Selperniku

AHAHAHAHAAHAHA!! You guys are killin me! Oh my gawd...! “Bleu cheese”! “Buttered popcorn Jelly Bellies”! (that one was swirling on the coconut the first time I inhaled as well) “Box of crayons”! I usually stay far away from reviews when I’m feeling a bit ambivalent about a fragrance, but Selperniku is such a hands-down win for me, I can take everything in stride. I love it, and I don’t care who doesn’t. So, with that mindset firmly in place, I can approach these comments with humour instead of trepidation. That’s one of the marvellous aspects of this fragrance, though, as well as it is with Smolderose. This, and indeed most of John’s fragrances hum with Happy; you cannot feel bad wearing such laughing fragrances—Selperniku is like a big, pink, laughing Buddha in shimmery, flowing, apricot and turquoise robes. It’s one of THE finest representations of umami in a fragrance, and I love it dearly. Dearly! I was banging on about another lovely fragrance find that I’d purchased recently, Amongst the Waves by Olivine Atelier, and remarking on the wonderfully executed umami, or “sea salt” accord it proffers, when I thought of this big, banana jade & twinkling rose-gold elixir. I LOVE salty, savoury accords when done well with the right accompaniments, but when they don’t mesh, one can end up wearing Eau de Nachos/Fritos or La Sunday Roast. Selperniku is buttery but not oily, fruity but not sweet, and it’s about as close to being bloody perfect as a fragrance can get. The thing about those associative accords, is that Selperniku DOES smell of ALL of those things, but in the best way. Actually, there’s nothing negative about any of them...who doesn’t like jelly bellies, bleu cheese or crayons?? I also get....READY?... IKEA. I’m NOT kidding. I used to live for what I called (or, rather, Sandra Tsing Lo called), “IKEA Moments” in the late 80s–early 90s. I would visit IKEA just to huff that perfectly-cut-veneer-and-blonde-wood-drying-paint-cheap-cotton-plastic-shower-curtain-amazing-ness mixed with chilled concrete, a few hectares of tea lights, and whatever was going on in their cafe (coffee and Swedish meatballs, broken gingersnaps?). IKEA smelled electric blue and fire engine red and school bus yellow, it smelled like unabashed joy, and felt like hope in the guise of the possibilities of ending up with a flat that looked and felt exactly like one of their display rooms. Likelihood: 0, but that never seemed to matter as long as you remained lost in the maze of it. I flipping LOVED IKEA. I love Selperniku as well. I’m telling you, I’m convinced that THIS is what Christopher Chong was attempting when he was blue-skying Amouage’s Sunshine, he imagined YELLOW ORANGE, warmth without big punches of citrus, brevity without mint, choosing instead to utilise the shimmer of juniper and cypress. But where Sunshine is a big, discordant, sticky mess (I own it, so I’m allowed to bag on it) Selperniku is a big, buttery bear hug of apricoty osmanthus; you’ve got to admire John for taking on that notoriously difficult floral accord for one of his initial releases, and succeeding marvellously with it to boot. Both Sunshine and Journey Woman share many accords with Selperniku, and neither are half as good or intriguing. While I can appreciate the art of most fragrance creations, what matters, in the end, is whether or not it smells good. It’s a bonus if it’s interesting, and this most assuredly is. Selperniku, like most of John’s creations, is “cult”-worthy. And NO, I don’t LOVE ALL of JSP’s offerings, and I’m NOT some sycophantic fangirl, looking for those blasted balloons (don’t know about you all, but I haven’t cared about balloons since I was five), or John’s approval because he writes snappy, articulate essays. No, his fragrances are DAMN good, and the only bad thing about them, is that I’m having the most difficult time choosing just one full-sized bottle to purchase. Can I just state that I SO appreciate indie brands that offer great discounts and sampling packages? I have no time for those who charge astronomical prices for their tiny bottles, and don’t even have the courtesy to offer a single sample for purchase! I don’t know about you, but if I’m forced to purchase “blind”, and I hate what I’ve ended up with, I’ll never return. Didn’t these guys take Business 101? Spend more in the beginning, make up for it and then some in the end? I likely wouldn’t have given JSP a second glance if I hadn’t been able to purchase the three 30mls at such a great price, and his regular prices are very affordable as well. I wouldn’t be sitting here, writing this, smelling of John’s dreams, which in turn smell of bleu cheese, crayons, buttered popcorn jelly bellies, IKEA, and primary colours, joy, apricots, and laughing Buddhas.

