The Point

Clue! The excitement around this brand is contagious, and for good reason: all of their scents are so original and interesting, and their sensibility is so distinctive: a little bit cute, a little bit retro, tasteful and highly considered yet unpretentious, experimental but accessible, and surprising above all. I feel like the essence of Clue is a thought bubble with an exclamation point and question mark in it (an interrobang??). I love the Harry Nilsson soundtrack for the 1971 film that inspired this fragrance and the description sounded like such a perfect summer scent: “A cup of jasmine tea brewed with ocean water.” And it smells exactly like that! The seawater accord is incredible: salty, sandy, and briny in a way that most fresh, “aquatic” perfumes do not accurately nail at all. The jasmine tea is dreamy and mysterious. It gets washed out by the ocean notes in a sort of watercolour way, but it retains a feeling of seriousness that fits with the evocation of the deep sea. On that basis, the brand’s line “a cartoon drawing of jasmine tea” feels a tiny bit misleading, since I feel like there’s something quite wild and poetic about The Point, it doesn’t feel as “cute” as Warm Bulb (which does evoke a comic-strip drawing of a light bulb for me). The floral note of the jasmine combines with the honeyed patchouli of the heart notes to suggest a vintage flavour, a tinge of hippie vibes that fit with the 70s aesthetic of the source material, but in an abstract way that doesn’t go overboard into beads-and-fringes paisley head-shop territory. The mineral top notes and seaweedy ambergris in the base also inflect the patchouli in a surprisingly masculine way: at times, The Point almost seems to be giving whiffs of fougère, though the fragrance drifts and eddies like the tide going out, it’s very nonlinear. I love the sandy drydown—it really smells like wet sand, and I feel like I’m picking up sun-bleached driftwood in there, too. Unlike some other commenters, I’m not finding that it lasts very long (only about 3 hours), though this might be an issue with dabbing from a sample vial. In my fairly limited experience with tea scents, they present a light screen that benefits from generous application. I’m super tempted to get a full bottle of this just to enjoy for the remainder of summer, though I also think I’m really going to want a FB of Warm Bulb when the autumn rolls around, so I might hold off for that.

This is a fascinating, intimate perfume. Do not overspray!! This is definitely intended to be sprayed lightly, I do not recommend using more than one spray on any given area. When used sparingly, it's an extremely subtle and romantic salty jasmine, very atmospheric and evocative of the ocean. The experience is akin to walking past a patch of jasmine and being hit with such a airy whiff of fragrance that you have to turn back to sniff deeper. It fades to a very muted marine scent that is hard to put your finger on, but soft, comforting and very alluring. Almost like going to the beach and leaving with an indiscernible lingering sea smell. It's so lovely and ephemeral. Loving the scent so much, I bumped up to a few more sprays, but doing so completely ruins the fragrance. When oversprayed it truly smells like an overpowering combination of generic perfume counter floral, as if 50 perfumes were sprayed at once. It's not unpleasant per se but it's very distracting and very loud, and completely loses the nuance that you get from spraying lightly. Long story short - this frag really shines when used in a intimate way. It's best worn close to the skin, not broadcast to the world. I find it romantic that it's meant to be so private, a little treat for just me. If you're looking for projection I'd look elsewhere. I highly recommend if you're looking for something special and personal. It's a beautiful atmospheric experience when used the right way. I'm very impressed by the integrity and insistent subtlety of this fragrance. Love.

A beautiful pairing for the film it takes its name from (for those interested, the full 1971 film The Point can be found on YouTube), Clue's latest is their most approachable offering yet, without sacrificing their distinctly niche creative mission. The rendition of seawater here is deep and smooth, cooling and immersive and mineralic. Not a day at the beach, but the walk across the sand before submerging yourself in the waves. If perfume could be smelled through water, I'd say this should be paired with a day of swimming and diving - it wants to be worn under the surface. The sea accord is intimately entwined with the jasmine tea accord (which leans more floral and almost-fruity than tea-like to my nose); the pitch about a cup of tea brewed with sea water feels apt, as the sea water is what gives the perfume its body and cradles the delicate, slightly heady jasmine. This jasmine doesn't feel quite literal, but more emblematic - the avatar of a sea spirit, drawn with clean lines and pastel colors. Throughout the perfume's life and more noticeable in the drydown, there's an almost-salty patchouli-muskiness in the background that gives a cozy tingle and keeps the whole composition around for longer than I would have expected. In all, it's whimsical and vivid in the images it paints, and confirms that I'm gonna be hooked on whatever Clue puts out for the forseeable future.

You know, perfume is such a fascinating hobby. When I initially sampled this fragrance, it underwhelmed me. I put my sample away for a while and forgot about The Point while wearing other scents. Then, after a few months, I felt compelled to spray it onto my hand again... and I was WOWED. A few more sample wears later and I now own a full bottle. This is an absolutely gorgeous oceanic fragrance. Honey notes usually tend to turn cloying and overwhelming on my skin, but the sweetness of the honey is tempered perfectly by the salty and mineralic aspects. What really seals the deal for me is the dry-down; ambergris and sand add just enough dirt and grit to fully captivate my senses. It's hard for me to describe the jasmine tea accord with words, but it noticeably adds headiness to the fragrance. The Point smells like a day at the ocean as seen through a kaleidoscopic fantasy lens. The sea water is a more vibrant shade of blue than in reality, the sun lovingly warms skin with no threat of sunburn, and out of the corner of your eye you swear you might've just seen a mermaid diving underneath the waves.

Absolute perfection, The Point captures a specific summer moment- freshly brewed jasmine tea in your favorite porcelain mug, a wooden deck damp with steamy rain, watching a looming summer storm roll out to sea. I have found jasmine tea to be a difficult note to translate into perfumes I have sampled in the past, but it’s wonderfully realized in The Point. There’s a heady, honeyed patchouli note, that gives depth and a strong foundation for the rest of the softer notes to sit on. The scent dries into something like an ocean breeze, but specifically after a sudden thunderstorm- briny and humid, like you can feel the salt in the air sticking to your skin (the use of ambergris in this scent is so intentional and balanced). Just a touch of that original jasmine tea remains in the dry down to keep everything fresh. The copy describes this as “jasmine tea brewed with ocean water” and that’s really spot on. The Point is such a nuanced “oceanic scent”, unlike anything I’ve ever sniffed, and I’m thrilled to have it in my collection. Yet another stunning piece of olfactory art from Clue Perfumery!