Pretty Machine

I first found out about this fragrance and the house of Kerosene in a post made by Florence Welch from Florence and The Machine on her Instagram page. As a fan, I was so curious to try! I remember her sharing Unknown Pleasures too, which is one of the most popular scents of this brand. However, the notes did not captivate me as much as this one did. I guess the idea of smelling like a lemon pie or a waffle cone didn't sound so appealing when compared to a mix of my favorite notes: Jasmine, Orange Blossom, with all the freshness of Bergamot and - my personal favorite - Neroli! When first spraying this, I knew there was a lot going on! But not in a bad way, not at all. It was a beautiful scent with a gentle, citric sharpness that somehow reminded me of the color silver, or steel; the "Machine" in Pretty Machine. The Linden in this fragrance brings me back to when my family and I went camping near a lake together in Northern Italy, waking up to the sound of what sounded like a swarm of bees above our tent. We were a little scared at first, until finding out that we had set up our tent under a Linden tree and that the bees were only seeking the nectar of the Linden Blossoms, innocently. Following the gorgeous floral potpourri, I sensed a surprising hint of Vetiver in the dry-down! I was not expecting to actually smell the rose and the vetiver in this fragrance to be frank, but the mix of these two notes with the Linden create a quite refined combination. Spring has just began here in Italy, but I honestly think this will be an even greater partner during the summer months!

I used to share a generous wooden art noveau apartment with my best friend during the uni that was on the street lined with linden trees. And late spring early summer sunny weekends when we pushed our big kitchen windows open, there was a huge scent bubble of honeyed aromatic linden blossoms mixing with freshly cooked eggs, strong coffee and occasional cheeky cigarette whilst sitting on the window sill. This is a true linden blossom scent with a bit more added honey note, deeper yellower and more intoxicating than I remember, but instantly familiar. Its gorgeous, well composed and performs really well. The linden blossom idea is on the steroids, its less green and tender than in real life, although lindens (that we here also dry to use for herbal tea) can smell also pretty powerful. There is a weird play with a musk on my skin, but its very brief moment in mid-phase. Pretty machine performs like a true super engine- I used a dabber for testing and it lasted on the back of my neck and neckline for hours.... what a pretty pretty thing! p.s. Its my 2nd try, the 1st time in the high summer heat, the musk in the scent was overwhelming, now when the temps have cooled a bit, its perfect.

I have a really difficult time with jasmine, gardenias, and orange blossom. I love the scents, but cannot find one that's wearable on me that doesn't choke me or turn. Pretty Machine works! I sprayed the decant twice, put it on my wrists and dabbed my neck with my wrists and that is enough. I live in south Florida, hot, humid and miserable 80% of the year, so I have to be careful with most applications. The orange blossom jumps (not screams) out at me and skips around like a little school girl. Happy, carefree and PRETTY too! It's not childish nor is it necessarily for a young woman, so don't think of those sweet girly perfumes because it is not. I don't know the other notes, I get something soft and pretty at dry down. Probably the musk, it's not heavy. It's perfect. I just love this and I believe this may be the first white floral that is full bottle worthy for me. One day...

Have you ever walked around a city during a VERY hot day, the kind of day where the heat shimmers on the sidewalk and everything smells like garbage? And every once in awhile, you pass an open doorway that BLASTS air conditioning right in your face? It's like a crisp, refreshing slap in the face- startling but sort of welcome. Pretty Machine feels just like that, it is linden / honeysuckle laundry detergent turned up to 11. Great for sticky hot days when you just want to feel clean and composed. It needs heat to both bloom and burn off the shrill top notes. In normal weather it's a bit too loud and can cause headaches.

The scent of linden blossoms — airy, pale yellow-green, light as summer breezes — is one of my favorites. Pretty Machine blends linden with sparkling citrus to make a lush yet crisp summery floral. The effect is totally pure, crisp, even sharp, without a hint of sweetness: it’s a pretty *machine* after all. this scent could have been designed for me. It’s light, cool, sparkling, with layers of floral nuance. Pretty Machine is a lot like La Chasse aux Papillons (another light, pretty linden floral) but maybe a touch greener and sharper.

Finally bought a full bottle of this today after circling it for a year. The Kerosene house is very left of center, and Pretty Machine fits into that body of work by being one of the more straightforward offerings. Both this and Dirty Flower Factory are great examples of masculine florals that lean into their floral components, rather than hide them behind more conventionally “manly” notes. Pretty Machine pops off the skin, capturing that point when Spring reclaims the air from Winter.