My review was deleted ughh So @DSalmon below yes the 30ml did at one point come in a nice green box with some stuffing paper. I have the same bottle it's authentic. Being a niche house they have changed their bottles and boxes s few times. I believe they are doing something like that right at this moment.. So this fragrance man....it really is something special you can read some comments below and people are just going in on how amazing it is and how it invokes all these emotions and all kinds of stuff. It really is a unique a beautiful scent 😍 I was given a sample Nd I immediately was like NEED BOTTLE NOW lol and bought a bottle. I love love wearing this in this winter it just idk winter with Selperniku is perfection especially January lol I always wear it throughout January just because of the name and it's perfect for cold weather. How it smells ugh it's weird and unique in the best way possible it's a hard fragrance to describe and I garentee you've never smelled this smell before so unique. You get this kinda sharp but smooth green cypress or like a pine tree kinda bit not idk you get a green plant but it doesn't smell green just this pine like and circus that makes the sharpness of the cypress fresh and smooth there's plants in here but they don't smell like one thing or another I do pick up the immortelle but the main Star of this fragrance is the butter and laconic Apricots holy crap it's good!! Like not butter like popcorn this real raw butter like amish butter soft sitting out that type of butter and there this laconic type smell and Apricots cardamom sandlewood and tobacco like I said it's weird as heck and harder to describe just know it smells absolutely addictive 😅 I've gotten a ton of compliments do people know what their smelling no lol but it's good!!! If any of yall smelled playalinda it has a similar smell but instead of sex on the beach w shell you get Christmas and snow cabin in the woods idk lol they have similar smell to them but I prefer Selperniku if you have tried Selperniku and liked it try playalinda and vise versa . Just give it a try you probably love Selperniku it's hard unisex as well. I know this review was all over the place my previous review was better and it's gone so... once you smell this you'll understand wtf I mean it's impossible to describe Just so you know dont spray on coat or hoodie unless you wanna smell like laconic buttery Apricots goodness FOREVER! This this just last on skin last until you wash it off and on clothes sometimes even after I wash them still smell it! It's just amazing quality juice.

One of the things I love about perfuming as a hobby is the sheer unpredictability of it all. I never know what I'm going to love or hate. Just last week I decided, that after buying countless sample sets and trying probably a hundred plus perfumes without ever once going back for a bottle purchase, that American Indie perfumers just aren't for me. Yeah, we all know where this is going. Then Selperniku happened and I can honestly say that here is all the promise of American indie perfumery realized. It's incredibly odd, weirdly beautiful, boldly unique but more impressively, it's meticulously well put together from beginning to end. I've worn it three times and each time it smelled different but each time it smelled good all the way through without a discordant note or disquieting whiff of an aromachemical. Great perfumers both have something interesting to say and the technical skills to say it, all while fulfilling the rule that perfume must above all else, smell good. John Biebel is such a perfumer and Selperniku is a masterpeice. The first time I put it on, I froze, torn between admiration and disgust. It smelled exactly like butter and was so unexpected my olfactory apparatus didn't know quite how to process it. The just butter moment was brief and quickly the other notes come in turning it into a creamy and fresh "your skin but better" scent. This is one of those fragrances that you can identify all the notes but still has a definite and cohesive trail that smells only like itself. I would characterize it as a savory/sweet milky fragrance with a trail of forest and herbs running through it. Texturewise it's not a million miles from Bottega Venata, though scentwise they are very different. The contrast provided by the forest and herbs is what makes this so compelling and unique. I don't really know what else to say about this. It fills me with a sense of wonder as I contemplate how all the different facets of human skin are captured in this scent salty, milky, fruity, sweet. It's feral and warm and deeply human and alive. Yeah, it's that good.

Selperniku was released in 2017 and was my first experience with John Biebel's creations for his own brand of fragrances. The official text says as follows: "salty, milky and fruity". And truth be told, such a description could not be more correct. The fragrance has notes of apricots, immortelle, butter, cardamom, petitgrain, lemon, chamomile, milk, cypress, juniper, tobacco and sandalwood. On the skin, it behaves like a floral and fruity scent full of woody, milky and salty nuances. I must confess that at the very moment when I sprayed it on my skin, I found the output hideous! The salty content is really very present, although there is no salt note, which would not be something new in the perfumery. However, almost immediately, the output softens and a floral-green scent begins to emerge. And the unexpected happens, when you realize that a totally strange perfume makes you curious to see how far the evolution goes. And one of the most intriguing characteristics of this scent is, precisely, to understand from where that salty content comes that remains for all time. As time passes by, Selperniku gains personality and begins to show me an apricot full of facets that remind me of peaches. This apricot is dipped in a bitterness typical of petitgrain, which here was enhanced by chamomile. At the same time, a camphorated smell insists on being noticed, but is muffled by the creaminess that the milk note imparts, along with the sandalwood and tobacco. Don’t be surprised if you think about figs, even for seconds. Selperniku is an example of innovation and of what perfume addicts expect to find from independent perfumers, who risk and create fragrances at the edge of pleasure and pain, outside the commercial realm. It is such an incredible and dubious perfume that I still do not know if I love or hate it. I feel myself amid the quicksand: the more I struggle to leave, the deeper I go.

