Manufacturer: Coty Musk for Men Cologne
Year Introduced: 1974 - Masculine
Notes: Citrus notes, amber, musk and woody notes
Musk for Men is an oriental woody fragrance that is a laid-back musk, more polite and restrained; not your typical 1970s musk fragrance. It is a barbershop retro fragrance reminiscent of Pinaud's Clubman.
This is still available for purchase but I would imagine it has been reformulated several times since 1974.
We are decanting out of an unopened, boxed bottle of the original cologne version of the fragrance.
If you would like to know more information about musk as a perfume ingredient, please read:
Just a bit of background information about musk oil. Musk is one of the most penetrating essences known to man; just a few molecules can scent millions of cubic feet of air. That is why many animals and insects use this bodily secretion to send silent, invisible signals to mates or enemies. Humans are also attracted to (and sometimes repelled by) the smell of musk. Musk comes from a glandular secretion of the mature male Tibetan musk deer during rutting season. The musk deer is found in Pakistan, India, Tibet, China, Siberia and Mongolia. It was first mentioned in the Talmud in the 5th century, B.C. as an animal-based fragrance. Musk also fixes and balances a fragrance. The best quality musk used to come from Tibet and China (Tonquin/Tonkin musk). Since the extraction of the musk pods was fatal to the musk deer, they became an endangered species in 1979. Only old stock is used or musk produced from the little pellets that the deer drop on the ground while they graze. Natural musk is very pungent in its raw state - somewhat urinous and fecal. Angelica and ambrette seeds produce musky smelling compounds which are used in fragrances but are a costly resource for niche and natural perfumers.
All musk used in perfumery today is synthetic apart from only a handful of exceptions which are usually small artisanal perfumers. Synthetic musks are known as white musks in the perfume industry and are a class of synthetic aromachemicals used to replicate the scent of the musk deer. They have more of a clean, smooth, sweet scent and none of the fecal or animalic notes that natural musks have. Since the high cost and scarcity of natural musk has always been a concern for the fragrance industry, synthetic musks have been around for a very long time - much longer than the other animal notes. Nitro musk was first created in 1888 when Albert Baur accidentally discovered it while working on producing a more effective form of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The five most commercially relevant nitro musk compounds are: musk ketone, musk ambrette, musk moskene, musk tibetene and musk xylene. They are all rich and warm smelling and were used in vintage extraits and colognes. Unfortunately, nitromusks are no longer used in fragrances (since the early 1980s) and polycyclic musk compounds (another class of synthetic musk) are also being phased out. Macrocyclic musk compounds are now the most used class of synthetic musks in fragrances. Synthetic musks are essential in modern perfumery as they form the base note of most fragrances. They smooth and blend all of the other ingredients making it an excellent base material while imparting its own scent into the fragrance. Synthetic musks have a more airy, powdery effect that is said to be more appealing to the modern nose. But to lovers of the vintage scents, the use of macrocyclic musks changed their beloved scent.
Chandler Burr, author of The Emperor of Scent and The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York, a former New York Times perfume critic from 2006 to 2010, and the founder of the Department of Olfactory Art at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City had this to say on real musk: "Tonquin musk is animalic in its most elevated form. It is a perfumery raw material that was extracted from a gland under the lower stomach and before the hind legs of the male of the species Moschus moschiferus L, the Tibetan musk deer. Tonquin musk is the real, natural, glandular product. It is one of the most astounding smells you will ever experience."
I had the opportunity once to smell the musk from a musk deer blended with Mysore sandalwood. It was the most beautiful raw, natural smell and it seriously brought a tear to my eye.
