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.

This one wears totally differently on clothes vs. skin. On skin, this smells almost a touch vintage for the first five to ten minutes. The cardamom is quite present, along with a hint of powder. The cardamom almost smells like very soft aldehydes to my nose. Then all of that fades to the background and a borderline-barnyard animalic note comes out for about twenty minutes. That eventually softens and blends with the skin. At this stage, the gorgeous muskiness I love comes out. This is a comforting scent, one that feels safe (as in, providing a sense of safety, not boring) and pretty at the same time. On fabric, however, this smells so much like ginger ale! It’s almost comical. A sweet facet comes out and the cardamom smells effervescent and more gingery. It’s a bit more linear on fabric - the sweetness remains throughout the entire wear time. I’ll mainly wear this on skin, which is an unusual choice for me, but I might try this on fabric again in the late spring. Ginger ale might be perfect at that time.

Lovely medicinal ambrette. There's a cola aspect to it as well—not sweet, more like the various aromatics that contribute to cola's flavor. Ambrette seed is such a subtle note that it tends to get overshadowed by most of the materials you mix with it. Or often, a small dosing of ambrettolide is passed off as a full ambrette note (my guess is to keep those note breakdowns looking fancy). But here, that musky, vegetal, slightly waxy ambrette is very forward, generously helped along by the calamus. After a few hours, it comes down to a clean, musky scent—not quite a skin-scent but skin-like. I sense a lot of cashmeran and ethylene brassylate. I wish though it came in a lower concentration; the intensity makes it too "loud" and hard to appreciate its complexity. The overdose of musks and the oud makes it a little too thick and at times, headache-inducing. Still, Musk Deer is one of the best ambrette fragrances I've encountered.

So good, absolutely amazing! This is so much more about warm woods and spices than "deer", though it is there, the accord emerging once the initial application settles down. My very first impression was of sandalwood with cardamom, reminding my of the vintage pure perfume Samsara. The sandalwood recedes a bit after about 15 minutes, but never really goes away. 5 hours later, and when I sniff the spot where I applied just a few swipes from the tester rod, I detect a creamy jasmine sambac, transforming the initially masculine leaning unisex scent into a feminine leaning unisex scent. I thought to myself that it's almost as if the stag musk deer has found and become enchanted by his doe. Longevity and projection seem to be decent, or at least decent enough to not put me off purchasing a FB. Someday. When I win the lottery.

Today I got the most unusual compliments ever while wearing Musk Deer. This perfume really gets better with time. I wore it today, and then I went to do a fishing presentation at local elementary school. While the kids were on recess, me and my colleagues set up our stuff in the classroom (4th grade). When recess was over the kids returned to the class room, and immediately upon entering they started saying things like: "Something smells really good in here!", "What a nice smell!", "The classroom smells delicious!", etc. This was of course Musk Deer. I'd totally forgotten about it and I couldn't smell it anymore on me, but it was definitely there, and the 4th graders (who must be about 10 years old) began loudly commenting about it. All in all, Musk Deer is a great extrait de parfum, and a big favorite of mine.

Musk deer is a very pleasant warm musk, and I get nice wood and a hint of more spices than just cardamom. I'm not familiar with calamus but if its the source of the spiciness I may have a new favorite note. Musk Deer is warm, comforting and beautiful, the smoothest Zoologist so far. But "...The result evokes the animal desire of a lusty musk deer amid the alluring chill of a wintry forest, all captured without a hint of menace...". I'm very happy that no creatures were menaced in the creation of this perfume, but I think I'd prefer a just a touch of menace in the notes... Edit 3/31/2021 I'm finding that even though this is tamer than I expected, I'm reaching for it more and more. Sometimes I don't need excitement; Musk Deer is a sublimely smooth gently warm musk. Moved to 'love'.

Musky beauty, high level blending. Not as animalic as actual deer musk as they use ambrette and oud. Labdanum, coumin, cedarwood, sandalwood, orris and patchouli all mixed to perfection. Cardamom gives it some spices. Almost feels like saffron is present although not listed. Very strong, almost boozy, but also very wearable. They managed to balance the musk really well while keeping the juice super potent. It does get a bit more animalic as it dries but still manages to maintain mass appeal. This reminds me some of Dubai gold but less boozy. I think this could appeal to people who are squeamish to musks, but also has a touch of the hard stuff from the Laotian oud, to satisfy musk lovers. Impressive blend. Scent 8.8/10 Performance 8.7/10

Warm, spicy, flowery, musky, elegant, clean... this is Musk Deer, a very pleasing offering by Zoologist, one of my favorite perfume houses. Compared to other Zoologist, Musk Deer is very, very "safe". This is definitely a complex fragrance, not beast mode, but it creates a nice intimate scent bubble around me. On my skin it opens very spicy and then it transforms into a white flower bouquet with a musky undertone. This is creamy and although to my nose the oud is not very prominent, sometimes I can feel a bit of an animalic scent deep down in the drydown (this is very subtle). This is extremely well blended, and perfect for a number of occasions, and definitely office friendly. Well done again Zoologist!

