Mona di Orio - Musc (Les Nombres d’Or)

Last week I wrote about my dislike for Issey Miyake's L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme and mentioned that more than anything, I don't want a person's skin to smell like that. I've received a couple of emails asking me in private what I thought skin should smell like. The answer, among many possible others, is Mona Di Orio Musc from her Les Nombres d'Or series.

Mona di Orio is always at her best when creating animalic sensual scents. I know some find them dirty beyond comprehension, but I'm one of those whose skin chemistry neutralizes the beastliest of notes and makes them into cuddly, warm and fuzzy little creatures you want to touch and snuggle. Or maybe we're just delusional and the rest of humanity wishes we'd pack our MKK bell jars and go colonize the moon.

It's not that I don't find Musc (or Mona di Orio's other perfumes) animalic and erotic. I most certainly do, because what's better than warm clean skin that's a little sweet and a little salty? A scent that draws you closer and closer until you feel the heat rising. It's seducing and absolutely gorgeous. There's something a little vanillic  and quite powdery as Musc progresses. The heliotrope is very prominent, but it never turns into marzipan. I have a feeling those who were disappointed with Serge Lutens Louve because it lacked the promised she-wolf would find Mona di Orio's Musc hits the spot perfectly. I love Louve, but next to Musc it's as innocent as Little Red Riding Hood.

Musc and the rest of Mona di Orio's Les Nombres d'Or ($150, 100ml EDT) are available from Luckyscent.