Musk Khabib
Bortnikoff (2019)

Musk Khabib was disappointing to me. It appears to use good quality ingredients, but lacks depth and coherent structure. Khabib is a generic "fresh" and powdery scent with a whiff of natural musk, which is nice. Nothing to write home about here in my opinion.

Musk Khabib's salty, creamy texture pillows over time, first starting (and staying, somewhat) as suntan lotion; You get plenty of sun, that moment, when freshly lotioned, before your body starts to react to the heat and sweat. The cooling, powdery facets of Musk Khabib feel both elegant and old fashioned while being young, coquettish, feminine—but not only for women—, and sweet. Unsurprisingly, the ylang-ylang, vanilla, ambergris, and bergamot create a tropical, beach vibe. It's everything I don't think of when thinking about musk, but it works.

I can't fault this well-made composition for its lack of something darker, danker, skankier that might bring out facets of deer musk that I think are worth highlighting. Musk Khabib lacks mystery, intrigue, danger, daring and instead opts for a boudoir full of talcum, the faux luxury of tanning under umbrellas at expensive resorts, and clean, white undergarments in a way that's not so dissimilar to Amouage's Lyric Man, just less nuclear and rosy.

Although the prior associations are ambivalent in their approval, Musk Khabib is also the smell of more noble ideas, like reverie, letter writing, and innocence. Even its weak performance suggests a kind of fleeting experience that's evoked by how fast summer passes and we grow older.

Wow...I'm in love again! Musk Kabib is magical. I wore it today for the second time and recognized something in it...a note I'd smelled before...something that smelled like a fragrance I've smelled before...and then it hit me. In the opening, it reminds me of the ghost of Atlantic Ambergris!!! I owned Atlantic Ambergris for two years and then like a complete imbecile...I sold it. Whimper...makes me sad just thinking about it now. Anyway, Musk Kabib has a moment in the opening where I can smell Atlantic Ambergris and it made me so happy! I then looked up the note listing for Musk Kabib and saw that it does indeed contain natural ambergris. I knew when I figured out what I was smelling that I would have to own a bottle of Musk Kabib now...it really is special! Two thumbs way up for Musk Kabib!

Deceptively simple– at first it presents as a rather inconsequential floral, of the bubble-gummy, pretty-not-beautiful type. But if you apply enough(I'd say at least three sprays) and give it five minutes, it starts to dance on the skin: bright citrus flits back and forth with creamy-custardy-almost-coconuty ylang ylang in a figure eight above the vanilla/vetiver/tonka base, with a light cedar/tolu impression gathering the whole thing together like a fine wooden frame.

The musk is very unobtrusive(especially for being present in the name) and lends things a soft focus romance, a sigh of satisfaction as the hours slip by.

Musk Khabib, along with Amber Cologne, shows a welcome light side to Bortnikoff's celebrated oud-centric offerings.