I was searching for a truly lactonic perfume for some time and came across this one. It smells as if you bathed in warm, salty, herby milk. I wanted to smell like a savory snack, this is it. A long time friend once told me I smell like noodles. Only the type of appraisal a genuine friend can give without taking offense. And it's true, that's just what my skin chemistry smells like. I think that's why this is a very skin-like scent on me. In general I love unique gourmand scents that aren't just vanilla. At first the apricot adds a light sweetness that is't overwhelming at all, and the buttery dry down is quite literally my favorite part of this scent. I smell it on myself through out the day, it's very cozy and inviting on my skin. It is eternaaaaal, I sprayed some on a t shirt and I could still smell it after it was sitting in the laundry bin for days. Not something that will grant you very many compliments I think, it really just is something for yourself to enjoy all day.

This fragrance is just whoa.. it's everything you think it will be from reading the notes - but to me it's less buttery than people are saying. I get herbal, salty, fruity - so hard to describe, but it evokes food without smelling edible. It's not even really 'salty' I think it's the Juniper/petitgrain plus a mix of some other notes that gives that impression of some 'breezy' cool note that reads as salty. It's not very sweet, either. It does smell oily, warm, and mildly sweet. Something like fresh apricot bread with immortelle butter. The sillage is intimate and development mostly linear, with apricot somehow serving as a base note, because it comes out most during the dry down. I can't freaking stop smelling this, it's so special. edit: one other comment, I love the ‘real’ apricot note in this. It has that slightly sour and raw edge that fresh apricots have, it's not fantasy fruit.

This is sort of like a unicorn fragrance for me! I mean it literally is the perfect combo of notes that really compliment each other--woods, creaminess and apricot. I smell pretty much every note listed. It makes me think of apricot chutney, not that I've ever seen that in real life, but if it existed it might smell like this. It has the savory quality of Womanity and reminds me of the Taste of Womanity with its chutney note and savory gourmand quality. The apricot smells tree-ripened and freshly cut. When I was wearing this perfume, someone who came within 3 feet of me yelled, "Sandalwood!" So I guess that's a prominent note. The longer it's on my skin, the smoother the sandalwood becomes. While it's fruity, it's not sweet. An original and well thought-out scent. I will be keeping this blind-buy.

I love this. Upon reflection, it’s really bizarre in the best way. I can see this being challenging, but unlike most challenging fragrances, this one honestly and consistently smells good. I get juniper berries and pine in the opening, which dissipates into apricot, salt, and a milky creamy accord within a few minutes. This lasts for a few hours and then dries down into a buttered popcorn, really kettle corn, scent. I can smell this for literal days if sprayed on clothes. I suppose it’s a gourmand, but it’s not sticky or sweet like most. I think it’s a bit too dense for summer, but I love it for fall. Despite some of the negative reviews here, I’ve gotten compliments on this from strangers, so I think it’s definitely worth trying if your considering pulling the trigger.

This one is FUN! And quirky. Not a perfume that appeals to the masses but once you sniff it you can't forget. On me Seeperniku is a perfect example of beautifully executed immortal (aka "curry spice" smell) wrapped with smooth sandalwood and butter accord, brighten up by cypress and the sea note. It's a heavy perfume by scent, but the texture is surprisingly airy And it lasts. The play between sandalwood and spices does remind me of SL's Jeux de Peau, but this one is much spicier and less sweet. If my impression hasn't scared you away you should definitely get a sample. I do think these kinda profile is hard to wear day-to-day, so smart for the house to release 15ml bottles. When my sample runs out I might get a 15ml which should set me up for LIFE.

This is high quality. The note pyramid is accurate to my nose, and it's beautiful for well over eight hours, which doesn't happen often enough these days. I smell essential oils, candied fruits and fresh herbs. I hope Mr Biebel has plans for more perfumes to be added to this line. I gave the sample set to my husband while we were strolling on a tropical path during our vacation and we ordered the one ounce bottle collection as soon as we returned to our room. The three perfumes are stunning and they were packaged up like treasures. I'm a sucker for great packaging!

O M G I love this perfume. Selperniku is hauntingly beautiful. It’s a bright “resiny “ sandalwood that’s also creamy... and gourmand. I’ve worn it twice, and both times I could not stop sniffing myself and the air around me. Even the room I sprayed it in. Somehow molecules that were in the air stayed in the room and I could smell it 48 hours later. After the first 30 minutes, it mellows into something I’m not going to be able to fully describe. Just one of the most beautiful sandalwood scents I’ve ever smelled. Yes, I’m buying it.

I finally tried my decant of Selperniku and despite my initial hesitation, I think I'm in love. There is a LOT of salt and butter when first sprayed, which along with the slight sweetness brought to mind a Jelly Belly buttered popcorn bean. Luckily that particular stage is short lived and the other notes begin to blossom, most notably the cypress and cardamom. I didn't detect much fruitiness in my juice at all but that's totally okay with me. I was left with something altogether more warm and exotic that followed me all day long.

