Red,Black,Kashstiri,Musks etc

Kruger

Well-Known Member
#3
Purple, black, yellow, white, red.. when I see these words pre-fixed to 'musk' it means what floraopia thinks it means. Musk is musk. Where the color chart came from, I don't know. It's hard enough finding actual musk, nevermind a rainbow variety of it.

But I might have it wrong..?
 

Kruger

Well-Known Member
#6
Pardon my 'aggressive' tone Orgoglio ItalianO. I also asked the same questions and went through some frustration getting through all the confusion, and wish that others don't have to go through the same story :)

Your question is very enlightening, and I'm glad to hear people bring up this issue. This question opens the door to an important discussion which runs parallel to the dilemma of 'oud' vs oud. We all benefit by it.
 
#7
I think the difference is as follows: Black musk (plant based) and Red Musk (plant base) comes from the seeds of plants which belong to the genus Hibiscus abelmoschatus (Egyptian rose). White Musk I believe is synthetic musk (clear color) and Kasturi (meaning musk) refers to the musk deer (Moschus moschiferus) which lives in the Himalayan upper forest region …. parts of Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, the northern part of Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. this information is based on a quick research and I would love to hear corrections if any of this is not correct.

*Side note: guys, regarding starting so many threads with repetitive subject like this one since there is already a thread abut musk,this happens often in other subject matters like "Cultivation vs. wild" and it spreads the information all over the place making it hard and time consuming for members to follow and gather... Let's try to find an existing thread that matches the subject matter before starting a new one. Just an observation.

Kruger: what "dilemma of Oud vs. Oud" you're referring to?
 

Kruger

Well-Known Member
#8
masstika: just like we have to differentiate between synthetic Oud and pure Oud, we have to distinguish between 'white' musk, and pure musk. Synthetic Oud is nothing like real Oud, just as white musk betrays something a lot more precious - real deer musk. When you look at those booklets you get from big companies selling synthetic Oud, they tell you the whole story about the rarity of Agarwood, but still sell you a product that is nothing like what they write about. It's the same with the musk, they tell you about the deer and the Himalayas, but they sell you something called white musk which is simply not what its advertised as.

When I think of musk I think of the musk deer, not about plants and roses. When I think of Oud I think about Agarwood, not a blend of many different synthetics. The false marketing is what gets me, that's all. :(
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#9
I have to agree with you Kruger. Musk is musk from the deer as far as I am concerned and anything else should not use that name.
 
#10
Someone needs to invent a mass spectrometer the size of a cell phone so you can find out what's real and what isn't with the flick of a switch. We face an uphill battle when the public happily pays more than $200 for a bottle that contains no real oud/musc/fill in the blank and the main product outlay is for the rights to molecules owned by Firmenrich or whomever while 85 percent of expenses is on selling a pretty face and a clever package, well....
 
#11
Is AgarscentsB$*%ars Kashtiri Musk,and Indian Red real? Just want to know whats real in the musk department from their site :) Anyone have or try their Musks and know if what they tried is the real deal.
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#13
Misk Ward supreme deff real deal it is as animalic as you can get
I asked Omar regarding his musk but unfortunately I could not get an answer from him that satisfied my questions. He was quite vague about a simple question I asked and his explanation was that it was a secret receipe?! I am not sure what secret there is in adding musk grains to sandalwood or another mixture? you can keep the method and subtle ingredients secret, but at least confirm that you have used genuine deer musk from wherever and that the carrier oil is 100% natural!

Anyway, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and make an order, but then learned from some people on Basenotes that his scents are not 100% natural... and I changed my mind about ordering. If I am wrong then I hope someone points it out as I would not want to make false statements about someone's business, but this is what I learned from my interaction with Agarscents Bazaar.
 
#14
I have been looking for the real deal and don't know any of the sources have real grains or tincture. The only reliable source is Simon at aluwwah. He is selling some grains that have been macerated in saffron. Sounds like the tincture is not that strong but one can certainly rely on Simon for truth in advertising.
 
#15
Floraopia, I seriously doubt Agarscents Bazaar is offering genuine deer musk, and others who have tried their musk have told me that its definitely not the real deal.

Simon at Aluwwah does use genuine deer musk, and I trust what he says. The Aseelatul Musk is nice, but not super-strong on the musk side. The Misk al Ghaabah is a bit more musky and intense. I would love to find some genuine deer musk in sandalwood. I can't say I've ever smelled any.
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#16
I actually bought Simon's last two musk bottles today - well, bottle and a half! I want to compare it to Oriscent's Musk in sandalwood - mine have the real grains in sandalwood.
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#17
The Aseelatul Musk is nice, but not super-strong on the musk side. .
That's a shame as I have the same problem with the Oriscent musk in Sandalwood, although I recently smelt a bottle I had left in storage for 3 years in the UK and the musk scent was more pronounced than what I previously remembered.
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#18
The Aseelatul Musk is nice, but not super-strong on the musk side... I would love to find some genuine deer musk in sandalwood. I can't say I've ever smelled any.
A bit confused here... the Aseelatul Misk is deer musk in sandalwood. :confused:
 
#19
A bit confused here... the Aseelatul Misk is deer musk in sandalwood. :confused:
Sorry, I just meant that Aseelatul has that saffron thing going on too. Interesting what you said about Ensar's musk. I'm hoping to try some of his eventually. My understanding was that deer musk is really strong. So maybe we are just missing something?
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#20
Sorry, I just meant that Aseelatul has that saffron thing going on too. Interesting what you said about Ensar's musk. I'm hoping to try some of his eventually. My understanding was that deer musk is really strong. So maybe we are just missing something?
Yes, I am not sure really. The thing is that I do not have many points of reference!