KEELY'S FRAGRANCE JOURNAL
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sunday, august 17, 2025
arquiste - a grove by the sea
two arquistes in a week! i got a decant of this one in the mail yesterday so it's my first time testing it out. i'm not disappointed! it's deep and resonant but still feels summery. there is something salty and briney about it, but i'm surprised to report that the most standout note to me is the fig leaf. it feels almost like a more masculine diptique philosyklos with all the greenery amped up. it might be too masculine to be an every day reach for me, but i think it's a well-done fragrance that i'll enjoy when the moood strikes.
saturday, august 16, 2025
d.grayi - ca phe by night
my perfect tomato leaf, combined with bitter black coffee and animalics. it has a similar herbal vibe to the rest of d.grayi's catalog, but there's nothing quite like this one to me. it's astringent and powerful in a way that feels no-nonsense and honest. i waited months for this to come back in stock but i hope i'm never without it again.
thursday, august 14, 2025
arquiste - indigo smoke
this is a beautiful smokey, honeyed tea scent that smells pretty spot on to a nice lapsang souchong. there's a hint of apricot that really peeks out in the drydown, powdery and sweet. i'm working through a 10 ml decant of this and i really love it, although i forget to reach for it much. for right now i feel like etat libre d'orange jasmin et cigarette fills the smokey fragrance role in my collection, but we'll see if i keep thinking about this one after my decant has run out.
wednesday, august 13, 2025
ds & durga - grapefruit generation
this house is hit or miss for me - i find a lot of their fragrances too dry and their unaffected hipster-y branding obnoxious. this is one that i really love, though! it wasn't really on my radar to purchase, but a secondhand 100 ml bottle at an insane discount popped up in one of my facebook groups and i jumped at the chance. this reminds me of my favorite grapefruit oolong tea from my favorite asian bakery i used to frequent when i lived in orlando.
tuesday, august 12, 2025
marissa zappas - annabel's birthday cake
man, i think i have to rehome this one. it's a great fragrance and really does smell like the memory of a childhood birthday party. the cake is fresh out of the oven and covered in a lemon-y icing. there are latex ballons in the corner and you've just unwrapped a new barbie doll. i'm just not reaching for it much, and when i do i find it cloying and overbearing. i have so much love for marissa zappas and her vision (you've maybe read the entry from a few weeks back where i wax poetic about maggie the cat) and i'm hoping i can trade this bottle for another of hers. i'll miss you, annabel.
monday, august 11, 2025
the different company - love is coming
another one from the lucky scent tomato pack! this one is not groundbreaking to my nose, but it's nice. the black currant/lychee and rose profile is one of my favorites at the moment. liis rose struck is my top pick of that category, but i've also enjoyed parfums de marly delina, future society solar canopy, phlur rose whip and chloe rose naturelle. the tomato leaf just adds a little extra green edge to the already pretty tangy combo. it puts this one in slightly harsher territory than some of the others in this category in a way that is a little cloying to me. i enjoyed my experience of wearing this, but i don't find it to be particularly standout. my strongest feeling about it is that i should really finally pull the trigger on a bottle of rose struck.
sunday, august 10, 2025
liis - in this world
my sunday morning (early afternoon this week, since i was out late last night and couldn't drag myself out of the house before 12) routine the past couple of weeks has been to roll out of bed, feed the cats, throw on a baggy outfit, turn off my phone and go sit at at local coffee shop and work on my neocities code for a few hours. guess what i'm doing today!
to match the easygoing vibes, i'm wearing one of my favorites from liis, which is really like a spa in a bottle. i wore this to some friends' wedding last year, more than a little influenced by the fact that both the name of the color of my bridesmaid dress and the standout note of in this world is eucalyptus. it was a really perfect fit, though. it's meek enough that it doesn't steal the show (fitting for a bridesmaid, i think) but zen enough that it kept me grounded throughout a busy day. it's a magnet for drunk people. i got more than one bear hug at the end of the night from people who said i "smell soooOOoOOooo good literally what is that" - which i can see being a pro or con depending on who you are.
this is one of few full bottles i own. i picked it up at arielle shosanna last year during my annual trip to d.c. for all things go festival. it's colored a little bit by the fact that i did not actually make it to the festival last year. hurricane helene was bearing down on my city (jim cantore was broadcasting live one street over from my apartment) and i was too stressed about the safety of my boyfriend and cat to enjoy myself. even once the hurricane passed, i was still having extreme anxiety, so i ended up flying home (it's a testament to how nervous i was that FLYING was preferable to my current situation) the day of the festival.
