Guilty Story

This smells like the tail-end of a really good date, like sliding into the back of someone's car for a long goodnight followed by the sharp heel-click of a decisive but still sultry and promising exit: you're not going home with them tonight, but maybe next time. Right off the top there is a bold and persistent waft of rubber and squeaky black leather seats—"like luxury new car smell," my friend said when I walked over to him. Something about this chemical smell persists even through the base notes and the dry down, which kept my nose glued to my wrist. Then the saffron, the cinnamon, and the tobacco come through surprisingly clean, but deep, like a rustling, unlit cigarette. Somehow, despite approaching status as the scent soundtrack to Julia Ducournau’s Titane (it would need a lot more sweat and blood for that) this somehow manages to be surprisingly wearable, the plastic curling up at the corners consistently enough to keep some of the other notes interesting. Here is where I find that the linearity of Mihan Aromatics’ scents becomes an asset: I wouldn’t love this in the way I do if it dramatically evolved—and lost—some of its quirks through the wear. That’s the other half of the mystery of this scent for me: it reintroduced me to aspects of notes that I would usually avoid in perfume, especially sweetness. The dry down becomes a soft, woody vanilla tempered by a real kind of desert and sand dryness, the cashmere and sandalwood connect in an utterly novel formulation that I am in love with. The woods that are in here are brittle, desiccated by the sun, powdery only in that they feel ready to break apart at the slightest touch, or as if they might ignite—the tobacco note is fantastic here, just a little curl of smoke. It’s warm heat radiating from the pavement at night, it’s a smoldering gaze, it’s a bit of a mirage, and it’s very flirty and evasive. I could imagine chasing this scent across someone's collar and up into their hair.

Stumbled upon the brand while I was living in Western Australia for a year. It started with a bottle of Petrichor Plains - something reminiscing of Santal 33 that I mostly decided to get so I can be annoying and tell people that I smell like fresh drops of rain after hot long summer days. Nearing the end of my visa, I ventured east and one day, I find myself in the hip area of Fitzroy in Melbourne at Lore Perfumery. Almost dying from the heat in January, needing shelter, solace, and a new scent. After smelling half of the shop, I came to the Mihan Aromatics lineup. I was told by the shopkeeper that the brand is based in Melbourne and that every fragrance is inspired by different areas of the city. I picked up Guilty Story, intrigued by its name. Not to be super cheesy and Carrie Bradshaw-esque but it was a love at first sniff. It's soft and cozy like an overpriced cashmere sweater but somehow also super sexy like Italian leather boots. It's a chic and confident woman --it is who I strive to be. Spending $60 for a 10 ml vial is rather painful, but the things you'd do for love, right?! The small bottle accompanies me to fan over bin chickens in Sydney, solo hikes in the Blue Mountain, crying while reading Michelle Zauner's book at main beach in Byron Bay. As my trip ends, retreat I have to, to cold and grey Germany. Sniffing the little of what remains in the bottle brings me back to Australia, to happier times. That being said, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the full 100ml perfume. They said marketing is the best sales tool, but they're wrong. It's nostalgia.

This smells like being in a forest in Victoria in the summer. The sun is shining, the eucalyptus trees are swaying sweetly in the breeze, butterflies are fluttering softly amongst delicate bush flowers. There are lots of dry leaves crunching under your feet. Something smokey... maybe some of the trees have charred bark from a previous bushfire, but they have a lot of new growth. It also smells like honey to me, especially on the dry down. But then there's also a scent of dusty earth that is reminiscent of how my childhood smelt - I grew up in a decade long drought and the ground would be deprived of moisture. Something about it is sexy too???? I got a little tester of this the other day for free and at first I wasn't sure about it but it's growing on me and I might have to get a full bottle because I'm a bit addicted to this.

If you’ve taken a walk in the Australian bush surrounded by twisted trees with strapping, peeling bark deepened by the moisture after a rain during a spring/summer day in high humidity with grey clouds where you can smell damp bark and petrichor - this is evocative of that landscape. The warmth of the cinnamon bark is blended so beautifully with the other notes; the rubber rounds it out in an amusing way, a sensation of velvety smoke from the tobacco and saffron, and smoothness of sandalwood and cashmere. Creamy, sweet, comforting, sensual, sultry, and natural. I enjoy catching whiffs of the scent throughout the day. Perfect scent for anyone who likes being outdoors and likes woody fragrances. It’s in my top favourites, I just adore it!

Note: I’m not an experienced user of fragrances so I won’t be able to provide the detail of others. I used the discovery set to sample this. Very similar to By the Fireplace in the opening. Maybe a touch less sweet. Within a minute it transitions to a sweet, distinctly rubbery smell. I couldn’t put my finger on what it reminded me of but one of my guesses was condoms (seriously!). Within half an hour it transitioned to a more powdery vanilla, slight caramel smell, with little projection. Maybe 10cm. Smell was gone from my skin within three hours but lasted on my clothes for five or six.