Original Musk

This is the OG soapy, lotion-y white musk. Imagine those cheap/drugstore white musks like The Body Shop, Alyssa Ashley, Jovan, etc.. but more plump, fuller, has more depth, much multi-faceted and just more vibrant and flavorful in general. The floral notes of neroli, orange blossom, ylang ylang, and rose creates this homogenous, old-fashioned, soapy-floral medley akin to the likes of Chanel N°5, but there's this cushion of musk that coats each threads of the floral weaving. The result is soft, creamy but not in a lactonic way. It almost feels like its made out of a combination of silk and cotton. Like a pillow you love stroke your skin against to. Yes it does remind me sometimes of some sort of soap, or a lotion, or a fancier fabric conditioner. It has a little bit of a detergenty vibe at some days, depending on my mood or the climate, but hey, I guess toiletry companies have based the scents of their products on the scent profile of Kiehl's musk. The opening though is a little bit harsh for me. My sister said it smells like a bug spray, which I do get. I guess that factor depends on the climate of the environment you're in. I live in a humid climate so i find that spraying this on is a little cloying and sickening. But when I spray this at night where it gets a bit more chilly, it gets a little bit smoother. The best form of this fragrance is when it stained my shirt after a day of wearing it around the house. It gets even creamier and softer and smoother, it's really irresistable and comforting. I really think that this would pair well with a simple, plain vanilla scent. Something along the lines of Eau Duelle by Diptyque. Or since I don't have the budget for that, I could just go with something cheap like those vanilla body sprays by Body Fantasies, because you can't judge me. I'm a sucker for sweet gourmand scents even if it's something I just picked up from the drugstore:P I guess my only main critique for this fragrance is I wish it's more animalic. When I read reviews of this fragrance before I bought a bottle few years ago, I expected to get some animalic notes which I didn't get at all, despite multiple testings and wearing of this scent. It's basically just a more luscious, colorful, and meatier version of the classic, clean white musk.

I'm a bartender and first time I felt the smell of this it was on a guy that came at the bar to order something and I had to ask him what perfume he is wearing. I was working outside in the winter time surrounded by snow (this is kinda important). He told me was this and straight away I start looking for it. I ordered a bottle and first spray on my skin, the first impression was a little different and contradictory with what I remembered I smelled on that guy. I didn't hate it, it just felt like it smelled like a cheap old fragrance. And kinda too sweet for me. As the minutes passed I had mixed feelings. After another hour or so, I was keep smelling it and still didn't know what exactly to feel about it but it kinda gave me a warm, reassuring feeling. Then my girlfriend smelled it on me and she loved it but she said it remembers her of her grandma. Still mixed feelings from me cus she was all over me but in my mind I was like "wth, I'm not your grandma and this is kinda weird". Then, going outside I received lots of compliments on the way I smell. This gave me confidence and I start to like it more. I finished that bottle and by the end of it I was actually in love with the smell. After that it was very very hard to find it to buy again. Not long ago I found it again and bought this time 2 bottles. I love it! Myself, smelling it, feeling it, I absolutely love it. Is like if I'm stressed or depressed, two puffs of this already change my mood in good. I still receive lots of compliments but one notable and weird comment on my scent wearing this, was that I smell like church. I don't see it as a bad or as a good thing. And to go back at what I said before, I think this scent it makes more sense in winter or autumn or maybe chill nights. I don't know why but when is colder outside seems to smell better. Is musky but not pungent and it has more of the powdery white musk in it but also after a while subtle animalic.

