By: Tucyard [ Instagram ]
Edited by: XEONIQ [ Instagram | Tumblr ]
FOREWORD
After Tucyard’s unexpectedly popular Cyberpunk Fragrances article, where he reviewed CoSTUME NATIONAL’s Cyber Garden and Etat Libre d’Orange’s The Ghost in the Shell, as Shell Zine’s resident perfume expert, he’s been invited by two independent fragrance artisans to review their own ranges of cyberpunk-inspired scents. Tucyard’s original article is quite entertaining, even for a non-enthusiast, and may be worth reading before this set of reviews as it explores the concept of what makes a fragrance “cyberpunk” or not. In this article, he has also written a brief primer on the different categories of fragrance houses, to provide un-initiated readers, like me, with some context to the “indie” perfumes that he is reviewing. What follows are his personal, and often humoursly-expressed, impressions based on his experience as a perfume enthusiast.
Contents
- The Three Categories of Fragrance Houses
- Alkemia
- 2.1 Deus Ex Machina
- 2.2 Industrial Sabotage
- 2.3 Enigma
- Andromeda’s Curse
- 3.1 Cyberpunk
- 3.2 Disconnected
- 3.3 She Dreams in Digital
- 3.4 Wild Child
- Conclusion
1.0 The Three Categories of Fragrance Houses
Fragrance houses can be divided into three categories: designer, niche and indie/artisan. The line is blurry and often causes confusion, but in general designer houses are also fashion brands (e.g. Dior, YSL, Prada); the ones that are sold in every perfume store like Sephora, Nordstrom, Douglas, and so on.
Niche houses operate on a smaller scale and sometimes offer more daring and higher quality scents. Indie (or artisan) houses, or rather indie perfumers, operate on an even smaller scale. Usually, they are the brainchild of one perfumer who creates the scents for the house. The phenomenon of indie perfumery is much more prevalent in the USA compared to Europe, due to more restrictions in Europe (partly IFRA, BigCorp doesn’t want you to smell nice). A little history lesson: modern perfumery stems largely from Europe (specifically France and Germany), however today there are only a handful of indie perfumers in Europe, whereas it’s the exact opposite in the USA. The same regulatory trend that has stifled market diversity can be observed in other subcultures, such as wet shaving.
With indie perfumers having much more freedom in what they create than larger brands, their perfumers can conceive and execute ideas that are far away from the mainstream, resulting in highly innovative and unique fragrances. As cyberpunk-themed scents receive very little attention from designer or niche houses, there is actually a wider variety of cyberpunk fragrances coming from indie perfumers.
If you want to listen to a longer monologue about the history and current state of independent perfumery, I recommend this video by Varanis Ridari:
Finding independent houses may require some digging. A useful website I’d like to recommend for searching for new perfumes is the Indie Scent Library: https://indiescentlibrary.com/
The two indie houses that will be reviewed for this article are Alkemia and Andromeda’s Curse. They both kindly provided a range of fragrances that their perfumers believed would be suitable for a cyberpunk application. For all my “impressions” I provide for each fragrance, I wear the scent all day, comparing its notes as they bond to my skin and wear over time.
Alkemia: https://alkemiaperfumes.com/
Andromeda’s Curse: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AndromedasCurse
2.0 Alkemia
Brought to life in 2009, Alkemia aims to create scents “that help people creatively express unique facets of their humanness, and connecting to the elemental sacredness of perfume as ceremony”. Over the years, they have created a large amount of unique, and also ethical, scents, inspired by all kinds of different themes and cultures. On their website, special attention is paid to fine art that accompanies each of their fragrances.
The majority of Alkemia fragrances come in the following sizes and strengths:
- Extrait: their “normal” concentration, available in 1ml sample vials, 4.5ml stainless steel rollerballs and 5ml amber apothecary bottles
- Ultime: a stronger concentration compared to extrait, comes in the same sizes
- Perfume Spray: sits between extrait and ultime in terms of strength, but comes in a 30ml spray bottle and uses alcohol as a carrier
- Alcohol-free Spray: the same as the perfume spray, but using a non-alcohol carrier
Nowadays, when most designer brands release variations of a fragrance (known as flankers), each variation, even if available in different concentrations, will typically have a unique and distinct scent from the others. But in Alkemia’s case, it really is just a different concentration, with the scent staying exactly the same. I could detect no difference between the extrait and the alcohol free spray, scent-wise.
