STILL

light, sharp, clean scent, good for cool spring or hot summer. on my skin it starts immediately as wet rich soil with a hint of green, like digging your hands into fresh dirt after a light rain, and the drydown gets greener and fresher with a bit of the white musk coming through. projection and sillage is mediocre on me- i need 2 generous sprays for anyone other than myself to smell it and that effect only lasts a couple hours at most- but it lingers very close to the skin for quite a while, and i find it sticks to the cuffs of my jacket for a long time as well

STILL by CBCB Fragrances is a unique, nature-inspired fragrance. I get wet earth, fresh grass, and rain-soaked woods more than a traditional perfume scent. It’s calming, atmospheric, and unisex, but definitely not a safe blind buy. Longevity is moderate on my skin. I would recommend it to people who enjoy niche and artistic fragrances

At first this smelled like grass and petrichor, but as it started to dry down it turned into a photorealistic fish tank smell, not necessarily bad (in fact it’s pretty impressive) but not something I would wear seriously for fear of leaving a scent trail of algae wherever I go

Still isn’t the kind of fragrance I’m inspired to root around in to understand. It’s very literal, and there aren’t any magical twists or turns, which isn’t a bad thing if the vibe it creates is what you’re looking for. It’s a scent snapshot, and it’s as “photorealistic” as it gets, fragrance wise. For me, Still evokes walking in nature on a dark, moody, but contemplative, rainy day near the sea. The petrichor/ geosmin is mushroomy and damp, and the oyster accord is clearly present, providing a softer, rounded marine feel, solidifying that this local is near a body of salt water. It ends with a blend of musks that become increasingly present but merge with the natural fresh and salty water accords. It’s reserved in mood, but not in strength, and I find it projects unexpectedly well given the sort of melancholic feel it evokes. Steve and Dana of Luckyscent discussed, in a podcast, the “moment” oyster is currently having, and that it’s mostly the idea of brine, adding that the use of the word “oyster” creates a mental suggestion of a type of “mouth feel” oyster is associated with. And that’s right on the money. It seems like the mushroomy petrichor impression and the briny sea spray merge and become inseparable, creating the scent version of the texture of an oyster, as unusual as that sounds, and is. I think this will get a lot of love from fragrance enthusiasts who are looking for new hyper-niche avenues to explore. For me, I enjoyed experiencing it as something novel and compelling, and quite artistically impressive, with respect to its intent and execution. But this type of “moment” or “vibe” isn’t one I want to wear, project, or revisit. But if it’s what you’re looking for, I can’t think of anything else—at all really, and definitely not as successfully as Still does—that evokes this exact mood and sense of place and atmosphere.