Redrot

Wow wow wow. I get sweet dates and tobacco drying down to a salted honey. There's a smoky tang throughout (tamarind? balsam?) which, unusually, gets stronger throughout the wear. I wasn't around for Cafe Tabac (the bar), but this perfume led me to read about its heyday in the Naughty Nineties. It was everything I hoped my youth in New York would be - debaucherous and fun, grown up and wild. There's a warm amber hue to this scent which paints a picture of the bar: lime-washed walls, dim incandescent bulbs through cigarette smoke, Christy Turlington peeing behind the bar, everybody doing drugs, making out, and calling it innocent fun. Hot.

You're sitting at an outdoor cafe table in the evening. You've got a half cup of strong, sweet coffee left and a flaky, buttery pineapple-preserve-filled pastry you haven't started in on yet. Someone is smoking a couple tables away. Your table is bathed in a pool of warm electric light while the city beyond is shrouded in dark velvety night.

Often perfumes in the 6-8 star range are nice, but forgettable. This is not that. I've never smelled anything like this, but it loses points for me on the sweetness. I'm not afraid of a gourmand, but this is too strong and too sweet for my taste.

This is one of the more authentic church incenses I’ve smelled so far. It gets the balsamic, resinous nature of frankincense right. It’s anticipatory and somber, like the sweetness of a shuddering sob echoing through an empty stone nave. It reminds me of Lent and Advent, the seasons leading up to two holiest days of the liturgical calendar. I grew up in a fairly modern Catholic Church with quite Presbyterian aesthetics, so I loved when that sweet, sad smoke would wash over me. I do get a peepee granny note (sometimes heliotrope can go that way), but that just puts me right back in the pew!

Love this scent, but the name is all wrong! The overall impression is dry and warm, but there’s nothing rebellious or radical about it to me. It’s a round, comforting, cinnamon-spicy graham cracker scent. I picture sitting at a worn wooden table with a steaming, milky drink opposite a beautiful matron in a rustic but roomy kitchen. I would name it “Apron.”

The hype is real. This one created a whole new genre; it's the Opium of the 2020s.

It really is everywhere (or its dupes are). I smell it on glossy, stylish office girls on the train. I had a friend whose girlfriend and side piece both wore it without him even realizing. It's always lovely, but the ubiquity unfortunately strips it of some personality.

I get pineapple flavored gum, with extra tang from the fir resin. I can see the dentist's office take - the saffron can be interpreted as plastic, which can be interpreted as latex. I don’t mind because I kind of like the dentists office. This is the scent of a hot hygienist with a blowout and fake nails who turns you on without realizing it or caring.