all of this is to say that i owe liis big time for keeping me grounded during a few particularly stressful weekends of my life. eucalyptus is the star here, with lavender and sage adding to the aromatic vibe. sage is a note i can struggle with when it's too dry, but blood orange and fig add enough juice to keep the herbs from being cloying. it's so hard to explain what this one smells like, because i had never before (and have never since) experienced anything quite like it. it doesn't change much over its wear time, and the sillage is very gentle, as with everything from liis that i've tried. it's a soft, minimalist reminder to slow down and enjoy sights, smells and sensations, and it centers me every time i wear it. i don't ever want to be without it!
saturday, august 9, 2025
experimental perfume club - sable gris
it took me awhile to come around to EPC. their fragrances are on the heavier and more ambery side, and i first smelled amber iris at a time when i was going through my minimalist phase. i gave it a shot a few weeks later and wow was i taken by how warm and rich it is! thank you to whoever in my fragrance swap facebook group threw it in as an extra sample in a trade. i owe you my life.
scentbird recently started offering epc decants as part of their monthly subscription (i KNOW, boo scentbird. i've long since been unsubscribed and now just pop back in for free juice when they send me desperate renewal emails), so i jumped at the chance to try a couple of their other offerings. sable gris is really special. sandalwood is the most prominent note to me by far, but it's balanced well by aromatic notes (turmeric, ginger and cinnamon are just a few of the spice cabinet staples that show up) and a warm, peppery musk.
i burned myself out on santal 33 clones in 2017 so i someimtes struggle with sandalwoods, but this is a really well-blended composition. i've put a few people on to it (hi, olivia!) because despite how dark and enveloping it is, it's somehow really likable - like that girl who looks intimidatingly cool but is actually really friendly. no plans to upgrade to a full bottle yet, since it's pretty powerful and i think my decant will last me a while. it always makes me smile when i bust it out, though.
friday, august 8, 2025
jorum studios - pluck! / sorce - match made in heaven
another day, another sample from the lucky scent tomato pack. this time it's jorum's limited edition release pluck!, which doesn't really live up to the exclamation point in its name. on paper, i found this to be pleasant if a bit tamer than i was expecting. my nose picks up more of the lavender and geranium than anything green or vegetal. on skin, this annoyed the living shit out of me. where is the zingy tomato vine! where are the tart black currant and the spicy sichuan pepper! it wore like any generic powdery fougere, and unfortunately it clung to me for dear life.
i'm not one to scrub test fragrances off - usually i have no problem committing to a full day of wear - but i truly could not stand one more second of scratchy vetiver and underwhelming greenery. to ensure that i would not catch one more whiff of flop!, i hosed myself down in sorce match made in heaven, the only vanilla i've ever loved and possibly the most "beast mode" decant in my collection. i've almost finished my 10 ml and WOW will i miss her - especially on days like today when she saves my life.
thursday, august 7, 2025
isabelle larignon - mandi rubi
i recently pulled the trigger on luckyscent's tomato season sampler thanks to a lucky coincidence of payday and a free shipping coupon. d.grayi ca phe by night is kind of my perfect tomato leaf fragrance, but i'm always a slut for a tomato leaf. i'm really impressed by the diversity of scent profiles in the sample pack! i admittedly picked it up almost exclusively for l'artisan perfumeur vetiver ecarlate, but it's maybe the least exciting of the bunch to me (though still nice!).
isabelle larignon has been on my radar for a while. i have yet to try milky dragon, her lactonic tea perfume that has gotten some clout on tiktok in the last few years. it's been bumped up on my "to-try" list, because mandi rubi is one of the most exciting things i've smelled in a while. it's incredibly bright and green, with the namesake green mandarin and rhubarb front and center. i don't get a lot of TOMATO tomato, but there is a sharp green edge to the opening. it mellows a little in the dry down, when the black currant (quite possibly my favorite single note at the moment) starts to shine and fill out the composition with a plump fruitiness.
there's something about this one that makes me kind of emotional. it reminds me a lot of pearfat stomped on bed of lettuce, which garnered a similar initial reaction from me, but with the sharp green mossiness mellowed out. it's so bright and unapologetic in a way that reminds me of being a weird little kid, like i'm putting together outfits that didn't match and choreographic dances to disney channel songs in my room. it's fun and playful and nostalgic and so, so special. i might be on the hunt for a full bottle of this one sometime soon.
