I have a few friends to thank for the discovery of Cartier’s Oud and Musc. I’m not drawn to many oud perfumes, but after hearing many positive reviews from friends, a bag of discarded samples coincidentally made its way to me, and happened to have a few from Cartier’s oud in it. Oud and Vanilla seems to be the crowd favourite and is much easier to wear, but I finished my sample Oud and Musc and wasn’t done deconstructing it in my head. I had to get a bottle so I could wear it some more. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
To me, this is everything I wanted the famed Muscs Kublai Khan to be. It’s animalic, a dirty barnyardy oud melding an animalic musk. A clean musk lies in the background and patchouli smoulders in the background. It’s easy to wear and even though it says “parfum” at the bottom of the bottle, the atomizer dispenses a fine luxurious mist that’s not overly potent. It feels more like an eau de toilette. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’ve never understood how people could bear the animalic facets of oud until I smelled this line. It’s one where the wait is worth it because although it smells weird at first spray, the dry down has a cozy friendly warmth that reminds me of warm hugs, doggy fur, clean skin. Layer this with anything you want and make it your own, but wear it on skin to really experience the best of it.
I like it with Shalimar. ⠀⠀⠀⠀
Oud and Santal seems to be a popular one from this line too and it’s quite lovely.
