In the interests of total transparency Carter very kindly sent these samples to me (I was intending to support the project anyhow) he’s nice like that and he knows full well that my views, however insignificant, will be honest and forthright, and if I don’t like something or think it’s objectively or technically lacking (again if you believe I qualified to comment) then I will say so. I think he invites the critique and probably relishes it, I know I would. I’ll just start by saying all three exhibit a really attuned skill for a self taught perfumer and someone who I find to have a really interesting perspective on lots of things, not least on the art of perfumery and perhaps some notion of what it should represent. I wish I painted pictures with my words and got all poetic about these scents because they deserve it, but my reviews are usually relentlessly boring fixation with materials and ‘how did they do that?’ Sort of musings. So Playlinda to me the most compelling & perhaps the most comforting blurb explaining its origins and inspiration. I think it’s the most ‘commercial’ (that sounds terrible) but it’s more accessible one for folks I reckon, but completely free from Cliche as I’ve smelled nothing even remotely like it. The opening is like a somewhat fatty, lactonic, yellow floral. Playlinda is a seaside scent but it’s not obviously so, warm skin, even that ambergris effect of saliva on skin but not in a sultry or salacious way. It’s reassuring. It threatens a hint of coconut or shay butter for a moment but completely subverts that feeling with dusty, sandy, salty fruit vibes, and cozy musk. Peach is supposed to be the big playa (lol) in here but the fruity accord doesn’t immediately scream it to me, and that’s not a sign of failure because I’ve seen plenty of reviews mentioning it vividly, so what do I know. I haven’t spent enough time with Playalinda, but I felt it necessary to give my first impressions here. It’s very good, and just shows the effort that goes into an Indy perfume to create real art, that has a truly personal narrative. You don’t need to be told that it’s deeply personal, you can smell it.
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6 years ago
Playalinda, from Chronotope was released in 2020. The perfumer behind this creation is Carter Weeks Maddox. The notes are Ambrette (Musk Mallow), Choya Nakh, Grapefruit, Indole, Jasmine, Metallic Notes, Oakmoss, Osmanthus, Patchouli, Peach, Vetiver.
In the interests of total transparency Carter very kindly sent these samples to me (I was intending to support the project anyhow) he’s nice like that and he knows full well that my views, however insignificant, will be honest and forthright, and if I don’t like something or think it’s objectively or technically lacking (again if you believe I qualified to comment) then I will say so. I think he invites the critique and probably relishes it, I know I would. I’ll just start by saying all three exhibit a really attuned skill for a self taught perfumer and someone who I find to have a really interesting perspective on lots of things, not least on the art of perfumery and perhaps some notion of what it should represent. I wish I painted pictures with my words and got all poetic about these scents because they deserve it, but my reviews are usually relentlessly boring fixation with materials and ‘how did they do that?’ Sort of musings. So Playlinda to me the most compelling & perhaps the most comforting blurb explaining its origins and inspiration. I think it’s the most ‘commercial’ (that sounds terrible) but it’s more accessible one for folks I reckon, but completely free from Cliche as I’ve smelled nothing even remotely like it. The opening is like a somewhat fatty, lactonic, yellow floral. Playlinda is a seaside scent but it’s not obviously so, warm skin, even that ambergris effect of saliva on skin but not in a sultry or salacious way. It’s reassuring. It threatens a hint of coconut or shay butter for a moment but completely subverts that feeling with dusty, sandy, salty fruit vibes, and cozy musk. Peach is supposed to be the big playa (lol) in here but the fruity accord doesn’t immediately scream it to me, and that’s not a sign of failure because I’ve seen plenty of reviews mentioning it vividly, so what do I know. I haven’t spent enough time with Playalinda, but I felt it necessary to give my first impressions here. It’s very good, and just shows the effort that goes into an Indy perfume to create real art, that has a truly personal narrative. You don’t need to be told that it’s deeply personal, you can smell it.