Blind Buy: Snif Slice Society

created with Adobe Firefly AI and Photoshop

Here's a blind buy cautionary tale that I will take to heart. In other words, I'm going to have a long think about buying something I've never smelled before if it costs more than $30.

An ad for Snif Slice Society popped up in my Facebook feed recently. Clearly it was targeted, as I love both perfume and pizza, and those bastards at Meta know it. The ad was also offering a cola-scented fragrance, but that didn't interest me as much. Honestly, after the dual disappointments of Mancera Tonka Cola (mostly powdery tonka, but pleasant enough) and Versatile God Bless Cola (lemon shortbread, also pleasant but not cola), I'm not sure I believe any perfume will actually smell like a goddamned fizzy caramel-colored soda pop. In any case, it was out of stock. But I'm far more interested in pizza anyway.

I have a bread-scented candle from Stonewall Kitchen, and damn if it doesn't smell like bread baking. And I have fragrances that smell like basil, so I know that a least a scented simulacrum of Margherita pizza paradise is attainable. And it is! But only for about 30 seconds. The tomato sauce note is even more fleeting than the typical bergamot note in any given fragrance, but it does smell like tomato sauce. And the crust accord is very much the smell of yeasty dough just before it goes into the oven. On my husband, it smells a bit more like beer, but in both beer and bread there is that fermentation thing going on. Basil is up there at the top of Slice Society, too, and it lasts marginally longer than the tomato sauce and the crust. I detect a touch of sandalwood, too, but then BAM! it's black currant, tons of it, for the next several hours (and if you get it on your clothes, even longer than that). 

There's nothing wrong with the black currant note, it just doesn't belong in this fragrance. I'd have preferred Slice Society to stay savory, or at least dry. Maybe bring in some patchouli in the base, or vetiver, or something else green. But not a sweet-tart berry note. It gives me Violet Beauregarde vibes, as if this perfume is the olfactory equivalent of Willy Wonka's work-in-progress gum. Instead of tasting of tomato soup, roast beef with baked potato, and blueberry pie with ice cream, it's smells like a slice of pizza and a big glass of Ribena. 

As of this writing, I haven't turned into a giant black currant. Will keep you posted.

Snif Slice Society

Tomato Sauce Accord, Basil, Crust Accord, Sandalwood, Black Currant, Iris

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

Fantasy Met Gala Fragrances

I could not get Adobe Firefly AI to understand that I wanted an image
 of an attractive woman wearing a perfume bottle, so I had to do it myself.
Random model (who appears to either have a headache or psychic powers;
perhaps her atomizer hat is heavy) wearing a Gaultier Divine by
Jean-Paul Gaultier bottle, on the stairs at the 2024 Met Gala.

Each year, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a benefit to raise money to fund their Costume Institute for the next 12 months. Attendees shell out tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of parading up the Met's grand staircase and showing off their designer frocks, which presumably fit with the year's theme. Thanks to social media, we know who wore which fashion designer's over-the-top couture creation. But do we know what fragrances they wore? Personally, if I were wearing a borrowed garment that took 700 hours to make and costs more than some people earn in a year, I wouldn't wear any fragrance at all. Not only might the perfume oils damage delicate fabric or discolor the meticulously placed gems, sequins, crystals, or flowers, it would also leave its scent behind. It's not like one can pop any of these magnificent garments into the washer and dryer or take it to the corner dry cleaner. But let's pretend these celebs are not only dolled up in fabulous fashion, but also positively reek of fragrant joy juice, shall we?

Dua Lipa in Marc Jacobs

I love me some Dua Lipa, but I'm not feeling this dress. It's a bit too much Wild West Madame, almost trashy. I feel like she'd be wearing something loud and sweet, but still lovely: Lush Rose Jam. The notes are listed as Turkish rose, rose oil, marmalade, lemon, spicy notes, and geranium, but all I smell is rose petals and sugar. It's loud but not brash, and not at all elegant, but it smells pretty darn good.

Wisdom Kaye in Robert Wun

TikTok-famous Wisdom Kaye, whose Instagram account claims is a "director, model, stylist, photographer, videographer" says this about his custom Robert Wun outfit:

Inspired by the romance of red rose, emphasising on the romantic aspect of the colour red, and the story telling aspect of the decay in flowers. Which beautiful things are not meant to last forever. And that is part of the beauty of nature and its relevance in "Time."

