Musk Deer

Musk Deer Zoologist Perfumes (202010NB, 165 USD, Barely used) First Impression, blind buy. I received this from friend declutter sale, one of my close friend really enjoy this. The parcel just arrived today, sadly the spray head is slight dense due to transport. But the bottle and lid is still in very good condition, so there is a luck for me... I find Musk Deer is hauntedly beautiful... sensual and useable. There is a brief from the brand about how create musk deer late in his line up. As it have no true replica material for musk deer, it must be an accord. There is 2 types of Musk Deer, the carnal one and smooth silky musk one. And how he (Victor Wong) waits for a right person to brew this fragrance. He wants to find the person who can tame musk. "Pascal Gaurin" is chosen for this work and his rendition on Musk Deer is truly spendid. I own one of his work "Rouge Malachite" (for short RM) and I found that true. He is ruler of musk as RM most shining quality is sexy skin whiteflora by the end of the scent. Still, RM is fairly a designer profile but the way he manipulate the spicy-floral-musky cashmeran at the end of scent. Make me truly believe this could do a real good musk scent, under brand with no condition, like Zoologist. Now, if you except musk deer to be legal scent of Mongolian deer musk. This will fail you in all regards, according to Victor's brief. He wants to create the type of musk that smooth silky one. I find the opening is very ambrettey and woody. With a spicy tone that pretty much reminds me of Pepsi-cola. It is balmy, balmy in the way of how Chinese balm would smell like. And it doesn't really take much of my heart in early stage. As scent develop, later it do gives a cool hint. I think this is where I think the whole composition slightly changed. It is "Minty", "Herbaceous" and it is somewhat remind me of barbershop vibe. I do not understand this period a first. It seems unwelcoming in my knowledge of ambrette-musk fragrance. I found this cooling vibe really help in the final stage of scent. When it's all about musk, this cooling tint slight gives me sweetness / fresh quality of musk to the overall profile. And this musk, I found to be most beautiful rendered musk I have been testing so far. It is complete element of musk sweet, soft animalic, luster full body, silk-like, floaty, alluring. Like, all the comprehension I can say about how ideal musk smell like, Pascal transfer it beautiful here. I have sniffed, true Mongolia Deer Musk in Mongolian Migra by Prinn (the fragrance contains real deer musk) and remember the beauty of musk. I remember, the quality of that musk transfers beautifully here. Except the strong animalic aspect, is not presented here. Still, I like Scared Scarab the most but this is very close. Please allow me to mention that, if your understanding about Musk is White Industiral Musk. It will be hard to appreciate "Musk deer" at first sniff same as people who like the authentic regal musk. You won't really enjoy either. Key of Musk deer, is replica of musk using IFRA compliant safe ingredient. It is beautiful rendered by Pascal Gaurin. My appreciation for Pascal. I think I will adding you to my personal favorite perfumer list. Apart from Michèle Saramito and Alexandra Carlin. You can really make a sensual delight perfume. 9.5/10

The short: A new musk perfume which doesn't smell like musks of past days, and has been modernized. A clean deer in a humid forest. A perfume that strolls along the crowds and you might think it's not there, but it definitely is! This might become a hit and is certainly a breath of fresh air from other new releases by both niche and designer houses. Longevity 9~10 Projection 10 (less is more) Uniqueness 9 Price to Quality 9 (I deduct one point because SOME Zoologist customers might expect a heavier perfume, but I think after a full wear they'll "get" this perfume/understand it). The long: Some Zoologist customers may receive samples of Musk Deer like I did. I look forward to their reviews because this one has excited me. I was a little worried that this was going to be an iris bomb, or soap bomb. Or something in the vein of Nasomatto Silver Musk (overwhelming) but it's a totally new and different take on musk, and I would say a new direction for Zoologist. Forget dirty or ultra animalic, but also forget sparkling clean. This opens up with a light sprinkle sweet notes and something green (must be calamus). Almost immediately you begin your musk ride. This is Musk xylol ambrette + another musk molecule I've smelled before but never balanced quite in this way and the clean edges have been peeled back and forced into a wet damp earth. There's no geosmin or petrichor but the patchouli and (I guess) Laotian oud accord give it an earthy edge. I would say animalic, but this is much more laid back vs other Zoologist releases. I love this as much as Panda already, but not more than Panda. The scent has a mass appeal to it but not in the way you see in usual perfumes. I associate mass appeal with tonka bean, vanilla, wood-accords. This employs labdanum and sandalwood. The sweetness from the two combined with cardamom push out along with the musk, but it is perfectly harmonious. It's never *TOO MUCH* of one thing or the other. I should add here that I really dislike when cardamom goes from the sweet camp to spicy.. It definitely doesn't do that here. I've owned this for a day and I already plan to get a bottle on release. I will wear this more this week, feel free to ask questions. This perfume while not reminding me of other perfumes, does remind me of the styling of "Another 13" and "Gaiac 10" in that it whispers. It is not there and it is. After 6 hours of application, I was noticed across a room after walking in and sitting down for 5 minutes. You will smell clean as if you have a shining spick n span armor on your body, but you won't smell soapy, if that makes sense. I would say the persistence and durability is heads and shoulders above all perfumes mentioned. Once life returns to normal, I would love to see people's reaction if I wear this to the office, due to it's quiet but "persistently there" styling. by the way, for a user named "scentcritique", Scentcritique should at least know that many synthetic musks are significantly more expensive than naturals ;-). They are also very difficult to use without destroying or overwhelming compositions entirely

