I was looking forward to The Body Shop’s new White Musk Libertine. Admittedly, I was never a fan of the original White Musk, which has reached the grand old age of 30 — in perfume years, that means it’s now eligible for social security. I did like (but didn’t really adore) the White Musk Midnight Iris, and I’m always up for a cheap thrill of the scented variety. I know some people around here complain about The Body Shop not being what it used to be, but if I had $15 or $20 and wanted something scented from the mall, I’d be far likelier to find it at The Body Shop than at Bath & Body Works (I did some investigating recently and there’s virtually nothing there I like any more) or L’Occitane (they’ve done some nice scents lately, but they’ve mostly upscaled themselves out of the cheap thrills category).¹

So anyway, White Musk Libertine was developed by perfumer Vincent Schäller and the notes include Turkish delight, Chantilly cream, orchid and signature musk — sounds like a good contender for sweet but fun, right? And I’m already a sucker for sweet Turkish delight. If you could come up with a really good one for less than the going price for Serge Lutens Rahät Loukoum, I’d buy it.² White Musk Libertine, as it turns out, is more of a nouveau powder + vanilla musk mash-up…

Read the rest of this article »