I haven't checked in on indie brand Imaginary Authors since last spring. Here are quick reviews of two of their recent-ish efforts. If you've tried anything from the brand, do share your favorites in the comments!
An Air of Despair
An Air of Despair was launched as a limited edition for Summer 2015 (it's still easily found), and features notes of cedar, saffron, musk and sadness. If the name and the notes sound like a bit of a downer for June, bear in mind that it promises to "lift you up inside while keeping the outward despondency that makes you so desirable in tact" [sic], and really, there's nothing depressing about the smell to my mind, unless you find cedar closet depressing (you can read the backstory here). That's mostly what we have here: a light but lively cedar with leather-y saffron. The top notes are zippy and bright, with citrus plus a mineral-ish effect giving it some lift, and the dry down is clean but not quite detergent-ish musk. The cedar is there from beginning to end, and while it does warm a bit on skin — eventually it is soft and cushy rather than zippy — it stays sheer enough for hot weather wear.
Verdict: It smells as spare as it sounds, but it's quite enjoyable to wear, and it's perfectly unisex. If you love cedar and need one that won't overwhelm in the heat, it's worth a shot. Plus, small size (30 ml Eau de Parfum is $55) and it would be great fun to answer anyone who asked what fragrance you were wearing.
A City On Fire
A City On Fire was created for Machus, a menswear boutique in Portland, Oregon. The imaginary book in this case is a "brilliantly dark graphic novel" with murder and perhaps some mayhem (you can read the backstory here). The notes include cade oil, spikenard, cardamom, clearwood, dark berries, labdanum and burnt match, and we are told that the "...refined smoke accord makes this an austere and luxurious scent for evenings on the town, whether with a special someone or alone and looking for trouble." Again, yes, the product is mostly as advertised. A City On Fire is as bold and quirky as Air of Despair is mild; the opening is a decent dose of woodsmoke with perhaps a smidgen of meat — it's strong, and has a definite medicinal undertone. As the smoke and the bandages calm, it gets slowly spicier and sweeter. The far dry down is quieter and cozier than the opening, but it's still quite a lot of dark smoky wood. I have a feeling it would be the perfect thing for a cold winter's night. On a humid day in mid-June, it's perhaps a bit much.
Verdict: I don't know about "austere", and the audience for a perfume with this much smoke is probably small, but you know who you are: if most smoky scents are just too wimpy for you, give City On Fire a shot. I found it great fun to wear (it made me smile every time), but it's not something I'd reach for often, and I should mention that my family did not find the sillage quite so enjoyable as I did. If it were sold in a travel size, I'd consider it, though. Nope: it's in 50 ml Eau de Parfum for $95.
For buying information, see the listing for Imaginary Authors under Perfume Houses.
The only IA I’ve tested, I purchased. The oak/vanilla Memoirs of a Trespasser. Very nice and the vanilla is floral not gourmand (I like ALL vanilla) .
Profumum Roma is a fantastic smoky vetiver scent.
Luckyscent carries it. No affiliation, sample first. YMMV
I like the brand, and don’t think I’ve tried that one, so thanks!
Duh !!!!!
FUMIDUS !
I forgot to mention.
More coffee! STAT !
Cup for me too please
Thumbs up, and you’re welcome Robin.
I really like the IA line for the most part. The concept is quirky and fun and Memoirs of a Trespasser is one of my favorite perfumes – definitely in the top ten. That gorgeous wood smoke and vanilla! I can’t get enough in the fall and winter. My other bottle is Yesterday Haze which is figgy, creamy, a bit bitter….addicting, really. Plus both last forever on my skin. I would like a bottle of The Soft Lawn for summer as I’ve drained a few samples. Overall I think the price point is excellent for some unique scents and it’s an indie line that I like to keep an eye on so thanks for the reviews. Sounds like a sample of City on Fire is in my future!
Don’t know how I’ve missed Trespasser. I do like Yesterday Haze!
Haven’t tried any of this line but I love their creativity.
How does A City on Fire compare to my barbeque favorite, CDG’s Black (other than 2x the price?)
Isn’t it funny how as the rest of the industry has evolved, CdG is now nearly a bargain brand??
To my nose, this is way blunter & harder to wear.
I won a bottle of An Air of Despair, and your description matches my experience with it, but I never wanted to wear it, so I mostly used it as a closet spray because it does smell good to me. I’ve just passed on the remainder (after keeping a decant for an occasional whiff) to someone who might actually wear it.
Oh interesting. It would be a great closet spray.
I’ve only tried Memoirs of a Trespasser and loved it – my boss complimented me on it (which he never does on my fragrances!)
City on Fire sounds awesome. Is it like Arso by Profumum?
I have not tried Arso! Sorry no help.
I’ve sampled Cape Heartache which didn’t do much for me; too much of something (I suspect ISO – ESuper or whatever that stuff is called) and not enough of what a real Pacific NW coastal headland smells like. YMMV.
Thanks for the report!
Josh very kindly invited several of us local perfumistas to chat with him and tour his workshop a little while back. I came home with a huge baggie of samples. I’ve passed most of them on, as his style isn’t quite right for me. He said something about wanting scents that were minimal or streamlined, which is pretty much the opposite of my aesthetic.
But I kept a few that I thought might be nice during the summer heat–Falling into the Sea, Every Storm a Serenade, The Soft Lawn, and Memoirs of a Trespasser. We each also got decants of an unreleased fragrance he called “Mint.”
Probably the most memorable of the scents, other than A City on Fire, is the now discontinued Bull’s Blood. Take some of the meatiness of City on Fire, add some metalic aldehydes (?), and remove the smoke, and you get some idea of it!
What fun! Kevin liked Bull’s Blood. I still need to try Every Storm, and Mint sounds fun — is that the next release?
Mint isn’t going to be a release, I think, or at least not with the Imaginary Authors line. Josh said something about packaging it like a Le Labo and sending over to them as a tease for why they should work together. (I think I’m remembering that story right?) We *did* sniff a new release, as of yet unnamed, and I’m not sure if it was *finished* or not, but close. It was very interesting. We all spent a lot of time with our noses to our wrists!
Ah, thanks!
I was lucky enough to be with Marjorie Rose that night, and I must say that Josh is an incredibly nice and down-to-earth guy. Also a good listener! Something you often don’t find in artistic types.
I haven’t tried them all yet, but I did buy a bottle of The Cobra and the Canary. I had gravitated to this one when I first sniffed them more than a year ago, but my scented bookmarks (cute!) got lost in the continuing pile of new releases.
Anyway….I love it. A perfect leather for warm weather, and it garnered me a compliment on its first time out. The lemon fades pretty quickly, but the orris, hay and tobacco flower soften any harshness in the leather while not making the scent veer masculine or feminine. Wore it two days in a row (gasp)!
Wow, that does sound nice. I need to catch up.
A City On Fire has 5 seconds of sharp smoke then settles into dentist gloves on me – sweet, powdery and medicinal. Alas! I was so hopeful for the cade oil/cardamom/smoke combination.