Salt, butter, and apricots, sensual and salty but somehow in a light and creamy way. At first, I thought this was just “fine,” but throughout the day the most delicious, intoxicating buttery apricot scent kept wafting around me. The butter and apricots are decidedly not gourmand as the woods and green notes ground them beautifully. I hesitate to say this feels bread like, but it does... in an utterly non-gourmand way. A conundrum, and I’m quite captivated.

I LOVE this. creamy, lactonic, buttery fruit with an edge... the cypress/cardamom/immortelle/salt makes it complex in such a subtle way. it's a sophisticated gourmand without taking you to a specific food-related setting or dish. far less popcorn-y than other reviewers make it sound, and I (thankfully) did not get any vile notes. to me, it's cheery, bright, and smooth. this is a cheer up smell for rainy or cold days with really impressive lasting power.

for me, this is a winter scent. christmas in california, in the kitchen with the patio doors open. melted butter and spooning apricot jam into the center of a thumbprint cookie

I got a sample of Selperniku as part of a sample swap. I had heard the house, January Scent Project, mentioned before, but am not at all familiar with it myself. So this fragrance is my introduction. It has made me interested to try others from the house. This fragrance opens with the green, fresh aromatics that make me think of the outdoors on a bed of fruity butter. As it dries down the aromatics settle a bit but never disappear. The butter becomes even more prominent and is both sweet and savoury. It smells like salted butter, stewed apricots and the outdoors. I find it interesting and unique. The fragrances I have found it a little similar to are also pretty unique to me, SL Jeux de Peau and FB Sex and the Sea Neroli (I haven't tried the original Sex and the Sea yet). When I first tried Selperniku, I didn't see the similarity to SL Jeux de Peau. But now that I have smelled them side by side I can see some similarities. Not dupes, but close cousins. Selperniku is much fruitier and woodsy/outdoorsy aromatic with that pronounced butteriness. Jeux de Peau has a more spiced aromatic feel with a more subtle butteriness and fruitiness with the the wheat and sandalwood being far more prominent. I have found this pretty unisex leaning just a little feminine. It can work all year, though I would be careful on really hot humid summer days. I really picture wearing this most on a crisp fall day and will save the rest of my sample for then to see if I want to eventually buy a full bottle. I am a little on the fence about purchasing just because I am in Canada. The price really jumps after shipping and currency conversion (not to mention possible duties). The retail price is pretty reasonable at just a little more than most designer houses. The quality and uniqueness is there to justify a little higher price point. The performance is pretty solid. It lasts 10+ hours on my skin and on clothes until they are washed. It started out with pretty strong projection, reaching well beyond arms reach, but settles to something a little softer, but always noticeable, after and hour or two.

Selperniku is a cheerfully offbeat scent, dancing around the main three scents of apricot, juniper and...parmesan cheese? Yes, the milk, butter and salt notes have a cheese-y twang that makes the scent decidedly foody. On me it doesn't smell rancid at all - just not the creamy buttery sweet milky note I was expecting! The opening is more fruity, with an apricot/peach syrup vibe, which transforms into more of a restrained apricot/osmanthus smell as it dries down. I really like the apricot + juniper pairing here, as it brings out the fruity/grapefruit aspects of the juniper note. The milky notes are bridged to the contrasting juniper with a woody and lactonic undercurrent of sandalwood. While I waffle back and forth about how I feel about the parmesan note here, Selperniku was definitely worth the sample - it's interesting and unique. I find the opening to be more wearable due to the fruit and sweetness - if that note remained longer then this would be a buy. As is, I don't find myself wearing it out much because of the strong and lingering cheese note!

Sunshine and warmth from a bottle. This is something that you don't expect, and i certainly did not expect the green/citric opening from the petitgrain and lemon to beautifully counter-balance the creamier sweetness of the apricot and butter. My el-fresco continental breakfast never smelled so good or inviting. For me this has 3 distinct phases that work and blend well with ine another; the longest being the sumptuous buttery apricot heart. Cypress and Juniper berries help keep this from gourmand territory and guide this composition through its development to a creamy warm woody/tobacco base. The use of saltiness in this also gives it the illusion of an extended skin scent. Some of the best skin you will smell. 10 plus hours longevity and excellent projection and sillage. Wearable year round but would shine in the warmth.

This perfume on the clothes: cypress, sweetened butter with immortelle. chamomile and cardamom dance in between whiffs. Smells almost like Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male for a moment, sweet and delicate, and other times unforgiving like dew on a city sidewalk. I can see why people find this perfume too rich, it does have the ability to be borderline stomach churning. Dries down sweet and unoffensive. On my skin: beautiful immortelle, peaches and cream. The most delicate floral butter. Any of the unforgiving/challenging notes fade away. I find this perfume to be a unique experience— it’s a shapeshifter and keeps me on my toes. Going to purchase a 30ml

got my hands on a decant to find out if she is worth pining for: if i were to go on top notes alone i’d be completely sold. i’m getting petitgrain, laced through milky buttery apricot and sandalwood, brightly green, crisp, similar feeling to cut grass. though the smells differ, by interrupting green, both selperniku and lawnmowing multiply the greenness of green in an unnatural, otherworldly way. honestly the biggest tragedy is that i hunted this down for months but as soon as these sharp notes take a backseat, i basically become anosmic to this fume and the apricot sinks so deep into my skin i can never find it again.

