It was one of those days when I barely had a moment to breathe, appointments without pause and one urgent task after another. By the end of the workday, I hardly know what’s on my mind, let alone my stomach, feet, and heart. At home, a filling with brown-green liquid awaits me, and without much thought, I give myself two generous sprays on my forearm - and I stand among large trees, in their shade, breathing in the ethereal-bitter green of their leaves deeply. Deeper and deeper, I inhale, my chest expands, my many thoughts of the day drift away, from the crown to the roots, I become very wide. I can feel the other trees; I am connected to them through my roots. Yes, sometimes I am more plant than human, ethereal herb-green white-floral in spirit, I carry leaves and flowers myself, I am labdanum-resinous in my heart, my wild roots continue to spread in the earth and connect more and more with the other plants. And now I can wander into other plants through this connection; I am drawn toward a plant whose ethereal radiance I can see from afar, bright rays emanating from it and touching me. They welcome me like a floral-silver embrace, inviting me in. Come, be with me, lie down with me, it seems to say. Its delicate rays turn into soft feathers, brushing over my skin, balsamic, yet also sensually wild, and now I can also perceive the delicate scent of patchouli earth among the musk roots. Only now do I realize, these roots are my own, this plant is me, arrived at myself… As the journey comes to an end, I still have the filling standing before me and know I can restore the connection again.
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Invigorating, sensual, wild-plant-like from crown to roots, this is my scent impression. A very invigorating green-fresh opening with lemongrass, greenish neroli, and ethereal myrtle leaf, followed by increasingly resinous notes (labdanum), and still slightly white-floral, without losing freshness. There’s something woody that I can’t quite identify, and yes, (plant) musk, rather delicate and soft. Patchouli is certainly present, earthy and slightly liqueur-like, but remains more bright than dark. A certain closeness to scents from aromatherapy could be established, especially since the base remains very delicate due to the purely plant-based ingredients. But the quality is consistently really good, and the composition is definitely perfume. It lifts the spirits! If the base were just a little more durable and edgy, I would be completely thrilled.
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“Perfumería Mestiza” is the title chosen by the Chilean house 432 on their homepage. They explain there that the word “mestizo” comes from miscere: to mix, and shares a common root with “promiscuous,” “mixed,” and “to interfere.” This is a positive appropriation of a term that is otherwise used in a racist and discriminatory manner. Yes, mixing is always good, against all the unfortunate attempts at separation and unmixing.
“We mestizos rebelled through aromas,” it continues: “They wanted to take away our sense of smell, the wild beast within us. They censored plants, carnival, and knowledge. They locked reason in a box and closed the door to intuition. At 432 we mix and blend, we mix and blend aromas as bridges of intimate connection with wild nature, as an invitation to explore ourselves, to smell ourselves, to breathe ourselves: rebellious, intuitive, and voluptuous.”
This is how I perceive this successful scent as well, plant-like and rebellious, defiant, present, sensual. Plant-voluptuous.
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Thank you to Rosalie234 for sharing, and for actually traveling for the personal import of the scent to Chile!
“sometimes I am more plant than human” is a poem by Meredith Little, who, together with her husband Steven Foster, founded the “School of Lost Borders” in California.
Top Notes 
Pica lime
Neroli
Heart Notes 
Palo Santo
Patchouli
Base Notes 
Balsam
Resins
Abelmoschus
Labdanum
Timosi
Floyd
Gandix
Ergoproxy
Jeob
Rosalie234
Yatagan
BeJot
Gold
Dist0erbed
