Don't You Want to Pretend to Be a Normal Person? (Musk Perfume Review)

To all you weirdos out there, how do you usually hide your abnormality in your daily life?
Do you hide your trashy private life and commute with a face that says, "No, I'm perfectly normal, why?"

I do.
I wear trashyoffice clothes bought from GRL, wear coral pink makeup, and douse myself in crowd-pleasing musk perfume from head to toe before commuting.

So, I'm going to review some musk perfumes, but as you've probably noticed, I don't actually like musk scents that much; I only own a few just for my "Normal Person Campaign."
Please be aware that this will be a laughable review from the perspective of a true musk lover.

By the way, while musk perfumes are considered socially acceptable scents, musk was originally an animal-derived ingredient, so there are still some that are more animalic and smell closer to human skin.
Of course, since we can't use animal ingredients anymore, these are synthetic musks...

The intro is long, so let's get to the point.

Essential Parfums / The Musc

I think it could also be called "The Normal Person."
It is the undeniable correct answer for a musk perfume.
A safe, classic musk.

It has a soap-like scent reminiscent of just getting out of the bath, with a touch of honey sweetness, making it very easy to use.
It's a unisex scent, and it lasts a very long time.
"Is it perfume? Or shampoo? Fabric softener? Wait, did they just get out of the bath?"
It creates a lovely scent on that exquisite line. A wonderful fragrance that you can't go wrong with.
That was a really lame introduction, but honestly, there's nothing to criticize...
It's safe, but it doesn't feel cheap either...
It's a highly socially acceptable scent.

When I had a male friend smell it, he said, "That's so hot!" so I guess it's a sexy scent (take that with a grain of salt).

※ Basically, this is what I wear to the office.

Etat Libre d'Orange / Ghost in the Shell

A mysterious milky soap.
A scent that shocked me, making me think, "What is this smell...!?"

At first, it's a bit refreshing with yuzu and floral notes, but it gradually becomes a mellow, milky scent, followed by an indescribable, mysterious fragrance that feels like inorganic yet sweet skin.
What is it? Milk and plastic? It's a truly comforting smell I've smelled somewhere before. But I can't put it into words.

It's truly a one-of-a-kind, incredibly good scent.

By the way, this seems to be a collaboration with the Ghost in the Shell anime.
I don't know Ghost in the Shell, so I'm just guessing, but it certainly is a "good cyberpunk-like smell."
In a way, it's also a very futuristic scent.
Among musk scents, this is classified as a skin fragrance.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, this is the one.

※ Since I've been liking it lately, I often cheat on The Musc and wear this to the office instead.

LANVIN / Éclat d'Arpège

A staple for high school and college students.
The quintessential young and cute scent.
I used to use it a lot back in the day, but it's a fruity-floral, cute, and slightly trashy musk.
It's incredibly cliché, but it is an incredibly good smell.

It's sometimes mentioned as a peach perfume in recent years, but I never felt even a hint of peach back then.
Where was the peach?
Honestly, I feel like it's too young for anyone past their student years to wear.
Well, it's a classic, and I'm sure you pass by women wearing this on campus 12 times a day, so I don't think I need to introduce it now.

MOLTON BROWN / Milk Musk

It smells like milk!!!
That was my first impression.
Who said this was a crowd-pleasing baby-like scent?

A suffocatingly sweet vanilla, followed by an attack of milk, a hint of fruitiness, and an old man in the background.
The old man vibe is probably due to the ambroxide.
A scent with an old man vibe is basically a hair product smell, or in other words, "the smell of a trashy guy."

As a sweet and slightly trashy perfume, it's quite well-put-together, but the influencers who introduce this as a "baby scent" or a "scent that suits women" are the problem.
It's unisex, or rather, a bit on the masculine side. It is a good smell, though.
There's a Chinese restaurant near my office famous for its mapo tofu, and their almond tofu is insanely delicious.
When you put your nose close to that almond tofu, it smells like this.
In other words, it's the scent of a trashy person eating almond tofu. (I don't know either)

Well, when I tried this, I still hated vanilla perfumes like they were my parents' killer, so if I tried it now, my impression might be different.

In other words, if you don't like vanilla scents, you won't be able to handle this.

