A City On Fire

It was late. I was a young teen. My dad woke me up and told me to look out of the window. Across the small empty car lot that separated us, i saw it. The middle of our neighbour’s block was engulfed by flames. I rushed downstairs. The whole street was up and stood at the other side of the street watching the blaze. My neighbours came over with their dog and, visibly and rightfully stressed, asked me to watch their dog so they could attend to matters. I gladly obliged, my father went with them and the whole house was empty except for me and the shaking dog. I put the dog on the sofa and made it comfortable, the poor thing was pretty terrified. I was scared too so i decided to close all the curtains to try and keep the whole thing out of my mind. It was the latest i’d ever been up at that point. (including new year’s eve). I turned on the TV. I was greeted by the sight of a topless blonde woman riding a pink motorcycle through a grass field. This is when i discovered that here in Holland, after about 1PM, most commercial/lifestyle channels air softcore porn infomercials aimed to get (drunk and horny) people to call to sex hotlines that charge a couple of bucks a minute. It was the first porn i’d ever seen and i don’t think i’ll ever forget it. The next day the fire was put out and we were invited to the neighbours who’s dog i’d cared for. The fire hadn’t spread from the middle of the block, but there was extensive smoke damage. As we climbed the outside stairs i smelled the worst smell you could ever imagine. The most intense, peaty, harsh, flesh-like smoky smell hit my nostrils and kind of made me wanna vomit. It only got worse once we set foot in the house. Everything inside was covered in soot, white walls colored dark brown and wooden doors colored black. It looked like something you’d find in the Fallout game series, a forgotten, post-apocalyptic once-home. There were alot of mixed emotions in those few days. The very opening of A City on Fire is eerily similar to that horrible smell of someone’s burned hopes and dreams, but less intense and with sweetness. It’s like it commemorates the event and events like it, in a respectful and gripping way, rather than a gore-y and cruel reminder. As the drydown gets sweeter, the smokyness mellows and some spicy black liqourice notes surface (your mileage may vary) the more adult notes of spice and liqourice i can’t help but think back at that first time i discovered porn, my burgeoning sexuality and coming of age. The scent is well made, will last a long time and is very unique. It’s also very challenging to wear at work/formal situations, so buyer beware. Sample first, but do sample 9/10

First of, the notes on fragrantica is mostly off. Burnt match, Cardamom, and Labdanum are correct, the rest is wrong (according to Imaginary Authors themselves). It's Super smoky (as one should have expected from the name). It also has that slightly sour note in the opening. The kind you get when you smell a bonfire that has gone out after it has rained a little. There is no oud in any note breakdown, but i get an oud note, slighty skanky and barnyardy. There are some nice fruity/berry notes in the background. I can't tell exactly what by smelling it, but it says "Dark Berries" on Imaginary Authors own note breakdown on the bottle. It gives a slightly sweet and seductive side to it. As it drys down, i like it more and more as a fragrance. It get's cozy, and slightly sweet. The sour note is completely gone and it at that point resembles more of a oud fragrance with slight campfire note, with berries and woods. Although i like the whole fragrance journey. I can't help but love the drydown the most. And it starts at about one hour. I love the whole concept of the fragrance as well. When you look at the bottle, you are given the name, a picture, and notes that defines the fragrance. And that alone makes me create a whole story to what it is, even before smelling it. The fragrance itself is a journey as well. Although, A City On Fire isn't the Most wearable fragrance in the world. If you're going out on a late saturday night and you're dressed like a confident badass. This fragrance will complete the look by adding to that persona. Also. Wearing this on a date in the cooler half of the year is perfect. Spray it on about an hour before your meeting your date, and this will grab attention and intrigue her for the rest of the day and into the next day. It's sweet dark berries and a dark smoke woods, giving of a sexy vibe. Try it. You won't be disappointed. If you know what you're getting into, you'll probably like/love it. If you're going in completely blind and think it's going to be a sweet vanilla and amber fragrance, this will disappoint. I'd say everyone who buys this and hates it, should have looked at the bottle before buying it. It doesn't say "roasting marshmallows by the fireplace". It literally tells you it's the smell of a burning city and matches. Personal score: It gets a 9.75/10, and Legendary Status. Absolutely full bottle worthy, if you like this kind of scent. It's challenging in all the right ways, and if you can handle it. It will give you an experience and a scent trail that will truly entice people around you.

