Room 237

I've only tried this and Lampblack from Mr Fazzolari thus far, but both are extremely unique and well made fragrances. This is definitely the stranger of the two, in concept and execution, but it's not weird for the sake of being weird. It just takes a strange idea and makes it work. First of all I am a huge Stanley Kubrick fan and The Shining is one of my favorite films of all time. I think its fairly obvious that the scene that takes place in Room 237's bathroom is the inspiration for this fragrance. Jack is walking hypnotically through the bedroom and into the bathroom. Theres an ethereal haze to everything as a woman slowly reveals herself from behind a shower curtain. She slowly emerges from the water as Jack stares on, entranced. The two approach each other, and begin to embrace. When Jack glances up after kissing her, he sees in the mirror behind them that the woman has become a decrepit, rotting elderly woman. The music swells as the ghost woman laughs, chasing off the disturbed Jack. The shower curtain is here. It's that strong, plasticky vinyl smell thats familiar in such a strange way. As is a slightly floral, soapy note, no doubt the woman's bathwater. Theres even a bit of a clean muskiness, the woman's fresh washed body. The overall fragrance has a hazy, clean warmth, like a bathroom after a long hot shower. But somewhere beneath all that there is something seriously strange. Some dark, smoky, dare I say moldy undercurrent. It throws a wrench in the fragrance in the best way possible. I totally understand why some people seem to have some difficulty enjoying this fragrance with the scene in mind. It perfectly represents room 237, in the beginning the fragrance is entrancing, hypnotic, strange, yet weirdly inviting and seductive. The drydown shows a much more confusing, disturbing side...but it's still appealing. Maybe that moldy darkness was there the whole time, just like Jack in the photograph at the end of the film. Room 237 (the fragrance) captures the hypnotic, alluring insanity that Kubrick's film mastered. From a technical standpoint, I commend Fazzolari for using a plastic/vinyl accord outside the realm of "hyper-modern" "industrial" CDG-esque future scents or the Demeter/Brosius world of photorealism. It is truly art, embracing the evocative and unpleasant in order to create a new experience for the wearer. 8/10

I got a sample of Room 237 in the portfolio set that Bruno Fazzolari offers on his website. I was initially interested in Lampblack, but Room 237 has become my second favorite of his fragrances. It is so unique. I'm wearing it today and it is one of my favorite fragrances to wear. I'm trying to describe it. I watched a YouTube video review by Lanier Smith and he probably described it best. I'm paraphrasing but, "Like a fresh clean bathroom". It reminded him of a nice smelling bathroom cleaner. I definitely agree but, that does not do this fragrance justice. I will have to come back and figure out a way to describe it better. After I finished the sample I bought a bottle and its in my top 5 favorites. I first purchased this in 2018. Every Christmas I purchase a bottle of Room 237 just to prepare in the off chance Fazzolari decides to stop making it. It is that good. I also like the connection to the Stephen King novel The Shinning. It's one of his best books and the 1980 movie was decent. One warning though, do not watch the documentary Room 237. I did and its possibly the worst documentary I have ever seen.

"Named after the spotless hotel room and source of all evil in Stanley Kubrick's film , The Shining . Ultra fresh , uncanny , chilling." Love the concept , the packaging , and fortunately for me , the fragrance ! Room 237 is a clean in a lemon soft scrub bathroom cleaner kind of way , yet somehow , it works . Imagine scrubbing your tub , and you have lots of lemony bleach bubbles and chlorinated water swirling around , and you have room 237 . You can definitely sense something clean and 'green' as well as musky in this scent which makes it a perfume instead of a bathroom cleaner . Very nice , wears close to the skin which is probably a good thing . This is artistic in it's presentation in both wear and appearance . I look forward to sampling others from the collection in the near future .

Incredibly nostalgic. It brings up memories of being at my cousin's house in the 90s and going down into the basement, where everything was brown carpet and those big overstuffed scratchy couches, and the big-screen TV that weighed like 300 lbs and would shock you if you touched it. This scent really changes as it dries down which is super interesting. The plastic/vinyl note really pops after several minutes. I was pleasantly surprised by this!

to approximate this scent, jerk off near a freshly made mop bucket: the orgasmic nasal dilation will fill you to the toe top full with chemical licks of unnameable fruits. thus are you butt naked in room 237, piney breeze pooling around you despite the windowlessness of your accommodation. if you wear this, you will engage the fight or flight response of dirty people. love it

strange but so delicious. there's something familiar and almost comforting in the cleanness of the scent (almost exactly like hotel shampoo) but the more i smell the more it confuses me. i find when i'm away from it i literally can't conjure the smell in my head, it's too mysterious... a surprising new favorite!

