Rambly Review: For Strange Women - Persephone, Decadence & Debauchery, 1993
Finally got my hand on some FSW perfume oil samples, so I thought I'd let you know how I found them :)
I was drawn to FSW mainly because of the impeccable vibes their perfume descriptions conjure. As a Vibes-Based Girlie TM, my favorite kind of scents are those that let me forget the world for a moment and transport me somewhere else.
I'll put the official notes at the top and ramble a bit about what each of these scents evokes in me.
pomegranate / tuberose / orris / mimosa / blackcurrant. PERSEPHONE represents all that comes alive in the spring as the land becomes fertile. This perfume is a voluptuous blend of ripe fruits and lush florals that evolve slowly to a darker underworld. Top notes of pomegranate, fig, and strawberry are supported by a heart of mimosa, jasmine, and tuberose, evoking the energy of life returning. A base of black currant and orris emerge in the drydown as the harvest comes to a close.
This is the one I didn't want to buy but the FSW online quiz told me to. Out of the bottle it smells very fresh, grassy and herby.
Just a few seconds after it's on my skin, I'm getting this waft of deeply ripe fruit. You can make out the pomegranate for sure. It's richly sweet and every so slightly sour, like you HAVE To eat those juicy berries today because tomorrow they won't be good anymore.
Soon enough the scent changes again, now the flowers and wood appear and the blend comes together. Some of the grass from the beginning, but with a drier hay-like quality. It ends up much lighter and fresher than I had expected after that waft of overripe berries. No dark underworld for me, it's a lush sunset scenery. Not a scent you'd usually find among someones perfumes or beauty products, but something you'd actually smell outside on a field.
I find myself wanting to inhale it super deeply because it smells good and... healing? Unfortunately, I have to reapply pretty quickly because it doesn't last that long.
TL;DR: Lovely naturalistic scent for spring or autumn.
tobacco / blood orange / myrrh / amber / rose. The Scent features an indulgent cocktail of Immortelle, Amber, and Violet smothered in sweet Tobacco and Vanilla. Blood Orange, Bergamot, and Myrrh are among the many wild cards in this enigmatic blend, suitable for burlesque beauties and Victorian darlings alike.
On first whiff, I'm appalled. Stop blowing smoke into my face!! First it's just a waft of cigar smoke, then it simmers down into a still very sharp note. It feels like putting your nose deep into a glass of old whisky. My nostrils are a little singed but it's nice.
Once it settles into my skin, the tobacco smokiness turns into more of a sacral smokiness which must be the myrrh and herbs. It smells ever so slightly cold and mustry. The scent absolutely transports me, but not into a decadent Victorian boudoir but into an enourmous, cold, eerily quiet gothic church.
After a while, the myrrh and herbs aren't as lonely anymore as the flowers and some warmness in the form of amber and vanilla come through. Kinda like stepping into a witchy crystal shop, but overall, still a bit eerie and creepy incantations are playing in my head whenever I smell it lol.
From the website description, I had hoped for something to scratch the itch that Vivienne Westwood's Boudoir left - something nostalgic, velvety and ultra-feminine. Decadence & Debauchery was... not that. I'd say it's firmly gender-neutral, gothic, incensy. Honestly I couldn't find better (or, less terrible) words to describe it than "If Esmeralda and Judge Frollo had a baby". The staying power is insane for a perfume oil.
TL;DR: Amazing & terrible scent that is very effective in transporting me to somewhere that I do not want to get transported to. I urge my goth & weirdcore friends to try this.
Amber / Patchouli / Teakwood / Cola / Saffron / Matches. 1993 is a nostalgic interpretation of an era of counterculture emerging from the underground. The analog world contained mysteries and surprises that no longer exist. A sweet incense heart is cut with a subversive base of sandalwood, patchouli, and saffron, recreating a sense of early 90’s uncertainty.
Leave a message and I’ll call you back when I’m home.
Opening the bottle smells like opening a bag of gummy worms. The cola comes through for sure as well, truly yummy. I honestly kinda want to bite into my own wrist as soon as I've applied it.
On my skin, the cola is still the main actor. This is a confusing and delicious blend, I truly can't make out any more notes aside from the cola, I can only describe the nostalgic images it conjures. Weirdly but nicely, it smells like borrowed clothing. Stealing a top from your sister which will always smell a little like her even if it's straight out of the washer. Wearing your boyfriends jacket that smells like leather and the teensiest bit of smoke. A wild assortment of stuff flashes before my eyes as if I'm dying: Cherry chapstick, borrowing hand cream from a classmate, Big Red chewing gum, mouthwateringly sour candies, sticky hands, talcum powder, cheap deodorant. I don't know how or why, but it smells fizzy.
After a while I finally start to smell the scent of a match that has just been blown out, but it's very faint. The rest of the confusing but wonderful blend stays along. I'm not lying when I say that I'm actively salivating whenever I smell my wrist.
TL;DR: Nostalgia in a bottle. A very well-blended and strange scent, give me 100 bottles please.