Use Abuse

I have the travel size for testing. I really quite like this. I'm not certain if I will get a full bottle just yet. And I'm not sure I would have made the association of this with Queen and Freddie Mercury. I lived the 80s as a teenager and am a big Queen fan. Freddie's was a larger than life figure to me. So I would have expected a perfume inspired by his music to be large and OUT!!! To me this is a new romantic fragrance reminding me of Spandau Ballet or Adam Ant. Beautiful spicy and fresh. Goody two shoes, don't drink, dont smoke...what do you do? A subtle innuendo is how this sits on my skin. So I'll use my travel size and see if I am desperate for more!! I think I like this for spring and summer. I'm getting lots of incense and floral notes. It lasts about six hours on my skin but forever on my clothes and I'm here for it!

Use Abuse is not very neat and tidy, however I am drawn to its uniqueness. The first spritz there is a crayon-esque odor that made me think I need to scrub, but then it wafts around in a spiking white floral and settles into a orange pomander. Weird, but the top note of mandarin orange influences the base notes even at dry down. Also, the incense note in this concoction is not usual either, I cannot abide incense and I cannot even detect it in Use Abuse. I'm looking for more because it is a strange, quirky scent that make me happy.

This smells amazing! Its musky, perfumey, and unique

Despite being a white floral I don't find this remotely feminine. I don't know if I'm smelling something different to everyone else and my bottle got mislabelled but it's distinctly masculine to me. Instead of the standard one drop of tuberose which overpowers anything anyway, it hits you with a very heavy dose of tuberose. I can't even smell the vanilla but I can tell there's something softening the harshness of the tuberose one moment and the next moment the citrus which I also cannot detect but know something's there enhancing the harshness of the tuberose and sharpening it to the point it smells almost metalic. The only fragrance I can I can identify without looking is the tuberose but it's being dragged in every different direction it can go either by complimenting it's different qualities or contrasting with them. I don't think I've ever liked a tuberose fragrance as much as this. The dry down only takes place about 10 hours after wearing and just slowly fades into a skin scent of light cedar after 12 hours like nothing has ever been there. I'm definitely looking forward to wearing this on a night out.

This gives me a strong synthetic vibe, like someone else mentioned below an oriental spa, but a perfumey version of it, not actual oils and plants. The musk and the mandarine are strong, then opoponax takes a twist on them and makes it something else, something that is not as clean and simple anymore. I'd call this a weird citrus-floral scent, it reminds me some of the Blue Bottles of Histoires-de-Parfums, cant put my finger on which one exactly, #5 or #6...I'd wear it in warm weather, but not sure it's full bottle worthy for me personally

The notes in the description of this throw you off a bit, I wasn't expecting what is essentially a solid incense focused scent. This is basically a churchy incense like Avignon, but rounded out a bit with the creamy floral and a tinge of orange. Pleasant, although I don't see how the name/theme fits this.

What a pleasant surprise. The way the florals, musk and resins play together in this is really nice. It gives similar vibes to how they are in Existence minus the punchy aldehydes. Not one I’ve ever heard mentioned but I’m glad it’s in my collection now.

Medical peony vibe. Off-putting. Gnarly feminine energy. Very particular but not particularly good.

Anytime perfume jockeys need to explain that what you are smelling is a “beautiful metallic tuberose (that) evokes the astonishing theatrical shows of Queen and it’s frontman Freddie Mercury” you know they are full of shit.

The name sums up my thoughts better than I could.

Strong incense note, rather unpleasant, to be honest. Can't make out any other note underneath, maybe a bit of mandarin orange but very bitter. And I can't imagine myself wearing this among people. But I'm not the biggest fan of incense, anyway.

This smells like a public bathroom to me. Fake floral chemicals covering up the unpleasant bathroom odors is all I can smell. I was super excited for this too but definitely not at all what I was expecting.

I completely understand the dismissiveness towards this brand online. Its fragrance + music concept is embarassingly gimmicky, and the pairings they've chosen don't help matters. Use Abuse is the brand's tribute to the 80s. When I think of quintessentially 1980s music, I think of new wave, or post punk, or early hip hop, or even the new romantics. But Queen? No, and if anything, the idea of an arena rock behemoth in its waning years feels all too symbolic of a focus-grouped fragrance developed by middle-aged marketing execs (spoiler: their 90s-inspired fragrance is a tribute to...U2). All that said, Use Abuse is special in its weird way, and is easily my favorite from this house. The white florals are bold if decidedly synthetic, and there's a rich citrus/incense on the top and bottom. This is a pristinely clean white floral. This is frankly worth sidelining both fragrance and music snobbery.

I really love a brand based on a theme...and Jusbox is masterful. The creator has really tried to capture the feeling of a musician or style in his fragrances. Very tough...or his interpretation is - for the most part - very different than mine. With Use Abuse he is trying to immortalize Freddy Mercury and Queen. Unfortunately, it doesn't reach it the heights of the iconic Queen, FM or his proxy Adam Lambert IMO. This interpretation is light, close to the skin and an odd acidy citrus and flower. What I wanted was something that would wow me with its quirk and last for ever...an Amber, Oud or Ambergris base combined with something sparkly like Adam Lambert's concert shoes and seductive like Freddy/Adam's voice. Sadly its a pass...BUT I am moving through my Jusbox discovery set so several more to sample!

I am currently wearing the sample size of this while at work. It doesn't smell bad, but I definitely won't be buying a full size version. It goes on strong but fades in about 2 hrs(ish). I can see when ppl compare it to a gas station bathroom. Again, not unpleasant, but artificial and not really what I want to smell like on a day to day basis. This one is a pass.

Tubrose plus mandarin plus incese is use abuse. Smells like good oriental spa session. I would want such fragrance for home. Would love if i could get such room oil or candle fragrance for home. But for myself do not like how it opens and smells.