Got a few samples from Wild Hybrid the other day. They have a gazillion different perfumes and lots of them sound interesting. The vials they come in are a bit annoying, but at least they have a dabber (Comme Des Garçons take note); plus they’re oils, so work better in that format, I think.

I get a lot of something similar to Vicks Vaporub, like that real big chest-filling element of it, eucalyptus, camphor… Makes this seem more like an oil you’d burn rather than wear. Notes have ‘embalming resins’ in them, which I connect this to. I guess it’s also a fair bit herbal, like you pick oregano, eucalyptus, and other things, and rub them and mangle them in your hands. Otherwise it’s woody and sweet and thick and almost chocolatey, which helps tone down the Vicks a bit. I’m not too into those kindas of creamy, chocolatey smells though.

Maybe a good looking after yourself doing stuff at home smell.

When you open the bottle it has a lovely, freshly cracked black pepper smell. On my skin I get a little bit of pepper, but mostly a warm, soft leather. I feel like having to dab it on rather than spray it means it’s not coming across properly. The leather kinda turns to fluffy woollen jumper.

Dry, smokey, nice amount of sweetness.

Cedar, lavender, patchouli smokiness. Sweetness is warm, like amber, musk, maybe tonka.

Didn’t seem to change over the day.

Ooo, I quite like this. A nice citrus, a bit limey, but in between lime and lemon (I don’t remember ever smelling a fresh citron, only candied, so can’t compare), and something a bit floral, a white floral like orange blossom I actually like. A really nice, fresh, Spring perfume.

Checking the notes later there’s no mention of flowers, just citron, ginger, wood, musk, ambergris. Well!

This is another one of the city exclusives so the price is completely bonkers. AUD$255 for just 15ml, etc.

Hmmmm. Really kinda pops off my skin into my nose. I get pepper, mint, lime, but it’s kinda solemn rather than sunny like those notes might suggest.

Official notes are pepper, incense, and benzoin (amber).

Unfortunately it also smells like fly spray.

When I first sprayed I got a big whiff of sweet musk sticks, but the smell on my skin was very strong patchouli, dry, sharp. Walking around I smelt less patchouli and more of the sweetness.

Started going sweet, very similar to other patchouli+sweet perfumes, fizzy like they tend to be. Person I imagine wearing this is some Euro guy with too many scarves, too many bracelets, and maybe annoying facial hair.

A couple of hours later the obnoxious sweet ness is gone, warm, thick, musksticky sweetness is coming in. Smokey rose??

Took the chance to get samples of some of the city exclusive Le Labo perfumes.

For the first two hours I thought they’d put the wrong stuff in my vial, smelt like lime to me (partner got Poivre which smelt nothing like how we remembered from smelling on paper in London which was odd too—). After that I got the pink pepper and patchouli clearly, and started to enjoy it. With hindsight I think that first phase was the oakmoss and pepper and patchouli all mixed up.

At first spray smells a bit old man-y, sweet vanilla leather . . .

Then I notice cardamom, patchouli . . . The cardamom is nice. It has that dryness on my tongue real cardamom does.

I’ve smelt this patchouli, cardamom, vanilla combo before and not sure how much I like wearing it, but I kinda like smelling it. I think it’s too stuffy for me. It has this airy, powderiness that I think is kinda interesting, but also smells a bit thin and plasticy, which is what I’m not into.

As the cardamom gets more dominant I like this more. Only took 5 minutes—patience me, patience…

Maybe nice outside in Autumn.

Opens sweet, acidic floral. Chemically lemon. Nothing concrete about it. Icy. Shoulda called it lemonade icypole.
Giving off public toilet flouro yellow hand soap now…yuck.

It’s sharp and cold. If that’s their interpretation of concrete that’s a pretty fucking unsophisticated one imo.

Had to wash it off, then my wrists smelt like urinal cakes for a while.

Comments I’m reading now make me feel like there’s the wrong perfume in my vial.

Tried two perfumes at Mecca today. Normally I just kinda forget what I tried in shops so don’t feel like logging them, but these’re both still on my wrists.

Actually, it’s pretty nice smelling them both together at once—

I like this a bunch, but not the kind of like where I would pay what this brand charges. Powdery, heady, musk stick scent. A bit of cinnamon?, very pink. I think the name’s a bit misleading, it’s a cosy, friendly perfume. Really nice to get close to a take a big smell. Makes my lungs feel nice.

Just two sprays on one wrist and it is quite strong. Partner says it smells like old lady perfume.

There’s a little bit of something sharp in there, not bitter like Powdered Veil, but more interesting than the Lorenzo Villoresi musk one.

Addendum: Apparently there’s no musk in this. That seems credible, as when I woke up there was no lingering muskiness, more just a marshmellowy smell.

I guess I’m going to compare this one to Lorenzo Villoresi too, because it reminds me a lot of his vetiver one, a very dry, sharp vetiver, with a little bit of background spiciness and some slight smokiness from the cedar. I don’t like it as much though. There was some kind of smooth, sweet component that faded after a half hour or so.

A lot like suncream for the first minute. When that goes it’s a generic moisturiser smell for ten minutes, then settles down to a smokey, powdery wood. Up close there’s a bit of cinnamon if you can get past the moisturiser. Quite nice, but not exciting.

Didn’t last long, but maybe because the sprayer on my sample is terrible.