After Blow / Jasmine Musk

The scent of a super sexy, beautiful older sister.
What is this?

I've introduced it before, but this hand cream has the diffusion and longevity of a perfume.
Every man who smells this reacts like, "Oh...😳‼️"
They really make the face in this emoji.

It's a sexy, beautiful older sister scent that is incredibly popular with men.
It's not just a fabric softener scent; it's more like a damp smell, or the soap-like scent that comes from a beautiful woman who just got out of the bath...
Anyway, it's "damp."

It's an incredibly good scent, so please give it a try!

※ I also often layer this on top of The Musc.

diptyque / L'Eau Papier

It's prickly!!!!
What is this sharp, prickly sensation in my nose... is this what perfume is...? That was my first impression.

This one has a scattered concept of paper, ink, rice, and sesame.

I see, is this prickliness meant to represent paper? It feels kind of coarse.
On my skin, I didn't feel the rice at all, and after that, it just became a typical powdery musk perfume.

diptyque generally has many scents that are hard to use. It's buzzing like crazy, but you can't say it's for everyone. Because it's a niche fragrance.

However, this is a scent that I think smells quite good when someone else is wearing it. On the skin of a friend I tried it with, it turned into a considerably good scent.
Please, someone other than me living in Osaka, wear this and walk around Midosuji.
It would make me happy.

L'Orchestre Parfum / Bouquet Encore Latte

A fluffy, comforting scent of sweet floral fruity + almond milk.

It's like the image of "the scent when you went out wearing a lot of Jo Malone's popular perfume a few hours ago, came home, and got into the sheets while drinking hot milk." That's hard to understand.

For those who like sweet, comforting scents but dislike gourmand types like sugary vanilla, this is a highly recommended perfume.
With the fluffiness of almond milk and the sweetness of fruit, it's an easy scent to get into even if you don't like gourmands.
Also, it doesn't overlap with other people at all.

BYREDO / Blanche

This isn't one I wear, but the perfume my hairdresser wears.
Every time I go, I think it's an incredibly soft and good scent.
It's a slightly floral, refreshing soap scent that makes you think, "Is this person's natural body odor just this good?"

However, it's strange that someone who likes perfume enough to reach BYREDO would stop at this crowd-pleasing scent... They definitely like more eccentric perfumes... No, wait, they're definitely a player...

It leaves room for such suspicions.
I think it's the perfect scent for a "decent human being" campaign.

KO-GU / Musk

Perhaps this is the closest thing to a real animal musk?
No, I don't know, I haven't smelled animal musk yet... but among the musk perfumes I know, it's the one furthest from a "soap scent."

When first applied, it only smells like alcohol, but after a while, a sweet scent drifts from the skin where it was applied.
When I was in elementary school, I had a classmate who smelled like this...
Like "the scent of the nape of a child from a family that keeps things clean."
It might be closer to a rather animalic scent.

By the way, it seems some people cannot perceive the scent of this KO-GU musk.
Musk is that kind of fragrance ingredient to begin with, right.
It's very interesting, so please try it on your own skin.

Musk perfumes introduced by influencers

Recent influencers think they can just mindlessly introduce Sauvage, Orphéon, Lazy Sunday Morning, and Another 13.
I'll also review these scents that are introduced on Instagram as "too good smelling."

By the way, there are sometimes second-year employees with black mushroom haircuts who use these after hearing they are the "scent of a capable man," but it leaves a bad impression to be reeking of perfume when you haven't even learned your job properly.
Our company's salesman, I'm talking about you.

Dior / Sauvage

A famous bottle that, as a result of influencers introducing it too much as a "popular perfume," I ended up passing by men wearing it 8 times a day in the city.

It's the scent of a man leaning against the entrance of a club drinking Smirnoff.
Originally, it was a perfume worn by such flashy handsome men or capable playboys, but due to influencers' introductions, it has become a sad perfume that all types of men flock to.

It's the image of university students or high school students who look like they've never worked a day in their lives, let alone be capable, getting it to act older, and walking around town with a smug look on their faces after spraying it 5 times because they're happy.