I thought I would hate it but I love it! It smells oddly nostalgic and familiar like I *know* this perfume, but can’t place what it is. The vinyl note is surprisingly pleasant and not what I had imagined at all. Edit: Just realized the reference to The Shining after my latest binge in the Macroverse🥴

This is a very soapy, clean fragrance, with really interesting florals. Almost bubble gummy. A very nice and enjoyable fragrance. A fun homage to The Shinning.

What is it about FZOTIC fragrances?? their challenging openings and storybook finishes. I hate the openings, love the drydowns..... When I first spray this on, I get a wicked nail polish opening..hard to get past..my first thought was nope! Can't do this one... But, then...... underneath, as it dries down, I do smell greens...lots of green notes. Mossy, warm, humid, walk-in-the-woods greens ..that, mixed with a good soap and a whisper of 7-up/Sprite floating around in there..Nice..comforting somehow. And it makes me want to buy it. The drydown is pretty great. That said, this might be a hard one to wear in public, I'm thinking.. AND, this one MUST be sprayed on skin, not clothes, or that nail polish opening never goes away..it needs to evolve on warm skin, for its magic to be released. I do appreciate the artistry of it. Part of me wants this just for wearing at home. But, not sure I'm willing to invest. I bet I will, though. FZOTIC perfumes have a way of seducing you, not unlike the woman in the bathtub, in Room 237..✨

I was expecting to be shocked and horrified, but this is actually inoffensive and quite wearable, with only a bit of a challenge in the opening. The vinyl note, most prominent for the first hour, is less like vinyl to me than just something indolic. It is somewhat challenging, though not even on the same plane as the outright halitosis-like indoles in Rania J's Jasmin Kama. Certainly that note is more strident when nose is against skin, but a few inches or a foot away, it is an interesting and not unpleasant blend. Aside from that one slightly challenging note, this comes across largely as a pleasant, greenish floral scent. The floral aspects are not overly sweet or feminine, so this remains quite unisex to me. Projection is subtle to modest. So this is totally wearable, even for the office. It's the third Fazzolari fragrance I've tested. It doesn't grab me like Five did, nor do I enjoy it as much as Lampblack, but it's pretty nice.

Room 237 is not a horror ‘fume by any stretch, though the opening is definitely all vinyl shower curtain off-gassing, which then lingers around as plastic tends to do—never degrading completely, but leaving a whiff of something a little minty and cold. At least the room is no longer being fumigated. After that, it’s all clean and proper white florals and some aquatic green notes, maybe a hint of some human musk, but nothing too skanky. There’s a similar sweet base as BF’s Monserrat and Unsettled (this feels right in line between those, maybe even a synthetic diversion on the road between the two), and the opoponax finally gains some ground as the other notes start to die down during its 8+ hour development. Not bad, but also not really enjoying it. At its core I find it to be pretty, but boring, and the added vinyl note isn’t really adding anything to make me want to dig deeper.

I tried a sample of this perfume and it is an interesting and strange one, but quite fascinating in its intention. It tries to "depict" the forbidden room of the film "The Shining" and does so with a cold view on the past. It does bring to mind senses of Ajax cleaner and shower curtains and tiles and bleach. Although that would make it seem like a bizarre and unpleasant scent, it actually is quite nice and has an astringent lemony quality that is reminiscent of those napkins that come in sealed bags for use in restaurants. There is something comforting about the smell, although I would think it can really only be worn on certain occasions. Still it is definitely worth a try.

POV: you're visiting your grandparents for the weekend, and while taking a shower, you realize you forgot your own stuff. You end up grabbing some random shower gel your grandpa uses just to get by. That's exactly how this scent feels. Overall it's a really clean-green scent, the kind you'd find in common personal care products. Yet there's an odd funkiness echoing in the background which makes it very nostalgic. I suspect that the musty aroma could from birch bud extract (pretty common ingredient in old beauty products), which could explain the nostalgia part. My only gripe is with its longevity...it only lasted about 4 hours.

