Musk Malabi Fundraising Campaign for Syrian Refugees

Musk Malabi, my fundraiser perfume to support Syrian Refugees, was launched a couple of years ago. There was only marginal interest in the cause, unfortunately, so I was unable to make any substantial contribution to this cause. 

Now that the refugee crisis has come to the forefront of the media - I hope you can help me raise enough funds to help sponsor refugees who are arriving to Canada in these tough times. For every 15mL bottle sold, $50 will be donated to a community-sponsored family; and from each mini bottle, $20 will be donated.

If you are in Canada, I urge you to find a community-sponsorship as well, or initiate one yourself in your community or workplace. According to Canadian law around sponsorship of immigrants, groups such as religious community associations (i.e.: non-profit NGOs) and community based organizations (i.e.: mosques, churches, synagogues, etc.) but also corporations can sponsor refugees, and any group of 5 or more Canadians that can provide a feasible settlement plan for the refugees. That is one way to guarantee the safe asylum of a family fleeing the horrors of the Syrian civil war, and much more meaningful way to invest smaller amounts of charitable money than to support a huge organization in which whatever contribution I could make will just be a drop in the bucket.

Of course, if you wish to donate to larger organizations - there are some that are more effective than others and which will utilize your donations more efficiently. Do your research first. For example, charities that are recommended for maximum help in the ground zero of the Syrian refugee crisis and that have a minimum administrative costs are listed in Charity Intelligence (Canada) and Charity Watchdog (USA).

Below is an excerpt from the original press release (March 2014) and the updates regarding pricing and donations policy.

Inspiring Peace & Harmony with Musk Malabi’s Olfactory Love Triangle
Vancouver, Canada, March 5th, 2014. Get caught in a love triangle with Musk Malabi Ayala Moriel’s newest limited-edition perfume Musk Malabi. Released to coincide with the spring equinox and Persian New Year, Musk Malabi is an intoxicating floral confection. Unabashedly feminine, subtly exotic and hopelessly romantic - the fragrance evokes the sensory experience of a passionate love affair.
Inspired by the traditional Middle Eastern dessert of the same name, Musk Malabi centers itself around rich, milky musk. Having grown up in Israel, the sights, sounds, and smells of the Mediterranean have always been a source of inspiration for Ayala Moriel, the company’s in-house perfumer. “What has always captured my imagination about malabi is its soft, evocative sounding name, and its unique fragrant combination of rosewater and neroli water”, explains Ayala. “Rose and orange blossom are such noble flowers yet oh so different.”

At the heart of the fragrance, neroli and rose come unexpectedly together with musk to create an unusual and mesmerizing triad. Musk plays cupid, pulling all the strings in between and drawing the lovers (rose and neroli) together. Designed to smell as close as possible to deer musk, the botanical musk brings an effortless fluidity to this magnetic fragrance. A company that prides itself on being all-natural and free of animal cruelty, all of Ayala’s fragrances are created using botanical essences.
With spicy notes of cardamom and coriander as the opening act for voluptuous rose and prudent neroli, the top and heart notes rest on a silky bed of atlas cedarwood, botanical musk and Tahitian vanilla. Light-hearted yet mysterious, Musk Malabi is a fragrance unlike any other and will transport one effortlessly to the exotic Middle-East, jet-lag free.
Top notes: Bitter Orange, Cardamom, Coriander, Blood Orange
Heart notes: Turkish Rose, Bulgarian Rose, Tunisian Neroli, Egyptian Orange Blossom
Base notes: Atlas Cedarwood, Botanical Musk Accord, Tahitian Vanilla

Available in eau de parfum 4ml ($69) and 15ml ($180) via www.ayalamoriel.com. For every 15mL bottle sold, $50 will be donated to a community-sponsored family; and from each mini bottle, $20 will be donated. 

Musk Malabi Reviewed on ScentHive

"... it’s the addition of a few other botanicals that elevate Musk Malabi to the level of chilly weather comfort. As you might have guessed from its name, the musk in this perfume cannot be denied."

Visit ScentHive to read Trish Vawter's full review of Musk Malabi.

Sweet Note to End the Year

Being on holiday mode these days, and recovering from a major computer crash - I'm a bit late in the game to discover this evening that Musk Malabi has been chosen as Best of 2014 in the lists of several esteemed fragrance blogs:

Perfume Shrine

"A natural composed "musk fragrance" that conveys the note and its feel without using musk from the deer. A tinge of delicious succulence, a milky hint of dessert and rose and you're there. Very pretty!"

EauMG

"It’s a perfume inspired by one of my favorite desserts. It’s a luxurious blend of rose, neroli and botanical musk. If you don’t think natural perfumes are luxurious, then you haven’t sniffed Musk Malabi."

Now Smell This
Providence Perfume Co's Samarinda was the winner. Honourable mention to Musk Malabi alongside Aftelier's Palimpset and Hiram Green's Shangri La. Glad to be in such good company!

It was already released a year ago, so the fact that anyone still remembers it means quite a lot in today's overcrowded fragrance scene. My perfume Narkiss, on the other hand, although just released, and in my humble opinion is a lot more original than Musk Malabi -  hasn't been discovered yet.

EauMG Reviews Musk Malabi

"What the heck else are the 1% doing with their money???" 

Visit EauMG to read Victoria’s EauPINION on Musk Malabi:
 
"Cardamom, rosewater and musk. Out of the Ayala Moriel perfumes that I’ve sampled, Musc Malabi is my favorite. I could seriously bathe in this stuff". 

Gourmands for Summer

Thanks to Victoria from choosing Musk Malabi as one of her EauMG's top perfume picks for summer 2014!
Thrilled to be featured next to some of my personal favourites, including Savuer de l'Abricot and Sel de Vetiver.