Also, for men who want to be popular but don't know where to start... they buy it with the feeling of "it's supposed to be a good scent that makes you popular..." and while they don't care about any other grooming, for some reason they douse themselves in Sauvage from head to toe, so people wearing this now have the image of people who admire that, rather than being genuine players or popular men.
Before you spray Sauvage all over the place, try ironing your clothes!

There was a salesman at my company who wore this, and he was talked about terribly behind his back by female employees, saying "that has no taste" and "it's too stinky."

This salesman was no exception, and perhaps he didn't know how to apply perfume, as he sprayed about 5 puffs of Sauvage, so you could smell it from several meters away.
It's a scent worn by people who can't imagine that "going to a client's office with that smell is crazy..."
Since Sauvage is a very strong scent, one spray on your lower body in the morning is enough.

Sauvage itself doesn't stink at all and is a very good scent, but as Johnny Depp is the face of the ad, it is originally a "scent for a cool, mature, and capable man." You don't become that kind of man just by wearing it; the people who used to wear it were that type.
It's the same move as a male college student who sees information that "business owners wake up early" and starts waking up early, only to be one step away from getting into multi-level marketing.

I'll say it again, this itself is a very well-calculated, good-smelling perfume.

LE LABO / Another 13

At first, I thought it smelled incredibly good, but it seems the scent changes quite a bit depending on your physical condition.

On my skin, for some reason, a metallic smell came out a little.
I work in real estate, and from this perfume, I vaguely sensed the smell of the hallway of an old apartment building about to undergo major repairs.
That sharp smell of rusted and scraped iron parts on the handrails, or the dusty smell of deteriorated vinyl sheets in the hallway...
I almost got PTSD remembering a dangerous management association I used to be in charge of.
No, there's a chance the building manager there was wearing Another 13.

I digressed, but this metallic, hallway-like smell wasn't strong at all, and basically, it was a clean, slightly animalic musk scent.
Or so I thought, but it also properly showed a soft, good scent like flowers, not just musk.
I think it's an urban, clean musk perfume.

I don't know, I don't hate it, and I like perfumes that seem safe at first glance but are actually eccentric, but no, it's not really "for everyone."
It's a very urban, slightly eccentric but clean scent. Also, honestly, it's the scent of a player from a while ago... I've smelled it somewhere...
A friend told me it "smells like hair styling product."
Recently, there are tons of people wearing this in the city, aren't there.
It seems there are so many men wearing this in Korea that it's treated the same way as Sauvage. Huh.

But it's not a bad smell. I actually thought, "It's a good smell..." when a friend wore it. I just wasn't chosen by LE LABO.

Maison Margiela / Lazy Sunday Morning

A perfume with nothing worth mentioning.
It's a safe, good scent like linen or fabric softener, but maybe because it didn't suit me, I got a bit of a headache.
Fabric softener + a transparent fruity & floral scent. A distant relative of Jo Malone's English Pear.
It's perfect for when you want to "pretend to be a decent human being," as in the title of this article.
I feel like the scent is slightly cheap, so I think one spray on the stomach is enough.
A scent that feels like a college student.

diptyque / Orphéon

As a result of being too hyped on social media, this scent has a high probability of being smelled on male college students who look like knock-off K-pop idols.
Even so, it still has the image of being worn by guys who are cooler than those wearing Sauvage.
It is said to be a scent inspired by a bar, but it has a powdery quality (like a department store cosmetics counter) and a woody note, making it a safe, cool, and pleasant scent.
However, I also sense a tonic-like (hair styling product) scent.
Perhaps because of that, there's an old man lurking on the other side of it.
I quite like scents that have an 'old man' vibe, but some people might find it 'too masculine'.

If a competent 30-something finance or real estate salesman were wearing this, it would be such a perfect fit that it would lose all sense of intrigue.




Also, influencers always introduce Un Jardin sur le Nil, Lost Cherry, The Time, and White Lily in their routines, don't they?
They are certainly nice scents, but even though Lost Cherry costs 50,000 yen, the scent fades quickly (on my skin), and Un Jardin sur le Nil also fades fast.
The Time also costs 40,000 yen but doesn't last very long, and White Lily gives me a headache if I wear too much.

They each have many good points, but when a perfume doesn't suit you, it's hell, so I don't recommend blind-buying thinking, 'If it's one of these hyped perfumes, it'll be fine!'