I got this fragrance as a tester to start exploring niche, or 'weirdo' (what i call them) fragrances. But I fell in love with this. First is painting my nails in high school by TV light after my parents told me to go to bed - nail polish remover (NOT acetone. The pink stuff) The dry down is white flowers in the other room, wafting through the house. I don't get any vinyl but I love the story of this scent. Not exactly wearable imo unless you like wearing bright colors and being a little confusing but I wear it around the house just so I can smell it and transport myself.

I had the pleasure of sampling this for a few days and have to say it was a very intriguing experience. One can't escape that green tiled bathroom of horror from Kubrick's masterpiece. That said, there is a bright cleanliness that speaks to freshly scrubbed tile and new bathroom rugs and shower curtains. What I smell is an otherworldly clean that is both comforting and somewhat uneasy. I suppose Jack Torrence felt the same way as he walked tentatively into room 237.

Creepy fragrance! I don't think I've ever thought of a scent as particularly creepy. I'm sure it's the SHINING associations. I find this uniquely high-concept and wearable after the strange topnote fireworks die out. There is a definite plastic/vinyl vibe (that I also smell in Lampblack to a lesser degree) followed by a slightly animalic/human soapy floral. I'd probably just see this as an offbeat, unique floral without the name and story attached to it.

I really like this. I can't imagine wearing out though. I envision the room where the bridal party of a wedding got ready. You've got scents of nail polish, hairspray, 5 different perfumes and Grandma sitting off to the side trying to watch the Price is Right. It's a cool scent. It really paints a picture in your mind. I especially like all the different reviews, and the visions it provoked for them.

I couldn't see myself wearing this outside of the house. Anywhere. Maybe some eclectic art show, if I attended such. And yet, I find this juice strangely addictive, "vinyl shower curtain" smell and all. It's firmly in my scent memory. Three months after I finished my sample, I am having a distinct craving for this juice. Room 237. Not quite like anything else.

Noticeable vinyl tang upon immediately spraying which mellows out into fresh soapy plastic notes. I definitely don't think it's so offensive as to be unwearable like some other reviews are saying, to me it smells pretty neutral and, true to its inspiration, sterile with a slight edge.

This is a strange but fun fragrance. First smell that plastic chemical smell of a new beachball or plastic raft. Then it gets soapy but that part smells great until you start thinking of this scene- it’s like hot soapy women/dead decaying apparition. Halp! Why do I like it 😂

One of the weirdest perfumes ever created that can actually be worn, this is a super interesting creation from talented young perfumer Bruno Fazzolari. Disguised as a floral musk, the perfume starts off very innocently in a burst of angelica, opoponax, white florals and musk. But as it begins to settle the weirder notes start to emerge such as daisy, costus, grassy notes and a truly strange vinyl accord. The overall feeling is of measured unease much like the Kubrick film whose famous room of dread the perfume is named after. Unisex (slightly feminine leading) with moderate to strong sillage and enormous lasting power (please use spray button cautiously), this is an incredibly brilliant creation of modern perfumery - one that is intended to take you to a place and induce a certain feeling. It succeeds where Secretions Magnifiques doesn't - maintaining a wearability while inducing a slight and subtle feeling of unease. Enjoy!

Like for most of Fazzolari's fragrances, nice, but nothing groundbreaking, and poor sillage. In one word sentence: interesting, but way overpriced given what it effectively delivers in terms of creativity (the only justification why I spend big bucks on a fragrance). For a similar green/plasticky effect, I suggest to try Costume National Cyber Garden (~7X less $), or even better: JSP Dinudisit (~2X less $). You may want to sample it though, so you can tick the box, and move forward to something really interesting.

Something vaguely rotten and sickly blended with raw gas in a miasma of ghastly herbs, high school chemistry class fumes, and public restroom disinfectant. I really don't know what I'm smelling, but it's wretched. For me, this is nearly as gag-inducing as Secretions Magnifiques. I really should stop "daring" myself with this type of fragrance sampling...

Oh no no no no no, this is just soapy rubbery type of fragrance. It has that dirty soapy water essence, the kind of an unknown unnamed soap that you would buy when you want to save money just to wash dishes. The essence of recently washed bathroom in a 1 or 2 stars cheap hotel in the big city. Quite disturbing to my nose.

For a Shining inspired perfume I thought this would be really weird and funky and niche. But it very soapy and floral and gentle and musky and a little sickly sweet. By no means poorly crafted, just very feminine and not my vibe. Interested in this house though.