This is definitely an interesting scent and one of my tops from the house. This opens as such a complex gourmand. Salty, creamy, sweet, fruity, etc. But from the mid to dry down, this turns into one of the best Immortelle scents I have ever smelled. I cant get enough of the Immortelle in this scent, it is beautifully done.

I forget that I like this. There is something that smells a little off to me. I think it's the butter note. I expected to completely love this and I'm not sure why I don't. It has a lovely bright apricot a salty musk and some fresh and woody scents. It's a compiment getter. But I'm still undecided

Gosh the level of all the compositions of this brand is amazing, it's like smelling something create by Jacques Guerlain. Mandatory Sometimes this one give me the souvenir of a vintage Jicky.

kind of makes me nauseous but i’m lactose intolerant so A+ for realism i guess? smells delectable otherwise, the lightness of the apricot balances the heaviness of the butter well

This fragrance made me think of the evolutionary role of disgust; it evoked a deep, confusing, and fairly physical response. (One that I guess averages out, poorly, to "Ok"). As others have noted, what I found was a sort of fascination dancing on the edge of repulsion. Unusually for me, I could pick out many of the different parts without looking at the notes--it opened with something sharply evergreen, then melted into butter and true-to-life orange fruits with soft flesh (and yes, salt!) And that's pretty much where it stayed. I left it on all day and could still detect it in the morning; but every time I smelled it I felt strangely unable to make up my mind about my own reaction. The next day it dawned on me exactly what I was reminded of: a stick of unsalted butter left in the (unrefrigerated) butter dish long enough that it starts to go...toward something else, something uncomfortably cheese-like that has me compulsively revisiting to see if it's gone past edible or not. This really overpowers the other components for me; I probably wouldn't wear this out, but wouldn't say I won't try it again. Edit: After a few days during which I couldn't get faintly rancid butter smell out of my clothes and house, I'm over it. Had to pack this away in several layers to keep the smell from seeping out into the room...handle with caution!

A bright citrus flame being snuffed out by a lactonic which becomes more rich and more pronounced as to what it is over time, sweet fruit peak out here and there giving the salty sweet effect but over time the salt side takes over as our Lactonic becomes thick fatty butter spread over sandalwood toast. This is very potent stuff to note. I don't hate this but I would never wear it unless I was a milk maiden from the 18th churning butter

Excellent "play frag" from John Biebel. The apricot (osmanthus?) hits right away in the opening, and will stay until the end. The milk/butter note is emulated by a masterful blend of sandalwood, immortelle and juniper. I'm a man, and I love it, but cannot imagine anyone other than a woman wearing this one. Do spray with care as it may quickly become cloying. Good performance. Definitely for colder days. 25-50.

A word of caution: if you hate butter & cream notes, you won't like this. But if you love them, give this a try. I'm surprised sandalwood isn't ranked higher in the notes here because for me, this fragrance is all about sandalwood placed in different frames as the scent evolves. First, it's sandalwood topped with a hefty dollop of butter, floating in a saucer of warm milk. Full disclosure: I hated this part, but please take that with a grain of salt because buttery/creamy fragrances make me nauseous. After 30 minutes to an hour, the butter melts & the milk evaporates and the frame becomes more spicy-herbal - the herbal notes like juniper and cardamom, coming quietly out from the background to frame the sandalwood which still anchors this scent. The apricot comes out more clearly too, to become almost equal with the sandalwood. This part, to me, was much more pleasant. This really isn't my type of scent - even if I was fully in love with the drydown I'm not sure I could handle that huge BUTTER opening. But I can see people who like cream and sandalwood loving this one. It's well crafted and unique for sure and I'm glad I tried it!

Weirdly enough the only real issue I have with it is when that butter note overwhelms the experience. I find this similar to Les Indemodables Ambre Supreme and if they were to tone the butter down I believe it would fit right next to it. However, the butter is the star and though I thought I would enjoy that - as I tend to enjoy buttery notes - this takes it to level 1000+ and I can't handle it. What I liked: The white florals, fruits, and spices that I experienced in the opening when the butter is tamed. Thats nice and I think if it stayed that way its a winner. My position on it: Unfortunately on my skin all of what I enjoy about it fades to the background and the butter dominates. The white florals can kinda compete but I imagine I just smell like I should be paired with parsely, and garlic and used as a dip for crab legs. A call to action for butter lovers: If you love butter then you'll be in heaven. Message me if you're interested in buying mine.

The review below mine, alittlebrittle's description of a laughing buddha in turquoise robes is honestly a dead-on mental image of Selperniku. I personally don't favor it, but that's quite accurate, I think, lol. It's quite unique, I think. Very buttery, milky, salted fruit (apparently apricot). Quite sweet, but it's the salt and butter that makes it unbearably cloying to me. However, gourmand lovers should definitely give this a try, at least a sample, as it's very gourmand, very food-like.