2.1 Deus Ex Machina
The Latin phrase “deus ex machina” translates to “hand of god”, the fatalist understanding of the world that is often used in cyberpunk narratives. Originally, it stems from the machine that was used in ancient Greek theaters that carried actors who played a god onto the stage. Said god would often resolve the play’s conflict immediately and conclude the drama. Nowadays, that has come to simply represent any plot device where an unsolvable problem is solved by an unexpected event. I might use the term “asspull” instead: sloppy, sloppy writing.
Described as “an olfactory portrait of industrial decay and the fallen gods of age of disruption, innovation, and technological revolution…”, the notes consist of grey amber, motor oil, fire hardened steel, rusted iron, wet cement and burnt copper wires.
Impressions and Personal Review
The opening of Deus Ex Machina is certainly interesting. First of all, the grey amber is very dominant. In modern perfumery, “amber” is often just an arbitrary term for an accord consisting of vanilla, resins and musk. Ambergris is a substance which is produced in the digestive systems of sperm whales and was once used in perfumery. Today, ambergris is rare and in most cases (together with most other animal-sourced ingredients) substituted with chemical materials. As Alkemia fragrances are vegan, the grey amber is a synthetic substitute. Nevertheless, it’s a fine alternative and thankfully has more depth than other amber notes I have had the previous displeasure of smelling. I find Alkemia’s grey amber to have a marine kind of smell together with a musky/creamy sweetness. The sweetness is supported by something that smells fiery; something you could call “ember”. There are few scents that have a note similar to this, but one would be Broken Spears, Bitter Rose by Dusita. Both have a similar sweet fiery note, and my guess is that it originally comes from cinnamon. This spice can be very hit or miss for me, but it’s my favorite in this fiery context.
Furthermore, there is something artificial and slick present to Deus Ex Machina, although quite subdued. I assume this is the motor oil, fresh out of the bottle and not the stuff that’s spent the the past 200.000 kilometers in the un-serviced engine you blew up in your 1995 Toyota Corolla.
The aforementioned notes mostly stay the same throughout a wear on me, with the motor oil waning off a bit by the end of the day.
I don’t necessarily feel “industrial decay” when I smell this fragrance. Instead I imagine some sort of laboratory in the distant future. It’s a clean lab, not a dirty workshop. The walls are white, the desks are clean with just a bit of few hours old grime. But not from working on machines, instead from working on something organic, maybe even humans.
In any case, Deus Ex Machina is a fragrance that provides a decent level of sweetness with a minor cyberpunk twist, going in a different direction than Cyber Garden and The Ghost in the Shell have in my original article. I also find it to be less complex than the previously reviewed fragrances, which is not something inherently bad, as it’s less challenging and more literal to interpret.
2.2 Industrial Sabotage
This fragrance is described as “a cataclysmic wreckage of burnt wires; twisted melted steel; shattered machinery, and gunpowder.” The notes may seem a bit daunting, but even more so intriguing.
Impressions and Personal Review
Sporting a peculiar list of notes, Industrial Sabotage doesn’t hold any punches right out of the gate. It first hit me with the acrid smell of gunpowder mixed with something in the realm of gear lubricant, specifically it reminded me a lot of WD-40 (which I huffed while writing this article to confirm my suspicion). It might very well be from a broken machine that’s leaking lubricant. Similar to Deus Ex Machina, there is something fiery here too. But in Industrial Sabotage, it’s much less sweet than cinnamon; this note is more like a warming fire. The idea that it may be burning metal is quite fitting here, the lack of sweetness makes it appear more sterile. However, Industrial Sabotage is not smoky by any means, and neither is Deus Ex Machina for that matter. Compared to offerings from Beaufort London, there is no smoke at all present here, for better or worse. Smoke as a note in fragrances has a lot of different facets and can make or break a composition.
