Their new website just went up (I think he was switching hosts and making some major behind-the-scenes changes) and the CB Musk is now on the site. Bloglifting from his description:
“CBMUSK is a deep scent with a rich animal/erotic presence. It seems to fade into the skin causing the natural scent to glow. CBMUSK is beautiful on its own or worn as a base with other scents.
True Tonkin Musk no longer exists in the contemporary world and I personally loathe synthetic versions — generally they make me sick. I´ve learned over the years that I have particular chemical sensitivities to many of the aromachemicals used to recreate “musk” and I´m not alone in my dislike for those scents. So this is my own interpretation of what I´d always imagined real musk to smell of. Whether it does or does not, I cannot know. I can say however my version is unlike anything currently called “musk.” I make CBMUSK only in absolute form. This is a very rich scent that wants to be worn only in specific places.”
No kidding. Well, guess what — click here and buy yourself a sample for $15. Yeah, I know — that’s a lot for a sample. But 2ml of this musk absolute will last you a lot longer than you’d think. Be sure to check out his other samples while you’re at it — everyone should try Black March, Burning Leaves, Winter 1972…
March – I think the smaller (I´ve no idea how much they contained) samples were around $ 4, but I´m not sure. I agree, absolutes are really strong, so little goes a long way, but…*big sigh*: I wanted to order samples yesterday & shipping is just too high for me, in fact it costs more than the 4 samples I chose. I know, CB doesn´t make the prices, but no matter how much I want to test these perfumes, I cannot afford that. Yes, I´m sad now & I just wanted to let you know ;)!
Thank you! I really might buy the Rhubarb leaf unsniffed some day, after all the accords are much cheaper… I love CdGs sherbet rhubarb which is also rhubarb and a green note and not so gourmand as it sounds.
I have tried Memory of kindness and while I liked it I wasn’t overwhelmed by it, I found the tomato leaf note to be a bit onedimensional (I figure I could probably buy a cheaper tomato leaf single note which might not be quite as good but still more priceworthy)
I only wish I could some day visit his store and smell all the scents for free, that would be great fun… But alas, there is an ocean between us.
Solander — well, he was originally the guy behind Demeter, so there’s a resemblance. However, when compared, I find his fragrances to be much richer and on-target. Demeter is tinkering with his formulas, and some of them don’t smell as good. I find his absolutes last much longer and smell richer.
The Rhubarb leaf smells like rhubarb and a green note. It’s delicious. Memory of Kindness is great if you like tomato leaf. Bonfire smells “smokier” than Burning Leaves. He likes smoke a lot, so there are a lot of nuances there. He has a bunch in his store that aren’t online.
Malena — I just poked around on there. I don’t see the 1ml samples on there any more (which were cheaper — 5 – 7 bucks?) But when I met him he said they were killing him b/c the bottles and prep were so expensive. So I THINK what I see is he’s eliminated the small samples and is offering smaller bottles (15ml?) of some of the accords for $25. Now, these are absolutes, so they are strong. FWIW I paid $75 for 15ml of the musk. To me, they’re worth it. I think his stuff is great.
Elle — I emailed him some questions this morning and he already answered — 😮 — he is so nice.
You’re the one who got me wondering about Violet Empire! I am such a fool for not sniffing it when I was there. I love violets. I’m going to order a sample.
His archetypes sound divine.
Thanks for your reply March! I didn’t dislike most of them, they just didn’t live up to my expectations. I found them similar to certain budget scents like Demeter or cheap perfume oils – the dirt note and so on.
Has anyone tried any of the Accords? I’m crazy for rhubarb notes so I’m really curious about the Rhubarb leaf, and I keep wondering if Bonfire is a budget alternative to my fav Burning leaves…
The prices put me off, too. I thought they were cheaper before, weren´t they? I haven´t tried any of them yet, but I´m really intrigued by your reviews, so perhaps i cannot resist very long…
I´m a big fan of SL MKK – I´ve to admit that I don´t find it evry dirty at all, it´s just not that clean smelling musc that makes me sick, when I smell it…
Wild Pansy & Violet Empire sound great too, as well as Burning Leaves – I think, I really need that one 😉
It would be great if you reviewed more of his scents in the future. I really like your reviews, they give a lot of informations & are fun to read!
Spoke to him yesterday when I was ordering some of that Musk (inspired by your post). He really is the nicest, most interesting person. He was talking some about the archetypal scents he’s been creating that he mentioned in your other post. I’m fairly certain I’m going to need every single one. He said there is one that is in the same mood as the original Norell (not the white flower one) and uses this musk in the base. Tapping my fingers and staring at the calendar waiting for that one. I think his scents are genius. His Violet Empire eclipses all other violets in my collection.
Solander — if you’ve tried a few and disliked them, I can’t say that you’ll be impressed with any of the others. I think he charges so much because the samples are undilute absolutes, and the bottles are expensive (he’s looking for less expensive alternatives.) You probably won’t smell anything quite like the musk elsewhere that I’m aware of.
Mimi — well… I have no idea. Perhaps you could email him. He seems to answer pretty promptly!
It sounds wonderful. I’d take dirty over clean any day. Even though I’m not a floral person I’d like Wild Pansy for the name only… But the sample prices! Even worse than Le Labo, except that you don’t have to buy 3 at once. It seems he finally ships samples abroad though, since it doesn’t say anywhere he doesn’t (on the other hand I couldn’t find any customer/ordering info at all). I’m hesitant to buy $10+ samples though, especially since I was very underwhelmed by the samples I’ve tried previously. I was intrigued by the descriptions and the anti-perfume stance and very excited to get my hands on them, especially Black March, and then they were just meh, with the exception of the beautiful Burning Leaves. A few of them, like Gathering Apples, even smelled cheap to me, cheaper than really cheap perfume oils on the same theme. But I’m still lusting for this musk…
I wonder what he means by Tonkin musk no longer exists in the world? I have some natural grains of Chinese musk chez moi and it continues to be used, I think, in Chinese pharmacology.