Broken Glass

The opening is cold, sharp, strange, somewhat unsettling but still compelling. Broken Glass is a great descriptor for the initial blast. Very quickly after that, the aromatic herbal side develops and the geranium and spicy pepper are very intense for the first hour. Then the angelica starts to reveal itself. The dry down is to die for! It settles into a very warm vanillic angelica that reminds me of Angelique Noire. This is the angelica fragrance I have been searching for! I'm hooked. This one is such a morpher. I am interested to see how it develops on others. It is listed as a floral fragrance but it certainly isn't a typical floral. It starts as a spicy herbal aromatic that could probably be considered very masculine but the dry down is sweet and vanillic and might be considered more feminine. It's a wonderful journey nonetheless.

This might be one of my favourites. Initially it's sharp and green, herbal and fresh. Something Blackbird does well, is herbal perfumes. It smells like summer even though I don't like wearing it during. Once settled, my favourite thing about this perfume happens: the woody, spicy and peppery notes come forward in such a perfect balance it feels comforting and nostalgic, but incredibly intriguing at the same time. To me, it smells like wooden display cases full of butterflies and a library with stained glass windows the sun is slowly setting behind, and wooden shelves full of dusty non-fiction. I can't stop myself from occasionally smelling my clothes or wrists, closing my eyes, and imagine myself on the floor of that library not sure what I'm looking for. If this one ever gets discontinued I wouldn't know how to console myself.

Thank you to Blackbird for the opportunity to try this scent. Broken Glass is the most unique floral I've tried in some time. I believe the house mentioned this was their first foray into a true floral scent. And while it is a floral, you'll also find a lot of the earthy, resinous and spicy notes that are more typical of the Blackbird fragrance collection. Broken Glass is definitely a unisex floral. There's a fair dose of spices here that keeps the sweet and typically feminine floral edge of the fragrance in check. There's a bitter green tint as well, from artemisia and violet leaf. It's a wonderfully complex fragrance that moves from cold to warm as it dries down from flowers to roots. Broken Glass has great sillage and longevity at 6+ hours.

I adore more challenging, herbaceous scents. Broken Glass is absolutely the ticket - just what I was looking for. I love the pungent, almost cinnamon accord of angelica root, and the bracing green of geranium. On me, it starts off with a vegetal blast, seeming almost "too much" from a distance. It then turns into a spicy, incense-blend before settling into more a rosey, vanilla musk. Absolutely love it. Very original, very modern, likely not a crowd pleaser. This would be either a more masculine scent, or for a woman who is all sharp corners and quick words.

Upon spraying, I was greeted by a strange, pungent chemical scent which quickly diffused into a delightfully spicy floral. The spicy in resinous notes tone down the florals, resulting in a warm and dreamy unisex fragrance. Maintains its mystique through the dry down, but may be challenging for some. Good sillage and longevity. I ordered this sample on a whim, but Broken Glass has quickly become one of my favorites, only getting better with each wear.