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TSC Musk Madness!

CBLindsay said:
I was going to add this to KJ's list. I dare say Royall Musk is probably my favorite of the musk profile but i will accept Citrus Musk as one of the top 10 list too. I honestly don't know if I have ever smelled Jovan musk but I do kow the name and feel like it is the most well known/popular of the old musk scents.
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I agree, but there’s a special place for Jovan musk back in high school if you wore that it was guaranteed if you know what I mean
 
BarberDave said:
I agree, but there’s a special place for Jovan musk back in high school if you wore that it was guaranteed if you know what I mean
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Speaking of it's crazy how long Jovan Musk has been around and how many flankers it had oven time. Despite Jovan having several other fragrances, some being even better or more interesting/broader appealing, Jovan Musk never went anywhere. I mean, there's the cologne, Musk oil, after shave, after shave cologne, and like 2 other special editions.

All that and yet I can't land a solid bottle of Jovan Sport or Andron.
 
JanJosh said:
Entry 3: Ralph Lauren Chaps Musk, paired with Barbershop Musk by CBL

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Release Date: 1985
Status: Discontinued (BONUS: Hey look, it's Red Dye 40)

Alright, so. I have shown this before but it is apart of the musk lineup, so why not reintroduce it. So, this is one of the odd Ralph Lauren releases that easily gets forgotten after the advent of Polo. This is a flanker to the original 1979 Chaps, which was originally made with Warner fragrances. After Cosmair took over via L'Oreal, they had reformulated chaps and polo, but then released this soon after during the Musk frenzy in the late 70s to the mid 80s. Besides the fact it retains the iconic silver bull cap and bottle silhouettes, it has a familiar green bottle with green juice, which is funny to me because so did Polo. Another addition is now they added an atomizer for the cologne, something that Warner did not have or they at lease used rarely as they were mainly using splashes around that time. Something to mention was that Chaps was a more affordable sublabel by ralph lauren geared towards more casual or less formal wear that still retained a clean look, while the marketing of this was to invoke this idea of freedom, adventure, and open exploration in the high plains.

However, despite such a rugged philosophy, this is actually the opposite. You expect a dark, musky, rugged green scent for a macho crowd but this is a shockingly simple and approachable blend of notes. No, really! This has Anise, Lavender, Citruses, Spices, Geranium, WHITE Honey, Musk, Sandalwood, Patchouli, and Amber. This is an incredible simple and relatively modern combination of notes. If the anise was removed and some of the notes changed places this would work as a basic 3x3 fragrance of today's standards. Even though there is musk in the name, it takes a back seat here, and the after shave and cologne smell totally apart but has the same lack of musk going on.

The after shave, which is superior in my opinion, smells strikingly fresh. I smells like Hugo Boss Boss Sport but incredibly cleaned up and simplified. In the opening you are hit with a relatively mild Anise and plant-like lavender that has a backing of aquatic citrus rinds, which is the citrus note mixing with the geranium that has a wet floral smell, so think of lemon cucumber water at a fancy place. This ends on a relatively light sweet musk, the amber and honey just blend into each other or one leads to another with the musk actually being saved for the end, but it's hardly there. It's like a light whiff carried in the breeze. Honestly, even though I'm not the biggest Anise nor Lavender fan, this is very, very pleasant, and simple. You can imagine there is oakmoss despite it not being there at all. Only downside is that this after shave HURTS, incredibly bracing and it cooks into your pores, but the scent lasts for a few hours, impressively.

But the cologne is the dead opposite. Maybe it's aged, or has signs of spoiling, but this stuff is crazy. The cologne is a start of sharper anise and lavender with heavy sandalwood coming to play, that then becomes a floral honey bomb with lighter citrus touches, and then slowly the floral eases out for a much more raw honey stank that the amber and musk comes out at the end, but it's sweet and very powdery, but still relatively fresh. Dirty fresh, if you know what I mean by that.

In all honesty, I do like this fragrance for what it is. I truly think if it was slightly retooled and reformulated it could have a modern audience for the cheaper drug store level crowd. It smells almost like a prototype to Ralph Lauren Safari but ultra simplified. In fact, I'd almost prefer it if it were more readily available. But, on the musk scale? It ranks very low.

Side note: Barbershop Musk by @CBLindsay is another excellent soap blend with a smooth, easy glide, but the scent is pretty different. There is musk but it's not there too much, it's buried by the heavy talc and blue disinfectant smell. It's nice, and interesting, but the musk is like this scent: There and gone.

Musk Meter™: 3/10: A nice scent but where's the musk? If it was a white musk (plant based/scented) it would make more sense, but there isn't any animalic presence or sweet musk. It just is what it is.

Soap: 2/10: Just like Wild Country Musk, a sharp barbershop scent with musk in the name, but still an excellent shave nontheless.
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Ooh hold on.

Talk about a dry down! This one is a long ride. After some time passed the finale is a sweet honeyed musk and sandalwood. The musk here is finally present, and it's excellent, definitely has some animal hints to it.

This is now bumped up to a 6/10 on the meter, damn good but it takes forever to get there.
 