152 It’s a delicate blend(with apricot) and would be fine except the butter note ruins it. Not to be gross, but between the butter and the milk, it smells like vomit. No thanks! 0/10

This is horrible. It's not gourmand on me. It's sort of a sticky sweet-sour milk odor. I didn't enjoy it and had to scrub after waiting through two hours of the same scent.

Nauseating. Smells of butter. Had to scrub it off.

Selperniku is, without a doubt, the most disgusting fragrance I have ever smelled. I was so very intrigued by the notes; the blend of woody, herbaceous, lactonic, and fruity notes seemed so unique. I was so confident because of the reviews, which all sang its praises. And then I actually smelled it. I can only describe this as a horrendous blend of rotting mushrooms in cold and wet dirt, with an oily blob of salted butter smeared all over it. It was beyond offensive to my nose—screechy, fungal, earthy, oily—and I immediately had to run to my bathroom to dry heave. There was no lemon, no apricot, no sandalwood—all that came through was greasy, rotting fungi and dirt. And what was worse, the strength of this fragrance was ASTRONOMICAL. I vigorously scrubbed it off my hands and applied several layers of hand sanitizer to boot—and still I smelled it. I sealed my sample up in a Ziploc bag—and still I smelled it. I might sound like I am being hyperbolic but I am not joking; the smell felt permanently seared into my nostrils for a good few hours and I genuinely felt ill. It seems I am currently the lone soldier who feels this way but it's a battle I'm willing to fight.

I don't really know where to start with this fragrance. This might be the most different scent I have ever smelled and personally I am torn between whether or not I really like it. On initial spraying it is really gross in my opinion. It smells like a weird sweetened butter that has a bunch of weird savory herbs thrown into it. then as it starts to dry down on the paper it goes from almost horrendous to quite pleasant. I'm glad I kept smelling it when I did because it transformed more into an apricot and juniper berry sweet cream. It's still definitely the most odd as there is still a bit of green aromatics sitting underneath the surface, but overall the end dry down result is very nice and delicate. I just don't know if I am willing to take the risk of smelling like expired butter for like an hour before it actually gets good. Might try it on my skin when I have a lazy day to myself. Will update this if I change my opinion but I like it for its different take.

Umami at its best. I completely agree with alittlebitter's review. This is brilliant, daring, and masterful. It's cold and raining here in Los Angeles; a city known for sunshine, and I am miserable. Friends who are across the US stuck in bitter cold and snow storms are jokingly sending me videos of "It Never Rains in Sunny Southern California" songs while I boo-hoo. We honestly don't know what to do with ourselves when it's cold and wet outside. Then, I remembered I should test drive this new perfume and WHAM, it hit me right between the eyes. My God, where has this perfume been?? Have I been under a rock?? This is incredible. It's like a fragrant memory of the entire year. This smells like a life well-lived. It smells like warm skin freshly showered in juniper soap - the soap your grandma used to make just for you every year from a family recipe, using the juniper from her trees, and you are grateful she's still around in this small way to remind you of her. It smells like butter dripping off a hot biscuit at those Sunday night dinners when the table is surrounded with people you love, and everyone is laughing and teasing each other while sharing their latest adventures. It smells like a walk hand in hand with your true love in cool weather in a beautiful tender forest, because you both had to get out of the house or you'd go stir crazy, when you notice that he's wearing that warm sweater you knitted him when you were just dating, and you knew he was The One. Always in January, when it's cold and there's no fun to be had outside, I go within. I write and reflect on the year, and be grateful for all of it; all the ups and downs, and think of all of the people who have come and gone, the new friends, and the one's I've lost, the traditions I've kept, the relatives I've honored, and the new things I've learned over the year. This is all of that; all that January ruminating, gratitude, love and loss in one bottle. I swear, it's indie brands like this who still keep the spirit of this industry alive. Kudos!

o aiwvas, tou aiwva... this is biblical, this one. i'm picturing something holy and revered and venerated. this scent is brutal. i love how unabashedly edible it comes across. it doesn't even pretend to apologise or anything like that. butter, apricot, sandalwood and something dainty floral working in the background. i initially wanted to come in, review this with some sort of narrative, but it deserves something else. seriously, some salty-arse butter is what hits you first, then, a dainty, soft-wispy-sweet peach/apricot (for me they smell the same!) creeps in, and the peach is perfect. the peach/apricot is what i wish it was in kiste by slumberhouse. you can smell your wrist and not od from the cloying saccharine sweetness, as is the case with kiste. sandalwood in the background adds depth, base and structure, and as such, this scent does not get lumped into the celebrity scent sweetness that is often peddled. it possibly contains the same ingredients, however, they present with such restraint, poise and dignity that they don't swamp you. the japanese especially hold restraint in high regard, and it is used to perfection here. restraint, or enryo as the japanese call it, is what makes this scent as brutal as it is. much in the same way a teenager needs to listen to napalm death's 'scum' to experience brutal, an older, more refined, nuanced gentlefellow would find brutality in something like taylor swift (and her music is brutal). this, for mine, is such an example. restraint. poise. subtlety. brutal. kupie eleh6ov..

