Colin Maillard's Review of Deer Musk by Abdul Samad Al Qurashi

Deer Gazelle Musk opens with a beautiful and complex smell of animalic musk, quite less indolic and considerably less "loud" than I expected. Beautiful contrasting nuances of amber and dusty vanilla create a blend which manages to smell at the same time raw and warm, velvety and refined, with also an unperceivable breeze of flowers providing "colour" and ariosity. They are not in the composition, which is supposed to be pure musk oil, so I guess all this echoes and notes are part of the complexity of this material. The prominent note is however, obviously, musk, which smells animalic and slightly "fecal" but as I said, quite less than I expected (and feared, to be honest). It is much well softened and made gentler by this graceful crown of ambery and floral nuances. Overall, the musk note is quite similar to some extents to oud, with the same slightly indolic and dirty feel, just obviously less woody and less smoky, and more earthy, stale, moldy, dirty. A really interesting and much captivating scent, which can be used and enjoyed on several levels and degrees of appreciation; it is an elegant, shady, masculine (or "bitchy"...) amber-musky scent which can be used as-is, as it's not challenging or "stinky" but rather refined from the very first moment, but the great quality of materials allows you to go deeper and enjoy its evolution and its nuances, pretty much like an imaginative safari tour. No mistakes, no cheap sides, no plastic drydown, pure natural deepness. Plus, being relatively simple complexity-wise, I believe it is built to be used as a "base" too, to create one's own personal scent with other oils from the same house - I think this is part of the routine with Arab perfumery. Which makes sense and must be surely a great experience - just to "play" a bit I mixed it with a drop of ta'if rose oil from the same brand, the result was amazing (but I must admit I am not a fan of mixing and layering, so I probably won't do that again: too many alternatives and choices, everything may go perfectly with everything... I must be a sad, close-minded Western man too much used to pay noses to do the job for me!). Anyway... finally, everlasting drydown, still there the day after, surviving a shower - but quite close to skin. My final advice would be: get this, together with other ones, maybe in a sample pack. It may appear a bit costly at first, but the experience of enjoying other ways of approaching perfumes may surely be worth it (plus however it smells gorgeous, period).

8,5/10

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