensity of sweetness 😭 However, the sweetness of this fragrance isn’t the only thing intense about it, the performance is also very INTENSE. help i only sprayed this three times and 5 people on the train had to cover their nose as I sat near them, ofc, I heard some coughs, and I totally saw how some people stood 1 meter away from me. I felt sorry for them but at the same time I was giggling abt it bc i know i was the reason - hoobastank like i felt so powerful lmao 😭 Maybe the musc isn’t what’s devastating abt this, it’s the people’s reactions around you when you wear it 🥸 but do we care? No !! 🥰 so be unapologetic and leave their nostrils devastated YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I now name this “People’s Nostrils Ravageur” 👹 well that’s enough yapping Tl;dr - I love this fragrance 💅 9.15/10 edit: I realized this just now that it kinda smells like my nivea lip balm

SoTD - Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle "A sensual perfume, powerful yet perfectly controlled, dramatic and mysterious. Composed by Maurice Roucel as an “act of seduction and generosity”, Musc Ravageur is an uncompromising Oriental, which trumps current fads. Its explosive departure of bergamot, tangerine and cinnamon is set against a backdrop of vanilla, musk and amber. A sexy, turbulent perfume, in one word: ravageur." I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading the superfluous, often false marketing that perfumers and brands come up with to describe their fragrances. Partly because I too, am afflicted with the same disease of verbose nonsense, and in part because they're often wildly off base, and a less evolved part of my being enjoys laughing at them in secret. However this time, it is all too accurate. Abstractly, perhaps. But accurate nonetheless. Musc Ravageur is an incredibly difficult fragrance to describe. It is deceptive, and takes great pleasure in tormenting me, and every time I think I've got a grasp on it, something throws me for a loop. Is it frustrating? Hardly. No, the experience is very much enjoyable, like trying to catch a glimpse of something mythical and fleeting. Musc Ravageur is incredibly simple, yet infinitely complex, and it is within the nuances and depth, that Musc Ravageur truly shines and displays itself as it is. And it needs a great deal of observation to truly appreciate it in it's entirety. One needs to smell and smell again (hardly a difficult task) to find the bite of cinnamon, the heat of cloves and the deliciously edible vanilla, but the impression, by and large, communicates a delicate mirage of soft skin, silken sheets, cashmere blankets, hushed whispers, and low lighting. It is sensual almost to the point of debauchery. It is warm, inviting, criminally seductive, almost like (and please pardon my bluntness) an erotic novel unfolding on the skin. Truth be told, if Casanova had a fragrance, this would be it. Onto the fragrance itself, in slightly more detail, before my train of thought drags me further off track. The fragrance opens with a blast of citrus and spice, in the strangest manner. It can't be described as fresh, it can't be described as spicy. The opening is fleeting, but it sets the tone for this (admittedly bottom heavy) fragrance in the perfect way. It is difficult, if not impossible, to explain how this is the case, but it is. They come, they tease, and then they disappear, giving way very quickly to the cinnamon and clove in a beautiful symphony of warmth. And just as the spices truly begin to bloom, they're joined by musks, vanilla, woods and amber. And here, in the "base" is where Musc Ravageur truly becomes the legend it is known far and wide as. Every note mingling in perfect harmony, becoming something that transcends "just perfumery" and becomes art in earnest. The spices, the deep amber, the sweet vanilla, the warm musk, makes for a blend that defies all description. The vanilla is sweet, almost like ice cream, and would perhaps be too much by itself. But the dark, almost bitter woods balance it, lending a bite to the base, even as the amber adds depth and gives the impression of a golden twilight on supple skin. And supple skin is truly what shines through as the light dusting of musk makes it's way through the blend, trickling through, almost ghostly in it's prominence. And the musk itself, while hardly animalic, is far from neutral, just raw enough to pay homage to it's name. The dark, velvety cloak of seduction that one dons when they wear Musc Ravageur is truly dangerous, to others, and to the self. It smells unapologetically of carnality, and unmistakably of sophistication, and in doing so toes many lines, between prim and debauche, between soft and loud, between innocence and sin, and between mortal and the divine. There is nothing quite like this, to my nose. And I seldom wear it, not for lack of want, but for fear of being enslaved by it's soft whispers. I have rarely, if ever, called a fragrance flawless. But to me, Musc Ravageur is just that. True perfection.

