Spite Eau de Parfum

A spiky - green, aromatic, searing, fleshy, crisp, beauty. I see the vision. 10/10 fabulous. Love this alone but have been layering with ELdO Afternoon of the Faun. Not for the faint of heart.

My disclaimer is that I adore everything Maddox makes. I've tried Spite EDP and EDT, and I prefer the EDP because it's a bit greener. It's not a crowd pleaser necessarily. No one has told me I smell good, and my daughter has, in fact, told me she doesn't like it, but she's 7, so not a reliable nose. I really enjoy smelling myself. I think all Chronotope scents sit close to the skin, with the exception of Buen Camino perhaps. There's not much sillage, so if you want something that will fill a room, this isn't it. This is humble and quiet and private; it's between two people at most. At first spray, there is rose and something pickley. I think this must be the balsamic, and it's likely what my daughter doesn't like. But this doesn't last long. It becomes sweet and then a very green rose. I smell the carnation and then the lavender, but it's an old fashioned lavender that reminds me of a sachet my mother kept in an old trunk. When I saw that Nasturtium was a note, I scoffed, but I do think there's a hint of that spiciness for sure. I don't know enough to speak to the more obvious notes of galbanum, vetiver, and sandalwood. I suspect the vetiver is making the rose green and the sandalwood is making it smell like a well-watered garden. I started wearing this in late spring when it was raining and mostly cool but incredibly, surreally green in what is typically a dry, brown climate. To me it has a feeling of nightshades, which aren't projecting until the end of summer. There's also something reminiscent of hay, when it's making seeds, and roses, which aren't blooming until mid-summer. So I'm wearing it again now (in July). As I said, it's a perfume for two people, and this feels like the spite. The second person might not like this. It's not going to make anyone want to get sexy. For me, it's beautiful, confident, distanced. It just feels very self-contained and special. It's a scary rose, not leathery or smokey, but one that might sting rather than prick.

GREEN. The most green thing you've ever smelled. Like what cartoons of nuclear waste might smell like. If I were to name an emotion this perfumes evokes I would say envy not spite. Interestingly, after rinsing off with water the profile was complex and beautiful. Very reminiscent of a softer Aromatics Elixir by Clinique.

I am also struggling to relate the main accords listed above with what I can actually smell on my wrist. I am getting green, powdery and a touch of yellow flowers. The woody, rose and balsamic accords have gone AWOL. I'm not liking it very much.

This IS the smell of spite. Prickly, pickle-y, harsh and severe. I must hand it to Carter that he does a mean rose thorn note. It really does have a thorny and unfriendly texture. I detect such an overdose of galbanum oil and resin here that would make vintage Vent Vert fall to its knees. It smells angry and conceptual, it's like Yoko Ono's performance art on her worst days. The limits of stark green were met with Isabelle Doyen's Nuit de Bakelite and Miskeo's Feuille, and they are utterly brilliant. Spite EDP on the other hand, shows its bristly seams, and they abrade the nose.

The opening notes upon spraying are really interesting no homies the spicy was, did not get so much of a green impression as others say, but maybe a green peppercorn or lots of herbs. I wish the rose stem would have been more prominent than rose itself. When I say the rose was prominent I mean it. After the dry down I began to smell more and more rose, by the end of the day that’s all I could smell. Maybe it’s my fault for ordering a scent with rose, I always hope to find a scent where it’s not overpowering, but that may just be the nature of rose.

This is the only chronotope perfume that I just cannot wrap my head around. All others I either like or love, this I just can’t quite relate to. It’s harshly aromatic, peppery, and surprisingly not dynamic. For me it just never settles, it always stays harshly aromatic and prickly. The name Spite is apt. The notes list has many florals listed, but I cannot seem to get past the galbanum and chili peppers. I’m sure it works for someone, but I can’t get it to work for me.

Holy Galbanum. This is A RO MA TIC and persistent. This list of accords feels way off, this is in no way tropical or fruity. I get hints at other notes, but it's mostly this harsh medicinal galbanum and cut carnation stems, a little chili pepper comes through. Very chlorophyll. This was almost completely linear on me, there is some opening fresh floral top notes that fade, maybe rose, but the featured herb eats through everything. Props for its amazing, spiteful longevity.