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.

Definitely not similar to Ginger Biscuit and much less reminiscent of Miel Extase. This is way too floral and it smells headache inducing to me. On my skin it turns bittersweet as soon as it dries down. Sadly my expectations were not met. Very short projection. I’m definitely going to recommend Navitus Miel Extase if you’re into dry apricots, chocolate, booze and honey. Signature Aurum if you’re into a fancy baklava honey 🍯

Obsessed with this, I couldn’t stop smelling my wrist after spraying it. Very medicinal for the first minute (reminded me of cough syrup) but it turns into the most beautiful boozy honey scent after that! Perfect for the colder weather. And great lasting power, stays on skin for 7+ hours and on clothes for multiple days.

I love it. I'm definitely getting the honey and the rose. I'm vegan tho so idk what actual honey is supposed to smell like. Update: tried it on a different day and now I'm only getting rum. why must the world be so cruel? bring back the honey and rose

This brings back memories of eating honey-drizzled pancakes with my mom (who's wearing a floral perfume). It's syrupy, slightly boozy, and warm. The floral/rose note is there, but it isn't overpowering.

It's not a real honey scent but it's quite nice rum-vanilla-imagined honey and maybe tonka combo. I can't really smell pepper nor rose in this

Just got a sample! It smells boozy honey to me. This is before I read the notes though. I smell rose, vanilla, oud. Its really good.

Reminds me of a less expensive smelling version of Nefs by Nishane. Better than the rating suggests.

The best Honey scent and well balanced with Rose. Last long time on Skin with moderate projection.

It's a sexy bright red voluptuous rose dipped in a glass jar of golden sweet honey.

Mad Honey comes off as a highly processed, if not artificial, take on the classic Rose-Honey formula seen in the likes of Rose Barbare and Sa Majeste La Rose. While Rose Barbare is filtered but otherwise unprocessed honey in an elixir with soapy-fresh rose, clean yet indulgent, Mad Honey is high-fructose honey, if not honey-flavored syrup, sprinkled with faux petals soaked in rose-scented flavoring. Artificial, Tooth-achingly Saccharine, and Stubbornly pungent. But is it bad? No, it’s absolutely not. I personally don’t search for hyper-realism in perfumery, but I am a sucker for theatrics. This is ART-ificial. It conjures up images of moody neon-pinks atop of sticky sheets. The scent of rose soap still somewhere lingering for the cleaning crew to smell after two paramours stumble out of their motel room with rumpled clothes and still high off something laced with honey and something a little more maddening, the infatuation still sticky sweet and young. It delivers on the BTSO promise of standing out with a tenacious and sometimes dizzying sillage and a saccharine experience that borders diabetic. It’s indulgent and maddening, despite it being powdery at times and even soft. Cloying as it may be, it’s one of the more thought out and less derivative and reiterative of the first batch of fragrances made by the brand and one that has a special spot on my growing collection. Sometimes I don’t want to feel austere and classy with my honeyed roses. There are days where I want to brat out and have fun, be obnoxious, be youthful. When those days come, I want Mad Honey dripping off of me.

The very first spritz I did of this one was a pure literal honey, when I inhale I get the rose, and a lot of oud. It is slightly spicy in the opening, but it is just barely there behind the honey and rose. I get a clear childhood memory from this one, eating a slice of bread with honey in my grandparents house, before running for my life being chased by a wasp whilst playing around grandmas rose bushes. Now that would probably be «Mad Honey» for me. I really wish I got some of that rum note, but in BORNTOSTANDOUT fragrances I can’t seem to grasp the alchohol notes? I don’t know if the alcohol notes is so well blended in, or if we have so different views of how certain alcoholic drinks are supposed to smell? I don’t know? When this dries down, I finally get some of the vanilla. It is a spicy and sophisticated one, and I get some slighly amber-y and balsamic notes as well. I guess that is the benzoin? The initial oud-like smell I get in the opening also disappears in the drydown. Nevertheless, the honey and rose are still the main smells, which is fine, but it gets a bit cloying after a while. In my opinion it is very feminine leaning, but I understand the ‘Oud Satin Mood’ reference even though I find that one to be completely unisex and drier. To whoever put down ‘Noir de Noir’ in the remind me of section, I have to ask, how? I could like this one, because it has a great sillage and staying power, it is an exciting (but maybe a tad too sweet?) take on a honey fragrance, but the start is a bit too much even though the drydown gets a lot better.

Mad Honey is like nectar fermented in the throat of something carnivorous. It really grabs you. Don't expect a gentle honey or even a sticky one because this one is legit feral. Like wild orchids blooming too close to a carcass. Honey with legs and claws, pollinated by teeth. Thick rose syrup sloshes beneath, narcotic and a little slutty, mixed with some sort of a physicality here. Not body-warmth, but body heat. Heat from crushed things: petals, beetles, pheromones, all things humming with decay in the most compelling way. I almost smell an earthy geosmin, but blink and it’s Iso E Super smoothing the surface, like varnish over rot. It’s filthy, but controlled. This sweetness too isn’t the cloying, cheap candy perfume type, more like one inebriated. It stumbles all glossy-eyed, among woods and resins and champagne-y roses, while the sheen of coumarin and darker musks growl beneath. Wearing it is like wandering too deep into a jungle temple where the honey runs rabid and red, where it's both sacred and poisonous. Not for me, but wow. Just... wow. For days where you fantasise about being devoured by a flower, Mad Honey's already licking its lips.

This one took me by surprise and I was intrigued enough to get a full bottle as I don't have anything with honey in my collection. I did not expect to like this one but the opening is stunning. Overall I get Rum, Honey and Rose, very clean smelling while still a bit boozy. My wife hates this one sadly but I'm really enjoying it. I'd say it leans a bit feminine but the Rum and Pink Pepper do have a bit of a masculine vibe which makes this one just fine for a man to wear imo. Performance has been really good despite reviews saying otherwise. This lasts quite a while on my skin and is very pleasant. I'd agree that it's rose forward along with the honey note. A bit overpriced imo but I didn't have anything like it and it happened to wow me when trying out in store. This and Drunk Lovers were my favorite from the brand.

I don’t get the rose at all. If anything, it smells like you took fresh honey from a local’s farmer’s market and drizzled it on your arms. And the honey stand happens to be in a middle of a booth doing some rum tastings on the left and a flower arrangement class on the right. The honey is photorealistic and takes center stage. Just go grab your honey jar from your kitchen cabinet and that’s what it smells like!! I do like it though, it’s not too sweet but very much still gourmand

This scent is pretty good to me. You definitely get the honey, in fact I'm reminded of the honey sticks I used to buy at the apple orchard as a kid. It is a little one dimensional and sweet for me so I don't think I would invest in a full bottle, but if you like honey fragrances, I would give this one a try, the rum note does add a little more to an otherwise run of the mill sweet perfume. Overall 7/10