Red Musk by The Body Shop

November 21st 2014 | #BeautyAndTheCity
Stéphanie Larocque

Scandal in a bottle: No flowers (!), just a bold blend of musk and spice. Discover the new "Red Musk" eau de parfum, by The Body Shop. It's an intensely different feminine fragrance that is scandalising the perfume establishment with its smouldering blend of spiced musk with hot notes of pepper, cinnamon and tobacco – and no flowers.

Heat things up now with Red Musk from The Body Shop!

History

In 1981, The Body Shop pioneered iconic White Musk®: the first fragrance with man-made, cruelty-free musk. We broke the rules rather than using the perfume industry’s standard ingredient gathered from deer, and shaped the future of scent in the process.

Red Musk Credit: The Body Shop — Red Musk
Credit: The Body Shop

Today, the Red Musk collection is set to continue this history of challenging convention, by turning up the heat on the codes of feminine fragrance. The scent adds a red-hot new note to the scandalous fragrance history of The Body Shop.

Where the idea of making a no-flowers scent came from?

Interview by The Body Shop with Corinne Cachen, Master Perfumer, Drom Fragrances:

Q. What inspired you to make an all-spice fragrance?
A. I wanted to create a fragrance that wasn’t the typical ‘girly girl’ scent – I wanted to change the rules of fragrance. Instead, I used the sensuality and the warmth of spices blended with musk to approach femininity differently.

Q. Why did you pick pepper, cinnamon and tobacco?
A. I used pepper for its sharpness and because it contrasts beautifully with the warmth of cinnamon. I chose tobacco because it gives the entire fragrance a soft touch of addictive warmth.

Q. Did you create the scent with someone in mind?
A. When I created this fragrance I was inspired by the movie ‘High Heels’ by Almodovar. Almodovar is known for his movies starring women and he often uses touches of red in his films to represent their dramatic sensuality.

The Notes

Sensual musk blended with…

Top notes
PEPPER
Gathered from pepper plants, the sundried pepper fruits are steam-distilled to preserve their biting scent. The addictive note adds a sparkling dimension to the fragrance.

Heart
CINNAMON
A known aphrodisiac, cinnamon is used in perfumery for its versatile depth. Its sweet yet savoury scent is intriguingly irresistible.

Dry Down
TOBACCO
Almost exclusively used in male fragrance, tobacco accord is a contemporary classic. The smoky note gives the base a mysterious allure that is impossible to resist.

Love it or Hate it

Attention ladies. You might hate this fragrance or it might not suit you at all. This is really something different, something that you won’t smell at every corner of the streets. It’s really special, but to me, it’s special in a good way. When I first smell it, I didn’t really know if I were to like it or not because like I said, it’s so special, I don’t usually wear that kind of fragrance but I also HATE to wear the same thing as everybody else, I prefer to stand out and to wear something that people will say “Oh, what are you wearing? Is this a new fragrance?” So, if you want that kind of reaction, then Red Musk is for you! Also, it’s a really nice scent for the cold season. So, stop wearing your same/usual floral fragrances and try something new!