I tried this on skin and was unimpressed. Then months later out of boredom and need to explore more perfumes, which is hard when almost no one ships where you live, I tried this on my clothes. Deer lord! Such a nice perfectly unisex musky fragrance, very clean and at the same time neutral, and potent. Very likeable I would say. It is not gourmand or floral, but other things, it might be. Edit: a ton of months later, I still find it very amusing to spray this one on one forearm directly on skin and on the other on top of my sleeve. Skin is kind of fecal if you bury your nose in it and inhale deeply, but on the clothes, so so vibrant! Oh my god will I actually have to get a full bottle of this one too...

TO ME THIS SMELLS LIKE COKE AND I LOVE IT. The opening JUST SMELLS LIKE SPICY COKE. I don’t know how but it really does. This is the best zoologist when it comes to quality of raw materials ‘cus it has real, natural oud. And it kinda shows. It’s coke with musk and animalic oud. BUT NOT OFFENSIVE WHATSOEVER!!!! I got a lot and i mean A LOT of compliments with this one. Great first niche fragrance without getting boring down the line. Love this so so much! Ratings Smell 10/10 Performance 10/10 (10h on me and great projection) Value 10/10 could wear this anywhere Price 9/10 (keeping into a count that it has real oud) Ovr 9,75/10 would round it up to 10/10

I like to describe fragrance with colours, and this one is a scale from deepest, darkest brown to palest beige or cream. It’s weirdly boring while also being intense. One second it just makes me think of clean naked skin and some warm leather, but the next I feel it’s very spicy in a slightly sweaty way. One theme is pretty consistent though: The feeling of being close to someone, smelling their skin, feeling the warmth radiate from their body. Not something I would wear because I want to smell amazing, but it's amazing at what it does, and I seriously love the fact that I can have the sense of closeness in a bottle!

Rude at first, then lovely. Opens with loud fecal spice, like something large and furry shat cardamom pods in your personal space. Just as your eyes start to water in protest, the cedar tamps down the fumes with some nice florals, and then the softest powdery musk takes over. The orris root makes this brilliant–not like Lolita Lempicka’s pulverized violet candy–more like fae monarchy walking in the forest, raising sugary pollen that glitters in the sun. The base woods stay sweet on the on the skin for half the day, with the musk trailing a foot above. Unisex. Leans delicate, after the feral beginning.

wonderful! no, really. what a masterpiece. it has this ethereal sweetness ... strange and different ... very difficult to describe. really. will this magical calamusa be? if so, I want to plant hectares! surely there is some very high quality rose and beautiful jasmine. after all I don't care. because these notes alone take you to heaven !!!!! definitely ambrette, fantastic cardamom that makes the scent also clean and soapy.surely orris in good quantity and a light sandalwood. I could compare it but very distantly to prada amber homme to the nth degree. vote 10/10 the women will be at your feet.

Magnificent. I have tried nearly all of the Zoologist Sample Set of Q1 2024. This, by far, is the clear winner. At least for me. Spicy rose opening. Great musk body and dry down. I can see where some lean towards a cola scent. But for me, just inviting. Welcoming. If this had "beast mode" projection, I would buy two bottles right now. Looking like a weirdo at my desk constantly sniffing my self. 🤣 it probably could use more musk if you wanted to benefit from the name. Regardless, this could be a timeless scent, a signature scent. If you don't like it, feel free to send me your bottle. 😀

Musk Deer is a feeling-scape of coziness. It is slow swirling pinks and whites in various shades, the feeling of falling back into the biggest, softest pillow, the sensation of holding a warm hand on a cold winter’s day. Best of all, it kind of reminds me of nuzzling my face into my cat’s fur. I think the reviewer below hit the nail on the head with “excellent entry level animalic”. It is the perfect fluffy musk with just a whisper of warm spicy mystery and animalic depth. As someone who gets a bit freaked out by some animalics, I am so surprised by how much I love this.

Absolutely stunning. Exquisite. Been wearing it and it needs another review for sure. A powdery , talc, exquisite spicy but elegant scent. Cola-like sourness, in the best possible way on opening. Incredibly addictive and majestically done. I AM IN LOVE. Woody , elegant, with a hint of animalic, but also a balanced soft and timid layer of sweetness. Ohhh lord my mouth is watering and my brain is being tickled. Unisex but leaning masculine. Leathery but airy , very skin like . 100/10 intriguing and mysterious. The best possible Male Scent. Timid but worthy.