L'Eau Parfumée des Familles Bien-Être 2012

As a high school student, I sang in the school choir. Especially in the lower grades, it was exciting. We spent a lot of time with students from the higher grades during rehearsals. We often got to sing while others were in class. We showcased our talents at concerts and - perhaps the best part - there were always exchange programs. When I was allowed to go on the choir retreat for the first time, we traveled to the French partner city of the small town where our high school was located, the excitement was immense. I was eleven or twelve years old and enjoyed this experience to the fullest.

We were all accommodated with host families, and so much was completely different from home. Just the food. All dishes were served separately; there was no complete meal where all ingredients were served on one plate. Dry pasta, completely without sauce, was something I had to get used to back then. I thought it was brilliant that there was always dessert. Not just on weekends. And once my family served Raclette, which was also unknown to me at that time. I still love it to this day.

I also had quite a few encounters with perfumes and scents there. The two daughters of the host family wore perfumes daily. The younger girl, who was my age, wore Magnolia by Yves Rocher, while the older sister already had a smaller collection that included Loulou by Cacharel.

And the house, it smelled everywhere like L’Eau Parfumée des Familles. A cozy, soft fresh scent that skillfully combines the typical notes of a cologne, like neroli and oak moss, with some sweeter tones. Zesty mandarins, a hint of pear, gentle flowers, sweet honey, and a base of typical French laundry musk from the eighties and nineties. The bed linens, the towels, everything in the house had such a scent that I found very homely and pleasant. I think of the nice smile of my host mom when I perceive this fine scent, in which one of my favorite perfumers, Michel Almairac, was involved. Whether I wanted to or not, dessert was a must. I surely gained a kilo or two back then.

Yes, I recognize a lot here. Neroli and the scent of Marseille soap are at the center. And the moss doesn’t take long to appear either. Despite modern scent components like pear, this cologne has a rather classic character. Definitely for the whole family. The theme is perfectly captured. And gentle enough, not as scratchy as a 4711, that it can also appeal to children's noses. The soft, sweet tones of pear and honey play here, but they never push too much into the foreground.

I wonder if houses of French families still smell similarly today? No idea, but this delicate cologne is certainly beautiful.

I would like to sincerely thank Schoeibksr for the opportunity to test this.

My nerves are slowly reaching their end, your pure, white aura breaks through 4 walls after 4 tests.
Your cheeks are full of powder,
you're into men's fragrances, but you'll never be my brother.
Your body lotion cream will never suit me.
With you in every base, I always have a problem, because you are extremely unpleasant to me.
You are not hot, no, you couldn't even be lukewarm, with this artificial cleanliness. A bit of femininity should be present with you, but I run away from your soft cruelty.
No, I never loved you, you've ruined my citrus scents way too often.
Many also call you sensual depth,
but my hatred for you is greater than theirs & their love.
They say you relax scents like a spa day,
but why do you sometimes smell like a penetrating hairspray?
You boast incredible longevity, but because of you, scents must be unbearable.
You're as fluffy as a teddy bear, I don't think it can get any less masculine, you're worth every penny to me.
THOUGHT YOU WOULD !
Your synthetic scent is so bright & washed out,
you'll never pull money from my pockets.
So that everyone knows what’s what:
You are musk & I hate you. :)

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I had the misfortune of testing 4 fragrances in a row that sounded promisingly fresh & started well, but were quickly devoured by the musk monster.
Bien-Être is quite sympathetic to me with their affordable colognes from France (see Eau de Cologne Lavande Sauvage), but this musk box of Pandora was once again nothing.
A hint of fresh fruit, which is then quickly overwhelmed by clean musk. Behind it, a very quiet synthetic wood note. This can work for everyday use, but definitely not for me. Powder & cream, so artificial cleanliness is nothing I feel comfortable with. Fairly, there is no sharpness here, but 90% of the scent progression is just so flat & monotonous that it becomes annoying again. This has little to do with a summery-fresh cologne, but unfortunately, it is often implemented that way.

Don't get me wrong: Some of my fragrances also contain musk with high certainty. But the dose makes the poison, and they don't smell powdery, creamy, sweet, overly clean, or sharp on me. Because musk can be present, but it doesn't have to play the leading role. Other base notes like vetiver, ambergris, cedar & sandalwood, oakmoss & oud, even ambroxan & iso-e-super, the woody & spicy ones, are also there & much more preferable to me than synthetic musk. Of course, there are variations among all the synthetic musk types, sometimes more, sometimes less aggressive, but overall, I simply don't like them when they dominate the scent. It just comes off as clumsy, cheap, monotonous, feminine & particularly annoying to me.
There are certainly much worse synthetics like some sandalwood & amber substitutes, but I just can't find anything appealing about musk, aside from its good fixative properties. It just doesn't suit my nose.

A big thank you from my nose goes to all the perfumers who don't use it too prominently.
Another thank you to Axiomatic for the sample!
Lastly, thank you for reading. I hope I was able to convey my opinion on musk in an entertaining & understandable way.