The scent of the original is definitely horrid. There is a resiny, medicinal, benzoin note in it that unfortunately reminds me a little bit of the formaldehyde of the cadavers in first-year med school anatomy. The performance, in my opinion, is good but not great. Maybe I underestimate the performance because I dislike the scent so much......I think MdC is great performing soap. I just can't stand the smell.