All I get is nail polish-y bubblegum

Last April, I was introduced to Lampblack—one of the finalists at the inaugural Institute for Art and Olfaction awards. Out of all the fragrances I tried that day, Lampblack was the one that lodged itself in my brain, and as many of you now know, it has since gone on to garner some serious acclaim. The other scents in Fazzolari’s line veer away from Lampblack’s modern lines, heading more toward classical and vintage aesthetics, each with a twist of its own. I’d suggest that Room 237 is more proximate to Lampblack because of its abstract nature, but whereas I feel comfortable suggesting Lampblack as a blind buy to almost anyone due to its versatility, Room 237 is quite different. In fact, it’ll probably go down as one of the strangest scents of 2015. As I’m sure most of you are aware, Room 237 refers to the room in Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining where some seriously bad stuff happens. It’s an apt title as the scent comes off as marginally disturbing and is therefore one I wouldn’t be as comfortable suggesting for purchase unsniffed. I would, however, recommend a good, extensive sampling of it to see if it’s for you. I tried it a few times on my wrist at first, but it wasn’t until I gave it a full wear that I was able to get a good grasp on it. For as unnerving and weird as it is, it’s not weird for weird’s sake — nor is it particularly challenging. There’s something about it that’s unhinged, but it manages to hold itself together and doesn’t come completely off the rails. It was designed to smell comparable to a freshly cleaned bathroom, and it accomplishes this rather well. The most salient description I could give of it is that it replicates the smell of steam. It seems to achieve this through an accord that smells like chewing gum, one that smells a touch soapy, one that smells a bit like a vintage masculine aromatic, and one that smells rooty and metallic. The initial effect is mildly chilly in a herbal/camphor kind of way, but it somehow also seems warm as if it’s billowing up around you due to a faintly balsamic base. This chilly / warm combination triggers cognitive dissonance, and there’s a discomforting musky skin effect stemming from a costus note that's pressed up against oppoponax — a material that can smell similar to rubbery Band Aids. Combined, they create a waxy, plastic kind of sensation. The actual notes include angelica, flea bane, estragon, costus, oppoponax, and olibanum, but clean, warm, musky, and a bit damp would be my keywords. Now, some of those images above are probably making it sound more challenging than it is as the impressions it triggers are quite reserved — they’re hints, really. In fact, my initial thought was that it was borderline ugly but oddly addictive at the same time. The overall effect is a cross between steam and an ‘80s-style green aromatic. It’s a bit like a mash-up of Byredo’s M/Mink (the inky plastic), Miller Harris' L’Air de Rien (the musky skin), Phoenicia’s Skin Graft (the rubbery vinyl), and Lush’s Dirty (the fresh, clean herbs). Each one of those scents has its own peculiar characteristics, and they're combined here — not as a sum total, but more as a tasteful collage. For as unnerving as this scent is, its weirdness is kept at a reserved level. I’d situate it as a clean scent for people who dislike clean scents — a fresh, soapy kind of thing that feels as if it might collapse at any minute and reveal something monstrous. It doesn’t, but that tension’s always there. It wears strangely as well. At first it’s powerfully soapy, but it settles into a sort of clean, auratic bubble within minutes. It’s clearly powered by a base that merges resins with synthetics, not that you can smell anything obvious protruding from the blend, but because it demonstrates the kind of hide-and-seek elevation that such chemicals can deliver. It comes at you in wafts and occasionally balloons up around you (it’s fairly heat-sensitive), but for the most part, it sits close the skin and is quite polite. What makes it work so well for me, though, is that it never goes too soapy, nor does the costus take it down any overly-obvious metallic/scalp paths (which I find to be a flaw in L’Air de Rien). It manages to feel comfortable and relaxed, and although the idea of a "signature scent" is insane to me, I could imagine a person smelling like this all the time and having it become a distinguishable part of his or her character. It’s a scent that I could wear without having to plan my day around it or without worrying that it’s going to be somehow inappropriate, but it still has enough textural interest and seeming unpredictability to make it a tad more audacious. I really like this scent, perhaps not as much as Lampblack, but I appreciate it for different reasons. Even though it draws associations to some of the weirder fragrances of the last ten years, I find that it works better than each of them as it walks a fine line between evocative and wearable. And that's the other reason I like it so much: the way that it wears — a billowing, bubble of comfy, almost musk-like cleanliness. The truth is that this is not going to be for everyone — and it certainly wouldn’t fly in a commercial setting — but I think it’s a scent that the more devoted fragrance fans will appreciate and get a kick out of. The most disturbing aspects of it are more psychological than anything and they’re somewhat veiled within the scent, but the veil that covers them is fairly thin which is precisely what’s responsible for maintaining the scent’s tension.

