Ashes

Pretty and very melancholy. Wet concrete, wet dirt, wet grass, wet flowers. The humid breeze of a rainy day in front of an open air flower shop. I get a sense of the water buckets that the cut stems have been sitting in all day. Not to be too macabre, but I spent a lot of my childhood visiting loved ones in cemeteries, and this takes me right back to that (a calming, nostalgic presence for me). Gardenia here is a bit distracting. It's a bit old-school perfume-y, like someone is wearing Jungle Gardenia right next to me. Thankfully, that wet dirt note carries throughout. Settles into a pure gardenia fragrance after a few hours. Bright, musky vetiver at the very end. Sillage, according to the people around me, is pretty great, even though I think it sits very very close to my skin. Lasts through the entire day though. Like another reviewer mentioned below, this does come close to Silver Linings by the long-gone Mirus Fine Fragrance—a masterpiece, of which I have half a 15ml bottle that I'm trying desperately to make last for the rest of my life. It's the only fragrance that has brought me to tears (in a good way). Ashes is a lot airier than Silver Linings, which makes it a lot more intimate, and creamy-floral in the drydown, which makes it more wearable imo. Ashes also doesn't seem like the right name for this. There is no smoke or incense here, although perhaps the association for the perfumer is a columbarium? I don't wear this beyond sombre occasions, but I will say when I wear it out people have only had positive reactions to it, no association with death.

I’ve gone through half a bottle of this stuff. With a large library of scents like most of us Fragrantica members have, you’ll understand what an accomplishment that is in the space of a single season. Others will have better, more thorough reviews than mine. I’ll say that it reminds me of a grassier(or at least less floral) version of the brilliant but discontinued Silver Linings by Mirus. This has a more sheer, luminous airiness that can be perceived at first as having an almost mainstream quality but I think that’s a reductive way to view this perfume, especially in light of how truly unlike anything in the mainstream this is. I’d say it’s more of a technical marvel, worthy of a group of highly trained professionals, than a crowd pleaser. Though, from my experience, this one does actually get positive attention. Well, my girlfriend lights up everytime I wear this. Though that may speak more to the challenging stuff that I often prefer. This is fantastic stuff. Everyone should sample the Clandestine Laboratories line.

Damp soil and wilting floral bouquet. The soil is the most present accord for a majority of the wear and the florals are peeking out from underneath. This is mainly a scent of melancholy, but I can see how they intend it to be hopeful as well. It's reminiscent of gardening but also a freshly dug grave in damp earth—catching occasional whiffs of the floral spray atop the coffin before it is lowered into the ground. It's a moderate wear for sure, only about 4 hours before it's a skin scent but it's a really nice 4 hours if you love the smell of it!

This perfume is a wonder - an incredible accomplishment. It smells earthy - like green pea shoots bursting out of black dirt enriched by volcanic rocks and ash. It also smells clean and fresh, with just a touch of jasmine floral. It's beautifully balanced and unusual - yet still good for the office. The earth doesn't disappear, either. It lingers nicely. I found this perfume at Stele, a store in Brooklyn, and bought the last bottle in stock. I regret nothing!

Oh, this is gorgeous! A strong soil accord (for those of you to whom this means anything, think BPAL) gives way to an airy but fascinating floral heart. Gardenia is the star, but clover is very much on the scene. And just when you think the soil has disappeared, it creeps up again. The whole scent has a slightly moist, cool, green quality. I’m actually regretting putting it on this chilly morning even though I can recognize how beautiful it is !

literally like sticking your face into wet earth after a heavy rain. like almost a scent i associate with mildew and drenched wood? like almost claustrophobic! then the dry floral comes in, but the earthy greenness sticks around. have never smelled a perfume like this. definitely will get people looking around on the subway during the packed morning commute wondering who brought a bag of graveyard dirt onto the train car. obsessed.

