Absolutes

Addictive Vibration 2016

PetitePinup
29.10.2023 - 01:49 AM
1
5
Pricing
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
4
Scent

The musk ruins the entire fragrance

Initio has a few fragrances whose pyramids make me salivate in anticipation, and Addictive Vibration was certainly one of them. It could've been a major like, or even love, had it not been for... yes: that awful, awful musk!!

My skin has a tendency to pick up base notes quickly, in this case making the musk a part of the fragrance from the very first second. While I get to enjoy the lovely honey note in this frag - and I'm a huge honey lover (though I hate the sugar water concoctions that sell as honey in supermarkets. I always buy mine in specialised places. More expensive, but worth it) - the flower portion, that could be a wonderfully sweet & elegant scent experience, is ruined from the get go. As a result, the entire perfume becomes one I'll definitely never get a full bottle of (thank god I got a tiny decant!)

The musk in here isn't just dusty, but root cellar damp earthy. Like cheap patchouli, but with a slightly old flower stem-accord. You know, just before that slimy mold sets in.
I've had bad experiences with musk before. Usually when the blend isn't balanced and/or with cheapies. I don't expect a brand like Initio to use subpar products (though, then again, with said cheapies often outperforming designer and niche fragrances nowadays, who can say), but it is how this musk comes across.

On the one hand, Addictive Vibration is delicious. The part I had expected to like, is indeed great. I had not, however, counted on 'flower stem rot in the root cellar' to take my joy away.
Alas, that's what happened and it isn't until the very, very last moments of AV on my skin, its dying moments if you will, that the disgusting musk dissipates and you get what Initio should've created: a wonderful, elegant honey-lathered blossom-duo, with a vanilla base. Sadly, by that time the fragrance is in nose-to-skin territory and ready to vaporise entirely. I think I barely got 10min out of it.

Please, Initio, dump that atrocious Musk and add a creamy sandalwood base, or a warm golden amber, maybe some coumarin, or even a cashmere infused vanilla. All they'll do is give the warm hug this fragrance deserves and should've had from the very start.
Yes, it has a decent lasting power and average projection, which on my dry skin means it is good to great on others, but who wants to smell like almost rotten flowers, and damp earth mixed with honey? (I thought I was alone in this, based on the hallelujah reviews, but 'luckily' found others on the red site. If musk can be a difficult note for you, I think this is a no- go. But in all cases>>>)

Definitely do NOT blind buy!
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