Techno Zernell Gillie 2022

a sparkling, effervescent rose and jammy red fruit opening with a bit of punchiness to it. There's an aromatic sage that offers a lot of freshness, and the patchouli creeps out to add some grounded earthiness. There's a creamy suede and leather thing going on with smokiness in the dry down coming from some dry incense and saffron. I really enjoy the powdery touch of sandalwood in the full dry down and how much smokier it gets at this stage, with remnants of those jammy fruits. I usually despise rose and patchouli but I find the way the other notes support them here are so enjoyable.

i have been continuously surprised by this whole line - I see the notes and smell the scent from the bottle and don't think it's anything special, then I spray it on myself and I become obsessed. this one is so well blended, starting out with borderline tart juicy "red fruits" which my nose picks up as jammy berries and apricot/peach. the fruitiness lasts the first couple of hours for me, but the entire time there is a fuzzy warmth that really comes out a few hours into wearing it. to me, this feels similar to disco, but instead of a spa-like/apothecary opening, it instead has the ostmanthus-esque fruitiness on top of the fuzzy/staticky musk quality. this is such a comforting fragrance that I think would be wearable year-round!

This is definitely stylish. The pink pepper could have very easily made this sort of a cherry-medicinal moment but I think there's just enough that it actually just takes it to that candy-like effect that pink peppercorn has to me. The suede really comes through and rounds everything it out so you get a really robust, dynamic scent that's got a classic "expensive" polished finish.

This scent intrigued me when I put it on! Very specific to my lived experience but it evoked memories of the kind of drink I'd get at the gay club I occasionally went to in college, the type that's fruity on the surface but tastes a little like you're chugging lighter fluid when you actually drink it. Which is honestly kind of fun in a fragrance, but as it dried down it started smelling like a club in a different way: sweaty and funky and not really my vibe. I am coming to the conclusion that bergamot is one of those scents that doesn't play nicely on my skin. I wonder if it smells better on other people...

The base of Techno is very familiar... leather/patchouli/labdanum/incense... basically the ideal cool weather nighttime aroma. The X factor here though is this 'red fruits' accord. It's so impactful, intensely jammy/syrupy, a bolt of lightning tearing through those base notes and giving this scent a real personality.

My only word of caution is if you're someone who has used 'medicinal' or 'cough drops' as a complaint against any cherry/berry etc. accords... you'll have that problem here. Personally I enjoy that vibe so it's a positive on top of another positive for me.

A real winner from Zernell Gillie.