Musk Motassalik

Arabian Oud’s ‘Musk Motassalik’ is a beautiful, traditional, relaxing rose scent. (On many other websites, it’s incorrectly named as ‘Musk Mutasallik’.)

I love a visit to the Arabian Oud store in London’s Oxford Street. I feel like an excited child going to an old-fashioned loose sweet shop. The concentrated oils (attars) are kept in large glass bottles, waiting to be decanted into 3ml, 6ml or 12ml bottles for discerning customers. I bought the largest 12ml bottle, as I was going to work abroad for 2 months and wanted to take something that I could rely on, something that I could use to comfort myself whilst being away from home and (most importantly) something that I wouldn’t grow to regret. ‘Musk Motassalik’ was the perfect choice.

It’s uncomplicated, clean and innocent so is very easy to wear on a daily basis. There’s no oud, amber or other notes involved as it’s not a ‘mukhallat’ (Arabic for mixture), it’s just straight-up rose with musk. Sometimes you don’t want to smell complicated when all else around you is utterly complex. This is a stripped-down back-to-basics scent with no hidden agenda, it just wants to spread kindness, calm and wellbeing. The white musk is clean and sensual, whilst both the Istanbul and Indian wild roses give a soft floral seduction – together they feel like a clean fluffy jumper giving you a hug of reassurance.

Hardened rose-haters will probably declare this to be an “old lady” scent, but I find this spirited and elegant, rather than stuffy and old-fashioned. A rose to my nose does not smell like bungalows of decompose-underclothes. Roses smell good, old ladies (to be exact, my grandma’s care-home) smells like urine and diabetes. There’s probably no better naturalistic single scent than a rose in bloom – so allow it rose-haters.

This is a much better rose scent than Jo Malone’s ‘Red Roses’ or Perfumer’s Workshop’s ‘Tea Rose’. A rose by any other name would not smell as sweet.

Arabian Oud’s ‘Musk Motasailik’ is a simplistic, romantic and beautiful easy-wear.

TOP – White Musk

MIDDLE – Istanbul Rose

BASE – Indian Wild Rose