Original Musk Kiehl`s for women and men

This is a beautiful rose musk. I preferred the oil formulation, but my EDT has held up quite nicely. I highly recommend it.

Tried this for the first time today, and it's fantastic. It's a strong but creamy, luscious kind of musk that has a very long trail. A very sensuous scent, not smelling at all artificial or contrived, deep and luxurious. I'm not a fan of musk scents, so I was prepared to find this bland, but I really love it.

I also detect just a hint of vanilla in here - it may be from the tonka bean/ benzoin (which has it's own hint of vanilla) but it's decidedly not gourmand.

You can get this for under US $45.00 and it smells as though it's much more expensive. Highly recommended.

I tried it again and again from testers and everytime it smells dirty, so unclean to my nose! I got used to it but I cannot wear it now.
It probably changes a lot according to skin chemistry. On me it and from the bottle I smell an almost fecal edge like public toilets not really strong like other skanky scents but it's there and it makes me feel too conscious about myself when I have it on. This happened with old oil in the brown bottle and with modern EdT.
I hear so many good reviews about this one and everytime I wonder if I have a bizarre nose!
"Love Oil" is a great marketing call and indeed many people think it is a sexy perfume.
It's very long lasting, if you like it it's a plus.
For reference I like NR EdT which is very musky but not skanky and I don't like Muscs Koublai Khan for same reasons even if that's a much better made skank!
I suppose you need to like the kind to appreciate all of them.

It smells too clean! My skin pulls out much more floral than musk. I simply find that this isn't dark enough for my liking as I like musk when I'm feeling femme fatal-ish and super sexy. You know, something to go along with the mood...NOT florals.

But...this might be good for somebody interested in trying musk as this is a pretty simple and plesant.

not bad but kinda bland...

The poor men Muscs Koublai Kahn. Much more simpler, linear and surely more approachable than the Lutens (which in this case means less animalic and less compelling) but still one of the best bang for the buck when it comes to dark muscs. Great longevity but poor sillage. Good.

Rating: 7/10

The first musk fragrance I actually really like! I tested it in a Kiehl's shop in Paris, without expecting anything too much. But I was pleasantly surprised. It had something interesting that kept me sniffing, and then I understood why it's said that musk is a 'sexy' note. I know this is a good one to layer too with other fumes to give it more dept and a bit 'oomph'. Nice job Kiehl's!

This is a very beautiful musk scent. If you are into musk, especially the bold ones, you have to try this one. Y-o-u h-a-v-e t-o. DO IT.

I don't like it on me, had it for a while and let it go, after never wearing it.

I think, that a male would smell tremendous with it, although I like the genderbending, too. It is very perfumery, though, every male should be aware of that.

I think this musk is bought mostly by Kiehl’s shoppers and not so much the perfume hobbyists. Too bad, because this stuff is wonderful. I have 3 musk-based fragrances: Serge Lutens’ Muscs Koublai Khan, Annick Goutal’s Musc Nomade, and Kiehl’s Original Musk Blend No 1 (edt.) I love them all. The Kiehl’s is a nice balance of skin-funk, florals and that sweetness of musk that seems fruity but isn’t. And while MKK is clearly the rawest of the bunch, Kiehl’s is the most skin-like in that it actually smells like your lover’s scalp.

A caveat. I don’t get much ‘dirty’ from most musk fragrances. I could be anosmic to that aspect of musk, or more likely I could just have a different chain of associations than some others do. Many musks have a bodily smell, but it’s largely clean. Not antiseptic. A clean body has a smell. Actually it has a bunch. But musk carries a skin sweetness that has none of the dirty, salty or acidic that I associate with old sweat or uncleanliness. Kiehl’s has more of this body aspect than either of the others to me. And it speaks to that simple intimacy of being physically close to somebody. This is not the scent for people who wear perfume as a masking fragrance.

Today, I tried the edt and the perfume roll on. I suggest going with the perfume roll on, unless you just need to smell like an old barber shop with stinky drawers and socks in the corner. But that’s not even the bad part; you have to enjoy the stench while it lasts, because it won’t be long before the edt vanishes completely. At least that’s what it did on my skin thank God.

Actually even the roll on didn’t bowl me over, it smells exactly like Jovan’s original musk. However I love Jovan’s musk, so I can see how other people would fall in love with Kiehl's oil, but for me when it comes down to it; I’m just sniffing labels & price on an elixir I already know. And I don’t care if Kiehl’s Musk came out in the 1920’s before Jovan…I’m sure the essences have changed since then.