At the same time, there is a certain note mingling between all the impressions I mentioned before. This one is fainter, which makes it even harder to describe. It’s a bit like plastic or rubber, but slightly torched. Ever overheated a tool like a drill or a blender? That comes very close. Not actively burning and not fallen to ashes yet. Singed wires could fit the bill here.
Towards the end of the day, I could detect a bit of cumin, which to some people often smells sweaty. Seems like you ran for your life after the production plant of MegaCorp X burned down due to a little competitive arson by its rival MegaCorp Y. Now you’re out of a job and can’t purchase the latest endorphine-frying VR simulation (with courtesy of your AI overlords) that you’ve become heavily addicted to. Tough luck.
And that’s pretty much what I’m imagining when I smell Industrial Sabotage: a burning, or burnt down, factory sans the smoke. While this is certainly the weirdest fragrance reviewed in this article, the omission of smoke makes it less challenging than one might think from the description. Still, this is not for everyone. But for those that love the “unique” scents, this is splendid.
2.3 Enigma
I quickly want to mention Enigma, it consists purely of Iso E Super (or Tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes for you nerds). This aromachemical has a light woody scent and lasts a long time (as a rule of thumb, natural oils are often quite fleeting). Some people perceive it more as pencil-shavings, to others it’s a bit like the smell of skin, and some straight up cannot smell it at all.
While the scent itself may not be “cyberpunk” in inspiration or scents, I find the notion of using a single synthetic aromachemical as a fragrance extremely futuristic and utilitarian. Nothing makes me feel like I’m living in 2049 than wearing a few spritzes of Tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes.
3.0 Andromeda’s Curse
Founded by a perfumista named Amanda, Andromeda’s Curse offers “perfume oils for the darkly inclined”. The themes of most the house’s fragrances are indeed on the occult side, with a few outliers. All oils are handmade and 100% vegan.
They usually are available in 5ml, 10ml or 30ml rollerball bottles. Sample sets of 1ml can be purchased on etsy as well. The samples provided for this review were in generic 1ml bottles and photographs of the samples were not taken.
3.1 Cyberpunk
Finally, we have a literal “Cyberpunk” fragrance. The notes are a handful, but from the description seem exactly what the fragrance’s name calls for: “Synthetic Cashmere Leather Jacket, Holographic Redwoods, Neon Lights, Patchouli, Chai, and Black Musk Biofuel Exhaust from your Trans-Am as it burns into the smoggy sunset.”
Impressions and Personal Review
The first thing I noticed here is a very dominant tea (chai) note in the opening, and it’s very well done. I’ve had the pleasure of testing a lot of tea-centred fragrances, and, quite frankly, they’re often disappointing. That is definitely not the case here. In Cyberpunk, as time passes, the chai battles with the more synthetic notes, which eventually start to win the fight and take over as the dominant note. It’s a potpourri of synthetics (the good kind), where worn out pleather is certainly noticeable. They’re not the super clean refined synthetic aromachemicals (think Akigalawood or anything else by Givaudan) that are popular these days, they’re dirtier. But at the same time they don’t feel old in any way; it’s not like an old diesel engine spewing out potent fumes. It’s more industrial and modern. But if you are looking for a more purist, bitter green tea scent, Gl1tch3d [ Etsy Link ] does the job well.
I interpret this fragrance as your stereotypical cyberpunk backdrop. Big buildings, shiny neon lights, the rich enjoying their luxuries in comfort while the rest toil. And deep down, it’s dirty and grimy, smog fills the streets, built on a legion of neo-slaves to capitalism.
To quote Sponge Bob:
Not everything that glitters is gold.
The name is pretty fitting all in all, and if you are newly initiated to the fragrance world with a penchant for cyberpunk media, this indie fragrance from Andromeda’s Curse should probably be on the top of your list.
3.2 Disconnected
Disconnected’s description contrasts significantly with the previous entries in this article: “Peach Blossom, Vanilla Bean, Silky Sandalwood, Fuzzy Peach Skin, Caramel, Agarwood, and a Smidge of Misanthropy”.