Ok, whatever. Those are not sentences. And I don't see decay, I see deliberate burn marks. The rose and raggedy sleeves are perhaps too on the nose, thematically, and I prefer to imagine the red color is symbolizing fire. Burned things smell smoky, so my fragrance recommendation is Maison Trudon Revolution. With notes of Elemi resin, Angelica, Papyrus, Juniper, Cedarwood, Revolution is the smell of freshly burnt resinous woods or a fireplace in the winter. The drydown is less overtly smoky, very French, and quite delicious. I bought this recently and am champing at the bit to wear it when the weather gets cold again.

Sydney Sweeney in Miu Miu

Though this gown screams "pretty princess," the leather gloves give it a whisper of kink. Hermes Kelly Caleche EDP, (Leather, Rose, Violet, Mimosa, Iris, Vanilla, Tuberose) with its girly powdery mimosa + leather, is my pick for Ms Sweeney. 

Elle Fanning in Balmain

Clearly Miss Fanning went to the Gala dressed as a bottle of L'Air du Temps, so it seems odd that Balmain is the designer and not Harris Reed for Nina Ricci. However, that seems too easy. The shoulder birds also make me think of Lalique crystal, so perhaps the effervescent rose chypre of Perles de Lalique (Rose, Pepper, Iris, Powdery Notes, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Orris Root, Cashmirwood) would be a suitable choice. The texture of the dress itself, however, makes me think of rain, which makes me think of Frederic Malle's Angeliques Sous la Pluie (Angelica, Juniper, Pink Pepper, Cedar, Coriander, Musk). Three scents to choose from, Elle. An embarrassment of riches. 

Lizzo in Victor Weinsanto

Lizzo slammed critics of her dress as being "fat-phobic." As a life-long big girl myself, I appreciate her and her fat, and think she's (almost always) gorgeous. But I also think that hyper-corseted Weinsanto number would be more lovely if it didn't look so stiff and uncomfortable. I also wonder why she's wearing a fish tail on her head. I'm going to pretend, however, that the gown is romantic and flowy because I adore how that color looks on her without making her look naked. I'm going to continue the nude theme into her fragrance with Guerlain Oud Nude (Oud, Raspberry, Almond, Bourbon Vanilla, Sandalwood, Atlas Cedar, Rose). Primarily an almond/vanilla scent, the oud acts as a grounding base that cuts through the sweetness. Much like patchouli does in other fragrances. It's the only oud (so far) that I would wear personally.

Karlie Kloss in Swarovski

This one seems like a no-brainer. Karlie looks like one of the gorgeous hand-decorated bottles of Cherry Blossom that Guerlain releases each year. The dress probably weighs a ton, so I think the lighter fragrance would be apt. It's a pretty tea-floral with a bit of sweetness and a musky drydown. (Green Tea, Bergamot, Cherry Blossom, Lilac, Jasmine, White Musk) 

Maria Sharapova in Prabal Gurung

I'm in love with this look on tennis great Maria Sharapova. It's simple and elegant and hugs her curves in all the right ways, and the "tennis ball" colors are fabulous. So I'm going to give her one of my favorite fragrances, Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte (Green Notes, Citruses, Magnolia, Jasmine). It's bright, green and citrussy, but also classy and sexy. I'm going to wear the hell out of this scent this summer.

Lena Mahlouf in Schiaparelli

Some people need to look in the mirror after they get dressed. According to the google, this YouTuber is 5'6", but the excess of fabric at the bottom of her Schiaparelli gown coupled with giant metal boobflowers makes her look short and top heavy. I know--this is a perfume blog, not a fashion blog, but I still have opinions. Her metal bra/crumbcatcher requires a scent that can stand up to all that look: The Harmonist Metal Flower (Aldehydes, Rose Oxide, Orange Blossom, Rose de Mai, Bulgarian Rose, Ylang-Ylang, White Musk, Patchouli). It's kinda crazy how some well-placed aldehydes and patchouli can make roses smell, well, metallic. (The scent does go a bit more fluffy/powdery in the drydown.)

Mindy Kaling in Gaurav Gupta

Mindy's gorgeously sculptural nude gown evokes the patterns made when swirling a glug of Bourbon vanilla extract into a white cake batter with a wooden spoon. She needs to be wearing a vanilla scent--but an uncommon one that speaks of things other than cake and ice cream. Electimuss Vanilla Edesia is perfect (Frankincense, Bergamot, Heliotrope, Mandarin Orange, Pink Pepper, Cumin, Cinnamon, Coriander, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Virginia Cedar, Haitian Vetiver, Amber, Musk). It's a sexy, womanly vanilla, with a light incense/leather vibe going on the background. Don't be afraid of the cumin; it doesn't last that long and is part of what makes this scent so different from the rest of the fluffy cupcake pack.