Does anyone remember getting their Dad's can of shaving cream, spraying a wobbling dollop into your palm, and then CLAPPING your hands? Do you remember that scent?

Well, it smells a lot like that to me.

Lately, several perfumes have been reminding me of men's shaving foam, or men's hair gel (circa 1960s). I don't know why this is...

Anyway, this one's no exception.

The reviewers who note how "clean" it smells, are right: it does smell clean, in a "goat's-milk-soap" sorta way. I'm glad I sampled it.

This is the most horrible smell on my skin ever!!!Smells like cat urine.This really doesn`t work with my body chemistry.I waited 3 hours that this would change on my skin,but nothing happened. Very strong cat p smell. :(

I've owned this for nearly a year and although I like it a little bit I can't really enthuse about it too much. It never seems to be sufficiently interesting or captivating enough on it's own and I find the natural temptation is to layer something else with it.

Like most musks it's smell can sometimes mysteriously disappear then reappear again hours later but the problem I have with it is I don't find the middle and top notes particularly interesting: in fact they're a bit boring - hence the temptation to layer something else with it.

I find a fragrance like Muscs Koublai Khan (which it is sometimes compared to) works much better because of it's complexity, structure and attention to elements other than the musk. The Kiehl's follows a slightly crude and ultimately unsatisfactory mono theme in comparison.

It smells dated like something hippies used in the swinging sixties. lol......It's not bad but I cannot wear it. Peace man.

The fragrance is really nice, but when I went to Khiel's shop the assistance wanted to convince me that it has natural musc that they managed to get from a plant, it is certainly not animalic origin. I know for sure that there is no such thing as natural musc apart from the banned animalic one from musc deer. I dont mind the perfume having about 98% synthetic muscs, cause it does smell nice, but please don't try to convince me that there are musc-trees invented.

got this one this week and at first thought Oh nice another barbers scent hey man there is so much more to it a beautiful patchouli with some citrus and delicate floral tones a little feminine perhaps but just right for a gentlemen about town.
I love it now. It has a calming effect on me, i feel fresh and clean and love to use it after a stint in the gym.
Just a lovely well balanced fragrance that gets me noted everywhere I go in a positive way and easy on the wallet too. what more could you want.

update:
from all the different perfumes I was wearing in the last 2 month this one is the only one where I got several positive comments . Nice one I need another bottle

I have the Eau de Toilette.

Kiehl's Musk is the best musk I've tried so far. Warm, rich, smooth, and bearing a hint of sexual animalism. The musk in it is probably synthetic, for the most part, now but it still retains the main purpose of musk in a fragrance - fleshy warmth.

I had been looking forward to testing this one and finally received my sample today.
The opening for me smells straight up like floral soap though nothing unpleasant.
Eventually the musk becomes more prominent while the floral notes meld in to the background and slowly fade away. The ending drydown is very much musky and warm and I have to say, this is probably the best part for me.
Overall, this is a lovely clean smelling fragrance that stays close to the skin. Perfect for work or days when you want to smell nice but not necessarily like perfume.
I will certainly finish my sample and by then will know whether to purchase a full bottle. Perhaps come summer I will be desiring for something just like this.

I had a sample vial of this perfume. I didn't care for it so I gave the sample to a coworker. One day several after that, I smelled this really beautiful yet masculine fragrance...It was the sample I had given away, and I was in love. I almost immediately went out and purchased my own full sized bottle! I have never smelled anything so great. Every note, every layer perfectly blended to create my absolute favorite perfume. If I only could pick one..this is it! I have changed "musk haters" mind's after smelling how beautifully this melts into the skin and smells pleasantly different on everyone. I spray it on the back of my neck before bed and by the time I wake up, the musk has settled into this powdery and very clean smell that captures your senses all over again. I truly cannot say enough good things about this fragrance. mmmmm mm.

Review for the Original Musk Oil:

Nice an musky with a bit of sweetness to it, maybe a little bit like an old barbershop. A really beautiful and I believe close to the skin scent.

Today I went out and tried Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan on one arm and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan in the other trying to decide which I liked better. Later I went to the Kiehl's store in my city to try this oil. I was surprised to find that this Musk Oil is very, very similar to Muscs Koublai Khan! So similar that it was a no brainer to buy the 7ml roll on bottle of this. And even better they were having a sale today (15% off and profits going to AIDS research).