Kiehl's Musk reminds me of a preppy guy I knew in college in the 80's who belonged to the same fraternity as my boyfriend. He was handsome but kind of a jerk, like the stereotypical rich preppy bastard in John Hughes films usually portrayed by James Spader. He was not as good looking as James Spader but he had one of those traditionally masculine faces with a strong jawline and big white American teeth. Yet there was something uncannily, slightly, just barely caveman about his face. I bet he had some Denisovian or Neanderthal genes deep in his familial history. In any case, I kept my eye on him, waiting for caveman behavior but he never quite delivered on that expectation of mine. He never accidentally uttered early man sounds like ooga booga, mid sentence, like I thought he eventually would. He remained polite and controlled but you just knew that he had that in him. When I picture him now, wherever he is, he is still wearing Kiehl's Musk and a Lacoste but I think that the primitive features of his face have most likely deepened with time and that the veneer of civilized presentation has worn off. Like Patrick Bateman but hopefully not to that extreme level. I do love this fragrance, it's a great classic musk scent like the Jovans and the Body Shop and all of the other staple oils we used to wear. It was the type of scent people wore as a signature and despite its apparent hippie origins it was actually a very preppy scent back when. Worth a test if you like caveman musks and John Hughes films.

Went to the Kiehl's boutique in Provincetown, Mass today. I was searching for a rollerball vial of their traditional musk oil. They had zillions of every other Kiehl's product, but not that oil. However they DID have Original Musk Blend No.1 in the eau-de-toilette. I spritzed some on... the smell is pretty much identical to the oil, yet even stronger, and also with a bit of "development" on the skin that the pure oil does not. It's very good-smelling stuff... musky in the animalic style, augmented delicately with what appear to be floral notes. Paid $44 US for the flacon of EDT. I wonder: If this is their "Blend No.1", then do they also make a "Blend No. 2" or other such thing? I seem to remember that Kiehl's did indeed make another musk-based eau-de-toilette which was NOT a "solinote" type (like this EDT is), but rather a more complex EDT with varied notes. Smelling more like a sophisticated men's cologne type. Thoughts? It's funny: the Kiehl's website includes user reviews, and there are invariably a few in which the customer bitches ands moans that they will no longer buy the musk essential oil because "it doesn't smell like it used to, you've changed the formula". And yet, I myself have not noticed the scent structure change appreciably over the last 25 years. Did Kiehl's Musk Oil smell differently, once upon a time, than it does today?

Musk is one of those perfume words that can refer to diametrically opposed smells. Some musks are animalic and sweaty; others are the ultra-clean scents of laundry detergent and fresh linens. Kiehl’s Musk is neither. It’s warm, friendly, subtly sweet, and basically smells like the skin of a person who smells really good. It’s spicy, in a way that makes me think not of spices but of flower stamens; I know lily sometimes has that kind of a spicy facet, or narcissus. It makes you smell warm and alive and altogether lovely. Imagine: You’re a houseguest visiting a middle-aged bisexual man who lives in San Francisco. He has a gray mustache, curly chest hair, twinkling eyes, a deep tan. He’s got that Whitmanesque humane serenity you see in people who have explored a lot in their lives and ended up deeply comfortable in their skin. He knows how to relax. He gives great massages. He likes taking long walks uphill. His shorts are uncomfortably short and his stamina is infuriatingly better than yours. You step into his bathroom, and his medicine cabinet is full of supplement pills and serious-looking skin and hair treatments in tinted brown bottles. His sponge is an actual sea sponge. His towels are off-white and extremely fluffy. The way you feel and smell after taking a long soak in his tub – that’s Kiehl’s Original Musk.

Not sure why people are saying this is a "dirty", animalic musk - it's so interesting that people get such different experiences with the same perfume. It's very white and clean to me, a plain, comforting and sexy white musk along the lines of Clair de Musc by Serge Lutens, except Original Musk is slightly less soapy/bright citrus and more musky. I fell in love with it when I smelled it in the store. I don't smell any flowers; and I think they're just used to "round" out the musk in this case. It doesn't smell like Chanel No. 5 to me - Chanel No. 5 smells fatty and waxy and kind of like a luxurious French soap. For me, nothing faecal or urine-like at all, and definitely no toilet smells. Nothing naughty, except by imagination. Maybe the name "musk" makes people start thinking of sex, but on its own, while sexy, doesn't smell like sex. Scent: 10/10 - as a musk lover, absolutely gorgeous Projection and longevity: average Polarity: 100% unisex --- Interestingly, I went back and sprayed it on my skin again (and also bought the bottle), and today I'm a little sweatier, the weather is more humid, and I was walking in the sun for a while. I'm starting to get a hint of that dirty, slightly pissy, kind of like an animalic jasmine note.