@ahmednaseri I’ll add some perspective from someone who has gone through a substantial amount of Musc Ravageur over many years and across multiple eras of the fragrance that was, for a long time, my signature. From direct experience, I can state plainly that every post 2015 bottle of Musc Ravageur is a crap compared to what the fragrance used to be. There were variations between 2000 and 2014 of course, but those were nuances, balance shifts and stylistic differences, not fundamental changes. The animalic core and overall structure were intact. In 2017, Frederic Malle noticeably experimented with the formula. Those batches smelled different from both earlier and later versions, not necessarily bad, but unmistakably stripped of the raw animalic character that defined Musc Ravageur. This change wasn’t limited to the animalic facet alone, the entire pyramid was altered, with notes rebalanced, muted, or replaced, resulting in a fragrance that behaves very differently on skin. This aligns closely with IFRA-driven reformulation constraints, where the reduction or removal of key animalic (fecal/indolic) molecules makes true continuity impossible. Once structural components are gone, the fragrance simply cannot be the same, something we’ve seen repeatedly with other reformulated classics. (Aventus, Kouros, Antaeus, etc...) The real breaking point came under Estee Lauder’s ownership. From 2015 onward, Musc Ravageur was fundamentally altered, and batches from 2021-2022 onward are not even remotely similar to the original composition. At that point, it ceased to function as my signature simply because pre Estée Lauder versions are no longer realistically available on the market. In fact, L’Erbolario Meharees today smells closer to vintage Musc Ravageur than Musc Ravageur itself does, which speaks volumes about how far the scent has drifted from its roots. This isn’t nostalgia or collector bias, it’s formulation reality. Musc Ravageur wasn’t gently softened, it was effectively dismantled, and what remains is a shadow of the animalic masterpiece it once was. Those who experienced Musc Ravageur before these changes will understand - for everyone else, this discussion doesn’t really exist.

Hello. I'm Helsinki, and I'm guilty as charged. Here's my story. I lost my Musc Ravageur virginity this evening while bar-hopping. Thought that Idole d'Armani or Divin'Enfant was my ultimate confidence fragrance. Bollocks. Ravageur is remarkably musky-sexy-magnetic outdoors. When indoors, you get the erroneous impression that MR is stifled and nonexistent. No, no. All the while it's working like charm behind your back. It's like a [well-trained] dog. It does tricks that serve and please its owner. Ravageur unleashes its animalistic side when "hunting" and also in private. It's not loud but therein lies the... devilishness.. of it. The closer, the hotter. Scene #1: A twentysomething couple passes me by in the stairs. The woman turns around and wants to have a look at my shimmering scarf. Then she sniffs at me, asks what I'm wearing. The next thing I know she kisses me on the lips and says to her boyfriend "I'd do her." Scene #2: This happens minutes after the first scene. I'm walking up the stairs, making my way out of the bar. I'm feeling very flirtatious. A man grabs me. Hugs me, presses me against him. (I give in.) Kisses me on the mouth. I smile devilishly and simply walk away. Scene #3: Next, I go to a very loud, crowded and well-lit British bar called "The Grill" which I've never dared to go to before because it's always full of forty/fiftysomething businessmen. Tonight, I felt like I had the cojones to do anything. (I blame it on Ravageur.) I had a chat with a handsome guy. When I was leaving and intended to give him two cheek kisses, he tried to kiss me on the lips - I dodged. An hour later, I see him at another bar. He notices me, walks straight to me, and kisses me on the mouth. Victoriously, he winks at me. _ Just before saying "I'm Katie Puckrick and I smell", you'll hear the words "When I wear Musc Ravageur, I feel... PRAWW." I'm not a big fan of Katie, but I have to admit: She absolutely nailed it. Praww.

Mouse011, I have bottles from pre-2008 all the way to 2021. The fragrance has gone through several formulations, but not all formulations mean it’s a bad thing. One bottle I have from before 2008 (very old bottles have no batch codes or production dates on the bottom so it could be anywhere between 2000 to 2008). This one has the most pronounced synthetic animalics of all the other bottles I have. It’s actually not my favorite because I find the overuse of the synthetic animalics makes it unbalanced. Then there’s the second formula from two bottles I have; 2010 and 2011. These are IMO the best smelling batches of Musc Ravageur. The intermix of the sweet notes with the animalics convey an almost phantom honey note. Another bottle I have bought in 2014 post-Estee Lauder acquisition, this one has the current shiny cap that FM use to this day. This is my least favorite formula. It’s too powdery and dry, with amped up cloves (not 100% sure if it is cloves) that drowns out the phantom honey note. This formula ran between 2014 to 2018. I have a 30ml bottle from 2018 that smells exactly the same as 2014. Then in 2019 FM reformulated the fragrance again. This time, they brought it back closer to the 2010-2011 bottles. Most of the time, it’s hard to tell them apart as a standalone, unless you compare them side-by-side. The only difference I can discern is the newer formula has an added transparent woody note that rounds out everything and makes it slightly less vintage smelling. This formula is the same across all the 10ml bottles I have between 2019 to 2021. The phantom honey note is also less obvious, but all in all, I’m very satisfied with the current formula. It’s very balanced and stays true to the original scent and I wear it often. As a summary, MR has gone through at least 4 formulations from the bottles I have: - Pre-2008 - 2010/2011 - 2014-2018 - 2019 to now