To me this is overwhelmingly a linden blossom perfume. I think it's perfect for the spring. I really like it and it last decently long time. To me it's not all about the linden but if you don't like that note you probably won't like this. You have to be into florals. It's an uplifting smell that reminds me of spring. Whenever I need a little spring (no matter the season) I reach for this scent. Uplifting

This is a dabber, NOT a spritzer. In tiny,strategically placed doses it is beautiful. Summer incarnate, for the brief time during which the lindens bloom. DON'T SPRAY !!!!!!! ;-)

Neroli is so lovely. This is bond no 9 Eau de New york without the kick. Long lasting and clean scent.

Yeah, fair enough - it really is! A bright, sparkly, fizzy zinging blast of freshness that keeps working for far longer than you might expect. Exhilarating burst of the start wisely balances out the smack of citrus with a halo of gorgeous flowery notes that aren't allowed to get too blowsy, so it strikes a perfect middle way between sweet & sour. Linden can get WAY too heady for me, but here it's just doing spring zing without putting a foot wrong. Smells clean, invigorating, spare and modern - synthetic grade for strength, but *seeming* just natural enough to work. (Still not as amazing as some more naturals-based treatments done in this sort of spring-meadow territory like Natsumeku ... but ... a lovely skip though the flowers all the same.) Gives it all it's got for a couple of hours, then fades out fast, leaves only a faintly but pleasantly metallic-salty-green wash behind for a few hours more, gone with the wind by 5h in. Not a real-world trip for me, as the price is too high and its identity not quite defined enough - but a genuinely cheerful and energetic thing to wear on warmer days. If you like the light, transparent, sheer, airy, outdoorsy style - this is a great showpiece.

Wow! One thing I love about kerosene is the fact that the names are always on point. „Pretty machine“ works so well on this one. It smells really pretty, flowery and kind of soapy, while also performing like a beast! I put this on one hand and „Walk The Sea“ on my other hand. While i did like the other one, this one just completely took all the attention from me. It‘s so strong, you can smell it even after hours! While the other one seemed to be overwhelmed by Pretty Machine, I still liked both. This one reminds me of soap, flowers and spring/summer. It blasts you with all those notes and also reminds me of walking past a Lush store. To me it smells very feminine, so I probably won‘t get a bottle of this. For some strange reason i really love the feminine perfumes from Kerosene.. huh. Anyway, in terms of performance this is just wonderful! If you‘re living in a hot country, you have to be super careful with overspraying. I don‘t think this is something to be worn every single day but rather to be enjoyed once in a while. I‘d imagine this to get quite heavy after a while, especially on a long and hot day. Still, I absolutely love this! It‘s just so good.

Extremely wearable jasmine freshie amalgamated with citrus blossoms and it's subservient classical notes. Green, clean, heady and classic smelling. Smells like something a French perfumer would make. Has a clean, laundered linen quality as well. Reminds me of 724 by MFK. This is a classic spring/summer fresh combination, especially for womens’ perfumes. Smells nice! Drying down is less bouquet-ish white florals, leaning dewy/fruity. Kind of like the drydown in Summer of ‘84. This reminds me of one of the Aqua di Gioias from Armani as well, the green or blue one..? It veers into that kind of dewy-ness. Sadly, there’s no WOW factor for me. It just smells so familiar and undistinctive from all the other mature white floral/aquatic lady perfumes. It doesn’t stand out. HOWEVER, that might be a good thing for those who want a familiar DNA and inoffensive smell, but pegg-ified. Lasts 1/3rd of the day, projects medium and respectful. Not the greatest numbers for a Kerosene fragrance but a fresh-floral fragrance like this doesn’t need to have monstrous performance either. Very wearable and solid pick for spring/summer. 7/10

