Kiehl’s (Since 1851) Original Musk Blend No. 1 has been around a long time if you believe Kiehl’s PR: “Our original musk oil is believed to have been created in the 1920s at the ‘Kiehl Apothecary.’ Discovered there in a vat labeled ‘Love Oil’ in the late 50s, Kiehl’s signature scent was reintroduced to our patrons in 1963.” I recently sniffed Original Musk for the first time, and it reminds me of many higher priced perfumes: inside Original Musk there's a pinch of Hermès Eau d’ Hermès with its grainy, leather-cumin accord, a hint of Serge Lutens Muscs Koublaï Khan (“tough” musk with flowers), and a ghostly bit of, believe it or not, Chanel No. 5’s floral aldehydes.
Original Musk is, of course, a synthetic musk fragrance; it has “body” but it’s still a light version of musk — not heavy in the least. Kiehl’s lists Original Musk’s fragrance notes as bergamot nectar, orange blossom, lily, rose, ylang-ylang, neroli, tonka bean, white patchouli and musk.
There are no distinct stages of development in Original Musk…what you smell at first spray is basically what you smell hours later on skin (though the scent softens and becomes a bit more floral in character as it fades away). Original Musk opens with dense citrus and leather-cumin notes followed immediately by the scents of rich flowers (ylang-ylang and an aldehydic rose stand out most forcefully) and a light, modern musk augmented with an amber-y accord of sheer patchouli and tonka bean-vanilla (with a touch of moss?)
Original Musk smells a tad “retro” — overall, it’s a well-rounded “silky” musk fragrance, not a stark musk scent like Malin+Goetz Synthesized Musk. Kiehl’s Original Musk has good lasting power and minimal sillage; it’s one of the few non-fruity musks that I’d wear in warm weather. If you tried Original Musk long ago when it was only available in oil formulation, you may want to revisit it. Robin here at Now Smell This remembers Original Musk as smelling “patch-heavy...or at least heavy” but I don’t find Original Musk particularly patchouli-rich or too strong in Eau de Toilette strength.
At $39 for a 50 ml Eau de Toilette spray, Kiehl's Original Musk qualifies as a “cheap thrill.”
Note: top left image of a musk deer (altered) and top right image of a musk molecule formula via Wikimedia Commons.
Love cheap thrills. I’ve been trying to share my love of perfume by dragging family and friends into the rabbit hole with me so this will go onto the list of potential gifts. The retro feel is a bonus!
Tiara: yes, a great cheap thrill…I’ll be reviewing many “cheap thrills” this spring
I have always been curious about this fragrance but have never tried it. I love some of their other products, tinted moisturizer, lip balm, etc. So, now you have convinced me it’s worth trying.
FD: I admit I wasn’t expec ting much so was pleasantly surprised
yay! I’ve heard so much about this but haven’t tried…and I love cheap thrills! TY for the review!
Elise; you’re welcome
Kevin, I have owned this for awhile. The bottle drew me in as well as the romantic story of how it was found. Anyway, I love it tremendously…however, the general public does not really embrace smells as heavy as this. I get the old lady comments every time I do but that usually dosen’t stop me. I am also a lover of patchouli and I don’t get any in this one for some reason. Thanks for reviewing..!
Michelle: didn’t get any old lady comments but at this stage all my friends dare not say such a thing to me. HA! I don’t find this one heavy in the least though…wonder if you were using the oil?
Funny, I finally got around to trying this last weekend, while on a smelly bender with a friend in ‘fume. For some reason, I had been under the impression it was one of the “lost” scents…and there it was, on the counter, in real time. Hunh.
I am generally patch-adverse, though I’ve been known to embrace it in certain perfumes (including all smoothed out in Coromandel), which I use as a preface to say that I, too, thought the Kiehl’s (at least what I found three days ago) to be neither too rich nor to emphatic when it comes to patch.
Strikes me as a good something to have in the lineup for fans of layering, too.
what a good idea!!!! i have been longing to try this for forever, and the fact that it is a good ‘layering’ scent sells me on it totally….for some reason i just never thought of that……..
thanks!
SS: I bet you’re right about layering…I can imaging many things it would go with, including adding interest to certain soliflores.
I went through a musk phase a couple of yrs ago and Kiehl’s emerged as one of my favorites, a work horse type of scent that I enjoy by itself and layered with all kinds of things. I think of it as an *all purpose* musk scent; not too dirty, floral, harsh, spicy, soft, etc., all things I’ve run into with some other musks. It’s a favorite bedtime scent, too. Thanks for the review!
Rosarita: I can see it being a “just-right” musk…you’re welcome
I tried this on recently and really liked it. I’d sum it up as earthy and amber-y with a pretty floral base that’s fresh like dewy-wet petals. It didn’t have the heavy carnal muskiness that I expected.