If you like a nice sweet musk, just buy this. You can't go wrong here.

Update: I really love it now. At first I thought it was just too too lacking in complexity to be really good; I didn't discover any complexity I'd missed before, just that it is wonderful anyway. Clean and fresh and easy to wear...after the initial extreme raunchiness wears off. Some things just really work and are impossible not to love and this is one. Great for work and other places where you don't want to smell too strong. It actually does have a lot of elements that never make themselves known individually: when I smell the inside of the box there's definitely a faint rose.


It's incredibly hard to take at first but becomes clean-smelling and nice pretty quickly. Reminds me a lot of the old Houbigant musk that my aunt used to wear in the 70s which was inexpensive and really pleasant.

Just got my bottle today, and I am thrilled to bits.
I think this is one of the best musks out there. Yes it is very strong at first, and as some have said before me; "A little funky..." to start with, but the dry down is indeed gorgeous. I love orange blossom, and here I think it saves the musk from becoming too "dirty" or leaning too much to the masculine side. I find it is a warm and comforting scent. However I think it looks "odd" in my perfume collection, and I believe they should consider re-packaging this beauty into a nicer bottle, I don't really like all the writing all over it which makes it look cheaper than it should.

A very clean, almost soapy musk on me. It's very angelic, and I was looking for a slightly more animalic musk, but it's pleasant and very long lasting. I think I'd prefer this as a body lotion than fragrance.

the first time I sniffed the bottle I couldn't believe how funky it was but you need to give this one a little time for it to change on your skin because it will.It actually smells a bit like Egyptian musk but this is slightly more masculine.On me the longevity was good,around 8 hours.

Received this in a swap (thank you Yamba1) and it is everything positive that everyone has said before. It is like the clear musks of the early 70's hippie days. Very long-lasting on me. I really love it - now to hunt some down on ebay. I wish I had found this one before buying Annick Goutal's Musc Nomade - this one smells much less synthetic, and is better lasting.

I have had this in the edt spray and the oil and find the latter preferable. There is something about the spray that is never right: it is cooler and lacks the depth of the oil. The oil is a fabulous warm, sexy musk and NOT dirty like the Tom Ford Urban Musk one. This is sexy but way more subtle. The neroli, ylang ylang and orange blossom make this musk so damn inviting but not floral and girly. It is the most perfect musk. (I never smell the patchouli, which is what makes it so perfect!)

No attempt to sissify or hide the musk in this juice which is a pleasant change from many so-called musk perfumes. This opens with orange blossom and musk right away. After half an hour I get a lot of rose and patchouli but no lily. After another half hour it reverts to musk-neroli-orange blossom, which I'm enjoying right now.

The vibe here is definitely a bit grungy, a lot sexy. If this was really originally made in the 1920's I suspect even someone who liked Tabac Blond would have paused for a minute. Red velvet and garter belts. If you're mischievous this would be a fun scent to wear on your last day of work somewhere.

Sillage: 4-5 feet, you'll get noticed on the subway
Durability: 3 hours so far
Fabulosity: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Price to value ratio: reasonable
8/10

After reading a review that Original Musk is a cheaper alternative to Musc Bleu, I decided to head to the Kiehl's store to acquire a sample. Since they didn't give them out, I sprayed a lot all over me to see if it will work on me. I have to say, the top notes come off dirtier or spicier than Musc Bleu and I wasn't too excited so I didn't buy it. But in the dry down, this wonderful clean scent lingers and it is divine. It's not soapy; musk still remains, but it manages to smell fresh. Now, I wish I bought it!

EDIT: I finally purchased this, and wearing it now. It is so fresh and I'm completely happy with this purchase.

strong and harsh opening that smells like a toilet.... or a wet dog........

but after an hour
the dry down is the cleanest scent i've ever smelled

it's fresh and simultaneously warm
musky and powdery(actually not that powdery)
a BEAUTIFUL skin scent

i wonder if the oil is nicer, as i believe it would go straight to the clean musky dry down

the best time to wear it is definitely spring, the moist moderate air would soften the top

What's not to like? Kiehls is so oddly fresh and clean, that the oxymoron "preppy musk" comes to mind. I expected something more reminiscent of the musks I loved in the early 70s. The white floral bouquet took me by surprise, and 5 minutes in, I realized Kiehls was just too sweet, proper, pretty for me. I'm not sure I'd like to create sillage with this one. The dry down is lovely--yet I makes me long for the head-shop musks of my misspent youth.