I love this one, definitely the standout of the sample set I received with a recent order. It's earth but as a clean, organized, conceptual element, not as something dirty. I almost want to use the word "zen" but I feel like in the perfume world that probably has all kinds of oriental(ist) connotations...so instead I'll say it reminds me of how it feels to look at an Agnes Martin painting in a cold museum. Very neat stuff.

perfect awesome delicious digging in the damp dirt scent. nostalgic for people who were once impish little children whose parents let them roll around in the mud. did not buy a bottle because i didn’t know what occasion could possibly call for the perfume but I’m deeply regretting tbh. who will buy me dirt perfume for xmas...

Is this any every day wear for me? No, it's occasional in the literal sense -- it must be suited to the occasion. Reminds me of the moss and lichen on moist rocks in the Icelandic wilderness. Loamy, humid, mossy, verdant, nostalgic, and somehow deeply sad. This is the scent I would wear to the funeral of an old friend.

Clean, industrial, misty. It's a sentimental scent that reminds me of nights where I would stare out the window and all i could smell was the petrichor. I imagine it might smell sterile to someone else, but the petrichor brings me to my happy place. Love :)

A stunning southern gothic beauty. I was immediately taken with the naturalistic and expanding gardenia, blooming in the dark within gently stirred soil. A mellow loam and the stillness of a cold mausoleum. Distinctly earthy with a quiet austerity.

Based on the notes & name, I expected this one to be a bit dirtier, more earthen and worn, emerging from the soil and ash. But it's actually a much more atmospheric, aquatic scent, singularly wet and translucent without an elemental process of decay. Everything is quite subtle and ungrounded, even the aroma of the florals seem to emerge quietly from a vase of stagnant water.

This smells exactly like cremated human remains. I do not understand the positive reviews as there is nothing sweet nor floral about this. It just smells like Earth and human cremains. I don't know what I was expecting tbh but I am disappointed.

Thought this would be a big like for me, as I usually like soil notes. Unfortunately I just can't wear it. Very unique and well constructed though. In the realm of cold, damp, stones and tilled earth scents, this is one of the wettest. I sense a bunch very languid, wilted gardenia petals, and instead of soil it feels like those were squeezed and mixed with water that's drained through the bottom of a pot. It's almost pretty if it weren't so morose, but that's the point I guess. For all that I have to say that CL's own description of the scent is spot on. There's a sensual humidity here, a smooth, clean blending with a subtle vegetal character. Greenery that touches both decay and new life...Definitely worth a sample, but it leans into white florals with a sour, gossamer touch that feels a bit too delicate for me, as a personal preference. It rides that wearable/not wearable line within experimental perfume very evenly.

Honestly very disappointed, when I first found CL this was the one that piqued my interest the most, now, almost everything I’ve tried from Mark has been legitimately exceptional, Film Noir is one of the best scents I have ever smelled, Silver is amazingly unique, Master is deeply sexy, Vert is just bright and spicy in such a good way, but Ashes, the one that I was most interested, with probably the coolest pitch and concept, smells like absolutely nothing. Which is weird because I’ve talked to Mark and making damn sure you smell the thing is his biggest goal but like, it just doesn’t smell like anything, there’s this extremely feint pleasant floral-y scent to it(sort if like a white floral version of springtime in the park after it dried down), but it’s barely noticeable. You should support CL, they make great fragrances, Film Noir is a must buy, Silver arguably is too, but Ashes just really didn’t do anything for me

Earth, earth, grass... Geosmin... I feel green. It is strong, suggestive, but after a few minutes it starts to brighten and before our eyes, from this grassy earth emerges a flower, flowers... gardenia? Jasmine? What else? They grow at an express pace, filling the scent and coming to the foreground, leaving our earthy earth and grass in the background. With the growth of floral notes, the scent is lifted up with slightly smoky incense. A very good and interesting composition. Longevity and projection very good

Was given a sample of this along with a recent purchase and this quite literally the weirdest fragrance I’ve ever smelled. Can’t imagine ever wearing something like this but I’m not that adventurous when it comes to fragrances

pacific northwest rainforest, green burial, clean wet compost. not sure where i would wear this to but it’s an experience. would love to smell like this when i decompose.

Yup, I also get mostly loamy dirt. It's a clean dirt, but the floral notes are nowhere to be found.