From time to time, niche perfumeries become so overcooked in concept that one is left not with the lingering impression of a fragrance that transports but a laugh at language and the sweat of execution. There are too many offenders to name here. On the other hand, Bruno Fazzolari delivers a fragrance oddball pleasingly absent of the what-might-be language-wise, considering that the concept of Room 237 refers to a ghoulish scene in "The Shining." Rather, Fazzolari delivers a neat precis: "Room 237 is a perfume inspired by the color and atmosphere of the source of all evil in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. A soft, enveloping, soapy-green scent that’s both highly wearable a little disturbing, Room 237 fuses clean musk and resins with synthetic plastic and vinyl notes. It will keeping you sniffing at your wrist even though you know something about it feels wrong." And that's it! What a great description! Simple, effective, and leaving you lots of room to go awry on your own and go purple-prose as you will. There's no need to, however, despite "flea bane" being the first listed note in the fragrance pyramid. Flea bane is a daisy note, and I don't smell it at all. Room 237 is largely opoponax and angelica scent, with costus root adding a sly dirty-hair note. Bay rum in the beginning makes you think Room 237 is going to smell like an herbal hair tonic but it doesn't; the opoponax drags it into a genderless middle ground. "Peculiar florals" and "vinyl shower curtain" are recessive notes--who knows what they are really other than fun descriptors? I don't want to try to unpack the notes of this fragrance as one would unpack their valise in Room 237 because I am enjoying it too much to overthink it. Room 237 is a must for lovers of opoponax. It smells new, which is saying something in this overcrowded territory in which niche must provoke in order to get attention and mainstream must do the exact opposite. Room 237 is compelling, sexy, sizzling, and probably challenging for the deadened noses of the mall misbegotten. I happen to love it; it slides back and forth between peculiarity and familiarity. The beginning is sharp and confrontational with the herbal tones, but by the drydown the herbs have smoothed out beautifully to reach beyond the film scene that inspired it--and it isn't soapy in the least on me, nor particularly reminiscent of hotel rooms or of cleansing rituals. Room 237 isn't mainstream, but it also is more wearable than the concept would imply. It's playing a role with an ironic wink. Give it a try and see if it isn't one of the more interesting--and fun--releases of 2015.

Searing woods, rough ouds, tarry incenses. The overtly tough perfumes get most of the attention in the discussion of ‘challenging’ perfumes. Grim, dense, basenote-heavy perfumes are assumed to be threatening. Within the perfume fraternity they land somewhere between a hazing ritual and a hot-pepper eating contest. They have an aura of intimidation and tests of manhood, but conceptually they are as menacing as someone jumping out at you and yelling, “BOO!" Room 237's challenge is less overt. It's not a dare, it's a threat. The perfume's name is a reference to a specific scene and set from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The scene is horrifying for the way it creates suspense, for the way evil is revealed. It doesn't confront you. It invites you, it lures you. It's banal and common and you only become aware of it because you are becoming part of it. Whether you knew it or not, sin surrounds you and always has. Having peeled back the curtain and seeing the evil, there's no turning back. It's a great spin on the tree of knowledge myth. Temptation, the internalization of evil, the fall from grace. So how can a perfume be 'about' these concepts? Room 237 works with discord smartly and delicately. The scent does evoke bathroom rituals. It suggests an enclosed space, moist air, human skin. It even borrows the form of the musky eau de cologne that often completes the bathing ritual. Perfumes have used materials like musks and costus to depict cleanliness against a backdrop of human animalism (eg. Eau d’Hermès, YSL Kouros, Miller Harris l’Air de Rien.) Room 237 tweaks the juxtaposition, suggesting not a steamy bath, but the lingering moments after, where condensation on cold porcelain and plastic refute the humanity of the scenario. Cleansing and grooming should leave one at the height of freshness, so why is the setting so disturbing? Why does warm skin shiver? Is it a chill or the touch of something wicked? The incongruities, the inappropriateness might be at the far corner of your attention, just past the periphery, but you can sense them and they're not going away. Sinister and just a bit seductive. from scenthurdle.com

