I was looking forward to The Body Shop’s new White Musk Libertine. Admittedly, I was never a fan of the original White Musk, which has reached the grand old age of 30 — in perfume years, that means it’s now eligible for social security. I did like (but didn’t really adore) the White Musk Midnight Iris, and I’m always up for a cheap thrill of the scented variety. I know some people around here complain about The Body Shop not being what it used to be, but if I had $15 or $20 and wanted something scented from the mall, I’d be far likelier to find it at The Body Shop than at Bath & Body Works (I did some investigating recently and there’s virtually nothing there I like any more) or L’Occitane (they’ve done some nice scents lately, but they’ve mostly upscaled themselves out of the cheap thrills category).1
So anyway, White Musk Libertine was developed by perfumer Vincent Schäller and the notes include Turkish delight, Chantilly cream, orchid and signature musk — sounds like a good contender for sweet but fun, right? And I’m already a sucker for sweet Turkish delight. If you could come up with a really good one for less than the going price for Serge Lutens Rahät Loukoum, I’d buy it.2 White Musk Libertine, as it turns out, is more of a nouveau powder + vanilla musk mash-up…
