Mûre et Musc – original and iconic and enduring

Nowadays, small-batch, hand-made, unisex fragrances are pretty common, but before there were ‘niche’ fragrances, there was L’Artisan Parfumeur, founded in 1976 by French chemist Jean-Francois Laporte. What started as a challenge from a friend to create a banana scent for a costume party led to a new career for Laporte when he discovered he had a talent for creating original scents built around natural essences. In 1978 he created Mûre et Musc. This iconic fragrance was one of the first perfumes based on blackberries and established Pierre Laporte as a visionary perfumer and L’Artisan Parfumeur as an innovative brand in modern perfumery.

What made Mûre et Musc so unique was the fusion of tart, sweet wild blackberries with the warm fruity facets of the new synthetic “white musks.” The result was a fresh and playful but subtle and sexy scent that could be worn easily by women and men, and which, after its 1978 launch, immediately became a best-seller and still is to this day.

It opens with a burst of green aromatic basil followed by Amalfi lemons. These lemons have less bite, are less sour than other varieties, and are bright, juicy and sweet here. A note of sweet, juicy Mandarin orange adds another dimension of citrus to the opening, as luscious orange adds just a touch of astringency that balances the citrus sweetness. As it blooms, the citruses fade, and the mûre, or blackberry, comes forward.

Blackberry doesn't exist in perfumery, so Laporte created it by blending a raspberry ketone, Frambinone, which smells like sweet raspberry jam, with blackcurrant to create the blackberry heart of Mûre et Musc. The scent is not of cooked or succulent berries but small wild blackberry fruits on the stem, warmed by summer sun. At the base, Oakmoss fills in green woody facets: woody stems, fresh, green leaves and grass, and moist earth underfoot. The white musk that settles on my skin is clean and soft, not animalic, but sensual and sophisticated.

Mûre et Musc dries down to a refined, quiet seducer that endures because of its uncomplicated beauty and refinement. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating it.

Check out Mûre et Musc in our Shop.