The Body Shop Red Musk EDP Review

My choice in fragrances leans more towards smoky, sultry, sensuous and warm ones like the Armani Code (reviewed here) or floral with a sensual twist like the Bvlgari Notte (reviewed here), so it is no surprise that The Body Shop Red Musk EDP, which has no floral composition at all, would catch my fancy. A unisex fragrance (though it is being marketed as a feminine one) with very interesting  notes, this is a very promising fragrance. Did it manage to impress me?

 

The Body Shop Red Musk EDP Review

About

Can you handle the scandal? Discover the hot new Red musk collection, an intensely different feminine fragrance that is scandalising the perfume establishment with it’s smouldering blend of spiced musk with hot notes of pepper, cinnamon and tobacco – and no flowers!

 Pepper

Gathered from Pepper plants, the sun-dried pepper fruits are steam-distilled to preserve their biting scent. The addictive top note adds a sparkling dimension to the fragrance.

Cinnamon

A known aphrodisiac, cinnamon is used in perfumerie for it’s versatile depth. It’s sweet yet savoury scent form the heart notes and is intriguingly irresistible.

Tobacco

Almost exclusively used in male fragrances, the tobacco accord is a contemporary classic. It gives the base a mysterious allure that is impossible to resist.

Packaging

 

The Body Shop Red Musk EDP comes in a minimalist gradient glass bottle with a black cap. I love how the gradient colours blend into each other and cast beautiful shadows in the sunlight. To me, it seems like the colours are chosen to depict the fragrance notes, with the red on top for the red pepper top notes, the brownish center layer standing for the cinnamon heart notes and the yellow for the dried tobacco leaves. I might be wrong though, this is just my imaginative mind at work. What do you think?

 

Fragrance

I have always loved the smoky aroma that tobacco gives to men’s fragrances (Armani Code and L’Eau D’Issey being my favourites) and I was glad to have a women’s fragrance with such a deep base. The first notes that hit you are slightly sweet and spicy notes. It smells warm and sensuous, just the kind of perfume I like. Within half an hour, it dries down and the sweetness subsides to become slightly more mature and musky. I wouldn’t say this fragrance is just for women though. The different notes make it a lovely fragrance for men too, not overly masculine and not sweetly feminine, just perfectly sensual and musky.

Sillage and Longevity

Now this is where this lovely fragrance disappoints. The sillage (French term for the fragrance that lingers in the air when it is worn) is really low and can only be smelt if someone hugs you or comes close to speak into your ear. And this is within minutes of wearing it! I don’t want a fragrance to announce my arrival into the room, but at least there should be some sillage. Barely any with this fragrance.

The same goes for it’s longevity. I had read reviews where people claimed this fragrance lasted the entire day on them. I wish it were true for me as well. If I apply it at 10am, I can barely smell it by 1pm! And no, it is not a case of olfactory saturation. Even hubby said that he could barely smell it on me. Perhaps it’s simply the way the perfume reacts with my body chemistry….

Price

At ₹2,995 for 60ml, The Body Shop Red Musk EDP would have been a good buy especially since it works for men as well. However, I have to say I was disappointed with the sillage and the longevity, both of which are important for me in a perfume. If The Body Shop launches a shower gel and body lotion in this collection, I shall get those too and layer them and hope to improve the longevity on me.

 

Have you tried The Body Shop Red Musk EDP? What do you think of it? How long does it last on you? Do let me know in the comments.