Very light application of this for an office day, not wanting to assault my co-workers. Probably a good call! Opening on this is to me more akin to fresh ashes or liquid smoke, not necessarily burnt matches to me but certainly a 'fire' type scent. It is a really strong note, one I personally like but would not want to subject others to the first spray. I will say the note is closer to 'liquid smoke' used for artificial smoked goods. After about 15-20 minutes it becomes less harsh, allowing the fresh woody tone to come through, amplified in the back with very light leather and I do actually get the undercurrent of blackberry that adds a touch of sweetness. The smokiness does linger, but is much more subdued. There is something else in there, I think it's the jatamansi and cardamon mix adding both resin and herbal notes. My first run in with jatamansi so it's hard to tell. I'm inclined to agree there needs to be something lighter in the mix just to even out the profile as it comes off quite heavy. It is a very linear scent, only really changing due to the smoke dying down. Performance wise it is acceptable for a more polarising scent in my opinion. Very strong in the beginning, able to fill a small room and leaves a noticeable trail. Thankfully this quickly dies down, and becomes more intimate about arms length, with a slight trail. The lasting power seems to be about 4 hours with any projection before becoming a skin scent - but more liberal application and layering it may last a little longer. Personally, I'd like better performance but... those around me may appreciate that it isn't a bomber scent. Definitely for me, though I would not use this a daily wear but I can see myself using it for outdoor adventures or more intriguing nights out. Absolutely not one to blind buy. 8.5/10 - Would be a 9 if the performance was just a bit better.

Hear me out. I finally found Guidance 46 on a trusted discounter's site, so I've been experimenting with layering. When I layer Imaginary Authors’ A City On Fire with Amouage Guidance 46, it feels like I’m pulling two completely different worlds together and forcing them to have a conversation. When I spray City On Fire first, the opening is all abrasive smoke and cinders, but once I layer Guidance 46 on top, the sharp edges soften. The florals and vanilla smooth out the crackling fire, turning it into something richer, like embers glowing under silk. If I reverse the order, starting with Guidance 46, it’s a completely different experience. That nutty, rosy, incense base lays a cushion, and then City On Fire crashes down on top of it, injecting chaos and drama into what would have been a graceful, elegant scent. Both ways, I can’t help but notice how they share labdanum which I imagine would be like their secret handshake that makes them blend instead of clash. The smoke clings to the florals, the incense deepens the woods, and the vanilla pulls the whole thing together into a strange, smoldering gourmand-oriental haze. I have to be careful, though because both perfumes are heavy hitters. If I overdo it, I feel like I’m dragging around a bonfire in a velvet cloak. The trick is one spray of smoke, one spray of silk, and then letting them settle into each other. When I get it right, I feel the combined scent tells a story. The match strikes, the fire roars, and then out of the haze comes this unexpected softness of ripened pear rose petals, hazelnut, and incense like goddess venus rising from the ashe filled clam. OMG. I created a modern day Botticelli.

EDIT: Every time I sprayed this on myself, I kept having fabled visions in my mind... The story of this scent feels like someone has burned their bridges. Bear with me. The very first spray, and you flinch backwards. Volatile and rough, as though someone you loved hit a low blow in a bad argument when you least expected it. Bitter words, rough smoke; something has exploded. It's dry, the scent of peat whiskey creeps in, perhaps to numb, perhaps to soothe. It feels tenebrous in the forest of thoughts tonight, with only fire and anger keeping you alight in the dark. Smoke lingers - rage perfuses still throughout - never leaving the scent story. But in this sombre forest, did you ever notice it started to rain? With the overhanging foliage above and the acrid miasma that assaults your respiratory tract, it goes amiss. Yet lingering are the wet juniper berries that beg to be seen under black fog. No fire lasts forever. No temper is left isolated without the company of other haunting spirits. And as the last bridge is burnt, the blaze is calmed by the cool of night. Like the eyes of the Earth, round fruits cast their gaze, bearing witness to the arson, the crime, the loss, and the sorrow that follows suit in displacing wrath. Nothing remains but the fumes on our clothes and the tears of berries. ----------------------- I adore this scent beyond words.