Now Smell This Reviews Musk Malabi

 Visit Now Smell This to read Robin's review of my newest perfume, Musk Malabi.

"It's bright and cheerful, and perfect for spring. Very much worth a try for anyone, but especially recommended for neroli freaks. I would love to have a bottle of Musk Malabi, along with Moriel's equally cheerful Etrog Oy de Cologne".

The Non-Blonde Reviews Sandal Ale and Musk Malabi

Sandal Ale got noticed by Gaia from The Non Blonde: "The tension between raw wood, apricots preserved in cognac, and old-fashioned ginger ale that captures your attention and causes the age-old wrist-to-nose compulsion".

And this is what Gaia had for Musk Malabi: "A treat for musk-heads... I want to bathe in this stuff". 

To read the full review, visit The Non Blonde. Leave a comment at her blog and/or below for a chance to win a sample of each!  

Perfume Shrine Reviews Musk Malabi

Visit Perfume Shrine to read Elena's eloquent review of my newest perfume, Musk Malabi. It was also mentioned in The Examiner's Spa & Beauty section under "New unisex perfume releases for March", as well as Sandal Ale.

For those of you who tried it, please take a moment or two to share your impressions on Basenotes, MakeUpAlley, NowSmellThis and Fragrantica. Thank you for spreading the love!

News from the Nose: Carnival, Chaos, Renewal and Rebirth

Dear Fragrant Friends,
“I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end. (Jo March)” - Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

In a chaotic world overflown with demands, there is nothing more empowering and freeing than the possibility of new beginnings. Don’t let the Polar Vortex convince you otherwise: winter will come to an end soon enough. Beyond the piles of seemingly endless snow, the days ARE getting longer; and the sun will again achieve its balance and return to power on March 20th. As shooting bulbs and new growth slowly but surely replace winter’s icy embrace, spring is the time of rejuvenation and rebirth. Time to start anew, shed our old skin, refine and re-define our path and distil our true essence. Time to establish a renewed sense of passion and purpose before we push ahead above the icy grounds. Like the Sonbol (Persian hyacinth, which symbolizes fertility and continuation), which is still curled up concealing the grape-like cluster of fragrant bells - this season offers a nurturing and quiet environment that will allow us to grow to our full potential.

Perfume has the power to restore one’s joie-de-vivre, increase mindfulness and nurture a greater sense of connectedness. The sense of smell is so intrinsically linked to our emotions and memories that it can help us reconnect with ourselves and with the here and now. Our obsession with the seasons – while might seem naïve – is no accident. By connecting to the cyclic rhythm of the seasons and changing with them, we find life lessons that ring true and timely in spite (or because) of the fact that the sun has been spinning this way for billions of years. This Spring we urge you to be in the moment, whether you are enjoying a hot cup of tea with a loved one, or catching up with your taxes.
Breathe deeply, and live fragrantly!

1. Celebrating Chaos: Carnival Season is Not Quite Over Yet!
   
2. Perfumes for Purim  
3. Scents for Persian New Year
4. Conscious Cleansing & Emotional Renewal
   
5. Prune, Learn & Grow 
   
6. Mindful Health & Inner Cleansing  

Read Ayala Moriel Parfums' March 2014 newsletter in it's entirety, and sign up to our mailing list to get future inspiring & informative newsletters with recipes, seasonal celebrations with scents, and  special promo codes only offered to our loyal customers and newsletter subscribers. 

Musk Malabi

Malabi, a photo by Tom lahat on Flickr.

If Sahleb is the royal treat of winter, then the rosy, rubbery Malabi (see recipe below) is the queen of summer in the Middle East. Served cold in every other corner and almost every kiosk and restaurant of any caliber, this chilled milk-pudding captures the eye with the contrasting rosy-red syrup oozing all over the white, petri-plate-like to-go containers it comes in. I was never a big fan of its texture (ditto in regards to Rahat Loukum, also unjustly made with corn starch instead of better quality materials), but I adore its fragrance!

What always captures my imagination about malabi was its soft, evocatively sounding name, and its unique fragrant combination of rosewater and neroli. Rose and neroli are such noble flowers yet oh so different. Rose is open, voluptuous, sweet and feminine. Neroli is prim and proper, restrained, clean, ethereal and otherworldly. It's incredible that such a thing even grows from the earth, as has such a heavenly character.

Malabi with pom syrup, a photo by Dan Bar Dov on Flickr.

The balance of these two strong-willed floral elements that inspired the creation of my new, limited edition for Valentine's Day 2014. Titled Musk Malabi, this perfume is a holy triad of sorts, between voluptuous, velvety and soft rose; airy, clean and cerebral neroli, and the pulsating animalic energy of musk. The musk is, in a most profound way, what makes these two oppositional flowers harmonize rather than compete with one another. It is told in the Koran that Mohammed's breath was as sweet as rose, and that he considered musk to be the purest of all perfumes. Musk grains were even mixed with the mortar in the construction of several Eastern mosques and retained their musky scent for years. The botanical musk in Musk Malabi was designed to smell as close as possible to deer musk, and most importantly, act like one: it plays cupid pulling all the strings between and drawing the lovers (rose and neroli) together. It doesn't need arrows, and plays the harp better than cupid, doing all of this work gently and with effortless fluidity. 


Malabi, a photo by shai.wininger on Flickr.

Musk Malabi is a limited edition for Valentine's Day 2014, which is just a month away from today! 
Love it, and it will love you back.

Top notes: Bitter Orange, Cardamom, Coriander, Blood Orange
Heart notes: Turkish Rose, Bulgarian Rose, Tunisian Neroli, Egyptian Orange Blossom
Base notes: Atlas Cedarwood, Botanical Musk Accord, Tahitian Vanilla