concerning

Mula Mula is anomalously restrained for a caramel-fruit scent. Upon scanning the note pyramid, I assumed that this was going to smell like a B&BW bodyspray, sickeningly sweet. Somehow, though, this never becomes cloying, even in heat! The caramel and red fruits are present throughout the life of this fragrance, from opening to dry. I get a little bit of a kick from the ginger, but there isn't too much of it. I'm not sure if I get much oud either, but I'll try to look for it the next time I get to put this on my skin.

Mula Mula is very long-lasting, so if performance is a concern, you *will* get bang for your bucks, rest assured. I have a bit of a funny story for how I found out about this scent...

Around early September, I went to an estate sale to buy a few perfumes that were being sold off. I didn't walk out with anything, but while I was there, I locked eyes with another shopper and we realized that we were both there for the same reason. We stepped outside and talked about fragrances we've been enjoying. She asks if I like the smell of strawberry. I say yes. She replies "it's your lucky day" and eagerly reaches for a 15ml of Mula Mula from her purse, offering to spray it on my arm. I allow her to, thank her, and for the rest of the day, I sniff my arm rabidly, enjoying the scent thoroughly through 85 degree heat.

Wow what an opening... Immediately, it reminded me of a kool-aid or pink lemonade powder mix that my mom uses in the summer to make punch drinks. If Pink Boa was just this I would not see much use in it, but there are also herbs here that deliver aromatic depth. I'm not sure if I got any kind of vodka from this, maybe the opening "pop" was that alcohol piquancy. As it dries down, the berries relax and give way to a normal woody muskiness. I think that this may grow on me if I keep exposing myself to it, but so far, this is more of a novelty than something I'd actually want to smell like.

I haven't really smelled a tuberose like this before. I'm a bit mad that I only tried Gozo today while at the Scent Bar in DTLA, as I've been to that store and noticed that neon orange bottle many times before. It's so unique. Of course, you're hit with a narcotic and sweet tuberose upon spraying, but saffron quickly joins it, an unexpected and wonderful pairing. It becomes woodier and more complex as it dries; a prominent patchouli further deepens the scent profile and becomes the anchor of the base. This could be worn *whenever* and is absolutely daily wear material, though, with a profile like this, I would naturally want to reserve it for those going-out days. I find it perfectly unisex, but I'm sure that some of my same-sex peers may be scared off by the tuberose. Lovely all-around, it leaves little else to be desired.

Upon spraying this I was hit with an *intense* burst of some sort of lemon-lime, a whole wind of it. In about an hour or two, this burst of lemon and ginger fizz recedes a bit to reveal a core of mango, set against a backdrop of sea breeze. As I'm speaking, it's been on my skin for about four hours, and I'm not getting anything in the way of moss, just the mango core and that marine note.

Pleasant and long-lasting, but you have to really love lemon to get through that 1-2 hour block of it. Limonata is strongly reminiscent of MOAPC's Tales from Zanzibar, as I'm smelling the former on my left arm and the latter on a tester strip. Limonata is Tales from Zanzibar but less green (the latter features guava and mint) and more hesperidic.

It's so weird, this. This is one of those scents which I fall in and out of love with, often repeatedly in a cycle. When I first tried this at a boutique I immediately loved it, especially for its present rice note and earthy clay, the softness and comfort of all of the supporting elements. When I tried a small decant of it a month or two later, I detested it because it reminded me of an unpleasant cardboard or some unnamable building material. Now, giving it another chance on my skin, Naked Dance has started showing another face. Some quality of it has grown on me, maybe the clay that I liked and then hated. It's lovely and develops in a great way. Relaxing, addictive, I keep bringing my arm to my nose and inhaling it. It is one of my favorite earthy scents that I consider squarely unisex.

It, to me, also kind of smells like rain.

It recalls rain not in the literal way that Geosmin does (as it is the chemical that is released from soil during a shower and contributes greatly to Petrichor's overall profile), but in a more Impressionistic and watercolor-like manner. Like if you tried painting it from memory rather than en plein air, with the way that memory recall always carries with it some level of unconscious embellishment and impurity that may either distort or add beauty to something you remember. The memory of rain, more than the smell.

All of this to say that this is one of those fragrances which evolves beautifully to me over time. Truth be told, I think many if not all fragrances may behave like this to me and others, evolving over time and showing new faces, but Naked Dance has done this in a uniquely poetic way to me.