this is The Reference Skanky Musk for me. whenever I smell a fragrance that’s supposed to smell musky I expect it to smell like this. I can’t help it. This is the first Musk fragrance I had and whenever searching for a musk note in other frags need them to at least resemble this one. I definitely smell a similar animalic type musk note in FM Musc Ravageur, SL Muscs Koublai Khan and Parfum d’Empire Musc Tonkin. I think these are the best musks. Best bang for your buck is the Kiehl’s, which is most definitely a sexy, animalic musk scent. Totally unisex. Totally Classic. Performs very well with good longevity. Yes, it’s a bit skanky, it’s supposed to be! if you want a clean (not animalic) musk look for SL Clair de Musc or even the basic Jovan. Those are clean, fresh, almost floral musks. I have no idea what is going on over at Narcisco Rodriguez but that’s not musk. Kiehl’s Original Musk is The Reference fragrance for getting to know skanky but gorgeous musk. Promise me you’ll give this at least 3 hours before making any snap decisions. Kiehl’s Original Musk will meld with your body chemistry. It becomes you. It takes a few hours to get how gorgeous this is. 10/10 SEXY MUSK

The musk fragrance that I've loved for eighteen years, Kiehl's Original Musk (and their now sadly discontinued Forest Rain) holds so many memories of my 20s—wearing it to DJ gigs, having folks lean in when asking for a request or for the name of the track I was playing, and getting compliments on how great I smell. It's Dial Soap squeakiness, somewhat rosy but mostly rose and ylang ylang, and the musk bases in this, let's talk about them... I don't know this for certain, but what I pick up seems to be Tonquitone and/or Shangralide, both produced by IFF, bases that imitate natural deer musk. Perhaps there is also Muscenone from Firmenich, which is an animalic, diffusive musk that has since replaced the now highly restricted musk ketone. This may even have some Animalis from Synarome; a sensuous, costus-like animalic base famously used in YSL Kouros. Original Musk is not, however, a skank monster: all the elements are blended in such a way so that is a careful treading the line between clean and dirty, with it settling smooth and silt-fine powdery, with lived-in sheet loveliness in its dry down. One of the best bangs for your buck, Original Musk is a certified classic.

Purchased for my wife as I found a bottle, lotion, and shower gel for next to nothing. Rude awakening for her because this is NOT what most women would consider a traditional lady's perfume at all. This one is an updated modern and more wearable YSL Kouros. I wasn't necessarily a fan of Kouros but my father wore it when I was a kid so it brings back memories of the good times in the 90's. It actually gets compliments as well. I highly recommend this one for guys looking for a cheap masculine fragrance with excellent performance without shelling out the cash for a YSL Kouros or Chanel Antaeus. Don't be afraid this one is quite light and crowd pleasing as far as the civet and deer musk notes go. If you are interested in the old 80's powerhouse fragrances this one is a great place to start before working your way into the more offensive stuff. Simply because it's anything but offensive. Also the matching lotion and shower gel are the best quality I've ever owned. I've also been layering this one with PDM Layton Exclusif to boost the civet note a bit. Highly recommend.

I'd like to update my review after almost one year of wearing Kiehl's Musk and letting it macerate. The longevity has massively improved. Although the fragrance still sits close to the skin, I can smell it until late evening after work. I can't deny how much I have learned to love and appreciate this perfume. It's still my signature scent that I choose anytime I don't feel like wearing perfume but still want to smell good or need the feeling of comfort. Kiehl's Musk is so universal that it's my pick whenever I can't decide which perfume to wear either. Something else that I have noticed, is that although it's and EdP it feels oily, not literally on the skin but the way it wears (which is really good in my opinion). I like how there is something cheesy or subtly sulfur-like about it. I don't really detect that pink rose note in the beginning anymore (see my original review). Also that opening like a "vase with overripe flowers in water" is also gone. In conclusion, I will always have Kiehl's Musk in my collection.

