Series Three - Ascent Six Scents 2011

My third sampling of the “Essentials” from Six Scents re-releases, Ascent, originally released in 2010 as “Series Three #4 by Rad Hourani,” a fresh, sharp, floral that does feel rather like an airy ascent. It has some powder but not to the point that it smells like potpourri or more stereotypical, mature, feminine perfume. Note-wise, I certainly get the floral mix (violent, ylang ylang, white rose), a bit of leather, a lot of musk, and, vaguely, the tonka/benzoin mix, though on my skin the blend is only very subtly sweet in the way that mostly-spicy or mostly-powdery fragrances sometimes are.

Overall, it’s a very effective conjuring of air, very clean, while not obtrusively powdery, and familiar, but not at all repetitive with fragrances that I’ve smelled before. Like the others in the Essentials group, Ascent is surely worth trying, though I give the edge to both #087 and Urban Tropiclia over Ascent.

Ascent is priced at $58 for 30ml (in EDT concentration), unusually reasonable in niche perfumery nowadays.

7 out of 10