wednesday, august 6, 2025
glossier - you fleur
glossier devotee that i am, i ran to sephora to try this the literal day it came out. it didn't impress me at first, but the more i wore it through the day, the more i found myself thinking about it. i went back the next day to pick up a full bottle, and was clearly the first person in my town to do so, since it took the sales associate nearly 15 minute to locate a bottle to sell me.
to me, this one is in the family of rice-y floral minimalist indie perfumes, very similar to d'annam white rice and BTSO dirty rice. of the three, i think the BTSO is my favorite of the three, but this is a nice (and not $200) alternative. weirdly, this one felt a little cloying to me today. i'm not sure if it's the stickiness of the ylang ylang getting to me in the heat (i don't agree with, like, everyone else on earth that it's a summer flower!) or the salty notes throwing me off, but i didn't love this one as much as usual today. tbd if i keep her - she might end up getting swapped, but i do really like the pale purple bottle and how it looks next to my other glossiers.
tuesday, august 5, 2025
sorce - the ghost wants birthday cake
i came across sorce the same way probably everybody did - their matcha waffle cone fragrance match made in heaven went mega viral on tiktok. that one is a favorite of mine (i've said before that it's the only vanilla for me), but today i'm finishing up my 2ml sample of the moodier, spicier the ghost wants birthday cake. i don't get a ton of the cake or ice cream in the official notes list here. to me, the ginger, cardamom and peach are the stars. there's a thai restaurant in town that serves a nice mango curry. that feels a lot more the vibe to me.
monday, august 4, 2025
etat libre d'orange - exit the king
ugh, ELDO. i have such a hard time with this house because i love so many of their creations, but the name is really inexcusable. i own a few ELDO bottles, all purchased secondhand because they don't need my money to act crazy. i finished up a years-old scentbird travel - because apparently it is problematic brand day. and this is for sure a problematic fave of mine. it's soapy and old fashioned and ever so slightly masculine, more rose shaving soap than fresh roses. it's surprisingly sophisticated given the rabble-rousing name. unfortunately (for the reasons mentioned above) the scent dna of this brand just hits every time for me.
saturday, august 2, 2025
zadig & voltaire - this is her!
an easy reach for a slow day lounging around the house. this has been a favorite for a while, ever since i ran through a travel size of this a few years ago and then bought a secondhand partial for under $40 on mercari. at one point in the last year or so it had gotten pretty popular on perfumetok, so the market might look a little different now.
this is her! is musky and lactonic, with notes of sandalwood and cashmere. although it's not officially named by the perfumer, there's a fig vibe to her. maybe it's the fruity/milky combo of the pink pepper and whipped cream. the first time i smelled phlur father figure it reminded me of this is her!, and i still find them to be pretty closely related. where father figure is soapy and clean, this is her! is sweeter and more lived-in. maybe they're cousins.
one time i wore it to a bar and a girl almost jumped into my skin to tell me i smelled good, so i think it works pretty well in just about any setting.
friday, august 1, 2025
initio parfums prives - side effect
i'm going out tonight and wanted something boozy and a little bit masculine. i usually find initio a little fussy and overpriced as a house, but i've been enjoying a few free samples i got from a facebook ad.
side effect is dark and sensual, with notes of rum, tobacco and cinnamon. it's hard for me to accurately judge performance as i only had a little under half of a 1ml sample left. for the amount i had to apply, i feel it projected pretty well initially but wore off pretty quickly.
i really have a thing for these "artsy uncle who smokes cuban cigars and probably plays upright bass" fragrances. replica jazz club was my gateway drug (and still a favorite, as trendy as it's become in the last few years), but i would also rank killian angel's share, creed centaurus and chris colins sweet taboo as others i've tried and liked in that category.
i feel a little bit like i'm wearing a costume when i put them on. i don't think the profile totally fits me - as one fragrantica user put it, it might best be suited for you "if your an alchoholic that likes to get layed" - but it's one i find myself coming back to, and i find side effect to be a really standout example of the style.
thursday, july 31, 2025
bohoboco - magic mushrooms
full disclosure: i bought this in a sample lot on mercari with the hope that it would smell like cowboy's toes. hairless cats get this earthy mushroom and potatoes kind of smell when they haven't had a bath in a while. unfortunately, this is not the hairless cat perfume i dreamed about, but it's still pretty nice.
like you might expect from the name, it's overwhelmingly earthy with an edge of wet dirt. i don't smell mushrooms so much as the idea of a rotting log with a bouquet of cordyceps peeking out of its innards. the cypress note is the most immediately noticable to me, casting a sharp presence over the otherwise mellow composition. in a lot of ways i'm surprised i like it as much as i do. cannabis notes are a hard sell for me (i think my city is the us capital of smoking skunky ass weed outside the gas station) but here it plays nicely and just kind of adds to the forest floor vibe.