This is insane, i've never smelt anything like this in a perfume. At first spray it literally engulfed me into a burning building. I could smell everything burning, the wooden pillars, books, electronics, everything in my house was burning in front of me and I was breathing in the plumes. The dry down smells like smokey incense, almost pretty but still nauseatingly smoke heavy which i would expect from a scent called a city on fire anyway! I had my baby with me when I first sprayed it and we had to evacuate the room and scrub it off my hand, she was not a happy camper. My baby is an expert perfumerist and I trust her opinion more than my own. Take that as you will. EDIT After wearing it for a full day, it is still detectable on my wrist. It's actually really nice now that the smoke dissipated. Almost as if the fire burn out and now it's just a city of ash and rubble. I smell subtle florals and the wild berry note, it's sweet but definitely not overly. Actually very pleasant and wearable now.

This stuff is fantastic! As a personal fragrance City on Fire is totally unique from anything else that I've ever smelled. At first sniff I was blown away by how much this actually smells like smokey fire. I initially was comparing it to a bon fire but then I remembered the smell of the remnants of burnt down buildings I've seen, which somehow isn't quite the same as a bon fire, and that is exactly what this fragrance smells like in the beginning. After about an hour or so this smokey smell is still quite prominent but it starts to take on a more traditional men's cologne smell. As others have said, the projection and longevity is quite good. I wouldn't say its a strong scent but it certainly isn't light either, people will notice it. When I put it on in the morning I can still smell it in the evening. My wife and I both enjoy the outdoors which I think is why we like this one so much. It smells like man...and camping...but without the B.O.!

Burning match is so accurate - it’s an intense smell of fire and smoke, not like a cigarette or a bonfire, but something more edgy. An urban fire, man made structures smoking and smoke curling in the air. The smell of this on your clothes is *amazing* Perfect for those of us whose teenage passions were urban exploration and amateur pyromania. The smell of my clothes after a night of lighting random shit on fire. Waking up in a tent with a fire still smoldering. In the drydown I pick up the juniper berries which makes me love it even more! Makes me think of film noir, people who drink scotch, wandering the city at night, this memory I have of watching a giant wooden mansion burn down and the billowing smoke and heat hitting me from across the street, cyberpunk/post apocalyptic vibes, The Road By Cormac McCarthy, the Torso graphic novel, leather jackets and piercings, mysteries, controlled burns, Sin City, speakeasies and 24 hour coffee shops.

This is the first perfume I tried out of a group of 8 from Luckyscent, and as a resident weird girl this is probably the best start I could have gotten. The perfume opens with this sharp, smokey burning chemical smell from the card oil that dries down to that spicy (still sharp) cardamon and nard. It blew my socks off the first time I smelled it, and for a while, I agreed with the comments when they say that this gets overwhelming over a long while of smelling it. Honestly though, after having it on my body, I think this more applies if you overdo it. It really only needs a few sprays around your body in order to completely encapsulate you in it. It has crazy longevity -- I put this on at 6 PM and still smelled it a little in the room 12 hours later when I woke up. Might be adding card oil to one of my essential notes.

The title says it all. Do you want to smell like you were at a campfire for a few hours and decided not to move out of the smoke column, and in fact, chase it as the wind moved it around? If so, this is the scent for you. Surprisingly, it can be wearable, but you have to pick a time and place. I made the mistake of wearing this to a dinner with my in laws and I just felt self conscious. Stick a leather jacket, a cowboy hat and boots, sunglasses, and a Swanson mustache, and you are the man. I think it would take a very particular type of woman to pull this off, so I am saying this leans heavily, heavily masculine. There is a *hint* of sweetness right underneath the smoke. Performance is powerful. Definitely one of the most unique and bold Imaginary Authors' scents that I have tried. Good times.

So many people dislike this fragrance for being exactly as advertised. It’s a nearly photorealistic burnt match smell for the first twenty minutes or so. The dry down is more similar to a bonfire scent with a slight sweet spice note. It smells like a graham cracker that fell into the fire. My wife got a sample of it in her Christmas present and hasn’t been able to forget about it. She had completely used up her sample by February so I got her a full size. I really like it on her and I’ve had fun putting it over some of my other perfumes to give them a smoky note. It worked really well with D&G Pour Femme’s marshmallow note. Overall it gets an 8/10 for me. It’s very strong so it takes a light hand to apply it properly and I prefer a perfume I can really go to town on.

