Melinka

You feel the cold southern wind chilling your face as you go deep into the forest. Nature invades your senses, traps your feet, and the air you breathe quickly envelopes you and turns into a second skin. Melinka is a deeply woody fragrance, as soon as you smell a slap of wood accompanied by moss hits you, that somehow manages to fuse a natural, wild and green aspect with clean and tidy at the same time. A soft incense with mate accompany the first impression, but they quickly fall back. Then, a warm aura begins to appear in the background, rounding up the forest scent with amber warmth. This amber remains in the background softening the green freshness, which takes a clean character at certain times. This scent is a bit deceiving in its strength. After smelling it initially it seems to disappear as your nose gets used to its strength. Then, as it softens up, you can smell it again and realize that it never really went away. A very unique scent. If you want to smell like a southern forest, this perfume will definitely satisfy that.

Yesterday I received my bottle and loved the unique cap design, it is truly unique, each one slightly different, which I absolutely love. It reflects the artisanal, human touch. Enough about the design, this fragrance itself is simply extraordinary. For me, it’s a meditative fragrance and beautifully composed. It is natural smelling perfume rendering the aspects of woods and incense with the initial hints of green. In the drydown, the myrrh really shine which lingers in the most comforting way. This perfume is an experience. One that words can only partially capture. One have to wear it and feel it to truly understand its beauty. Lastly, a special mention to Joel, the owner and perfumer behind this fragrance. He is an incredibly humble, kind, and always willing to help. I truly hope he continues to create more and more. The world needs more of his artistry.

If you’ve smelled juniper wood (more specifically Juniperus communis) and you love it, you need this perfume. It’s got terpenic woods mixed with that rooty and stemmy note of a carrot dug straight up from the soil. But it’s a pleasant and soft perfume still, completely wearable and refined yet niche kind of way.

Melinka was the first fragrance I discovered from 432 Wild Botanic Perfumes during a trip to Chile, and I honestly fell in love with it right away. It’s a beautifully unisex scent with a very artistic and unique concept. The opening feels aromatic and subtly spicy, while the dry down reveals a woody amber base with earthy mossy nuances and a soft smoky touch that gives it depth and character. It truly captures the feeling of the cold, wild and humid landscapes of southern Chile in a perfume. Beyond the fragrance itself, I also loved the philosophy behind the house: artistic perfumes deeply connected to nature and local identity, without trying to follow mainstream trends. Melinka became one of those scents that turns into a travel memory.

Does anyone know how to get a bottle of this outside of Chile?