Lorraine Massey was a seductress who lived in Room 237 of the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining. She seduced bellboys and eventually slit her own wrists in the bathtub in self-disgust. She was one of the strongest spirits in the hotel, and her room was feared. Sooo, that's the concept behind the perfume I'm reviewing! I do love a story behind a scent, and one with a literary origin is even more pleasing. When looking at the notes, I have to say most of them are esoteric flora outside of my scent memory library. Me-thinks it may mainly be floral aromachemicals trying to match a narrative of the occult. Stories aside, the end result is something fresh and green. The one-liner: Room 237 smells like a bathroom cleaner, and one of the ones they sell at Whole Foods with stickers that say "Organic!" and "Eco-friendly!" This is not to say it smells soapy on my skin--or cheap. It is very clean, and complex, and smells much more alive than dead. Outside of ye olde witch herbs, I'm not getting a lot of vinyl or plastic in regards to the "vinyl shower curtain" note. It does smell slightly different, or like there's something slightly more complex or chemical behind the greenery and cleanliness, but I don't necessarily get any vinyl notes. And while I don't necessarily get "Stephen King" or "of the horror genre" from this scent, that doesn't mean it's not unique or fascinating. It's both weird, but also not THAT weird. A bathroom in an old hotel? Sure. Evil ghosts trying to tap that? Ehh. Overall, it's a fascinating scent and certainly worth picking up a sample or decant of. And while the bottle design is beautiful, I don't know if the novelty of this scent--and how rarely I would actually wear it--justifies the $125 price tag for a full bottle.

What comes to mind when I smell Room 237 is the '60s idea of clean, or what I imagine that smelled like. It’s airy and approachable, but in this vacuum-sealed, plasticky way. I can envision that iconic seafoam green of Kubrick’s movie, but on mid-century vinyl chairs, not a creepy hotel bathroom. It’s the sparkly clean home of a Type A ‘60s housewife who will happily invite you over, but doesn’t want you to touch anything. There’s a touch of anxiety in even her kindness, and she’s more than a little interested in building a bomb shelter. Despite where this takes me, it’s not as interesting as it sounds. It’s much more wearable than the copy implies, but also not as memorable. I’ve tried Room 237 a handful of times over the past few years, and it took all of that time to get a solid image of what this feels like. If I had to sum it up, I’d say it’s a weirdo freshie, and not much more. Room 237 is a little sweet and clean with a touch of funk that’s more retro than intimidating. A powdery, sparkly dry-down adds an old-fashioned femininity to it without taking it out of a firmly unisex territory. It's an interesting portrait of what I imagine the ideal single-family home used to smell like, which is a sinister idea in and of itself, and totally in line with Stephen King's original intent for The Shining . It's not Jack Nicholson making out with an old lady though, so if you’re looking for a horror scent, you’ll probably be disappointed. Go in with low expectations and you might really enjoy it. Ultimately not for me, but I can see the appeal.

If Guerlain Mitsouko (which I loathe) and Oriza Legrand Chypre Mousse (which I like) were to somehow spawn a child, this would be it. I wanted to try it because the name and legend of it were just too much to resist. Let's see: notes of vinyl shower curtain, peculiar flowers...well, the vinyl shower curtain is the malevolent entity here and steals the show. Peculiar flowers? I believe I smell decayed carnations. And there is a harsh, bloody metallic note which is entirely appropriate for what BF seeks to accomplish, which is to evoke the atmosphere of the murder room in The Shining. In spite of all this, it is not as shocking as I imagined it might be and I am not sure why there was any need to create such a thing as this. I dislike it, would never wear it anywhere out in public nor alone at home. Not a lot of sillage but boy does it have staying power - after an hour I could not take it anymore and washed with dish soap, then apple cider vinegar (which allegedly neutralizes odors), then dish soap again. It stubbornly refused to completely disappear, and was still faint on my arm when I awoke this morning, by which point it had become tolerable if not loveable. By no means a safe blind buy. I am glad I tried it though! Ordering the sample from BF's website was easy as pie. It shipped quickly and arrived about four days after I ordered it.

