Welcome back to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is Friday, January 28, and I have surprised myself by how much I’m enjoying a fragrance whose name initially deterred me: Parfums de Nicolai’s Musc Intense. I don’t usually think of musky fragrances as something I’ll like, and “intense” in a fragrance name often indicates it is a flanker of something else, amped up to a degree I may not appreciate (much as I do love Tiffany & Co. Intense). But when I read the notes listed on Fragrantica, they sounded very appealing, so I took a chance (yes, it was a blind buy, naughty me; but I have loved every Nicolai fragrance I’ve tried to date, so it wasn’t completely reckless). Top notes — Turkish Rose, Pear and Galbanum; middle notes — Rose, Violet, Carnation and Jasmine; base notes — Musk, Civet, Amber and Sandalwood.
Wow! Musc Intense is just lovely. Soft, warm, but persistent — I can still smell it on my wrists after a light application 24 hours ago. It clings to clothing, too, in a very agreeable way. This is now a contender with Jicky eau de toilette for favorite bedtime scent. It smells cuddly and also floral, with a bit of fruit; the pear note in the opening is just right, a light touch of fruitiness that is also a bit green. Don’t laugh, but the drydown of Musc Intense evokes clean baby animals, like a freshly washed puppy.
Have you ever been put off by the name of a fragrance only to find, to your surprise, that you like it very much?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I try not to focus to much on the names of perfumes. That said – I own a small bottle of “I Am Trash” – hate the name but the perfume is interesting (I’m a sucker for apple…) I am a big fan of Nicolaï- although I haven’t tried Musc Intense. For some reason I’m not drawn to musk heavy perfumes.
For today, we’re on a ski weekend at Wisp in MD. (I don’t ski anymore but the boys do, and we’re here with two other families so the moms get to relax during the day.). I brought a few travel sprays – today will probably be Black Hemlock from Scent Trunk.
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Sounds like fun! I hope you have many hot beverages!
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Ah, “I Am Trash” is a good example! I’d forgotten about that one. I liked it when I sampled it, and almost considered buying a bottle – what stopped me was that it didn’t have good longevity (and now I expect that from upcycled aroma materials, but would be happy to be proven wrong). Enjoy the weekend!
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I refuse to even try that perfume because of the name! 🙂
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The notes really sound better than the perfumes name, although i am not too keen on violet and sandalwood. If something is named Intense, i always fear a sugarladen flanker, so it would not beckon me to try it. Good to. know, that you liked it. I am wafting a cloud of Salome in honor of Colette.
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You smell great! I’m wearing Jicky today in her honor, as it’s one she apparently wore herself.
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I have tried Musc Intense and liked it very much. I’m a big fan of Parfums de Nicolai generally. I’m normally not a huge musk lover either, but Musc Intense is different from many of the musk- centric perfumes, at least to my nose. Beautyhabit had a zoom event around Parfums de Nicolai 3 months ago I believe and I got to try Musc Intense and some other newer offerings. I really liked Fig Tea cologne and bought a bottle of it and accompanying lotion, very refreshing!!
I finally got my new batch of sample vials so I’m going to email you and ask for your snail mail address again. I managed to delete all my old emails and it’s gone. Somehow when I’m going through email on my phone I delete things I didn’t mean to. Arrgghh!
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Thank you, you’re very kind! Glad to know there’s another aficionado of Musc Intense in this chat room!
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I liked Musc Intense as well (from the same Beautyhabit event as rickyrebarco).
I almost passed on Rose Prick, but then decided not to think about the name and got a travel spray. But I still refuse to touch FF from the same brand.
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I agree! There’s no need for a fragrance name like that.
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