Kiehls Original Musk(EDT) is an instant love of mine. It starts with the inky musk and ylang ylang scent, which is drizzling gorgeous; it is like a polite, but ultra seductive, beautiful and intelligent mistress. It is my wonderful inky musk dry down Holy Grail (If you love the dry down of Jeanne Lanvin by Lanvin, Original Musk is all the Jeanne Lanvin dry down on me, but with a slightly more inky-ness).

The scent is quite linear, with the ylang ylang gets more tamed, and the whole scent blends more and more comfortably onto your skin.

I can see myself wearing it any time during the year, in fact, now it's 26+ degrees summer here, and I'm having Original Musk on; it doesn't smell cloying or headache-inducing at all, somewhat the ink-y smell is quite multi-faced.

Apply with a light hand in summer, two sprays will be enough.

Highly recommond to anyone who's looking for a nice, clean musk scnet.

love this...it lasts forever on me!! It starts out really strong at first, but dries down to an amazing sexy musk.

Plus, I originally bought this in Vancouver on a business trip, so now, whenever I wear it, I'm reminded of Vancouver in the spring.

Hmm... There are so many ingredients but I only smell musk. Plain old musk but a really nice one. It's a little sweet with greasy and earthy patchouli. It smells like Egyptian Musk actually but Kiehls is more expensive. If anyone wanna knows how musk smells, try this and you will see. For me, it's not something I would want anymore. Kiehls essential oil might be a better choice.

@Melancholy Child. I agree with ya. The oil is actually better. I smelled it, but I didn't get to try it. :(

hai ragione ha poca persistenza

Veryyyy nice musk,, shame it lasts about ten min-if that- on my skin!!!!

o si ama o si odia

This is possibly one of the most delicious musks I've ever tried. Forget Narciso Rodriguez for Her, Kiehl's simplistic musk takes the cake.

Opening quite feminine and fragile on the skin, Kiehl's Original Musk is a mixture of soapy powder and delicate florals, with only a subtle spiciness underneath it all.

It's sexy in a very clean and crisp sense. I imagine it to be something you'd wear while curled up near a fire on a warm rug next to your lover who whispers sweet love poems into your ear. To put it in basic terms, Original Musk is sexy in a strict, conservative way, that tends to be more romantic than wild or exotic.

There's something somewhat animalistic about musk despite its clean and soapy feel. It blends perfectly with your own natural chemistry, making it very personal and inoffensive. I find it in some ways, highly addictive.

I can be anosmic to musk at times, however in the case of this fragrance, I was able to smell it throughout the duration it stayed on my skin, which was well over six hours.

I'm a little dubious to see this fragrance listed as a unisex fragrance, simply because it's so feminine and subtly sweet on my skin. However I won't rule a man wearing this out of my mind completely, because I haven't had the chance to smell this on a man's skin just yet.

Very clean, wearable musk. For me this is a laid back, casual fragrance. On my skin I can smell the rose on the dry down.

I tried it at the same time as Kiehl's Gardenia oil and it was a pretty combination. I think this EDT is ideal for layering and lots of different combos would work.

I have to agree with cinsot about this scent. Very sexy. But that could be because Im very biased towards musks. And on me this is all musk. No florals that I can detect. I think this is a scent that people will think is your natural smell, because it becomes a skin scent that meshes with your chemistry in a non-perfumey way. A great scent for intimacy.

My review is for the perfume OIL (purchased in 2002), not the edt spray. The oil smells "smoother" to my nose, and I prefer the more subtle way it radiates off my skin.

This is the only fragrance with patchouli I have ever really enjoyed. It's warm, earthy, and very musky. I think it's very well blended in that all the notes synchronize well to create a distinct smell. It does seem to have a "dirty" facet, but patchouli always adds a "dirt and sweat" vibe to my nose, which is why I usually avoid it. This perfume blends well on my skin though, and I often got compliments from both men and women. I consider it a casual scent for cooler days, not for dressing up. Tenacious fragrance, lasting 8+ hours on me.

Knowing that this resurrected (and probably reformulated?) oddity seems to have a cult following, I had to sample it. I was surprised to find that it does not start out musky at all, but rather bright, citrusy and spicy, with sort of an old-fashioned "after shave" feel. When I put it on I felt like a Norman Rockwell kid who's just been to the barber. It does eventually dry down to reveal the musk, but it's a smooth, domesticated, farm-raised musk rather than a wild animal musk. This is one of those few scents that I think would smell better on a man than a woman.

