Muse Yves Saint Laurent 2025

I would smell like this!!! I’ve come across ink notes in perfumes before, but this is the first time I’ve actually wanted to smell like black ink straight out of a pen.

I’ll admit, the opening of Muse feels incoherent cause that ink note is just so realistic and intense (especially if it’s a note that’s new to you). It’s strange, but in the best and most artistic way possible. As it begins to settle and make way for the other notes, you are met with a sweet and slightly boozy vanilla, wisps of lavender, and a creamy orris. Not iris the flower, orris the earthy root that accompanies the flower. You also get hints of the frankincense and dry woods. It’s very dark, mysterious, but also has a “come closer” vibe to it. I know I call just about every fragrance sexy, but this one is reallllll sexy. It’s very addictive and it’ll have you sniffing yourself like a fiend. And the purple juice is the cherry on top. This kind of iris is quite novel to me, although I have seen it compared to Velours (2016) and Black Tie Eau de Parfum.

Performance wise, this has been great so far. The sillage is strong for the first few hours and it’s not a scent that dies down quickly. You’ll continue to get wafts of it as you move, even around the 6-8 hour mark. I must say this was a very successful blind buy for me, even though I would NOT recommend blind buying this. The season in which it’s been released confuses me (it’s very hot where I am now), but I am so pleased to add this one to my small collection of iris scents and to my fall / winter artillery.