I give credit to perfume brands which find a style and stick with it. It means from a consumer perspective you know what you are getting when you pick up a bottle with a specific name on it. If the name on that bottle is Narciso Rodriguez, since 2003, you know you are getting a musk centric perfume. For a brand which has plowed the same creative field so often I am always surprised when a new release still finds just a bit of new territory to explore. This is what I found with Narciso Rodriguez Oud Musc.
Oud Musc is the fourth of the Oriental Musc Collection following Amber Musc, Rose Musc, and Santal Musc. As you can likely perceive from those names these perfumes are classic pairings of ingredients with musk. Oud Musc is no different.
Caroline Sabas
Perfumer Caroline Sabas takes those two titular ingredients and finds some new conspirators to give it some verve. The first of those ingredients is black pepper. Mme Sabas uses more than a pinch, it provides a strong contrast to the smoothness of the oud accord and musk. Because Mme Sabas is using an oud accord she is able to find a balance which is not rough between the oud and musk. That’s where the pepper comes in as it rasps across the duet at the heart of Oud Musc. It becomes further contrasted with the herbal quality of myrtle also providing that quality. When it does settle down to an accord of those four ingredients it comes together surprisingly well.
Oud Musc has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
I found Oud Musc just enough different to enjoy. At this point in the Narciso Rodriguez collection it is enough to make me happy.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Narciso Rodriguez.
–Mark Behnke
