Mud

Mud is a beautiful smooth, milky sandalwood with vanilla-chocolate undertones. The chocolate isn’t dark or bitter but reminds me of the one in VC&A Orchidee Rouge, which smells like the milk chocolate bonbons filled with a dried berry. In both, the vanilla is more prominent than the chocolate, balancing it so you don’t smell like just that. The rose also blends with the vanilla nicely, but isn’t jammy. This is just right in terms of sweetness, the perfect blend of different scent profiles, and is very cozy. There’s some spiciness from the resins that adds a nice little, but noticeable, twist. The twist is the exact description of the elemi note: fresh spicy, balsamic, citrusy. This has moderate projection and lasts for hours on my skin, great longevity. This would be perfect for fall and I can also picture the mud baths at a spa having this aroma.

with a name like mud i thought this would be more earthy and complex, but it's a very safe feminine gourmand. on me, it mostly smells like cocoa butter and sandalwood, with a light citrusy top note and a hint of dark chocolate. pleasant, not particularly challenging, but i do get compliments when i wear it.

Unique but with a mass appealing feel. Was surprised to see that an orange accord isn’t listed as that’s what I got in the opening. And it is very nice. It’s a seductive and sensual gourmand with light and dark facets blending together perfectly.

Seems a little masculine at first, spicy and sharp, dries down to such a nice semi sweet scent.

I find this scent delightful! The first thing that always comes to mind is sunscreen, but in the most positive way, kind of reminiscent of a Beach Bum or Hawaiian Tropics brand product in feeling just a little coconutty, a little powdery, but with a touch of clean wood like a balsa wood or an incredibly light sandalwood to keep it from being overwhelmingly sweet or overtly tropical. More specifically, it smells like a rich people sunscreen, the type of thing you would borrow from a friend and be like “Oh this is nice I’m gonna remember the name and order some when I get home!” and then google the brand only to realize it’s, like, $65 an ounce and you know you’d use that up in a month. That is to say, it’s a very nice, refined, subtle, understated scent that doesn’t scream expensive unless you happen to be ~in the know~ about the brand. One of those rich people secrets. In terms of notes, I also get the cocoa but in a sharp, clean, cocoa krispies/toasted rice kind of way as opposed to a sweet gourmand, desserty kind of way. I also get a note that seems to be pretty consistent across BTSO fragrances, a kind of department store-esque, muted musk and vanilla that has a distinct but so pleasant feeling of artificiality to it and a touch of earth and minerality, almost like smelling acrylic paints (hoping maybe someone else with a little more experience could identify this compound/note- I really do like it!). I know much of this has to do with individual skin chemistry, but don’t be deterred by “sweet” being listed as the top accord. I notoriously hate sweet scents and yet don’t find this to be particularly sweet. Out of the 10 samples included in the BTSO discovery set, Mud stands out as a favorite to me and a top contender for considering purchasing a whole bottle. However, that love is not without critique. When looking at this scent in the context of the brand as a whole, I’m not quite sure it accomplished what I think it set out to accomplish. The brand is literally called BORNTOSTANDOUT. The promo images, especially for this particular product, are messy, drippy, sticky, oozing. Where is the ooze. I want more ooze from this. To me this feels half way to being a skin scent, and for that I love it. But it is not necessarily standing out. It is not bombastic and loud like the brand’s stylized all caps typesetting would have you believe. But I do like it.