A clean, cuddly, cute, fluffy type animalic—a small furry creature with a burst of beautiful florals that mellow down and give the fragrance a slight soap lather feeling amongst that beautiful, tiny bit skanky (but not much at all) musk. It’s beautiful, pleasant yet complex. Nice paired with the radiant glow of your own fresh sweat. If you know, you know. That cuddly, funky furry musk warms on the skin and teases, sometimes nuzzling, flicking its tail and purring... then continues minding its own business for a little while... all laced with a soap suds kind of clean. Ylang ylang gives body, creaminess and thickness, the lily is ripe on the cusp of decay and a little spicy. Sweet powdery nuances from tonka and a breath of dirty patchouli. Perhaps like a hippie’s scalp... that and some kind of little furry animal. I don’t know lol but I swear it’s nice! I don’t personally get the references to N°5, to me they smell very different. Original Musk is one of its own. Would love to get my nose on the original oil.

This is a lovely fragrance! this smells like a clean, expensive spiritual store. To my nose, the florals are very light, and I mostly get a deep, slightly resinous, and incense-like sweet musk. The animalic notes that some people detect are very light and are mostly unnoticeable unless you can recognize animalic notes in perfume easily. I find this fragrance to be unique as it is a pointedly un-soapy musk. There are so many super clean, powdery musks out there, and this is certainly not one of them. It is unique, a little bit edgy, and preserves a classic perfume DNA that is somewhat hard to find in the oversaturated perfume market of today. That being said, this is very easy to wear, and shouldn't offend many people. I get very good longevity, at about 8 hours, and the sillage is appropriate for a fragrance like this. Especially at such a great price point, this is 100% worth buying. Unfortunately, I will not be repurchasing since I no longer want to support the L'Oréal group.

Like with most blindly bought fragrances I was a bit disappointed at first. I imagined a completely different scent, something like Ambilux by Marlou. Urinous and dirty. But Kiehl's Musk is pretty soapy clean and initially smelled to me like overripe flowers (although it is the best rose note I've ever smelled in a perfume) in a vase with old water. Not in a disgusting way though. It's intriguing and makes you want to sniff it repeatedly. In addition, Kiehl's Musk stays very close to the skin and is barely detectable past the 3-4 hours. After a few times wearing it, it started to grow on me. I get it that this is supposed to be a comforting and personal perfume. And it is indeed. It melts into your skin and gives the illusion of you naturally smelling good. The vintage characteristics are definitely there. Sometimes I get whiffs of red wine with cheese. Right now I'm very satisfied with it and would even make this my signature scent.

Nordstrom still selling it online so I picked up two bottles for $33 each on sale today. Nostalgic, this one. My dad wore it and my mom loved it. It's got an old-fashioned feel (makes sense, given its pedigree and backstory) but it develops into something really nice and dare I say contemporary (in a retro-cool way) on dry down after the initially strong old school first impression; something warm and understated, modest, even humble, maybe? I remember not liking it as a kid, but it has grown on me. By the data here, it seems like people think it's more night than day, more cold season than warm, but I find it works just fine any time because of the mellow dry down. There's even something 'beachy' about it the longer it's on you...maybe it's that bergamot/tonka bean mix that makes it feel like driving in a convertible alongside a beach in Cuba c. 1966 where you're understated in a Panama hat, Ray Bans and a guayabera.

Musky, powdery, floral, and a little animalic. This is a perfect unisex fragrance. It is reminiscent of that barbershop, shaving cream type vibe. Great for all seasons and occasions. More safe than sexy, if you know what I mean. Although myself and others find the smell very pleasant and clean, it didn't start out that way for me. This is one that really grew on me over time. For me, this was a blind buy. The first time I smelled it, it smelled like a clean public restroom, or something the elderly would wear. So a sexy grandpa on a good day, or a used urinal cake on a bad day. Needless to say, I couldn't get myself to wear it all that often. But when I did wear it, I was surprised that I was getting compliments from people around me. That in itself changed my opinion about this fragrance, and made me truly appreciate it. Certainly an acquired taste on my part. And now, it is one of my favorites, a true masterpiece!

