Musk for Men
Avon (1983)

This was a pretty good musk fragrance by Avon.

On the old red lettering/copper-ish top of the 1980's I'd call this a "leathery musk". Smooth and semi-clean from a little citrus with a trace of barbershop powder. The heart of this fragrance is leather and provides a dark and warm tone. There's green element to this that's kind of piney yet crossed with a little sweet mint leaf. A good amount of musk rounds all this off.

The late 1990's formula:
This does smell like the old formula, but no where as dark because it's a lot lighter in leather. Doing this brought a little more of the clean/fresh to the design of the old formula. In fact the same green element does stand out more in this change and I catch a little patchouli. To me this is equally as musky as the 80's version.

Avon Musk for Men is my favorite of the musk genre in either the 80's or 90's formula. The fragrance design itself was just unique all on it's own.

Avon Musk for Men (1983) seems like quite the latecomer for a genre that started in earnest a decade beforehand; but this wasn't the first time Avon took a long time when finally responding to market movements within men's fragrance, as Avon released Tai Winds (1972) nearly a decade after Jade East by Swank (1964) established a trend for "far east" barbershop scents, which themselves rode the back of Hong Kong action cinema in the US. Here with Musk for Men, Avon was finally answering the battle-cry of other tonquitone-based men's musk fragrances like Jovan Musk for Men (1973) and Coty Musk for Men (1974), both which were heavy-hitters despite really being more about amber than musk. Avon did try releasing a fragrance called Light Musk (1979) a few years prior to this, and that one was marketed as being a basic musk fragrance for a down-to-earth guy that didn't need more than that, but I guess that shot in the dark proved a big miss. Here with Musk for Men, Avon actually delivers the big swinging yarbles once and for all, even if it was too little too late for most people shopping at this price point looking for musky things to stalk the night. I think it's pretty funny too, since Avon made their Musk for Men actually about the musk note itself, choosing not to bury it in a bunch of barbershop powder, amber, or spices. Yeah, Musk for Men still has that typical "brown" approach to musks that makes it feel way more 1970's than 1980's, but I wouldn't really call that a bad thing.

The opening of Musk for Men is pretty in-your-face tonquitone musk, itself being a reconstruction of tonkin musk (from Siberian musk deer). There isn't a lot of sweet citrus or soapy notes to get in the way of this slightly powdery, slightly fuzzy musk note that gives off warm-fur vibes as its made to do. Eventually, Musk for Men does show a bit more complexity than its primary accord, with the oddly aromatic accompaniment, with anise and pine joining with a bit of patchouli later into the development. These piney aromatic facets also really set Musk for Men apart from its competitors, and there's a sense of clarity about it too that's really nice. Avon Musk for Men doesn't feel thick or stifling like some of the others can, and never overdone, assuming you're not over-spraying. A tiny bit of woodiness does emerge near the very end, alongside a touch of something leathery from a small pin drop of castoreum, while the final skin scent of Avon Musk for Men stays pretty linear and stable. This linearity is pretty much all because of that musk molecule, which is the first note to enter and the last one to leave, as it should be with fragrances like this. The woodsy and pine-inflected touches, plus the tiny bits of spice here and there, really make Avon Musk for Men a real joy, as they accent the musk rather than trying to smother it in an attempt at being more palatable. Best use is winter time during the day, or used sparingly at night for bed time or hanky panky with someone you hold dear, at least to me. Performance is also tops.

The directness of the musk, combined with the aromatic spicy touches and subtle but long-lasting performance make this my favorite straight-ahead musk fragrance. For how much I love Monsieur Musk by Parfums Parquet (1973), I don't quite consider it a musk as the carnation, rose, orris, and other dandy florals swarm around the musk note at its core. When I wear the Monsieur, I don't feel like I'm wearing musk, but here with Avon Musk, I feel like a fur trapper ready to ski off into the blizzard looking for my next score. Maybe the fact that this stuff was so direct made it less than successful for Avon, because they made a softer Wild Country Musk (1985), Avon Jamoca Soft Musk (1987), and Billy De Williams Undeniable for Men (1989) all a cleaner white musk vibe. Eventually this was completely re-orchestrated and repackaged in 1990, with the identical bottle expanded to 3.4 oz from 2.8oz and made with a black cap. The color of the juice changed, the spices and pine went away, plus a bit of lavender was snuck in. This rebooting happened again in 1999, with the core product brightened some and made soapier with bergamot and neroli joining the more-subdued profile of the 1990 variant. Finally, this version was used for a series of "Musk +" flankers that added spicy, woody, aquatic, or other elements to the core 1999 scent. For me though, I'll always love the original 1983-1989 Avon Musk for Men, as it's just right to the point of being fuzzy and warm while still being easy to wear casually. I mean really, what else do you want from synthetic musk? Thumbs up

By far my favorite musk fragrance. Simple and perfect. Better than all the niche musks I've tried (I'm looking at you TF and Montale). A beautiful creamy sweet and slightly woody musk. I have the original Monsieur Houbigant Musk, and I love it, but I even prefer Avon to that. Sometimes perfection can be simple and inexpensive, though not often enough. This is the exception. Get the vintage, it's worth the trouble, and people are letting it go at ridiculously cheap prices if you look hard enough.

I absolutely love this musk. I haven't tried Kiehl's but I do prefer Avon to the very excellent Jovan musk. to me it's altogether warmer and I like the slightly piney accords that have been pointed out in other reviews.

As you can pick up Avon musk for such ridiculously low prices (as with a lot of excellent Avon products), I think it's an absolute steal!

This review is for the original version. The current Avon Musk is a reformulation and is not as dark or rich (and is a different colour), but it's still not bad. As with many an Avon release, Musk (the original) was incredibly under-rated and under-appreciated and also spectacular value for money, given the number of true musk ingredients that it was made with (the reformulation is, I think, entirely synthetic). Very animalic with lots of mossy and smoky accords and there's also a distinct powdery addition that follows from top to bottom to avoid that frequent danger of musks - fecal and uriney notes - and, for once, the sweet powder works. But it should be noted that it wasn't a bright and fresh musk like The Body Shop's offering. No, this was very definitely a brooding, masculine musk that punched way above its weight class, but was ignored and forgotten thanks to the Avon name, the plain box and unimaginitive bottle. A classic.

Musk? Yes. Oddly foresty and pineconey. Other than that, rather ok. Decent musk.