Got my nose into Serge Lutens' Muscs Koublai Khan. First spray (on my skin, no spraying cards with that one) it smelled fine, like a strong musk & I had no problems with it. I kept sniffing and waiting to smell rose and/or amber notes. Didn't smell any.
While I was waiting for this to develop (yeah, I'm impatient) I tried a few others on the paper. Ah, ho-hum. The ones that made an impression were Borneo 1834 (which I sprayed on my opposite hand) Jeux de Peau higher up on my wrist/arm and Vitriol d’œillet which the SA suggested-that wasn't even on my list. Chypre Rouge also seemed promising although surprisingly sweet.
I knew I'd like Jeux de Peau (pronounced Juo de pwah, I kept making the faux pas of pronouncing it wrong) because I believe I had tried it the last time I was in the store (9 months ago) and its an oriental. I got a sample of it and will give it a good test drive.
Boreno 1834 smelled FABULOUS upon first spritz, absolutely yummy and dark. Bittersweet chocolate and Patchouli. After a bit it turned into an extremely deep and strong patchouli, very masculine. Perhaps too masculine or too patchouli for me. It can be found on ebay cheaper than in the store. Maybe I'll go that route if I have to have it.
Vitriol d’œillet smelled pleasant on the paper, I had enough on my plate by that time so I didn't give it much thought. And the SA only had the tester bottle, none for sale yet.
During all this spraying and testing, I kept checking in on the Muscs. After a while (I had spent some time in the store talking to the SA) the MKK took an unexpected turn. Kinda for the worse. Yup it began to smell dirty. I was expecting dirty as in the dirtiness I detect in Patou's Joy-which I always smell right off, right out of the bottle. Are roses dirty smelling or something? I keep smelling, uh, a pungent odor from Joy, kind of poopy. I know it's not the rose note, must be the civet and/or castroneum but whoa, I smell a lot of poop. Not just from Joy, I've smelled in others and not just ones that have civet or castroneum listed in their notes. I began to associate roses with poop in perfumes. And that is another post in itself.
So what did I do? I bought the Muscs Koublai Khan. I justified that by thinking that this was priced very high on ebay (wrong, the prices are comparable to retail-there's just not many bottles to be found, I must have had this mixed up with a purse or something) and the SA told me they were discontinuing it in the US, and he only had 3 bottles left. They're also discontinuing Boreno 1834.
When I met up with Hubby, I stuck the Boreno 1834 hand under his nose. He liked it, why wouldn't he? At that point it was smelling like a deep patchouli with hints of cocoa. Hours later, even after a hand washing it still smells good.
Now when I stuck the MKK hand under his nose, after a quick sniff it he pulled his head back and said "What is THAT?" followed by "You didn't buy that did you? It smells awful, like some of the guys at work who don't wash." I have smelled those guys myself (at a normal distance, no invading any one's personal space) and it isn't pretty. I can think of worse smelling things, though. I have a customer at my work that smells absolutely putrid, I have to hold my breath when dealing with him. Tonight I accidentally stepped in dog poop and that was a bad smellin' batch, must be the Kibbles n' Bits or the new cookies.
Can it be that bad? I need to get more acquainted with MKK. And now I have a whole $140 bottle to do so with, which came with a 1/2 dozen or so samples of others: Jeax de Peau, Five O`Clock Au Gingembre, Arabie, Bas de Soie, Chergui, Datura Noir and Fille en Aiguilles.
8+ hours and a couple of hand washes later, MKK smells like a regular musk fragrance like Kiehel's, and the musks I used to wear like the ol' Skin Musk, Jovan Musk and the various small bottles of musks I'd buy from street vendors and small shops back in the day: Black Musk, Egyptian Musk, Africian Musk, Dark Musk, Nubian Musk, I've been a musk lover forever.
At this point, I haven't opened the package of MKK. I feel like opening it and giving myself a good spray. BTW the SA suggested not to overdo it with this one. When I make a big purchase I get nervous about it, maybe I should just sell it? Make a few bucks on it and buy something else, maybe a Chanel or something? Something safe. Can or should I even wear MKK out in public? Return it for the Boreno 1834? Then I'll have MKKMKK smells more like a sweat rather than poop, right? I'll go and open it up and find out : P
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