I have forever loved this one. Since the 70's when my Grandfather took me to the New York Athletic Club and they had a small Kiehls shop in the lobby. I fell in love with all their products, but my love remains only with Original Musk now. I gave it to my daughter's father to wear and absolutely loved its warmth on him. What a sensual fragrance. I would love to own a bottle of this someday when his memory is significanty further away...

It smells clean from start to finish. It's my go-to, all-season (I'm in So.Cal.), any occasion favorite. Calms and gives me confidence when nervous, re-assures me on iffy days, uplifts when I got the blues and always puts me to bed with a smile and the feeling of serenity. Love it, L-O-V-E it! Oh and everyone who smells it on me loves it too! So lucky I found this one.

After spraying half a bottle, i could smell it a little bit on me for about ten min,, then,,,eau de rien!!!!Am i the only one complaining about not staying power of it???

A super oldie that’s also a super goodie.

KOMO just…smells…good. Low-key, easy to wear, easy to enjoy. Kiehl’s calls it the “fragrance of love.” I think it smells straight up like simple beeswax—not too sweet, and despite the name, not “musky” or funky. This is my baseline test: if a person doesn’t like KOMO, they do not like scent, and I feel sorry for them.

I have no words to talk about how I like this fragrance...It smell is clean and soft, still warm. My husband loves it and every time I wear it I have a lot of compliments.
A dream you can smell!

A watery scent, it's like aromatic rain. It reminds me of a rainy day, when all the wet leaves or flowers of season evoke their aromas. It's refreshing and subtle with surprising longevity on the skin. It can be worn all day, but i think is more appropriate for day time. A well made fragrance. Even for kids. The watery accord maybe is caused by the neroli. Nice. 11-10-09

I had heard this was one of Nicole Kidmans favorite fragrances and that she likes to blend it with a vanilla perfume oil...not that it matters but just a little gossip...anyways...when i first smelled this i thought it was ok a very straight forward musky patchouli smell to me(i am not a patchouli girl)...after a few months of trying it a few more times i found myself really drawn to its earthy sophistication...so i started using it as a room spray and men and women compliment the smell in my house all the time..i prefer to wear a sweeter more lush type musk scent like the musk scent in Philosophy's inner grace...

A musk EdT that is on the female side of things. Excellent, but too floral, still very enjoyable.

I was first drawn in to Kiehl's by their facial products and remember rushing to get to one of their shops to test this EDT right when it came out. I sniffed it in the store, liked it well enough, and bought it immediately. I wasn't blown away at first; it was just a simple, clean scent without a whole lot going on, but it has since grown on me quite a bit. It's my girlfriend's favorite scent on me, and it's not hard to see why. It comes across as very clean, at least to me, (I don't get the extreme dirtiness some people talk about, I go to Eau Sauvage when I want a little dirt) but at the same time, it is very, very sensual. The scent is very well blended, so it took some time getting acquainted with it before being able to pick out any of the notes apart from the musk. The opening feels a bit synthetic, but that feel goes away shortly after application and you get a lovely yet fairly masculine and sensual bouquet of flowers (I get mostly orange blossom and lily at the start, though the rose begins to seep in from the beginning) tinged with citrus from the bergamot. The musk, of course, is there too but begins to stand out more once the citrus and flowers fade a bit. I get a bit of vanilla from the tonka bean, and I can pick out the patchouli from time to time, but, like I said before, it's so well-blended that it's hard to find all the notes all the time, but, in the end, it's probably better not to overthink it and just enjoy the scent (which, by the way, is also available in a body wash, which is also great). This relatively inexpensive musk ($40 for 1.7 oz.) holds its own against the more expensive niche varieties and has a place in every wardrobe: it's simple, classic, and goes with everything (it's perfect for layering). Definitely worth a sniff.

Yes, that's true, you will get noticed and not in a good way! I hope it smells better than it does on my skin. On me it smells fecal and dirty! My nose says so. It's nauseating. I think it smells floral and musky on a few people, not the majority.

Original Musk is one of my favorites. I will say it is not for everyone, but you will get noticed if you do wear it. The patchouli is prominent, but not a cheap, head shop oil. One, rather, that smells of expensive and exudes class. As with all Kiehl's products the utmost attention has been paid to make it a first-class product. By the way it doesn't cost a fortune!!!! TRY IT!