Musc Ravageur Review

Musc Ravageur is essentially an old-school animalic Oriental dressed up in modern garb. 

The perfume hangs on a classic chord of bergamot, lavender and vanilla which projects with plenty of Iso E Super like radiance. The gourmand sweetness of the fond is here played up with spicy notes of clove and cinnamon, and the whole thing is wrapped up in thick layers of furry musk. The latter smells remarkably like IFF’s specialty Tonquitone base, a synthetic replacement for natural musk deer grains. Although now a protected species, the tincture from the glands of Moschus moschiferus once made up a reported 15% of Chanel No.5’s formula (together with 15% natural civet infusion, per Kraft et al.). 

A tad rougher in feel than Shalimar and the like, Musc Ravageur nevertheless succeeds in showcasing a largely forgotten facet of so many famous perfumes. 

Nose: Maurice Roucel

House: Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle

Relase date: 2000

Notes (per Fragrantica): lavender, bergamot, tangerine, cinnamon, clove, sandalwood, tonka, vanilla, guaiac, musk, amber. 

Iris Silver Mist Review

The story of Iris Silver Mist’s conception is now firmly established in the canon of perfume myth: Maurice Roucel, it is said, plugged the organoleptic term ‘iris’ into his fragrance database and set about combining all the results returned to create this scent. Besides a very respectable amount of orris butter (4.5%), the perfume contains a high dose of Isoraldeine (methyl ionones) and the IFF base Irival.

As its name suggests, Iris Silver Mist is intended to showcase orris’ impressive vocal range, from its ringing, silvery-metallic ‘top notes’ to its damp, vegetal-earthy fond. It’s in its mid-register however, where the scent sings most sublimely, developing a delicately powdered green-floral accord of intense beauty. The natural woodsy facets of iris meanwhile, are elaborated by the addition of cedar oil that coaxes forth a distinct nuttiness in the composition. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the perfume begins to darken in hue as the sweetly spiced, clovey odour of (Iso-)eugenol takes over, guiding the transition to a base of coumarin and plump musks.

Nose: Maurice Roucel

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 1994

Notes (per Fragrantica): orris root, galbanum, cedar, sandalwood, clove, vetiver, musk, Chinese benzoin, incense, white amber.