As a guy, I thought it was slightly too floral for my taste. But I did end up getting the Khiel’s Pour Homme. Both are very nice, pleasant, and easy to wear, but I wouldn’t say that either smells exotic or expensive.
xxx.o: agree that it does not smell exotic … I can’t think of any exotic-smelling Kiehl’s scent…but it smells as expensive as most mainstreams/department store fragrances I’ve been drowning in recently.
I’ll have to give this a go. I have been mad a Keihl’s ever since they discontinued Exquisite Rain (it’s not like I don’t have some of it, it was just the idea) and they are also not as nature-based and whatnot as they come across, but I know this is a rather iconic scent. Musk and I are not getting along well right now (think I might have some anosmia) but now and then I get it.
Tama; a few people I let smell this came up “empty nosed” (couldn’t smell a thing)…so you are not alone
Friends have been raving about some of Kiehls skins care products, so perhaps the next time they drag me over to the counter, I’ll have something to do…
i tried the musk body wash, and, frankly, i get almost nothing out of it. however, based on this review, i will be buying the scent itself to try it out anyway.
Jo: ah, if you can’t smell the body wash in Musk this might be a “wash” too…see above. (you may not be able to smell this particular musk)
Maggie: I need to revisit some of the Kiehl’s products too…used to love the skin lotions and body washes
I tried this last week because I couldn’t remember what it smelled like and was surprised to discover that it smelled like the Egyptian musks sold at my local health food store. I didn’t get any patch at all either.
Thanks for your review, and I really appreciate your description of the development of this scent. For some reason, I was thinking it was a one-note frag… Must try soon! Now if only I can keep a straight face when I see all those SAs in their clean white coats…
Queen C: Oh, no…didn’t notice any lab coats!
It is one of my “10 Full Bottles” lovely to wear alone, or to layer under many fragrances to give them a nice musk-base.
Definitely a cheap thrill.
and I know you select your FBs carefully….ahg, I’m being enabled here!
Self enabling is the worst!
and yet I engage in self-enabling constantly!
“Love Oil”. I wonder if the shop assistants of the 20s could’ve introduced it to customers as such while keeping a straight face.
Eminere: really…that sounds “made up” to me…but I could be wrong.
LOL. I was thinking the same thing. It sounds as if I’d like it, if it isn’t too head shop-y.
hmmm…. I’ve ignored this for the longest time….too heavy, too oily, too head shop patchy….at least that was my “impression” ….now I’m going to need to try a bit.
I meant to say also — I’ve learned to take your recommendations with a certain amount of trepidation Kevin—your tolerance for musky, patchy, animalic scents far far FAR exceeds mine….what can I say? I’m a bona-fide perfume pansy. (that’s code for chicken-shit)
Daisy: haha! I THINK I can say, THIS time, that this is MILD compared to other dirty/musky/earthy things I love…so it might not horrify you!
well, I’d hate to be horrified. …you know, as a general rule.
On the perfume dirty/musky/earthy things-o-meter : at one end there’s a picture of Kevin….and wayyyyy at the other end is a picture of Daisy…..
oh I almost forgot —a siren goes off when the earthy-ometer is pointed at a bottle of MKK and my picture turns a little green….
Yes! This really ‘put a floor’ in my ability to judge all the modern musks out there; it really struck me as a clean version of MKK, which I just cannot do. Mind you I often wonder if I can smell all ‘musk’ aromachems, some musk ‘fumes are just so meh to me I cannot understand the lurve (I get goat hair form MKK by and large!!!); I know I can smell the real stuff; after putting aside my aversion to slaughtering those little deer, I got a droplet just to make sure…and during my quest to understand musk, I came across info somewhere that the old Mughals/sultans/kings would have musk parks where servants actually picked up the pellets from the ground instead of killing the deer.
Winifrieda: thankfully we can rest assured no sweet little deer were harmed for this!
I’ve been wondering about this one – good to know it’s not just in oil form any more. I appreciate your reviewing a classic, Kevin, and am delighted to hear that more cheap thrills are on the way!
Noz: cheapies have been thrilling me more than mainstreams lately…and niche stuff too! Hope spring brings in some good things in all categories…all I’m doing now is replacing old favorites
dear Kevin, would you (or someone else at NST) review other frags they offer? I’ve read they were re-done lika a couple of years ago and years of their initial issue added to theri names.
Kevin, thanks for your review. I have this in a perfume oil roll-on, and it’s my go-to comfort scent to wear to bed. I find it very soothing and warm. I’m trying to remember how I’ve layered it, but really, when I want it, I want it by itself.