The Musk Thread! Need to know what type is for you?

[lavinia]

I would highly recommend Dorian .

Edited April 26, 2005 by lavinia

[L-z_Empress]

The two ideas that I had, others have already mentioned, but I'll second them: Bathsheba and DORIAN.

[Cagedflame]

Musk I like as a background note, but seems to like to overpower everything in a blend with me, 3/4 times. And no difference in what kind of musk it is. Bathsheba, Bastet, Fenris Wolf -- musk and not much else. Snake Oil -- stays in the background. So I'm guessing maybe Snake Oil only has a small amount of musk compared to the other two? What else has only minimal amounts of musk in it that is NOT FLORAL?

[TroubleDoll]

Bewitched has just a bit of musk, but is mostly fruity.

[wolfie13]

I tend to have the same problem, with red musk being the worst offender on me - whoa, my skin blows that one right out of the water! And I am not a huge floral fan either.

 

Here are some (besides Snake Oil, of course!) that have worked for me. You might want to look into these, depending on how you feel about the other notes:

 

Black Forest

Blood Kiss

Dracul

Hecate

Hexennacht

Villain

[tempete]

It looks like you haven't tried anything containing white musk which is a gentler, milder musk, so I would recommend Black Pearl and Fae.

[Cagedflame]

Of the suggestions, blood kiss has already been tried and didn't work on me-- my skin is even worse with dragon's blood than it is with musk. It not only overthrows everything else in the blend, it seems to build in intensity and throw until I get headaches. >_<

 

I'll be checking out these suggestions and seeing if they're up my alley.

[voodoobaby]

I sympathize! I too have a problem with musks blowing up on my skin--and yes, especially red musk. It's a good thing I really like it, because I'd be in trouble otherwise. Out of what I've tried, the ones that are light on the musk are Dorian, Bewitched, Black Pearl, Imp (definitely try that one), Lampades, Lilith, and Tintagel. All the rest of the musk blends are really heavy on that note, at least with my chemistry. And out of those, I didn't get any florals in them, either, even if there are some floral notes listed in the description. Good luck!

[Cagedflame]

I am very sad. It seems like Hexennacht falls prey to the "omfg musk!!1one" syndrome, too.

[wolfie13]

Awwww - Caged Flame that's too bad! - I had really hoped Hexennacht would work for you, as we seem to have similar skin chemistry. (My skin tends to make Dragon's Blood go crazy too - there are very few blends that contain it that i can wear - and too bad because i love it! Because of this I do not recommend Tintagel, as with both musk AND dragon's blood, it was out of control on me.)

 

Good luck with your continued search - I'll be checking back on this thread myself to see what others recommend that I haven't tried yet!

[voodoobaby]

The funny thing is that I got neither dragon's blood nor musk out of Tintagel, which are two notes that love my skin (although my skin hates dragon's blood, ugh!). It was all spiced wine and wood on me. Of course, wine is another that really pops on me, so that might have something to do with it.

 

Skin chemistry is a bizarre thing.

[cranberry]

I had the same reaction wtih Hexennacht. Started out amazing and then it turns all musk. I'm still trying to figure out which musks I react badly to so what works for me that has musk may not work for you.

 

But, have you tried Coyote? It's a warm, ambery non-floral that lists musk in the ingredients but the musk seems to say pretty quiet on me. I would stay away from Yddgrissal (sp all wrong) - I got the same musk there that I did with Hexennacht. I was pretty surpised by that one!

[darklorelei]

I think the (arabian?) musk in Bathsheba is quite nice. I really can't do musk, personally, but it was very warm and non-offensive. I'm betting Baghdad has a similar musk in it?

[Blood onmy hands]

Other than agreeing that Dorian, Tamora, and Antique Lace are good ideas... I would also suggest Black Opal. It smelled very creamy/foodie/musky to me.

[pekeana]

I second the suggestion of Black Opal and really have to say that Snake Oil, Dorian, and Dragon's Milk should make your final cut.

[Stephanie]

I would say:

 

1. Antique Lace

2. Zephyr

3. Black Opal

4. Dorian

5. Dragon's Milk

6. Black Pearl

[Seajewel]

antique lace. the defining white musk and vanilla scent to me

[greywind]

Thank you all so much for your help. After much deliberation I've settled on:

 

1. Antique Lace

2. Dragon's Milk

3. Dorian

4. Zephyr

5. Black Opal

6. Hollywood Babylon

 

Snake Oil and O really had me waffling back and forth but I ended up omitting both because I'm not certain how much of a sexy vibe she'd be comfortable with (being a doting grandma and all). If she doesn't find something she loves in this batch, I'll just have to compile another list -- or get her hooked on the site herself.

[olympia301]

You might want to think around Dana O'Shee and Alice, too. Small scents...they don't throw like Sandy Kofaks (or however you spell it) but for a vanilla lover they are pretty fine. I suspect that Alice carries a bit of white or skin musk with her (her secret). Most lovely both of them.

[minilux]

I'm probably even more out of my league than you are when it comes to vanilla and musk, but you made excellent choices. Everyone is so crazy for Black Opal, I don't see how she could fail to like it.

[zenvodunista]

looks good. i'd replace Hollywood Babylon with Alice though

 

n.

[greywind]

looks good. i'd replace Hollywood Babylon with Alice though

 

n.

 

I'm hesitating over Alice because it's a floral, and my friend has said she doesn't care for florals. I'm well aware that BPAL tends to break the rules in terms of what people do or don't care for, scent wise, but for this first order I think I'm going to err on the side of caution. For something fruity in place of Hollywood Babylon I'm thinking of Katharina, since I actually have imps of Tamora and Fae on order for my mother. If she doesn't care for them, I can always pass them on to my friend, so I should order something different for her.

[darklorelei]

Just a bit of warning, Katharina is pretty intense. Like, rubbing apricots all over your body. Definitely for the devout.

[Miss Lynx]

There are a number of scent with an amber/musk base that could work, and amber is fairly close scent-wise to vanilla.

 

Haunted is probably the purest, being nothing but amber and musk, and there's also Imp (adds elements of earthiness and fruitiness to it), Fenris Wolf (adds woodsy notes and a slight sweetness that sometimes seems almost floral but isn't) and Titus Andronicus (adds multiple layers of earthy, spicy, fruity, and the barest hint of floral).

 

I know the latter two tend to be widely considered men's scents, but they don't smell at all masculine on me... I guess it depends on one's skin chemistry.

[greywind]

Thanks for the warning darklorelei. Perhaps I'll have to come up with something else that's fruit/musk. And thanks for the amber/musk suggestion Miss Lynx. That wouldn't have occurred to me, relative newbie that I am. Hmm, more to ponder...