Entry 4: Royall Muske by Royall Lyme of Bermuda

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Release Date: 1978
Status: Still in Production

So this one came highly recommended by a few other cadre members and I had finally landed a bottle a small while back at an extremely low price. This here is what is called a "Barbershop" scent, and it is a classic. This is exactly what I picture men wearing after a clean haircut and fresh shave some time in fall. Bermuda may be known for Lyme but this is an excellent 3rd addition in their repertoire, but this fragrance suffers the setback of reformulation, as now the fragrance no longer carries genuine Deer Musk, and was replaced with synthetic ingredients, thus altering the overall approach in today's version.

This fragrance is an incredibly simple blend of Clove, Fern, Nutmeg, and Musk. But even with musk in the name and in the notes, this is actually more of a semi-sweet, fresh spicy fragrance. The opening of this is a blast of musk with a very spicy and sharp clove, very Herbal and as if smelling pure clove oil. This calms to a very herbal aromatic fern and powdery, spicy nutmeg, with all this ending is a rather light, sweet, and pleasant musk at the end.

This to me isn't anything crazy, but it is a pretty good, simple scent I can see being unisex. It's light and refreshing, surprisingly aromatic, and inoffensive. One mistake is using it as an after shave. Bad idea. I ignored that it was a cologne and not an all purpose lotion like royall lyme and such and was left wondering why it was so bracing. I will have to get my hands on a vintage for a better review in the future, but as of now this is nice for the novelty.

Musk Meter!
4/10: It was here and then gone. Now it's only Musk in name due to IFRA standards and is a rather simple spice scent.
 
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On me this is mainly Immortelle and Musk with undertones of other florals and hints of the civet and castoreum.

It is maybe not the safest choice for the office, but I am really loving how I smell today. Due to all the floral notes many might consider this one to be a feminine fragrance, but I love the scent on me and I find it to be completely unisex. This is a modern composition that is all gorgeous floral notes with just a hint of sex.

I think any fan of Musk in fragrance should get a sample of this. It is a beautiful creation.
 
It's fun watching the interaction and appreciation in the thread. Keep em coming, I'm making a list of my own for next year
 
Entry 5: Jovan Musk

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Release Date: 1973
Status: Still in Production (reformulated)

I actually used this on friday night but was busy, sorry for being late.

Here we have it. One of the GOATs, if not one of the most iconic and recognizable mens fragrances of all time, let alone with the word musk in it. This is a true drugstore classic that hails from a bygone era. Your dad or grandpa used this (even mine!) and for good reason I'm sure. I mean, it lasted over 40 years of existence with an entire body line, 3 different concentrations, several flankers of varying success, and yet OG Jovan Musk remains. Incredibly Impressive and alluring, and the thing is, I used to have the cologne spray but I really didn't enjoy it so I gave it away. But, upon usage of the somehow much scarcer aftershave... I still don't like it, but I did grow an appreciation of it with a renewed interest. The blend was much better than the spray and was a step in the right direction but... Well. This had some bones to it but I was left dissapointed, not in the lack of quality or potency (it's got shockingly good performance) but rather the formulation ruined the good aspects of this and killed my expectations of it.

The notes are this, very simple for the period: Carnation, Black Pepper, Lemon, Lime. Okay. Spicy citrus floral? Then there's Spices, Lavender, Amber, and mint. Aromatic spicy?? Musk and woody notes... Woody oriental? See, this makes zero sense on paper, but when you smell this, it just makes sense. It starts with a sweet, yet refreshing blast of musk, but then warm and spicy aromatics come in to play and offers a strange, almost vanilla like presence, but then it ends on a sour, bitter, and raw musk stench. It's cloying and macho in a way. This is a dissapointment, because I know for a fact reformulations killed this thing. It starts and progresses so well but smells like burnt animal hide. Dissapointing in that it gives high hopes and maybe would even prey on nostalgia to such a bitter result. From this I intend to find a vintage bottle with real animal musk to truly compare, or lock down the Musk Oil version to see if it's more distinct.

Musk Meter™
Musk: 7/10 Like it or not, it is there, even if it's not so pleasant. Classic for a reason, easily approachable, but doesn't live up to the hype anymore.
 
Entry 6: Pinaud Clubman Musk

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Release Date: 2000 (Supposedly)
Status: Widely Available

Ah, here we are with another highly recommended classic by the cadre. I came in with lowered expectations since I wasn't too fond of the original, but where the original fell short in my nose, the musk flanker picked up right where it left off. Oh and this is a flanker.

It only says musk, citruses, and herbal notes, but I think it's much more than that. I believe it's literally Clubman but with musk, making this be Oakmoss, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Vanilla, and Musk. It could be the lemon may have been removed because the citruses are much sweeter and toned down. The start is of course the iconic or infamous burnt oakmoss and musk that clubman is known for, before going into a soft, powdery sweetness musk and light talc-iness.

That's really it. This is simply sophisticated, much more of a gentleman's scent and more refreshing than the original, in my opinion. Sadly, I was unable to snag Citrus Musk and Jeris Musk, but for a first impression this is delightful.

Musk Meter!
5/10. This is more of an aromatic scent but the musk adds a nice finale with gentle depth. It's not going to blow up the room and have an animalic appeal, but this is noticeably pleasant. Good, middle of the road musk that any man can try and enjoy.
 
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