Jonathan Bailey in Loewe

Mmm....Jonathan Bailey. While he's wearing a giant metal peony at his throat, I'm not feeling a peony scent for him. The closest might be one of Jo Malone's creations for Zara, Fleur de Patchouli, but that's too simplistic for a night out on the town. Instead, I'm putting him in the best tuberose scent ever, Frederic Malle's Carnal Flower. It's green, camphoraceous, lightly coconutty, musky, non-sweet, white floral deliciousness and I think he could pull it off. What he can't pull off, sadly, are those horrible trousers bunching at his ankles. Surely Loewe has tailors that could have fixed that? There's zero reason to wear ill-fitting pants.

Erika Badu in Comme des Garcons

I have never been even remotely nearby Erika Badu, but I have always imagined that she'd smell of patchouli. So of course she'd wear a patch scent to the Met Gala. It would be too easy to say she'd wear CdG's Series Luxe Patchouli, but she's not a matchy-matchy kinda gal. Instead, I'm going to put her in Diptyque's glorious Tempo (Patchouli, Mate, Clary Sage, Pink Pepper, Violet Leaf, Bergamot).

As an aside, she apparently put out an incense that smelled of her vagina and contains ashes from her underpants.

There’s an urban legend that my pussy changes men. The men that I fall in love with, and fall in love with me, change jobs and lives....I took lots of pairs of my panties, cut them up into little pieces and burned them. Even the ash is part of it.

Okkkkay.  

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

Cheap Thrills--Monotheme Venezia

photomontage made with Adobe Firefly AI and Photoshop

If you're in the market for good fragrances at a very pleasant price point, I'd like to recommend those by Monotheme Venezia. I've tried four so far, the Boccioli di Limone (lemon) and the Lime from the Book of Citruses collection, Camelia from the Classic Collection, and Rouge from the Black Label collection. Normally, scents that are this inexpensive also smell cheap, but that's not the case at all with Monotheme Venezia. The two citrus scents in particular are quite nice and of high quality, though need reapplication during the day. But so do some Guerlain Aqua Allegoria scents, at many times the price. There are plenty of others that I'm interested in, namely the other Book of Citruses scents, a few of the Classics, like Patchouli Leaves and Tuberose, and the White Musk and Orange Blossom from the BIO line. So when the urge to blind-buy hits, I already have some of those in my Fragrancenet shopping cart!

Boccioli di Limone

Lemon Peel, Lemon Blossom

A tester bottle of this bright scent cost me all of $14.27 at Fragrancenet.com, where it's on clearance. Get it dirt cheap while you can, otherwise it could cost you all of $32 somewhere else. This stuff is full-on lemon heaven, without smelling like a cleaning product. I like wearing it alone, or layered. It's especially nice to pump up the lemon aspect of Theodoros Kalotinis Lemon Tart.

Lime

Lime, Petitgrain, Lime (Linden) Blossom, Neroli, Musk

This scent was a little more expensive: $17.54 at Fragrancenet. The opening has a nice bit of lime, and the drydown is mostly linden blossom and a light musk. It's quite lovely and gentle and will make a fine summer fragrance even if it needs to be reapplied often. I'm thinking it might be good layered with vanilla, for a sort of key lime pie effect. Must try this over something like Billie Eilish. 

Camelia

Citruses, Camellia, Amber

This scent has a real 80s vintage feel to it. It's not as loud as scents from that era, but it's definitely not modern. I purchased this one because I hoped it would be similar to the Marks & Spencer and Boots fragrances of the same name. Those were light and somewhat powdery, almost apricot-y, florals. More osmanthus than camellia, and quite delightful. Monotheme Venezia's Camelia is a quite dense, almost dark, floral amber. Something for colder months and evenings, and not at all what I was looking for. 

Rouge 

Amber. Musk, Floral Notes, Citruses

Folks who like Baccarat Rouge 540 might love Monotheme Venezia Rouge, mostly for the price point. Less than $20 will get you a sweet ambery saffron scent that is lighter and less-cloying than the original (to my nose). Not my cup of tea, but that price can't be beat. 
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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks

Beauty Pie The Scent Lab No. 2

generated by Adobe Firefly with the prompt "different shades of green as an abstract background
 for tomato plants and eucalyptus." Not exactly what I wanted, but not horrible.

I think, in general, Beauty Pie fragrances are for people who may be afraid of perfume. At the very least, who may be unsure of what they may or may not like. For the most part, the several BP frags I've tried are mild-mannered, simplistic, and rather linear. The almost-weird Angelique's Letters is one exception. The notes for that one are listed as bergamot, lemon, tobacco, cinnamon, clove, jasmine, cedar, musk, and vanilla, but I smell a super earthy galbanum, which to me is like a green plant pulled out of the ground with traces of soil left on the roots. Perhaps this is a result of the lemon + cinnamon/clove, I don't know. The drydown is a lightly floral, somewhat vanilla, musky thing with a hint of the green left over. The best part of this fragrance is the opening, so I find myself reapplying it during the day even if it hasn't quite faded from the first application.

