Thursday, October 25, 2012

Old Fashioned Musk


My local drugstore sells perfumes of bygone decades for cheap.

This is a chance for me to sample what perfume creators had in mind for women. Most of what I've encountered is strong, fragrance-filled, feminine scents, unlike our contemporary diluted contributions.

Recently, I found Musk by Alyssa Ashley for a mere $7. The salesgirl was kind enough to let me smell an already opened flask, and I decided to buy it and try it out. (As I told a Sephora's "perfumer," they should really hire me to sell perfumes. Every time I go there, she singles me out, and asks me what I think of some latest product. That way, I also get sample tubes without asking.)

Fragrantica, the online perfume finder, labels Musk as "Floral Woody Musk."

Here are some of the notes:
Musk, Bergamot
African orange flower
Iris
Rose
Jasmin
Violet
Amber
Oak moss
This reviewer advises that: "You should not spray too much otherwise it gets too strong and one spray is enough."

Despite the light, floral ingredients, it still has a strong scent.

Here is how it all started:
The Alyssa Ashley brand was started in the United States in the legendary sixties. The fragrance is created by the artistic imagination of an artist, who besides his love for painting had a special passion for perfume. The packaging he designed can be seen as an expression of modern art. Alyssa was the name of his youngest daughter and Ashley was her nickname because of her beautiful blonde hair. And so was Alyssa Ashley created!
I tried to find who this "artist" was (or is), but he seems to want to remain anonymous.

Here's another musk perfume I've reviewed:
Musk for Autumn