i will not be purchasing a full bottle. for one, the whole thing leans a little masculine for me, even with my unisex-of-center tastes. also bohoboco's marketing weirds me out. literally WHO thought it would be a good idea to put out a new perfume with "oriental" in the title in the big 24? they don't need my money if they're gonna do that.
wednesday, july 30, 2025
nishane - wulong cha
before today, i had kind of written this one off unfairly. fellow fumeheads online recommend this as a better version of liis' ethereal wave, which is probably in my top three perfumes of all time. ethereal wave she is not - i get the comparison, since both feature a pretty bright blast of citrus. the opening of wulong cha is bitter, like a slightly oversteeped green tea, but as i wear it more, it morphs into a floral oolong. i'm not quite sure where i'm picking up the floral notes from, since none are listed in the official fragrance description, but they are really prominent to my nose.
it actually reminds me a lot of elizabeth arden green tea, which you can find at any tj maxx for under $20. that's not a dig at wulong cha. ms. arden punches way above her weight on that one. but it's hard for me to justify the price tag of the nishane when the scent is barely more complex and the longevity is only slightly longer than the most marshall's perfume of all time.
tuesday, july 29, 2025
marlou - carnicure
we're getting a foster cat today (one with hair!) so it seemed appropriate to wear my cat-furriest sample. i was super hyped to try marlou, and i wasn't disappointed - although i was hoping to find them a little more wearable than i ultimately did.
carnicure is warm and dusty. there's something distinctly old about it - maybe it's the orange blossom note that smells like powder makeup, or the civet note that lends it that worn in cat fur smell. in some aspects, it reminds me of maggie the cat is alive! i'm alive! from marissa zappas, which is quite possibly my all time favorite fragrance. unlike maggie, though, carnicure doesn't have that air of old hollywood glamour. it's more cozy couch hangs and unwashed blankets than flat champagne and party houses.
i do think this is my favorite of the marlous, and it probably would be the least offensive to most noses. i don't see myself picking up a full size (especially when maggie exists and i much prefer her) but this is a really special fragrance that i'm so glad i tried. maybe i'll hoard the dregs of this vial for a day when i need a little more cat hair in my life.
monday, july 28, 2025
d.grayi - Re:M
i've become maybe the world's most outspoken d.grayi evangelist since i finally picked up some samples from them back in december. the entire house is the brainchild of james nguyen, a self-taught vietnamese-american perfumer who creates a lot of the tinctures for his fragrances out of natural materials. his fragrances are all pretty high-concept, often referencing his dreams and personal experiences.
Re:M is no different. the description of the fragrance on d.grayi's website reads almost like short-form fiction, describing a dream that's intriguing in its mundanity. my dreams are like this, too. i'm usually going to the grocery store, hanging out with friends, or just generally doing day-to-day things.
wearing Re:M is refreshing and comforting. the mint note (which represents the toothpaste in nguyen's dream) is the most immediately prominent to me, with the rest blending together into a pleasant herbal funk that i find pretty emblematic of d.grayi's compositions. it leans very slightly masculine to me (maybe that's the tobacco note talking), but not aggresively so.
buying a full bottle of this one hasn't really been on my radar, but i'm really mourning the loss of this little sample. i already own a 15 ml of d.grayi's cà phê by night (my dream bitter black coffee/tomato leaf scent), and i do find them very similar at their hearts, so i'm thinking this is a pass for now. i can't count her out, though. maybe one day i'll have a dream about picking up a full size and i'll know it's time.
sunday, july 27, 2025
diptique - l'eau papier
this was the very last of a 5 ml sample i got in a bottle split from a facebook group. i'm going to miss her! she smells like chic and slightly nutty pencil shavings. the sillage is gentle but i can smell it around me for a long time. i don't think i can justify buying a full bottle because my collection is already pretty heavy on the musky/floral skin scents.
saturday, july 26, 2025
le monde gourmand - figue du foret
i'm not the world's biggest le monde gourmand fan. call me pretentious but i've smelled so many of them in tjmaxx that now they all just smell like tjmaxx to me. but i would put this one up against just about any niche fig out there. it's so ridiculously comforting, fruity without being too sweet and milky without being too funky. i had a full bottle once that i swapped for? i literally couldn't even tell you what? i likely won't repurchase since there are other figs i'd prefer to own a full bottle of, but i'm savoring my 5ml decant.