Beauty Pie is a service that offers products to subscribers at a much lower price than to the general public, but I'm not sure the hoi polloi even knows about BP. The two fragrances named here are part of their "Insider Product" series, available only to Members.

Labotanista 001

‎Tomato Leaf, Shiso, Hops, Buchu Leaf, ‎Oakwood, Rosemary, Geranium, ‎Papyrus, Patchouli, Moss

I knew I'd like this one when I saw the words "tomato leaf." IYKYK. Tomato leaf is such a gorgeous, addicting, green scent and one of the reasons I grow tomatoes is so I can play with the leaves while pretending to prune them. The tomato leaf and shisho (which is reminiscent of mint) are quite prominent in the beginning, then fade to a general herbal green with a hint of bitterness and a fresh green patchouli at the end. There's also a slight spaghetti sauce quality about it, sans garlic (not a complaint). I love me a dry, herbal, fragrance. I would definitely purchase a full bottle of this one if it becomes available.

Labotanista 002 

‎Eucalyptus, Bergamot, ‎Hyacinth, Galbanum, ‎Cedarwood, Musk

This one doesn't have as much eucalyptus as I would like. None, in fact. Tested directly on skin this was merely a green floral. The galbanum is somewhat like the top notes of Angelique's Letters, only much quieter. Without this earthy green sensation, this fragrance is like a really pleasant shampoo. It's quite nice, particularly when compared to other BP frags, but I'm not sure this one is FBW for me. I will, however, be using up the entire sample this summer. 

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

Versatile Paris

Though I love doing photo montages, I used Adobe Firefly AI to create this image because I
definitely wanted to include a lot of "stuff" in it. I mean, just look at the notes below--a lot of stuff!
Despite my asking it for particular things, Firefly kinda does what it wants. It doesn't seem to know what a peppermill is, and I definitely didn't ask for star anise. The bowl of blueberries also seems to have  prune plums in it--though they may be olives--and I'm not sure what that purplish sphere behind the  pistachios could be. I didn't ask for a bowl of sugar cubes, but as some of these scents are very
sweet, it is actually pretty apt.

Versatile Paris is rather daring new company established in 2022. They have eight scents at current, all of which contain a laundry list of notes as odd as dill, sesame, wasabi, popcorn, pesto, and garlic. They claim their products are Cruelty Free, Alcohol-Free, Vegan, Clean, and Responsible (whatever "clean" and "responsible" mean in this day and age). 

Considering these fragrances are oil-based extracts, they don't last all that long. Most alcohol-based EDP-strength fragrances last forever on my skin--12-18 hours. Versatile's scents are 5-6 hours, tops. Their website doesn't offer much information, so it might be that there's more oil than scent in these things, IDK. 15ml will set you back $65, which seems like a good price, but if you have to reapply it often, maybe not? Because there are so many notes and the opening of several of these reminds me of something from a company that makes a hundred different cheap goth-themed oil-based fragrances, I'm not sure these are made with particularly pricey materials. But YMMV. Everyone is different, and these are at least worth a try. 

Because the samples I received are in little dabber tubes, the scents are difficult to apply to paper. So my comments below are based on the way these fragrances smell on my skin.

Accrodisiaque

Blueberry, Dill, Matcha Tea, Fennel, Citruses, Rose, Black Tea, Mate, Patchouli, Violet Leaves, Black Pepper, Damascone, Helvetolide; Leather, Vetiver, Woodsy Notes, Cypriol Oil or Nagarmotha, Musk, Cedar, Animal notes, Cashmeran, Siam Benzoin, Amber, Timbersilk™

The name of this scent is suggests an addiction (accro) that is sexually stimulating (-desiac), which might be the case if roses turn you on. I rather like the fleeting dill note on the opening, but that is soon replaced with some powdery violet, something that reminds me of laundry detergent, and a bunch of other stuff that seems happy to let the rose play center stage. 

Croissant Café

Coffee CO2, Cappuccino, Milk, Vanilla and Caramel, Floral Notes, Cedar, Sesame and Cade oil, Tonka Bean, Coumarin, Musk, Vetiver, Timbersilk™

This one is a real disappointment. The name led me to believe this was a coffee-based scent with a buttery croissant note. The notes reinforced the coffee thing. In actuality, I don't get coffee at all, definitely not baked goods. There's a bit of milky caramel with a touch of underlying chemical smokiness that must be the cade. It reminds me somewhat of the smell of Band-Aids. There are also floral notes in there, and quite a bit of sweetness. 

