The Body Shop
The Body Shop
216 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The lily and ylang ylang burst forth with a creamy, almost cosmetic sweetness, immediately joined by that distinctive synthetic musk that smells like clean skin wrapped in talc. For the first ten minutes, it's almost shampoo-like in its brightness, with a subtle floral sheen that feels refreshing rather than perfumed.
As the opening musks diffuse, the jasmine and rose emerge with a distinctly powdery character, merging into that persistent iris-and-amber foundation that becomes the fragrance's true centre of gravity. A subtle spiced warmth from the patchouli and vetiver base begins to ground the florals, preventing them from floating away and instead anchoring them to your skin with an earthy undertone.
What remains is primarily the animalic musk and amber accord, now enriched by the vetiver's slightly woody, almost tobacco-like quality, with traces of powdery iris still clinging softly to skin. The fragrance becomes increasingly skin-like and intimate here, less a perfume worn on the body and more a scent emanating from within, albeit one with barely perceptible longevity by modern standards.
White Musk is a fragrance that refuses to whisper—it announces itself with the creamy, almost cosmetic brightness of a powdered iris meeting a luminous musk accord that feels simultaneously animalic and skin-like. This isn't a delicate scent; it's a bold declaration of the 1980s aesthetic, where synthetic musks were celebrated for their tenacity rather than hidden beneath layers of naturalistic composition. The top notes pivot immediately away from fresh citrus territory, instead offering a honeyed floral opening dominated by lily and ylang ylang that verges on soapy, as though you've just emerged from a luxuriously fragranced bath.
What's most arresting is the fragrance's powdery heart, where jasmine and rose don't bloom with romantic tenderness but rather dry and become subsumed into that dominant musk-and-iris foundation. There's a spiced edge lurking beneath—perhaps from the patchouli and vetiver base notes—that prevents White Musk from sliding into pure feminine softness. Instead, it occupies that distinctly unisex territory of the early 1980s, smelling equally at home on someone who wore it as a signature throughout the decade and someone discovering it now for its nostalgic charm.
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4.2/5 (85)