Still revisiting the classics… This is a scent I never wore. But its enduring popularity, at least in France where it is still L’Artisan Parfumeur’s best-seller, made me feel as though I had to take a sniff… What came up my nose what a chunk of perfume history.
When Jean Laporte (or rather the perfumer working under his direction) decided to amp up the blackberry facet of a Musc T (ethylene brassylate) with more blackberry (“mûre”), not only did he create his brand’s best-seller to this day, but he also anticipated three major trends in perfumery: the taste for berries, the musk tsunami and what we could call, for want of a better term, the materials-driven school of composition. Take a material, study its facets, hook it up with another that has a similar facet, dress it up – in the present case, with a citrus cocktail, red berries and an oak moss base, though the formula apparently contains about one hundred materials – and you’ve got yourself a lovely, legible fragrance. Easy-peasy.
When Jean Laporte founded L’Artisan Parfumeur in 1976, his quirky, single-note fragrances (sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli…) drew a post-hippie crowd who wasn’t quite ready to switch from head-shop patchouli to Opium. With its healthy berry flavour and gauzy, fruity musk, Mûre et Musc smelled like nothing on the market; it still radiates an amiable, rustic, non-perfume-y charm.
In his Guide, Luca Turin states that the musk in the original formula has been replaced by another. L'Artisan Parfumeur denies the reformulation, especially since ethylene brassylate, which gives its distinctive flavor to Mûre et Musc, is not restricted by IFRA. Luca has since published a correction and the review has been amended in the 2009 edition of the guide. I have also had confirmation of this from Pamela Roberts, the creative director of L'Artisan.
A Mûre et Musc Extrême version, by Karine Dubreuil, was launched in 1993: the berry notes are stronger and underlined by green, raspy blackcurrant bud. For Mûre et Musc’s 30th anniversary, an extrait de parfum, with Turkish rose essential oil, added spices (pink and black pepper) and a stronger oak moss and patchouli base was composed by L’Artisan Parfumeur’s in-house perfumer, Bertrand Duchaufour. Unfortunately, the cute blackberry-shaped bottle is no longer available.
Image: Anjelica Huston for Walter Albini by Gian Paolo Barbieri (1973)
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Hullo, D. Mûre et Musc has not been one of the L'Artisans to which I have been drawn. But in light of your review, I am, of course, tempted to re-test it. I wonder who was the perfumer who created the original version?
RépondreSupprimerJarvis, to be perfectly frank, I wasn't draw to it either. But it's such an enduring classic here in France that I thought I should at least see what all the love was about!
RépondreSupprimerSilly me, when I was discussing with Pamela Roberts it didn't occur to me to ask about the perfumer...
It's Jean-François Laporte!Et Bertrand Duchaufour pour la version extrait de parfum (contreversée).Par contre j'aimerais bien savoir pour la version extrême!
RépondreSupprimerMuguette
Got it:Karine Dubreuil for the extreme version!
RépondreSupprimerMuguette
Oui, Muguette, pour les deux autres versions c'est bien ce que j'ai écrit, mais il me semble bien que ce n'était pas JF Laporte lui-même qui composait ses parfums.
RépondreSupprimerNon mais n'importe quoi, désolée, Denyse, je suis vraiment fatiguée ce soir...
RépondreSupprimerPas grave! Moi aussi il m'arrive de laisser des commentaires sur d'autres blogs sans avoir lu jusqu'à la fin du post... ;-)
RépondreSupprimerI've never been drawn to any of the L'A's, which has always baffled/annoyed me. You'd think with that many frags I could find one I loved, but nope. And I have never, ever enjoyed smelling like a fruit salad, no matter how good the musk.
RépondreSupprimerDang I really need to learn French. It would be so much more useful than Spanish in this hobby... I turned up my nose at Mure et Musc from the start. Then a year or two ago I tried it again, perversely, and promptly bought some! I have no idea why. It's as crass and cheerful as grape soda, I suppose (probably something you don't have) and some days that is *exactly* what I want in a perfume! PS Thanks for the musk update, that's good to know.
RépondreSupprimerAmy, I can't say I own too many of them either (in fact, just the one, Safran Troublant). I can't really say why... Just not my sensibility, I guess.
RépondreSupprimerMarch, it *is* cheerful. Especially worn with pink lipstick, non?
RépondreSupprimerI received a sample of MetM Cologne by chance a couple of years ago and ended up jumping at the chance for a cheap bottle of the original soon after -- I hadn't realized that the Cologne was a different formulation (I think you forgot to mention this one). This was at the start of my perfume obsession, and I haven't been disappointed by MetM since then, though I don't reach for it very often. Your writing once again makes me want to pull it off the shelf. I love the combination of the musc, fruit, and citrus, and it still feels quite original to me despite the glut of fruit on the market.
RépondreSupprimerYou add an interesting footnote about Turin's retraction of his claim of reformulation. After reading in several places how good the "old" MetM was, I lamented the fact that I would never know the greatness of this scent, even though I was quite happy with the current iteration. It's nice to know that perhaps I'm not missing out on anything -- or at least not much -- after all?
I still haven't sampled the Extrême and I'd like to. I'm curious about the extrait as well, but at that price point, I'm not very eager, especially since amped-up rose and patch sound as if they might actually detract from this lovely, zingy "classic."
Joe, I like the "basic" M&M just fine though it's not my thing... I didn't review the Cologne because it wasn't available at the L'Artisan counter.
RépondreSupprimerLuca's corrective can be read on The Guide website. Sometimes I think he just reviewed too many things to concentrate properly on all of them...