This one smells oddly like…
artisanal breakfast?
Toast that’s had a burnt crust scraped off, peppery citrus grilled on a cedar plank, melon on the side.
It’s like a savory gourmand–but it works, in a honeymoon morning, cabin-in-the-woods kind of way.
So Lolita Lempicka ran off and joined a coven, and came back organic and amazing.
Sugary licorice and lemonade top notes that last for hours, resin and burnt caramel all night long.
Bonfire dancing, bohemian patchouli flirting and aniseed incantations at midnight. Wakes in the morning still smelling of fairy sin on the skin.
Brash, pansexual and gorgeous.
The solid is tamed down–the gateway drug version–more secretive, the sweetness hiding in leather. I love it no less.
This song.
The soap shingle might not be the best way to test, but it’s fun. I get honey tempered with burnt cedar in the suds, and sweet resinous spice on the rinse.
I like the chocolate licorice accord, though any Lolita Lempicka Noir does it better.
Not for me, but pleasant enough to sit next to on a long bus ride.
All Good Things was the super-group everybody had heard but never heard of–they did epic rock studio work for video game soundtracks and TV shows–until their fans tracked them down and said give us albums. So they did.
If dolls could fart marshmallows, they’d smell like this.
A loud pbthpbthpbth of sweet plastic esthers–almost an artificial banana–then greasy coconut oil that dries down to diaper powder and decomposing Barbies left in the sun.
Weirdly sticky (and very synthetic for a LUSH scent) and lasts forever.
Who’da thunk Aqua’s bizarre hit could be turned this haunting and pretty?!
I tested this one in the store, and loved the cloves–it faded to spiced coffee on the skin after a few hours, but I huffed my wrist all evening–and the next day I went back for a bottle.
Maybe the weather had changed, but the woodsy notes wound up being more than I bargained for, too green, too feral-tree-sprite than the Turkish cafe I thought I was getting.
I gave it my brother, who can pull off forest faun with just a smirk.
It suits him.
I bought this at the LUSH store in Stockholm. Theses guys come from there, too.
Rain on tree-lined streets, organic and urban at the same time.
A huge foggy opening of oak bark and oakmoss and oak-y sweet clary sage that calms down quickly to powdery ash and sweet orange flower water.
Ambiguous and androgynous, city gardens and paved forests. I like it on other people.
This song is best sung sloppy, and listened to in earphones while walking.
A blast of jasmine and frangipani that melds into an almost edible sweet spice. The tuberose keeps it more floral than gourmand, with a sharp green edge.
On me, the solid perfume settles to the skin with creamy vanilla after an hour.
I’d rather this one in an incense stick, to burn behind a beaded curtain while drinking Indian tea.
Abhibyanjana Rubhi is from Gangtok. She had a song in Priyanka Chopra’s movie Pahuna, filmed in Sikkim. Her first single’s video is a little hard to watch, but the song is marvelous.
A comforting scent that drifts to the masculine, with enjoyable self-care vibes.
Opens with oaky root-beer and a hit of patchouli, then settles into vanilla sweetened incense smoke.
A bit of myrrh on the bottom gives a nice medicinal note in an indulgent healing way.
Lasts for a good hour a foot of the hands, and two more close to the skin.
I snapped this pic on my dad’s harpsichord. This song features one and has some of the same easy feel-good vibe as the scent-
Shalimar for broke stoners.
Sprays a blast of window cleanser on the skin, then blooms with lavender and Lemonhead sweet-sour candy–in the best way.
Later it settles into caramel-vanilla benzoin and a faint burble of bong water.
I bought the big bottle with no regrets.
*
Fully loaded Bazooka Joe.
This stuff is like the sexy battle armor you put on before conquering your own world.
Tank Battle opens with a wet bubblegum pop, and a moment later a bright sulfur flare. Smoky haze sits at arms length–a burnt spice offering, a swallow of bourbon, metal shavings from a sharpened blade.
Sun-scorched patchouli and cloves settle to the skin after an hour, with an occasional whiff of daring and sweetness the whole day long.
The Seatbelts’ Tank! (the opener for Cowboy Bebop) is a lot of fun.
kira a. gold 