Disclaimer: Due to the complexity of Selperniku, this review is gonna be all over the place. I'm gonna describe this like the pilgrimage of a single apricot. This apricot begins its venture into the world rolling off the counter landing firmly into a tub of butter. Realizing the contamination, the stone fruit is thrown out of the house subsequently landing into a juniper bush. Days of enduring outside elements seem to cause the fruit to lose it's juicy essence. Resultantly, the apricot is a shell of its former self and takes on a new identity as a stone-washed drupe. As the prized fruit withers, each day in the terrains proves costly. With the assistance of the wind, the apricot is elevated from the shrubbery as it continues to advance through fallen petals of chamomile and petitgrain deposits. This was a pleasant surprise simply because I had low expectations after trying Eiderantler. What I enjoyed most about this fragrance was its double agent nature. My favorite note of tobacco was seemingly absent. Miraculously, I didn't miss it. The other swirling aromas will taunt your olfactory system to the point where your brain doesn't know what to trust. I can't tell you how many times I've asked myself, "Do I like this?" I came to the conclusion that this is a contender and not a pretender. A respectable entry into the niche division this is. Time will only tell if "Do I like this" turns into "Yeah, I think I wanna buy this."

Anise seed and some kitchen herbs in the opening quickly turn into an ethereal smell of sweetened butter. No distinct apricots, just sweetened butter that surrounds you for hours. It seems counterintuitive, but herbs and anise seed are actually the base notes here, as this is what you smell when you put your nose close to the skin, whereas a big buttery cloud is what you smell in a one foot distance from the place of application. This buttery cloud smells very similar to FB's Sex & the Sea. it's just missing that pineapple sourness that gives some people heartburn, is more smooth and fresh, but still a very similar smell. As far as projection and longevity, it is super potent, so don't overspray as people who are sensitive to these notes may find it overwhelming. I actually think it should better come in a dabber bottle, it's too strong for a sprayer. My advice: spray it once, take a shower, then go out, it will still be very noticeable. Also try mixing it with soft ambery scents that you want to last longer. A lot of men find this scent sexy and addictive, it has this "wow" effect on those who never smelled fragrances with buttery notes. In such concentration.

A reverent and inventive homage to the legacy of Jeux de Peau, the unlikely bestseller from John Beibel’s Rhode Island-based January Scent Project defies all possible laws of perfumery. A milk scent that lasts all day on skin, a completely unisex gourmand, an herbal-woody perfume that just happens to be doused in butter, Selperniku is a tangle of beguiling contradictions. Structured around a photorealistic and persistent accord of savory butter blended with nubile skin-like injections of salty apricot: this is a gaudy, almost lotion-like perfume with a strange and confusing sort of public allure. I find that when speaking of scent and comfort, it is impossible to avoid the deeply psychoanalytic connection between the nurturing lactonic profile of milk and the ghost of the child’s mother-bond. Nowhere is this presence more apparent than in Selperniku’s staggering sillage. Wear this perfume to make your emotionally unavailable situationship finally commit to you by subtly confusing your presence in his mind with that of his over-affectionate mother, or just to smell like the most fertile and Rubenesque milk maiden at the village market.

I can't even describe this one, except that I love it. Full bottle for me for sure. It is constantly skirting the edge of a gourmand but a sophisticated, "gossamer" gourmand. Every element is delicate and classy. It makes me think of a dream-like representation of the actual "foodie" scents without going into that reality. I don't know if that makes sense, but it is definitely a warm, breezy, comforting scent. The cardamom sprinkled, apricot-butter dance is just beautiful. I didn't experience any tobacco with this, which is fine because usually my skin projects tobacco in an almost obscene way. There is something a bit "bridal" about this fragrance to me. I feel this really defies description. I keep hearing "dreamy" on my insides with this one. I got over 12 hours longevity with this. The sillage was great and the scent hung hauntingly in my bedroom for hours. Unbelievable. I Love it. All I can think of when I smell it, is a resounding, "yes". Some fragrances are just like that for us, right?

#selperniku #januaryscentproject I blind bought it simply based on the notes, and I must say am not at all disappointed and super glad that I did buy it. Selperniku, to me, shares similar vibes like pear and olive from #slumberhouse with added savory fruit accord with #butter and #apricot along with succulent green accord which comes across nothing less than green #olive to me. I am not trying to take the credit from John's hard work here as they are two completely different fragrances with different notes breakdown but the smell does remind me of #Pear and #Olive which is good to me. Butter and #milk are #wonderful notes for a fragrance along with apricot to give it a #gourmand vibe. Overall, a beautiful fragrance and one should atleast try it in their #fragrance #journey. PS: the post is based on my thoughts and understanding, if you think otherwise try to make your own post around it.

