Mad Honey

Sampling Borntostandout Mad Honey, a mix of honey, rose, rum, pink pepper, and a blended base of vanilla, patchouli, tonka, benzoin, and ambergris, mainly adding an earthy, sweet, creamy aspect to the dry down. Mostly, the scent is defined by the rose-and-honey-led sweet and spicy opening that remains prominent into the dry down, and the rose especially lingers quite a bit to my nose, really being the standout note more so than the eponymous honey, even, so this is really a scent for rose lovers, I’d argue, though it’s well supported by creamy, sweet, spicy, resinous elements that give it complexity, depth, and perhaps a slightly broader appeal. It’s quite intense, though, something I’d opt to wear in cooler weather or when looking to stand out a bit. Fortunately, it’s not too heady but there’s definitely a slghtly sharp, powdery corner of the experience of smelling it that I get wafts of periodically when re-smelling on skin. Like the rest of the line, Mad Honey is EDP, sold at a handful of US boutiques like Ministry of Scent, and priced at $290/210/85 for 100/50/15ml. It’s likely the best-performing scent I’ve tried from the house so far, with a pretty strong scent cloud resulting from just a couple of sprays via the sample obtained as part of the Dark & Drunk discovery set. Overall, it’s an interesting and compelling blend that I would regard as a love rather than a like, in the scheme of things, probably my second favorite of the line after Drunk Maple. 8 out of 10

Honey is always a hit or miss for me. I either love it or hate it. In this case, Mad Honey does both. The opening is a white/yellow floral with a honeycomb twist. But mostly floral -at best it is an abstract rose. The pink peppery floral here gives of a bit of pot-pourri style rose, more than a jammy oud-y rose, that lends itself for a vintage vibe. This vintage feel lasts about 30 minutes (on my skin and in the heat). I do prefer the dry down (at this stage it does remind me of Oud Satin Mood), but you do have to bare with it for the first 60 minutes. It may not pay off for many as it does go a bit animalic the "ambergris" or Orcanox feels less marine and more along the lines of castoreum or civet (I love both). Mad Honey should have been called "Funky Floral Honey", for accuracy purposes. In terms of tenacity, it has good enough staying power - don't expect however to be on a Drunk Saffron or Smokin'Gun level. Sillage is similar to Drunk Maple. Present but not overbearing. The Dark Side from FBianchi remains unbeatable in the honey adjacent category. I do not feel I "need it" or "crave it" as much as others on my whishlist. Having said that, I would consider buying this fragrance, as I do enjoy it.

A full fleshy rose dipped into a glass of honeyed rum. I get all the facets with this one. Crystalline honey Boozy liquor And a decadent rose. It’s so delicious I find myself sniffing my arm over and over. I own Oud Satin Mood, Tabac Rose, and Oud Boquet. while I can understand why people may draw comparisons, I find them very different. OSM is powdery with that added violet. Tabac Rose is bright and acidic with a chocolaty dry down. Oud Boquet is to my nose mainly Rose Oud and does that very well. There’s no oud to my nose here, no citrus, nor powdery ness. It’s all boozy honey with that rose touch to keep it feeling like a perfume rather than a body splash or body crème. I loved my sample so much I had to have a full bottle. I’m not a “fan” of the look of the bottles nor the marketing. Not really my style but I loved the fragrance enough to make an exception.

This one had been on my radar for a while, but I didn't want to blind buy. Finally found a store near me that has it so I could test it, and it was instant love! After a few days of testing, I love it so much I got the full bottle. This is the perfect honey rose of my dreams. The opening is rich and sweet honey, and the rum note is clearly present at first, although it fades fast. What remains is a gorgeous honey rose that lasts for many hours. Often in perfumes, the rose notes tend to be most prominent in the opening, then dissipate. Here it's the opposite, and as time goes by the rose shines more and more. I love love love this way more than I imagined possible!

I tried it when it was scorching hot and it was good. Now that it's colder it's so much prettier (obviously, it's a very sweet gourmand lol), I can feel some booze, but in a good way, and the honey is not photorealistic, but sweet and very warming on a cold day, like I just had some hot mead :DD Wish I could feel pepper more, but honestly I was surprised how much better this works when I run around in 10 degrees celsius instead of 30 lol. I could smell it the whole day if I focused on the perfume, but it didn't made my head hurt. And my friends told me that I smell good so that's the biggest win.