Ray-Flection

Honored to be among the participants of this unique launch as difficult times call for creative solutions, it was a joy to hear the founders, Alessandro Brun and Riccardo Tedeschi, present the event, and a privilege to hear Alex Lee describe his inspiration and storytelling for the creation of the newest Masque Milano fragrance. Ray-Flection is absolutely glowing, vibrant, exuberant and truly, the sum of its parts is greater than the individual accords even though the accords themselves are of such exquisite quality and composition that they can almost stand on their own. Together, they fit squarely within Masque Milano's refined and sophisticated aesthetic. I'm always up for a unique woody-floral, but the cucumber and waxy, stable honey are delightful additions to the mimosa absolute, aldehydes, bergamot, and cedarwood that wear well and are detectable and enjoyable many hours later. Interesting that as we head into Winter in the States, where there is social and political unrest, coupled with serious health and safety concerns, Ray-Flection is that light at the end of the tunnel--truly, that glimmering ray of hope and optimism that we'll make it through this. It's a reminder that Spring and Summer will come, as it always does, and that when we've reached the other side of things and can bask in the sun's rays once again and in each other's unobstructed company, we can look back and remember that it's always dark before it gets light.

Ray-Flection is a masterpiece. It walks the perfectly balance fine line between being masculine/feminine with a soaring citrus-solar-aldehyde, powdery pollen-like mimosa and with a gently sweet honeycombed base. It just reminds me of a honeyed-floral from the past that I can’t put my finger on (as I can’t remember it anymore) and it’s almost reminiscent of Kim K’s Pure Honey but much better. But Ray-Flection smells like it’s a timeless and classic honeyed-aldehyde floral but still modern, gentle, innocent and soft - along the similar lines of Ashore. When I first put it on, it performs outstandingly for 3.5 hours then it pulls back until another 10 hours later, at my sweaty dance class, it’s rising up again from the heat of my skin like a phoenix from the flames and I smell like sparkling honey shampoo. It’s so beautiful with just the right amount of sweetness from the honey to offset the dazzling aldehydes which soar it into the atmosphere around me. The bottles are only 30ml but it makes it more affordable and portable for such a niche beauty. Ray-Flection is delicate honey with gentle powdery florals and bubbly aldehydes - of course I love this.

Definite similarities to MFK Aqua Vitae Cologne Forte, which is the only Aqua Vitae I’ve tried from MFK, so it may be more similar to AV or AV Forte - they both share the mandarin, solar notes, musk, powdery florals etc. and both are a citrus forward opening & soften with a powdery dry down and both evolve beautifully. I compared them next to one another after frantically trying to figure out why Ray Flection smelled soooo familiar to me! Actually ALL 4 of the Masque Milano I tried were eerily familiar and reminded me of something that I just could not put my finger on. At first I thought RF was a mix between MFK Aqua Universalis Forte & La Vie Est Belle Éclat (wow btw... try it!) but after laying them was getting there but too linen/sweet. Then the AVCF next to RF was pretty close. Definitely still not exact, there are differences but more similar than not I think & VERY Francis Kurkdjian dna vibe So if you have the MFK it may be redundant to get RF, although it is a stunning frag in its own right! Clean, soapy, lightly citrus, sunny, fresh, powdery... everything you could want in a beautiful sunny frag! Really enjoying MM :) great performance

This is the most sophisticated and stunning cardamom fragrance I've ever smelled. It is displayed from head to toe, ranging from wet green cardamom pod to freshly ground powder, dry and spicy. The other top and heart notes (mimosa, mandarin, solar notes, aldehydes) bring an effervescent sunny sweetness to this. I generally avoid aldehydes for their sharp and astringent characteristics, but I'm not getting anything grating here, only a giggly bubbliness on top. The dry cedar perfectly complements the warm spiciness of the cardamom and enhances the woodiness of the violets as well. All in all a perfectly concocted fragrance. Alex Lee may be one of my favorite perfumers - he is also behind my two favorites from the Carolina Herrera Confidential line (Gold Myrrh Absolute and Amethyst Haze) and he created the only plum/prune note I have ever coveted (Accidental Maybe by Abstraction Paris, which is unfortunately not on Fragrantica).

If Ganymede was female scent and it had mimosa in it, this is how it would smell. On me it opens with sage tea, and I smell no mandarin whatsoever throughout the experience. My previous review said some stuff that isn't true anymore, like it quickly fading into basic musk but something changed. I can smell this on me even the next day. Unlike many perfumes, that disfigured aroma left behind smells distinctly like RayFlection, not random femininity. FBB even blindly for those who like mimosa with zero powdery notes and no other florals to take it over after drydown. There's a phase between opening, drydown and eternity when it slightly reminded me of soapiness but it was brief and I'm not entirely sure if it was just me digging my nose into skin until my nasal cartilage is bent. Most stuff smells off when you abuse it like that. Oh. It works in sub zero weather too, it's just more of a strict milf than a kind woman.