Since I wear it quite often and it’s one of my staple perfumes for years (though I'm still on the hunt for the perfect musk), I asked my boyfriend, "When I wear this perfume, do I smell like pee?" He replied, "You’re being silly, you smell like fabric softener and rose." I enjoy perfumes that blend with my skin, almost as if I’m not wearing anything but naturally exude the scent, like a flower. Kiehl's Musk is one of the perfumes that gives me this feeling. The scent is simplistic and doesn't evolve much, but is great layered under other fragrances. It makes everything better. At first, the fragrance is stronger, then it fades into a light, comforting smell, similar to scented baby skin, like Johnson’s baby oil, but not as intense. I know my boyfriend is just one person, but no one else has ever told me I smell like pee or stink in any way when I'm wearing Kiehl's Musk.

Great for sleeping in but also for lazy summer afternoons when you are less 'doing' than 'being'...subtle but definitely present, it is less likely to present as a distinct first impression than to bathe hazily in the aura of friendly retrospect. Try wearing a little of it on fabric as well as on your skin as the differences are notable, each being a distinct pleasure and the two overlapping favourably. This is wonderful for being exactly what it sets out to be -- a comforting/cuddly/clean/sensual musk that is well-executed evocation of an animalic experience that you can purchase and wear in a synthetic age...If you're feeling metaphorical, consider that this might mean as a translation of the 'love musk' ethos of the 1960s-70s in the aspirational/anxious 2020s. Can you be simultaneously sexy & barefoot yet friendly & safe? Apparently you can.

I have both the oil and EDT ca. 2016. I can see the comparisons with Chanel N°5. Especially during the opening. It’s quite yellow and powdery. But then it goes barnyard, barnyard lite tho. Like sticking your face in freshly ridden horse’s mane (or tail) on a very hot, sunny day. Standing in the stables before they’ve been swept. Sun-warmed dirty hay, wildflowers,a warm animal that’s a little sweaty, just enough skank to be pleasurable and nostalgic. It ends like honeyed bourbon to me, and fruity tobacco spices. Chewy. I apply this to my armpits, between my breasts and to the back of my knees mostly. I actually think it’s a little too clean for me. But I do like it. Very well balanced. When I want to dial it darker, I layer with Ava Luxe’s Kama. Now that’s good. The oil has been in stock off and on at Kiehl’s website lately.

Can everyone just chill down in the comments? If you think this is skanky, you must be used to the cheapest and most aquatic trash perfumes from the dollar store, or the discount section from your para-pharmacia. This is a classic composition, that embraces the sense of human skin. It's a composition that is fresh & worn in, old & new, clean & lived in, stale & current. If you can't deal with those things playing with each other, go back to your discounted designer or celebrity perfume bottles, don't even dare go further in niche perfume, because you'll encounter compositions that are much more controversial. I find it remarkable and very respectable that Kiehl's, quite a main-stream company located on the high street world wide, carries a musk that feels this wonderfully vintage. And I hope they will never discontinue it.

Under my profile I have down that I have this fragrance, but what I really have is the Original Musk Oil that comes in the little cylinder bottle that seems to be out of stock everywhere nowadays. That probably means it's coming back reformulated. I hope any changes will be respectful. That said, I love this fragrance, especially after a shower. It seems to heighten my Human ness if you will. It has that animal-like quality to it that gives it life but not so much that it's overwhelming. I get some floral aspects to the oil, but mostly I smell a deeper musk than is usually offered. The fragrance is beautiful and perfect for evening when I have time to relax and really enjoy the fragrance. This is a fragrance I particularly enjoy, and I would love to see how the more traditional EDP spray compares to the oil.