Naughty Snow-White
I am following smellythought’s blog regularly and he recently posted his impressions on Musc Ravageur. He mentions, as well as many others, that this was not the Devastating Musk he expected it to be and I agree. Even Muscs Koublai Khan is not the stinkbomb I was expecting reading some reviews. So what is my absolute musk stinker? This little benign romantic perfume from Les Néréides. A jewellery company that started producing hand crafted off beat, happy designs back in 1980 and at some point expanded to perfume. Their designs have become more conventional but they have created a different line, N2 jewellery, that still has some of the initial spirit of the brand. Their perfumes have remained under the radar however, selling at very reasonable prices. And they are good! Very good! Old fashioned, romantic, bohemian like the jewellery but of very good quality. This one in particular is a quirky little piece.
The name, Powdered Musk Flower, pretty much is a note list by itself. But the opening packs a fistful of animalic, dirty, urinous musk. It is bold and scary but after the initial shock for some strange reason it makes me go back and sniff my wrist again. A totally primeval urge to experience the repulsion again and again. Or just the primeval attraction to musk? Before I know it I start to like what I smell. It is a sensual and human smell that smiles like a naughty child, poking its nose: “Look how nasty I am!”. The softest and most playful flowers join the elfish musk into a combination that has the proverbial “old lady” vibe but this old lady is a cheerful Miss Havisham, dressed in a pretty white wedding dress, picking up flowers in the garden. In the last phase I can also smell the powder that she uses on her cracked face. The musk becomes less aggressive towards the drydown, shedding most of the associations with urinals but it never goes into synthetic or white musk territory.
The picture of the perfumed old lady that I am drawing might look pitiful in your eyes but there is a very intelligent decision in the composition of this perfume: nothing is done in great seriousness. Everything floats in the air lightly and light-heartedly. The volume is exactly at the right level. It develops into a delicate floral skinscent with the most realistic musk note I have ever smelled in a perfume. It doesn’t claim breaking new ground but rather it digs up in the old attic for forgotten treasures. In a way, Fleur Poudrée de Musc reminds me of Amouage Gold pour Homme. I know this comparison can make me turn into a pillar of salt but given that I can still type, let me explain myself. Both fragrances use pissy musk, white florals and powder to make a statement. But where the cheap Fleur Poudrée de Musc creates a playful, light romantic feminine aura, the uber-expensive Gold pour Homme uses these old fashioned notes attempting to create something relevant in a bombastic “look at me” way that made me run to the sink. Unfortunately Fleur Poudrée de Musc is now discontinued, but I suspect their remaining releases are equally good.
Fleur Poudrée de Musc is a very feminine scent with a very dirty musk. I never wear it when I am going to meet unsuspecting noses but it holds a place in my heart because it is daring and delicate at the same time. It offers me the chance to enjoy musk at its wildest but it knows when to stop. It smells like a fairy tale and I know exactly which one: the Snow-white. The only difference is that this version of the tale showcases a very naughty Snow-white and all seven dwarfs!
Notes from Fragrantica: Himalayan musk
Notes from my nose: urinals, white flowers, powder
flower urinal via trendir.com
Memory Of Scent 
That’s it… I HAVE to try this now :’)
I love me a stinker!
Have you tried Brent Leonesio’s Untitled no.8
It’s about as fecal as a musk can get, I love it!
It’s my next ‘To Buy’…
Thanks for introducing me to this, the hunt is on…
I haven’t tried Untitled No8. For some reason I don’t find fecal notes as repulsive as urinous. This is why I was so surprised ti like this so much.
Ahhh! I always find both types of notes so overhyped.
It’s like Miel De Bois, I have a bottle and adore it, I wore it for months until I picked up the urinous note and then I was like “…Is that it?!”, I quite like it, it’s very trashy 😛
Fumerie Turque has a very urinous opening and I love it
Ooh that’s one I haven’t tried!
You’ve got me on such a fragrance hunt now!
Somehow I think I do NOT have to try this one: you made it sound really unappealing. But thank you for the warning.
My bad Undina. I wanted just the opposite…
Really? Wow! Please, if you decide to actually criticize anything, post a warning in the beginning of the article 😉
Since I seem to have a high tolerance for perfumes that others find skanky, I have a feeling I’ll like this dirty yet dainty little oddity you describe here. 😀 I’ll make it a point to seek some out at some point.
Smellythings comment about some of these skanky notes being overhyped makes me wonder the same thing, too. Or does it all just come down to skin chemistry? In some regards, I almost hate to admit that I love certain perfumes (like MKK Absolue Pour le Soir) because it makes me wonder what other perfume bloggers who find them so outrageously dirty must think about me for liking them. But I suppose that’s a silly path to wander down … no need to acquire more paranoia than I’ve already got. 🙂
I hope that sometime you do wear this one out in public; I’d be interested to know if other people perceive it as dirty on you. Because that’s another thing: I get a lot of compliments when I wear Absolue Pour le Soir, and no one ever seems to pick up on it being a dirty perfume. Someone should do a field-test study on these kinds of fragrances — that would be interesting, don’t you think?
Skin chemistry is important. I remember smelling my Heritage edp sprayed fresh on a friend’s wrist and picking up a huge fecal note I never noticed before. The use of skanky notes in perfume is very old so I think there is a reason they exist, a very primitive one.
FPdM is very feminine so this is one more reason I do not wear it a lot in social occasions but I assure you, anybody can pick up the pissy musk in this!
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