I have been on every re-stock waiting list to finally try this and today I found a 30 ml bottle in a second-hand store, but the packaging looks different from the version I've seen reviews about. Does anyone know if there ever was a green box for this fragrance? Thank you :) Update: I kept researching and it was indeed an authentic bottle. I have worn it twice and the notes are just as described. The way it evolves is simply a work of art, but I am not sure if this is something wearable for me. At least not in the summer because the sillage is crazy (in a good way), but it seems the "butter" lasts too long on my skin and it is not that pleasant in the heat. Still, I couldn't stop smelling it because it is very intriguing!! It starts to change after a couple of hours and then I get those apricot-tart-in-a-garden vibes most people described. I will try it again during winter.

I'm surprised by this one. It is unusual, but it an enjoyable way. It is butter and milk with apricot and salt. It subtly grabs your attention. This makes me think of something that could have been created by Sluberhouse and Josh Lobb, but it's not. This is John Biebel's creation, and is the best of the three he just released. It feels a bit dress up, which is kind of surprising for a fragrance that is foodie, but that's my feeling. I think it's an excellent fragrance to wear while in a white shirt and tie. I like this one much more than I did Eiderantler, which also surprised me based on what I expected Eiderantler to be. Selperniku however is much more enjoyable so far in my opinion and I'm seriously considering a purchase here. "Surprising" really is the word for this one. Well done Mr. Biebel!

To me, smells exactly like an imagined green summer version of Lutens Jeux de Peau. Also similar somehow to Pear and Olive Slumberhouse. A lot of box of crayons smell throughout, a very airy sandalwood? The opening is really interesting, herbaceous, tomato leaf, butter, and sandalwood and then settles to a more apricot, creamy sandalwood scent. There are some really pretty notes as it settles that I can't put my finger on but also awkward transitions throughout. There is something about this that is slightly too flat and thick. It seems like it is struggling to rise up off my skin and has 0 sillage, a skin scent. Smelling this is like drinking a thick smoothie through a tiny straw, difficult and straining. Maybe something about this is bothering my nose? Will sample a few more times and update.

Well, this is surprisingly beautiful on me, considering the previous reviews. I do get a butter note, but it’s more of a creaminess that elevated the apricot, chamomile and immortelle. It lasts a long time and I keep getting random whiffs of it that make me like it more. I’ve never encountered a salty note in perfume that was quite as well-executed at this. Maybe it’s not for everyone but I’m really liking it. The base notes are really well-blended. I don’t necessarily recognize juniper or tobacco alone, but there’s a natural woodiness that kind of reminds me of the end of summer. The longevity is outstanding so far, just like with Smolderose I’m getting several hours on a single spray. Don’t sleep on these samples! I’m really enjoying everything I’ve tried from January scent so far.

In my opinion, this is far and away the strangest january scents project fragrance. If you've any experience with John Biebel's creations, you would know that that means something. The strangest perfume in an already experimental trailblazing house. This is a salty, buttery, very herbal concoction. Ostensibly, this is a gourmonde. Although no doubt edible, not particularly palatable. Not sure if Biebel has stated his inspiration, but I'm 90% sure this was inspired by Tibetian Butter Tea. Take butter tea, add some fruits and dried kitchen spices. Unfortunately for John, he does not sell his fragrances in Tibet. But even there, I hear (from youtube videos) that butter tea is a dying art. And perhaps for good reason.

I was so excited to smell this when I read the notes. A scent that smells like butter and fruit sounded sublime. I was sadly very let down once I received a sample. Instead of a balanced and true-to-life fragrance, I found this to be an intoxicating and artificial mish-mash of notes. Yes, there is butter, but not in the rich, natural way that I expected. Instead, all I could smell is the same as those artificial "Butter flavoured" Jelly Beans do: cloying and meant to be tasted as a 5-second novelty. Sad to leave a bad review, but I would be thrilled to re-try it after a potential reformulation as the concept has so much power.

Dreamy Arabian Nights. I believe i kept the best for last as always! Don't let the notes votes deceives you or even tricks you! it's like a sleepy night, more like dreamy happy night as you can sense the starry lightfull night of soft apricots with soft chamomile immortelle mix, a beautiful buttery milk cypress that describes the calm night in "Aladdin" the Disney cartoons (1992) when Aladdin meets Jasmine at night before the carpet ride. This is by far the prettiest most charming of the line, but that doesn't mean the line in any chance is less charming. It's really a blissful journey discovering this brand.

The initially strong three main scents of juniper berries, peach and butter settle into a very wearable combination. The accompanying art work shows a woman and makes me wonder what this scent would smell like on a woman. The 30 ml bottle sprayer has hick-ups, but the overall presentation is classy with a tactile geometric cap. Though not heavy in woods, the spices carry this in the winter. The peach adds a fun but also forbidden quality to it. The salt note makes me think of Lacoste for Men in a more mature version.