Culot The

Bergamot, Mandora, Ginger, Pink Pepper, Aldehydes, Tea, Black Tea, Jasmine, Osmanthus, Wasabi, Garlic, Buchu or Agathosma, Geranium, Hedione, Indole, Nutmeg, Musk, Amyris, Sesame, Coumarin, Woodsy Notes, Vetiver

The opening is sweet jasmine rubbed with garlic and a hint of tea. Yes, garlic! It's very there, so much so I can almost taste it. But rather than making the scent weird or savory, the garlic seems more like a "dirty" element, like cumin. That garlic note lasts for a decent amount of time and turns a bit sulfur-like on my skin, even as a cloud of sweet musk emerges. The sulfur then becomes bad breath, at which point I'm not sure if it's still the garlic, or the indoles. A weird An interesting scent, for sure.

Dimanche Flemme

Galbanum, Basil, Pea, Citron, Lime, Almond Milk, Geranium, Sorbet, Cardamom, Musk, Timbersilk™, Helvetolide, Heliotrope, Vanilla

My "Lazy Sunday" involves a big cup of coffee and the New York Times, but Versatile's idea of the perfect start to the week involves a summer garden with a big basil note and the bitter tang of citron and lime. I'd love the green + dirt sensation of the galbanum and geranium to show up, too, but they don't on my skin. Instead, the green turns a tad creamy when the vanilla and heliotrope show up to the party. I quite like this one.

God Bless Cola

Popcorn, Coca-Cola, Butter, Caramel, Peanut, Vanilla, Gourmand Accord, Sweet Notes, Woodsy Notes

I assume it's the popcorn note combined with some unlisted citrus and the butter that makes God Bless Cola smell like lemon shortbread cookies at first. There's a bit of toastiness in there, too, and lots of sweetness. But no cola, which should smell of lemons and cinnamon with vanilla. I don't get any peanut, either. It's a nice burnt sugar gourmand, and that's about it.

Gueule de Bois

Rum, Cinnamon, Pink Pepper, Black Pepper, Rose Oxide, Amyris, Damascone, Aldehydes, Guaiac Wood, Incense, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Licorice, Tobacco, Coumarin, Amber, Vetiver, Musk, Timbersilk™

Gueule de Bois, hangover in French, opens with a gorgeous candied rose and a ton of pink peppercorn. Later, I get a bit of tobacco, woods, and vanilla. There are fewer notes in this scent than in some others from the line, and none of them are particularly fantastical. Compared to Rital Date, for example, this Gueule is fairly conventional. I don't get the rum, which I suppose is why the name evokes drunkenness; it's totally sober on me. This is my favorite of the bunch.

Rital Date

Pesto, Bergamot, Oregano, Bitter Orange, Blood Mandarin, Olive, Ginger, Fennel, Grapefruit blossom, Basil, Rosemary, Pistachio, Black Pepper, Ice cream, Paprika, Cypress, Aldehydes, Pink Pepper, Immortelle, Sesame, Litsea Cubeba, Amber, Heliotrope, Coumarin, Balsam Fir, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Ambroxan, Musk, Guaiac Wood, Timbersilk™, Cedar

The ton of notes makes this one sound like it could be a hot mess, but it's actually not bad. The opening is definitely basil--perhaps not exactly pesto, as I'm not smelling garlic or cheese--hanging out with a lot of sweet citrus. It's a scoop of blood orange and basil sorbet, to put it into more acceptable food terms. The sorbet is sitting in a wooden bowl and the whole thing is capped with a cotton-candy cloud of sweet musk. Later in the drydown, a lightly smoky vetiver makes an appearance, which cuts through the sweetness a bit. "Rital" btw, is possibly an anachronistic, somewhat racist, term for "Italian" in the French language.

Sea, Sud, & Sun

Fig, Milk, Citruses, Anise, Orange Blossom, Sea Notes, Musk, Nougat, Tropézienne Tarte

Though the name of this scent implies the beach, the top notes of anise and fig tells you this beach is somewhere in the south of France. St Tropez, perhaps, as evidenced by the listed (but not necessarily smell-able) note of Tarte Tropezienne,a sweet treat created in Saint-Tropez in 1955 by Polish patissier Alexandre Micka. It consists of a large round brioche, split and filled with a combination of buttercream and pastry cream and topped with pearl sugar. Sadly, this scent is all dusty fig and a bit of musk, and doesn't really evoke the beach at all. 

*notes copied from Fragrantica.com
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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks