Redrot

this plays on a black (licorice) and orange (citrus zest) theme. I found this kind of annoying; there’s just so much to be done with a Halloween scent - crunchy leaves, synthetic fog, candy corn, pumpkins. All that said, out of context the scent is decent. Candied orange peel, sweet citrus a la Lira or Devotion with an earthy dry-down.

On paper I did not like it at all. Thankfully I kept it around and gave it a try on skin! It needs the warmth of a body to bring it to life. It’s a photorealistic fig: velvety, mottled purple skin encasing earthy, creamy sweet flesh with crunchy little seeds. It’s a very wild, natural fig, not at all tame or polite. It can even be a little raunchy - several people raised their eyebrows when they smelled it. To me, this is a perfect end of summer fragrance - read Margaret Atwood’s poem “Late August” to catch the vibe.

Tucson smells like putting your nose on the orange, cracking bark of an old ponderosa pine. The sap seeping from inside the tree is lovely and faintly vanillic (I always wanted to eat it as a kid). The wind carries the scent of dry, dry grasses beyond and sage and juniper lend the scene a faintly sacred feeling. This puts me in a good memory from the Jemez Mountains in NM.

Universal Flowering perfumes are so emotional. This is all the anxious, heart-pounding energy of a girl in a sea foam and peach sundress sharing a cream soda with her crush at the carnival. Is it just the Tilt-a-Whirl, or does he have butterflies too? Like Annabel’s Birthday Cake, this perfume has a hazy quality evoking a memory rather than a present moment. My first kiss wasn’t nearly so sweet, but with this I can pretend it was.

An incredibly authentic matcha latte, but not necessarily a well made one. The mug is a bit soapy, the tea is too bitter, the milk is oversweet and a little scalded, and for some reason they squeezed a tangerine over top. When I got this it was still called "Un Été," which is no good. This is too creamy and lactonic for summer. It's much better suited to spring.