This was the first time I cried when smelling a perfume. When I was a child I'd go to a sandy spot near my house on new years with my grandmother, my neighbors would light fireworks and firecrackers and I would get sparklers. This smells exactly like that. Burnt, vintage. It smells like holding my sparkler while holding her hand, while she wears her black fur coat. Its her faint chanel n5 and a slight animalic undertone. It's the firecracker that didn't go off and just has scorched. I run into a childhood friend, we laugh and feel our heartbeat in our eardrums, the scary sound and the thick smoke. It does feel like the city is on fire. Maybe the most evocative and beautiful scent i've had the pleasure of sampling.

I was looking for a quirky scent and I really enjoy the smokiness of this fragrance. To me, it is not as intense as many others have said, but this may be a case of high expectations. I have had it on for a few hours now and it has faded quite a bit but still has a nice woody scent. To me, this fragrance brings to mind burning logs in the fireplace on Christmas. It is nostalgic, and makes me miss my grandma. It is very comforting to me. I see myself investing in a larger bottle of this and will likely wear as an everyday type of scent, but I think that for most it leans heavily fall more than anything. My duraflame log memory may read to others as more of a fall burning leaves scent.

this hits you like a brick! very adamant of everything it wants to and can be. it wants to be sweet, heady, earthy. but when it finally settles on your skin it becomes the scent it needs to be. embodies all smoke and everything burnt. it is a winter night after everyone has gone to sleep and the fire has been put out in its hearth, but also simultaneously nostalgic for sweet suburban nights where the distant smell of a neighbors bonfire comes through your window on the breeze. absolutely not a scent for everyone but it encapsulates something within my heart that feels so reachable. my fiance hates this and says i smell like gasoline and tar when i wear it

I recently sampled all the IA scents with my boyfriend and here is a dual review. My review: I would wear this just for myself. I am a sucker for spicy woody scents and this just adds a serious smoke note that I actually enjoy in the drydown. At first it felt a bit tar like but it really ends up smelling like my favorite parts of some of my other favorite fragrances. I won't buy this until I get some of the easier scents to wear from the line but after sitting with it on paper for a couple hours I definitely am excited to see what this does on skin His review: it smells like a cologne... Like a dude-bro cologne. Like every gym bro would wear this.

Initially, this perfume seemed to forward in smoke for my taste and it reminded me of vegan leather jacket by Lush, which is a fragrance I do not like entirely. This one however grew on me and I find myself reaching for it quite often. It is smoky, cade overdosed, and slightly vintage. Not the strongest fragrance on me. In fact, I tend to lose the scent after a few hours but I will gladly use it again because I think its power matches good with the scent. If this fragrance were to be stronger, I assume it wont be as nice for other people and may seem nauseating to whoever wears it.

Yup! That’s smoke! I love how this one develops, it truly smells like a bonfire after the first 20 or so minutes which do give a kind of strike of a match smell which isn’t entirely pleasant. It blossoms into a full, woody smoke with a slightly spicy undertone. The berries and juniper to me give a sense of being outside. As a someone who tries to keep the bonfire smell on my clothes for as long as possible this perfume is a godsend to me. My sole scent desire in life is to smell like a pile of burning leaves and this gets me halfway there.

I’ve been a major fan of this perfume for many many years now. Here’s how it feels to me: it’s very smoky, but not in a campfire smoke way OR a barbecue way because I really don’t get that association. It’s smoky in a whiskey/bourbon way. That’s the only way I can describe the smokiness. Anyways, people always talk about a fruit aspect to this perfume, and I really don’t get it. It just seems like a dark and smooth perfume done not too overpowering despite its scent profile. I really love this, but it’s not for most people.

Love it when a frag divides people and creates such diverse opinions - in fact I am naturally drawn to any such frag that has lots of love/hate reviews. For me, ACOF is a unique masterpiece....... to immerse yourself in during the depths of a cold, crisp winters day. But at the end of the day, nobody is right or wrong - Fragrance, as with music, food, wine...etc, etc, etc.....is a totally subjective thing. If everyone feels the same way, in general = Boring. Diverse opinions, with wide polarity = Interesting.

This juice is dark, mysterious, powerful and needles to say as imaginary authors do so well to make every note listed detectable. Peppery sweet woody burnt smell which I clearly smell the burnt match in this along with cardamom woods and berries. Cade oil I presume giving it its dark color. Not very easy to wear for me though I really admire this smokey sweet scent but I definitely will be wearing on more suitable cool winter nights. Longevity 9/10 Silage 8.5/10 Scent 7/10 Versatility 6/10 Overall 7.6/10