Room 237 starts off with a sharp, plasticky note, like a discordant violin. Within a couple seconds it turns into a green floral. Then the opoponax peeks out and a dusty accord appears. After several hours, it gets more bitter and medicinal. I get impressions of an old, dusty medicine cabinet, stocked with expired drugs and ointments, an upscale resort from decades past that needs an interior restoration in certain corners, and a well-read, perhaps dispirited, older gentleman. Unsettling, strange but not shocking like a jump scare, Room 237 captures the essence of a classic horror. I particularly like how the opoponax, typically present in voluptuous orientals, was presented in a green scent. Perhaps the opoponax is the reference to the beautiful woman in the bathtub in room 237. Overall it is avant garde, especially the bitterness in the dry down. Maybe too bitter for daily wear, but I'm definitely intrigued. The strength is slightly more than arm length. It's fairly linear in development despite different accords are emphasized throughout the wear.

The first time I tried this, I was deeply disappointed. It basically was just 30 seconds of antiseptic smell, then cloyingly sweet white florals, then inoffensive soapy skin smell. Nice enough, but not the horror experience I was promised. I gave it another try today, and the fragrance repeated that general evolution, but with more of that strong disinfectant smell throughout, and it adds SO much to the unsettling vibe. It’s like taking a bubble bath in the Backrooms. The skin scent also fluctuates between more fem and more masc, which is super cool and adds to the liminal vibe. I’d still love to see another take on the Shining in fragrance form (dusty, bloody carpet?! 1920s perfume but make it freaky?!) but this is fun. Definitely not for everyone though. Did you like smelling nail polish and new shower curtains as a kid? No? Probably not the smell for you, then. EDIT: neither here nor there but this is Anya from Mouthwashing as a scent

Bruno Fazzolari Room 237 is, like Five, clearly geared toward warm weather wearing, but unlike Five, Room 237 is deliberately synthetic and geared toward a sort of bathroom cleaner vibe, and not in a very appealing way. Still, I'm more or less ambivalent toward Room 237, as, while there are synthetic elements to it, there are components that seem to be genuine citrus, floral, and other plants, though indistinct enough to be pretty uninteresting. I can't see the appeal, really, even from a generic standpoint, but at the same time I don't find it unpleasant. I can't say I share the hate for it that many do, too, as it doesn't project well enough to even bring out its bad side, if it has one. Probably not worth smelling unless you get the Portfolio Set like I did. Onto the next. 6 out of 10

This fragrance achieves its mark: it smells like an old hotel that was updated with middling-grade materials in the 1970s. Vinyl is definitely in the mix, as is soap. There's a vague musky weirdness to this, almost as though this was a broader fragrance that lost all its attractiveness once the tiny molecules flew away early in the mix, leaving a big, clunky base in the middle of the floor. It's a pedestal with no statue, maybe? It's not my cup of tea, but since I'm a Kubrick fan, I HAD to give it a go. It's an oddity, and I'm glad I've smelled it, but I'm not intrigued. I vastly prefer Fazzolari's Lampblack.

soapy and vintage florals with a stuffy aldehydic wrapping around them that feels like a liminal space in your grandmas memories. This is dusty, resinous, and sweet in a weird way, almost like the feeling of nostalgia or trying to recall something you’ve forgotten, maybe the smell of your grandma in your last embrace with her. This is a grandmas floral but done in a more somber way. Instead of smelling LIKE grandma this is smelling like the memory of grandma instead.

this was my first fragrance from fzotic, and it's a really beautiful and charming introduction to the house! i'm not getting any nail polish, but rather a smooth floral. it captures the feeling of taking a shower at my nana's house when i was younger. a lovely perfume in my opinion. there's also something a tad sinister hiding right under the surface here, which absolutely piques my interest.

Unwearable because it represents the scene in the movie well. Sterile green mid century apartment where the housewife was murdered and has been rotting in her own soapy bathtub for months. This is haunting and unsettling, which great accuracy in the composition because it is so very much The Shining but horrendous scent for people to wanna wear. I may have nightmares later

This perfume might seem strange and unsettling, but everyone who smells this on me loves it. I feel so clean and springy. I always want to wear this when the weather is getting warmer. It’s not listed as a note, but I think if you like aldehydes you’ll like this.

Hmm. I usually like weird stuff but this is giving nail polish. Maybe it's the vinyl note, but if you have ever walked into a nail salon, you know what this smells like.

genuinely fills me with dread. smells like an evil old person that wants to eat your soul to live 6 more months. soapy, floral, clean but in a sinister way. SOO weird

smells exactly like a dude I used to fuck who wore l'homme by ysl religiously. pedestrian at best.

Cutex! Nail polish remover that you shamelessly like the smell of..

Nail polish remover and freshly washed but clammy feet

Toothpaste leak in a nylon toiletries kit.