Musc Ylang Ylang

When I first sprayed this, I thought "Wow. Flowers and lots of them." Too floral perhaps? No, because in the course of half an hour a lovely undercurrent of salt and coconut appeared. The woody note is barely noticeable, so it compliments the the other delicate notes well, it lingers in the background gently accompanying the other notes. I did buy this fragrance blind and I thought it was going to be a strictly floral fragrance. I was wrong! I'm very impressed with the risks Berdoues takes when combining particular scents together. Things that you think can't possibly work together, do work. Ylang ylang, jasmine, coconut, seawater and musk are the predominant notes and they work very well together. I can detect a very slight hint of vanilla and bergamot. This is a tropical fragrance, however, it is so unusual and has so many dimensions - not your teeny bopper tropical fruit cocktail fragrance - this perfume is for adults! The beautiful flowers are haunted by the lovely salty, musky coconut aroma. I love that about it! Musc Ylang Ylang has a lovely sheer, ethereal quality to it after a couple of hours. The longevity is good, it's not an overpowering fragrance, but it does go the distance throughout the day. Berdoues produce some of my favourite fragrances. They are not your average, run of the mill scents! This perfume is a stunning addition to one's spring and summer fragrance wardrobe. Sophisticated, elegant and rare. I highly recommend this one.

This fragrance is a very subtle mix of Ylang Ylang, Driftwood and shallow Rock Pools... Beautiful and delicate as the flower with a fresh sea aquatic. Unfortunately it doesn't last very long on me and I find myself spraying every couple of hours to enjoy those opening notes before they leave with the tide. If you like subtle perfume for day wear which you can top up at your leisure this is a beautiful perfume. I just wish it had some depth and lasted longer.

Clearly I am in logistics denial. My moving truck arrives in 41 hours, and I have decided to review this perfume before stowing it away. Berdoues Musc Ylang Ylang smells good enough to warrant packing in my suitcase, but the bottle holds a whopping 110 ml, and I have already made the executive decision not to bring along any glass bottles. At first I thought no bottles whatsoever, but as I have a few aluminum cylinders of haute wonderfulness (a Nejma 2 tester plus some Montales), I may be toting some aluminum cans along for my journey to the other side of the planet where I'll be for most of the rest of the year. This musk perfume is rather floral and also a bit sweet. There is not a hint of dirtiness, so if you like the sweaty musk compositions, this one might not be to your liking. This is more like "baby's bottom musk meets big bouquet of flowers", a combination which I rather like. Hmmmm... maybe I'll bring a decant along...