Dirty Rice

I’ve been in my rice era for a while now, trying to find a perfume that encapsulates a childhood memory of mine: going to order rice cake from the ice cream man and eating it in my great grandmothers Hawaiian traditional plantation home in the heat of the Hawaiian summer. I was trying to find a perfume that had the sweet gourmands of a rice cake, the smell of woody floors, a grandma’s home and humid air. And for some reason, this perfume does it. I went to Silverlake with a couple of friends and we were testing perfumes at a boutique. As I was testing perfumes, I came across BTSO Dirty Rice and I actually aimed wrong and sprayed it on my fingers. I sprayed on the paper, smelled it, didn’t smell anything and went on with my testing. But I kept getting whiffs of it on my finger. It was strange— I couldn’t smell it on paper, but on skin, it came to life. I sprayed it on my wrist, went outside to get a true smell and I think my heart skipped a beat. Creamy, milky sandalwood and this lingering sweet rice cake in front, with a feminine florals in the background, like a bouquet of flowers that’s been on the kitchen counter for 3 days. I sprayed my whole body with this before leaving the boutique. So comforting and gourmand. But not sickly sweet, syrupy gourmand. It’s extremely grounded, inviting, uplifting yet calm and homey at the same time. It’s a skin scent, making it very personal and the scent bubble is very small. But the vibe of the perfume is a little bit more extroverted. Like a girl who has a small and private circle, but can also be friends to everyone, no matter their background. It definitely leans feminine but not in a girly way. It leans feminine in a way that kindness and friendliness evokes feminine energy. This is a “quiet girls girl.” Someone who is a girls girl but isn’t performative or showy about it. She has a great heart and supports the women in her life through personal and thoughtful ways. If I can compare this fragrance to anything, it would be Valaya Exclusif, but without the fruit notes and an added rice note. They do share an almond note after all. This is much more wearable than Valaya, however. The combination of Almond and Sandalwood honestly does something to my soul because I had the same reaction to smelling Valaya. My only complaint is that this lasted only an hour before it completely vanished. I’m actually quite disappointed by that, but it makes sense because it’s a skin scent.

I'm on a quest for the perfect rice fragrance, and this is stop number one. I've had my eye on BORNTOSTANDOUT for a while, and though reviews have warned that this isn't a photorealistic rice fragrance, I was still delighted to receive it as a gift. In its earlier stages, it has far more projection than expected, even if it gets more intimate as it evolves. The initial spray on paper is completely sandalwood — soft, creamy, smooth. The same comes through on my skin, though I will note that the scent does vary based on the day, much like another creation of Olivier Cresp: my beloved Juniper Sling by Penhaligon's, the scent that got me into fragrances. One thing I do appreciate about scents like these that are a little "inconsistent" is that I never get tired of them, even if I'm wearing them multiple days in a row. There's always something new to discover. After a few minutes, it morphs into an almost powdery, plasticky peony scent. It's at this point that the fragrance started to really stick more intimately to my skin, and I see why people called this one a "skin scent"; it's not just the neutral muskiness of the scent itself, but also the way it barely hovers over your pulse points. Its final form is a starchy, milky development on the peony, and whilst I am absolutely in love with the starchiness of it, it very much does feel like a fragrance inspired by rice water or rice milk rather than rice itself. Perhaps the Korean drink makgeolli was an influence? The almond adds a bit of nutty sweetness. It does make me feel a little as though I'm enveloped in a soft, fluffy blanket. It's not overly lactonic, but there is an undercurrent of that depth that you get when you smell milk versus water — almost like a cloudiness. So, no, Dirty Rice is not a photorealistic rice fragrance, but I wasn't really asking it to be, either. In fact, I think we need to reinterpret the name, because "dirty rice" is exactly what I get — the starchy, discarded water left after a thorough wash of the eponymously dirty rice, like a memory of that dirtiness tucked into a capsule for your enjoyment.

I was underwhelmed when I first tried Dirty Rice at the NYC LuckyScent bar on my search for rice perfumes, influenced by the note's rising subcultural traction. On paper the fragrance’s composition paled in comparison to the more striking samples I tried that day, and I forgot about it soon after. However, when I tried it again on my skin on a whim, something about the scent elusively whispered to me. I began going into the store to spray it on myself at the end of almost every one of my shifts, intoxicated by an indefinite quality that I just couldn’t quite articulate, and I eventually purchased the full bottle. Dirty Rice opens with an almost-damp woodiness but rapidly warms into a creamy, lactonic scent embracing the skin, like the smell of your Mom cooking rice pudding wafting into your childhood bedroom or the nostalgic comfort of drinking a cup of warm milk before bedtime. I tend to avoid lactonic-forward fragrances, but I’m deeply entangled in my love affair with Dirty Rice’s delicate starchiness, kissed by powdery musk and enriched with uber-creamy sandalwood. It's not a intense scent by any means, with a sillage best described as intimate, but I find this subtlety to resemble a fond memory, held tightly to the heart and only shared with one's most cherished loved ones. Understated but entirely present - Dirty Rice just might be my new favourite everyday scent.

It's a gorgeously soft & delicate and calming comfort scent, with just tiny bit hint of "dirtyness" which gives the fragrance cozy, intimate & body closeness vibe what is enchanced by the fibrous & lactonic quality of the sandalwood. It's a smooth, mellow, sticky milky rice pudding which is somehow dense but also ethereal & airy at the same time. The thick & dense feeling comes from the "play-dough " creamy-dollop / posh like quality of the almond but the scent itself doesn't get heavy on it or at all thanks to (among other things) that sophisticated ricepowdery-musky powderiness. It's milkwarm & sweetish one but it's sweet in a mild, light & neutral way. This fragrance is full of softness, sensitivity and touched by intimate sensuality. It's feel like when you feel yourself safe and cozy close to your loved one. It's just like the sensitive caring, how you touch something fragile and precious. It's smells like as the feeling when the softest cashmere embraces the skin.

This is a delicious scent. I instantly got the rice and almond, dry down is when the milk and sandalwood start to peek in. And then I get the harmony of all of the notes with that hint of peony and vetiver. I really love this scent actually. I see myself purchasing this and layering it with Freckled and Beautiful by A Lab On Fire. They both have this lactonic essence but the wood of this one with the green of freckled would be an interesting and scrumptious pairing. Back to dirty rice, I have been itching to try this for a year now and finally smelling it didn’t disappoint. It actually exceeded my expectations. It’s comforting and woody. The wood notes reallt ground the rice and milk notes beautifully. It reminds me of the color mauve and grey. It has a delicate balance that embodies dirty rice so expertly. Yes it smells like unwashed rice, but it also has a sensual and smoky dynamic that my nose finds very addictive. The duration is great and the projection is good.