Carioca Heart

I came across Jusbox fragrances around two years ago. I saw a cute pink bottle (Sirens & Sailors) and added it to my ‘check out’ list and forgot all about it. Queue last summer, and I found my self in San Marino, and literally stumbled across the cutest little niche boutique I have ever set foot in. I was smelling my way through and didn’t really have any idea as to what I wanted since this visit was entirely unplanned. I got great help in the store, and there I was, in a cold cellar alone, just me and the sales clerk, and he shows me the Jusbox fragrances. I ended up not liking ‘Sirens & Sailors’, but I loved ‘Carioca Heart’ and it ended up coming home with me. I digress, I am here to review, and review I will. ‘Carioca Heart’ is fresh, it is sweet, and it is almost like a tropical heaven on earth. The fruitiness of mango and pineapple could make it a tad juvenile, but fortunately it stays away from that and it only feels playful and feminine. In the drydown the vanilla emerges, slowly but surely. It keeps the scent creamy, even though it still has that fresh and juicy aspect to it. And that it how it stays throughout the entire wear, and I am so impressed by the wear. This being a tropical sweet summer fragrance, I had low expectations to the longevity. And since I almost only wear this is real heat (30 degrees Celsius and above (that is a lot for a Scandinavian girl)) I was also really surprised by how long it lasted on my sweaty and warm skin. The heat almost makes this one power on, and I get better sillage and longevity in the heat! I also have to comment on the execution of both bottles, and stories from this brand. The fact that every perfume is based on some musical genre or artist. The fact that every fragrance has its own playlist. And the love and care for the bottles, and the caps being vinyl’s and having the same weight as a real vinyl (I may remember that wrong, but there is thought put into that as well). Plus points for being the best atomizer I have ever had!

I recently purchased several new fragrances and Carioca Heart was one of them. I was looking for new scents for Spring/Summer since where I live is about to be very warm. Average temps right now are 75-80. I heard Demi Rawlings stating this was one of the truest mango scents and I love mango so I was on board with this one. I get it in the mail, open it, and it wasn't what I was expecting at all! I still love it, but I was picturing a more fruity, tropical scent and what I get is a fruity gourmand scent that is appropriate for year round wear. This is actually something I would easily wear in the winter where I live; however, I can also totally pull it off in every other season. The main note that I get from it is RUM! The rum and vanilla work together to create a caramel like gourmand sweetness. There's a brightness from the top with the lemon note that creates a sparkly dynamic quality with the caramel rum note. The fruits sit just behind the rum-nilla in potency and it's actually hard for me to distinguish between the mango and pineapple, but I think the mango wins. I notice the peony note which creates this girly, freshness and there's a definite lift to the fragrance with the ambroxan used. On the dry down, there's a subtle smoothness with the sandalwood giving it some depth-the labdanum and sandalwood help to ground the fragrance, give it that depth, and the added layers that tropical scents desperately need to keep them from going into cheap body spray territory. It's a love for me. I'm not sure it's super niche but I like it and it's good. This is a safe blind buy AS LONG as you like/don't mind liquor notes in your scents because the rum is probably stronger than the cognac in Angels Share. If you don't, try before you buy. The dry down is pure gourmand rum-nilla sweetness with a little mango in the background. It's sweet, it's sexy, it's delicious and this would definitely make a good date night scent because I can imagine a partner loving this on their girl.

Yeah, I'm the asshole here for doubting this fragrance. This smells incredible. As a lover of tropical fruits/scents and an certified career HATER of coconut in perfumery, this was my white whale. Coconut is my nemesis. Unless it's a supporting actor in a long line of other notes, the instant a coconut note stages a mutiny within a fragrance, I'm done. Especially in tropical/beachy/'white girl summer' scents that lean sunscreen-y, and the inevitable coconut mixed with some god awful tiare-jasmine nightmare is always at the scene of the crime. And you know what? On top of it all, I hate summer. I hate most summery fragrances. I never yearn for the heat. I'm like the Grinch but instead of Christmas, it's August. Worst month ever invented. I searched forever in the designer sphere, in niche frags, and all, for something tropical with no coconut war crimes. I choked on so many sunscreeny white floral abominations it was driving me insane. I'd heard of Carioca Heart and, stupid stupid me, wrote it off as "probably sunscreeny with how everyone rants and raves about it being the best summer scent ever, blah blah." Well, well well, color me dumbfuck when I looked at the notes list after spraying it and saw THERE'S NO COCONUT. I'll take that L with pride any day because this smells so good. Good on paper, incredible on skin. The actual scent on my skin took me by surprise at first since it morphs on skin really nicely. I'm not really getting a ton of the rum, on my skin the ambroxan and sandalwood come out pretty quickly. But it's SO nice. The labdanum/sandalwood 1-2 punch keeps it super woody in the base, and somehow the tropical top notes linger for way longer than they should in the drydown. The performance on this is super impressive, too. I get strong whiffs hours later just sitting around. Maybe summer isn't that bad after all (let's see if I'm saying that in 6 months)

The last two summers, Carioca Heart was THE SCENT on social media when the influencers were talking about mango perfumes. Other names were dropped in the conversation but this was the favourite for most. After trying it from my 1.5 ml sample, I can see the hype behind but I don’t think it worth the price for me personally. As everyone mentioned it is a smooth blend of creamy mango, juicy pineapple, sweet vanilla, rich rum, soft sandalwood and resins. Smells great I am not going to deny it, but it reminds me slightly of Cruz del Sur 2 by Xerjoff and I have that already in my collection. Jusbox is an expensive brand that never goes on sale and has weird bottles for their perfumes, with that vinyl disc on top of the bottle, which, again, personal preference, it’s not my thing. And their full size bottles are 78 ml instead of 100 ml, like most of the brands do, which bothers me again for some reason... While the scent itself is a delicious tropical fruity gourmand with boozy, floral touches on a vanilla/sandalwood base, taking in consideration all the other aspects mentioned above, I am not entirely sold on Carioca Heart. I am testing it now to see how it performs because performance it’s important to me. For the moment, I will pass on this and revisit my sample next summer, see how I feel then. Might grow on me and become totally obsessed with Carioca Heart like it happened in the past with other perfumes! For me, this is a summer time type of scent, something that I would wear paired with a linen sun dress and sandals on, and now it’s winter in full swing in Europe. I’d just add that this is a 100% feminine scent.

It's bold and brash and juicy and sweet and fun and soulful all at once. This is the kind of tropical scent that packs a punch: this is not trying to be subtle and I love it for it. It opens with juicy mango. I would challenge you not to smile at this point - it's just so fun and popping! The tropical aspects remain right the way through Carioca Heart's wear, but they soften and become a bit creamier. I can see the comparisons to some extent with the likes of Erba Pura but for me that's more about the juiciness of the fruit rather than the dry-down. And I can't tolerate Erba Pura-alikes' DNA - I feel like Carioca Heart's fruits are more realistic and visceral: almost photorealistic at the start. It has something in common with the likes of Pulp by Byredo in the way that it's almost impossibly juicy and you think: How?! So good. The dry-down is where I would say this may be an acquired taste. However, people's appetite for amber-wood bases seems to still be strong, so you may love it for this. The base does have that ambroxan-style heaviness - big, bold, enduring molecules. I'm picky about this scent profile but I think here it is nicely done, perfectly taking Carioca Heart from the beach to the Copacabana bar. A wild, fun time. HOT! This is high on my wish-list (I wish Jusbox did smaller bottles!). IG:ScentAWeek