Flux

I recently ordered a decant of Andrea Maack’s Flux after being intrigued by its note breakdown. Last year, I fell in love with Coven for its atmospheric depth, but I found it too avant-garde to wear more than a few days a year. Flux surprised me in the best way. It opens with an unexpectedly bright burst of blueberry—juicy and slightly tart—before unfurling into something far darker and more mysterious. It captures that same hauntingly atmospheric quality I loved in Coven but feels more wearable day-to-day. Imagine a coastal witch living in the misty forests of the Pacific Northwest: cool breeze, moss-covered trees, and a whisper of salt and smoke in the air. The two scents are completely different, yet they share a similar ability to transport you somewhere else entirely. I’m absolutely captivated and know I need a full bottle—but I’ll have to wait until summer ends. There’s no way I could pull this off in 100° heat. For now, I’ll be savoring every last drop of my decant and counting down the days until fall.

Absolutely stunning scent. It smells like a forest after the first frost. The blueberry and the woods just work together to provide a very natural, woody, aromatic scent with a fresh, cooling quality that is relaxing and perfect for the late summer, early fall. Celine Barel has created a masterpiece with this scent. HOWEVER. On my skin, it all but disappears after a few hours and has almost no projection beyond an intimate skin scent. I don't want it to be a beast mode room filler, but I would like the people around me to smell it on me without having to bury their noses in my skin to catch a hint of it. For the price, and for an Extrait De Parfum, I expect at least a little longevity to it. Others from Maack have great longevity, so I know it can be done. Maybe the sample atomizer is letting me down, but at $245 for the 50 mL presentation, it's a costly gamble to see if the bottle atomizer provides a different experience. This is an S-Tier fragrance hobbled by its poor performance and longevity.

Flux is such a gorgeous, unique, and high quality fragrance. I love the fruitiness of the blueberry at the top- it almost has a juicy, sunny, coconut water quality about it. It adds sunlight to the fragrance; not sunny warm but an icy cold, crystalline, almost prismatic bright light. In combination with herbs such as mint the blueberry takes on a juniper, Sapphire gin out-of-the-freezer quality. As the fragrance develops it's mostly a fresh, blue woody fragrance type. The first true woody blue fragrance I've ever experienced. Artful. One of kind. Long lasting. Two sprays will go all day. Which makes it worth the price tag. Layers very well with my spa-like, lavender verbena Oak Essentials body butter and/or oil. Honestly, Flux is more masculine leaning, but with a candy-sweet trail typically associated with feminine smells; however a confident woman will certainly stand out and rocking this. One of my top 10 favorite fragrance experiences in the last 5 years. 💙🧊🌲🌬️🫐🍸🩵

When I first sprayed this I could really only pick up on the woody notes with a strong menthol effect. It smelled like standing in the middle of a forest surrounded by huge trees with a howling cold wind running through. Once it dries down the blueberry note really comes through and mixes beautifully with the woody notes. The blueberry note is actually quite sweet but it is the perfect amount of sweetness. The sweet blueberry note mixed with the menthol effect does create a slight blueberry mint gum smell but I really enjoy how that mingles with the woody notes. Overall this is a really interesting and unique fragrance. 8/10

This one is really nice and one I’ll be likely purchasing in the coming weeks. The opening is very fresh and zingy. While in theory this should be very wood-dominant, for whatever the wood never really came out on my skin. It stayed somewhat fresh with the hint of eucalyptus emerging after a few minutes. I also didn’t get a heavy blueberry, but almost just a fresh citrusy opening. I walked out of the perfume store with a different perfume that day but I’m definitely heading back to purchase this one in the next few weeks.