Soft Spot Phlur 2024

Sugary, petally, fleshy. Half skin scent, half candy floral. And something fruity – my first thought was apricot or peach gummies. Baby powder meets jelly babies. Imagine just showered-skin dried with orchid petals and powdered with sugar crystals. (I almost said “imagine if flowers had skin” but that's a bit macabre for such an adorable scent). I couldn’t wash Vanilla Skin off fast enough, but this I’ve been enjoying enough to mist on my pyjamas. Longevity is surprisingly good, too (~6h).

Mental Snapshot: I’ve never had a My Little Pony but this is what I imagine one should smell like. Plastic and plush and pastel-coloured doll hair, all infused with a pinky blossom scent. Her name is Peachy Puff or Sugarmane.

tl;dr: doll skin

Soft Spot opens sweet, soft and fluffy. It’s a delicate fruity floral with subtle hints of bergamot & fresh orange but nothing loud or obvious, more indistinguishable, well blended notes with a hint of coconut milk.

After five minutes, the sweet fruitiness settles. It becomes a very gentle, ever so slightly woody vanilla floral. Not a warm sensual vanilla bean or a baked goods vanilla. With the vanilla orchid mixed with the water lily, it’s almost like the vanilla whiff of a vanilla ice cream. It’s cool and a little bright but still remains comforting and cozy. The jasmine here is very gentle.

It’s dries down to a beautiful dreamy, creamy, ambery, cozy and fuzzy hug. A gentle breeze of flowers on a solar wind whilst being smothered in shea and cacao body butter.

Soft Spot might fall into the ‘your skin but better’ category but I find it’s projection perfect for the scent - two sprays and I’m enveloped in a cozy scent bubble of fluffy clouds. About 5 hours later it has dissipated, but Phlur’s distinct DNA is there on my skin, like a whisper of Missing Person.

I really enjoyed this. It’s like a Vanilla Skin for non-vanilla lovers. Soft Spot is a perfect bedtime scent or for cozying up on the sofa, post shower, fresh PJs and a good Netflix series.

The opening is quite floral but it's not a "light fresh floral" it's more of a "soft slightly sweet cozy" floral. The citrus is very noticeable. It's not gourmand or hasn't any edible feel. It's completely feminine imo, not masculine at all. a bit musky. It's like a fleece blanket washed in sweet flowery detergent. It reminded me of Gucci Flora Gorgeous Orchid, only I think Soft Spot is a less sweet and more citrusy version of it. Frankly, it wasn't as "soft" as it was described to me, especially in the opening. It's definitely a very nice and appealing scent, but the citrus diminishes its softness a bit. It's not the "once in a lifetime" kind of a scent. It appeals to general tastes but it's not groundbreaking.

One nice, big spray pressed between the wrists. At first it smells quite lovely, really heavenly, a nice balanced scent; on the test strip it's delightful too and surprisingly sweet. And then, maybe a minute later... just fully gone. Undetectable. A disappearing act! What a shame. After another couple of minutes I think I can faintly smell it. Just so, so faintly. What's there is a nice enough scent... I think.

I think the name is fitting because it is a subtle, soft scent that doesn’t have a ton of projection which makes it “soft” I guess. But it’s also a bit contradictory to me because it is a super floral scent, a bit bright and generic which doesn’t give me a “soft vibe”. It also has a clean, musky aspect to it but the florals overpower it. I’m ok with the travel size and will use it up at home, but I’m not impressed.