Impressions and Personal Review
So far, all the fragrances I have reviewed here are unisex, however Disconnected is decisively leaning feminine. Peach is the dominating player here, accompanied with a smooth and creamy base of vanilla (which is surprisingly unsweet) and sandalwood. If I didn’t know any better I would suspect there to be some white musk too. Synthetic white musk, in contrast to real animal musk, smells clean and creamy. The faintest trace of something darker can be found too, perhaps the oud, or the misanthropy. It helps give the scent a bit more depth and distinguish itself from Guerlain’s Mitsouko, which I inevitably compare to all peach scents.
While being a good peach centered fragrance, I would not classify this as a cyberpunk scent. It’s fairly natural and fruity, without any industrial or dystopian twists.
3.3 She Dreams in Digital
She Dreams in Digital Shop Link
With such an apt name, I was curious to sample this fragrance for this review. The description eggs us on to put on our warmest garmz: “Icy Blueberries, Sea Salt, Lavender, Ylang-ylang, Oakmoss, Sandalwood and the Inevitability of Entropy”.
Impressions and Personal Review
It starts off with a familiar note: bubblegum. Seasoned sniffers will know what this could mean; flowers like jasmine and sometimes ylang-ylang can take on a bubble gum-esque scent. This is the case here, and ylang-ylang is the culprit. Together with the blueberries, it’s a relatively unsweet but still conjures a fruity bubble gum scent; the ylang-ylang becoming more spicy and sensuous over time.
In due time some more bitter accents begin to take shape, perhaps it’s the oakmoss. The oakmoss grounds it a bit too, making it not extremely “modern-sweet”, which is an issue a lot of the fragrance community is aware of. The scent feels like a nice robust mix of oldschool perfumery with something modern. Once again though, this doesn’t feel too cyberpunk to me. If anything, I could draw a Y2K association. The image of an old Xbox 360 avatar popped up in my head, chewing on a big bubble of Hubba Bubba about to pop.
3.4 Wild Child
I wasn’t sure what to make of this one, or how it could fit into this cyberpunk indie fragrance article. The notes description reads: “Cherry Cola (with hints of Orange, Vanilla, & Anise), Pop Rocks, Spiked Chokers, and Glow-in-the-Dark Nail Polish”.
Impressions and Personal Review
Being in the same realm as She Dreams in Digital, Wild Child opens up with a cola note. To some, cola in perfumery might be familiar as a byproduct like in Estée Lauder’s Youth Dew or Dana’s Tabu. But in these fragrances, the scent of cola isn’t the main show and one might wonder if the cola association wasn’t just a happy little accident. On the contrary, in Wild Child cola is the main player. It’s surprisingly fresh cola too, still sparkling and not too heavy on the sweetness. The fruity accents do their part here.
I’d say the scent is pretty linear, but with time the sparkling freshness gives way to some subtle, flowery mellowness.
Historically, 4711 could be drunk, mixed in water or wine. Drinking Wild Child might not be so healthy; try to resist the temptation.
Is it cyberpunk? Maybe not, but it’s certainly one of the more modern cola scents out there and I’ve noticed more and more people wanting something like that. I feel coke.
4.0 Conclusion
In my first article I looked at designer/niche perfumes and now I’ve covered a handful of indie cyberpunk fragrances and it’s safe to say that both categories offer quality scents. With the relative rarity of cyberpunk themes in the industry, the variety of fragrances provided by the indie sellers is a welcome addition for anyone wanting to smell as futuristic as they might feel.
While some of the fragrances such as Alkemia’s Deus Ex Machina and Andromeda Curse’s Cyberpunk expressed themselves as a lot more “cyberpunk” than the others, with fragrances, you tend to want a variety of them for different moods and occasions; and there is never really a “best” option. It all comes down to personal preference. So, as always, I recommend obtaining samples of any scents you deem interesting and sniff ‘em out for yourself. It can become a surprisingly involved hobby and, in my opinion, is an important, and oft neglected, aspect of aesthetics to consider.
Ethical Statement: All of the perfume products in this article were provided for free for testing and review in either complete or sample sizes by the manufacturers (Alkemia and Andromeda’s Curse).