I took a long time writing this because I wanted to collect my thoughts and do it justice. Musk Deer was not my first Zoologist fragrance. Not my first musky fragrance, either. But it came at a time where I was convinced I hated musky scents because I had burnt my nose on heavy black musks (accidentally, perhaps). I was not ready for that. Then I experienced "laundry musks" and could see what people loved about it but I was still not won over. And then came the one fragrance that would be the trigger, the one where I "clicked" and I started my journey trying to understand what made it so special, what gave me that sensory overload, that rush of serotonin that gave me goosebumps. That fragrance was Musk Deer. I did not see this one coming. One sniff and I was already ordering a full bottle of this. That fresh, floral opening! The spicy, warming sensation that follows. This almost gourmand creaminess and that irresistible feeling of sexiness that it wraps you in. I had never experienced this before. I did not think this possible, much less from a fragrance not even using real musk (ambrette is the ingredient responsible here for the musky accord). I was already won over, but then came the comments. Almost everyone at work commented on it the first day I wore this to work. I couldn't believe it. If you hate musk or if you never tried musky fragrances, please get your nose on this one, this is far removed from those castoreum bombs like YSL Kouros or civet bombs like Chanel no 5. So yes, in summary, Musk Deer opens with this beautiful floral freshness from rose and jasmine, which deepens a few minutes later into a spicier, warming vibe from labdanum and cardamom making themselves noticed. As it dries down and your skin warms up, the woods and musk radiate, giving this a sweet and spicy sexiness, all blended together masterfully with sandalwood and orris root/butter giving it a creamy smoothness. It never feels raw, edgy or disjointed. The longevity on me is good, around 6-8 hours, you could probably stretch it with some enhancers but I find here iso e super keeps the florals from blooming and ambrox feels out of place so I just use Musk Deer by itself, as I find it perfect the way it is. This is great for cooler weather but Spring works well in cooler days but the spicy and floral aspects will be a bit heavy for Summer. All in all, probably my favorite Zoologist, one of my very favorite fragrances and a perfect place to start for noses new to musky fragrances who like spicy scents and florals.

'Musk Deer' really surprised me, but in the best way. If you're expecting something animalic along the lines of 'Hyrax,' or daring along the lines of 'Tyrannosaurus Rex,' look elsewhere. What we have instead is a gorgeous, light, wintry, sensual musk scent that's extremely wearable and completely different from any other Zoologist offering. To those who somehow feel mislead or disappointed by this, I'd like to mention that 'Civet' also turned out to be a lot less challenging or animalic than its name implied. That doesn't make it any less artistic or lovely. The scent really captures the vibe of a quiet, calm, snowy forest. At the opening, it almost has this sparkling effect, with a slight powdery smell that gives the impression of a light dusting of newly fallen snow, glistening in the sun. There's a constant faint sweetness in the background that lingers, but isn't overpowering. This is overall a gentle scent with lots of character; One of the tamer beasts in the Zoologist collection, but quite present nonetheless. So cold, yet so cozy and inviting. I experience slight anosmia to it at times, but then I'll get whiffs on and off and I'm reminded of how beautiful and addictive this fragrance is. When it comes down to it, 'Musk Deer' is what it's meant to be, and that's all I can ask for.

I find that I either dislike or love perfume selections from Zoologist. Rarely am I indifferent, as most of the blends produce strong opinions and Deer Musk is no different. I mostly have difficulty with Zoologist, I can count on one hand the perfumes I like from the brand. Many come across too synthetic or an odd mix for me, but not this time. I love Deer Musk. It opens with a dominant Cardamon, I didn’t get the feral scent others write about. Instead other notes make their entrance past the spice gate: Deer Musk is natural, earthy, then floral and lastly a wooded area. I don’t know if I’ve smelled Calamus before, but it might be the note that creates the pretty, sweet, green atmosphere. I’m on a testing binge as of recent, I have a big box of samples sitting in front of me, and by coincidence, another box of perfume is on its way. Perfect for a testing junkie like me. Anyway, I wore this to bed last night, which I admit was a dangerous move on my part considering the trouble I’ve had with Zoologist in the past, but I’m glad I did. I woke up in a lovely, grassy area with beautiful smells all around me. Deer Musk has some good performance. I’m wanting my own bottle.