Before I sprayed I was expecting something animalistic and very heavy judging by the name and by my association with Kerosene's product line. When I sprayed, i was surprised by a hit of tangy freshness with a slight "taste" of eucalyptus/mint cough lozenge "Strepsils". I would think it was a combination of lime and Linden Blossom backed up by neroli. On me, the second note I felt was the Orange Flower adding sweetness, followed by jasmine and a hint of musk.Jasmine is something to be very careful with as it opens on everyone very differently and can go from being exotically provocative to foul. I absolutely fell in love with the fragrance on the dry down. It is crisp, light, yet very bold, like a light slap on the face that you do not feel anymore ,but the one that has left a mark. The visual association I get is a Southern Belle, sipping a Mint Julep on the porch of her house in the early hours of the day in the early spring, when the air is just starting to get thick with natural perfumes. This is what I would picture a young Scarlett O'Hara would smell like

So bright and wearable! I don't get the machine part of it much or the industrial scent people are saying here but it's definitely pretty. I guess I can understand it if you count cleaning supplies as industrial but i don't place it in that category? I also often see "cleaning supply" being used as a negative descriptor but I honestly don't mind it (i'd even say i like it) and here it works well Smells really clean & sweet but in a gentle way I put on a bit too much at first and I was like WOW but it fades pretty fast and doesn't last superrr long. I think it'd be nice for an event but I don't think you could wear it all day without reapplying unless you mix it with lotions & oils etc. I don't see this as a feminine fragrance at all? I'm surprised by the votes on here. Yes it is very floral and it has that subtle sweetness but it's very unisex and even masculine at times

I love this. It's definitely one of the most straight-forward, wearable fragrances from Kerosene, but it's still interesting and dynamic. I was looking for a nice white floral without it being too powdery, and this delivered! I think this is a fabulous, youthful floral that I'd love to smell on someone. It's definitely one of the most blatantly feminine fragrances from this house. Honestly, when I first smelled it I kept waiting for some odd note to hit, maybe something animalic or decay-oriented but it never came! However, the fact that I personally know I'm spraying a Kerosene fragrance on myself makes me think the scent has a little edge to it. That's just bias talking though! Decent silage and great longevity.

Fresh and wet and bright. It isn’t listed as a note, and when I really focus and sniff I don’t smell the note itself at all, but it reminds me of a hyacinth. It’s kind of the essence of a hyacinth without a hyacinth note, if that makes sense - intensely floral, with an almost nose-puckering effect (the lemon?), and something damp and dewy over it all. I adore hyacinths and have had very bad luck with hyacinth perfumes, so this is a great find. Dries down to fluffy yellow linden flowers and a clean breeze. Perfect for spring, I’d imagine. Lovely on this gray autumn day. It smells very clean without smelling like a soap or cleanser. There’s a little lingering scent in my bubble like it’s just stopped drizzling.

The first thing my nose picks up on is a floral, citrus scent. Rose normally would make a fragrance smell wet to me but the white flowers in here are more than enough to steer it to a dry, almost powdery clean direction. In the background I also pick up some green notes. This reminds me of Summer of 84, another Kerosene fragrance. This could be her older sister. While Summer of 84 is more fun with melon and isn't dry at all, Pretty Machine is more elegant with its rose and more mature with its vetiver. If you're looking for a white floral with more maturity to it this could be worth trying. Sadly for me there's nothing that piques my interest personally.

Upon my first time testing, I got an overwhelming blast of the orange blossom; which tends to feel quite dusty on me, but as I've gone to testing again, I got more of the magnolia and neroli. Seeing as I'm from the southern states, I love how Pretty Machine seems to capture the distinct smell of spring time wild flowers and especially the bittersweet sharpness of white florals in the morning breeze. It's as if I was dusted with pollen and the milky discharge from broken plant stems that I always smeared along my fingers as I played in the woods as a child. Just beautifully done.

Using a sample from luckyscent — Light, cheerful, sweet yellow florals. Bit of green mixed in. Very little citrus. Unlike some other reviewers, to me and a few coworkers, this comes off as very bright and youthful. My other experiments with strong yellow florals always failed (too cloying or screechy), but I actually really like this. I wish I could combine Pretty Machine’s flowers with the metallic edge from Dirty Flower Factory (which had very strong white florals that bordered on soapy, which I was so-so about, but a metallic edge that was fascinating).

Wow! This one is soooo pretty! The name matches the scent perfectly. On my skin I get the linden, bergamot, lime, and lots of white flowers. This is a beautifully fresh, clean floral, which is slightly green. I also pick up on the musk. Of course fragrance is genderless- wear what you want- but in my opinion this leans rather feminine. This would be beautiful in the Spring! This is a powerful one, so it doesn’t take a lot. I’ve added this to my “want” list!