Salome

It was 2016 when I entered @lessenteurs in London just by coincidence; the lady attendant there - of whom I am sorry to say I cannot recall the name - made me aware of Papillon Perfumes. I almost cried for the joice and, long stroy short, I exited the shop with a bottle of Anubis in one hand, and one of Salome in the other. Here we talk about the latter. The two pics here show the two facets of Salome: the animalic fur (the musk) and the beautiful florals, because an animalic musk (at least in perfumery) should exist to sustain the florals (and not on its own). Salome is the scent of arousal in the air; it is the exchange of glances in a ballroom. It is clothes rushily pushed aside. Culmination. And then repose with river of salty sweat flowing abundantly over two naked bodies. It is not filfty nor dirty; it is sexy. it is, as Liz Moore says, "the scent of Salome's swest after her dance". I will attempt a note break-down with no pretension of exhustion nor of correctness (I am not a trained perfumer): this is Salome action in my mind, but the real action is taking place in the base where the spicy patchouli, quietly smoky styrax, leathery birch, and vanilla begin to stir. Now Salome emanates the musky warmth of post-sex skin. I am in love with Salome! Turkish rose, Jasmine, Carnation, Oakmoss, Castoreum, Civet, Hyraceum, Styrax, Tobacco, Orange Blossom, Patchouli, Sweet Hay, Bitter Red Orange, Bergamot, Cumin, Clove bud, Birch tar, and Vanilla. to which I will add some synthetic musks. It is the hyracem that plays an important role here with its animalic unctuos facets and leather and urinous undertones. Salome opens on my skin with a dark velvety dense rose, impollinated with a good dose of cloves; then there shoul be Egyptian jasmine (2016 batch) and a touch of bergamot; all the conconction is wrapped up in strands of hay. A light gauzy oakmoss lurks in the background. A good touch of cumin will make me think of sweat skin. An then the revelation. Soon arrives a convoy of musks and animalics. From the dark red rose to the dark brown fur: that is Salome's voyage. It is rich, sweet, spicy, floral, and musky; but above all, is alive! The scent becomes muskier and the animalic stronger: after the seduction of the opening, we have this arousal phase; we are impatient to score! This is Salome action in my mind, but the real action is taking place in the base where the spicy patchouli, quietly smoky styrax, leathery birch, and vanilla begin to stir. Now Salome emanates the musky warmth of post-sex skin. I am in love with Salome! Follow me on IG @alexolympia6

TLDR. This is hubba hubba date night cologne. Because I put this on and it makes me want to jump on my wife. Wow I am digging this. To my nose it is alternating between a very old fashioned fragrance and dirty sex appeal. I am not the first to say it, so here we go. This does not remind me of vaginas. You want vaginas, of the unwashed variety, in your parfum? Try Baz from The Spirit of Dubai. If you do, you won’t thank me. This is a warning not a recommendation. I am getting late 1970s formulations of right guard sprayed on stinky pits in order to freshen up. I haven’t smelled this smell in damn near 45 years. Hard as it is to believe this is a good thing because it reminds me of my wife and her pheromones. I spray this on and a 70s era porno soundtrack clicks on lol. As it dries down a cumin note is becoming evident. I generally hate cumin but so far here it works. It is not the star of the show, just one of many supporting characters. This goes in a different direction than modern popular perfumery and I am here for it. Funny thing I can’t decide if this is unisex or sex specific. There is something masculine here but there is also a feminine edge as well. Perhaps this is the mark of a truly unisex fragrance. Not something that has been focused grouped to death in order to appeal to the masses but a product that has both masculine and feminine qualities. Two other fragrances that remind me of sex are le lion and 1740. Le lion is soft. There is a sensuality to it. 1740 smells like you have been partying with The Rolling Stones. You don’t remember what but something definitely happened last night and it burns when you pee. Then there is this. This is the same lady as le lion but tonight she is deciding leather or latex. Because she wants to play a little rough. Anyway, if I ever get invited to an orgy I know what to put on lol. 9 hours in and let’s just say this is a challenging scent to wear because much like Nandor it does not relent. I know I showered today but I smell feet and sack. I smell like Jahan for crying out loud lol. I have used the line once before for comedic effect. But in this instance I believe there might actually be bits of real panther in salome. This is one of those perfumes that will humble an over sprayer. I will give my nose a nice floral rest for the next few days then come back and try one shot to the base of the neck and see what develops. 24 hours later it is now a complex vanilla skin scent. The are some florals spices, powder and musk. Quite nice, polite even...

Just got this in today 03/31/2026. Wow this one is great. Beast mode, let it dry down for 15-20 before you rank it. I love the bottle design, it's simple and elegant similiar to Roja Dove This is one of the very special ones you can smell off yourself This one radiates off your skin, with very high Quality Ingredients. To me a get a dark beautiful sweet very rich and sexy Jasmine mixed with the Bitter Orange and Mandarin, mixed to perfection. This one is blended very well, with just the right amount of animalics, honestly you don't smell them mat all, just a great blend which creates a very unique smell unlike anything I have ever put my nose on, a smell that has got me hooked and wanting more from this house. I pick up a slight faint Coco Cola accord with a Freshly Squeezed Cold Orange juice, which I think really makes this one smell good, very happy with this purchase. The Jasmine in this must be Sambac, because this has to be one of the best Very Rich luxurious mix of Opulent Jasmine that has ever been made. You really can't go wrong with this release. I do not see anyone not liking this. would love to buy more bottles from anyone that is selling them. I have not seen any bad review of this fragrance yet. To me this one is addicting, I keep wanting to smell it more. I kept smelling this one, walking outside and then in the grocery store, thinking, if I can smell this off myself other people have to be smelling this and probably did, but no one said anything, it's just depends really, you have to be in the right setting, office work type environment, is where you will likely get most of your compliments. Very few fragrances have the ability to be smelled of the person wearing them but this one you can do just that which makes it in my opinion much more valuable than many others on the market. It's definitely one of the Gems out there that most have not had their nose on. I thought I was going to return this one, you have to be patient give this one a chance, go outside, go for a walk, maybe the gust of wind will help you enjoy it. Salome is sticking to my skin and it's an absolute pleasure to smell. Spend a little more, save up if you have to, and get something realy nice, or sample first. Only seeking beast mode masterpieces 10/10, and Papillon has done just that with Salome. Definite masterpiece here. 10/10 For me, looking to try other offerings from this house, with Bengal Rouge in Mind.

Salome was released by Papillion Artisan Perfumes in 2015; it can be purchased online for ~$200/50 mL. It also happens to be a nearly-note-for-note modernization of Bal-a-Versailles by Jean Deprez, which was released in 1962 (but aimed to invoke 17th Century French bacchanalia during the reign of Louis XIV); vintage bottles from the 1960s can be had online for ~$60/30 mL; that is, roughly half the price per unit volume. Both fragrances are nearly identical. Both are master classes in olfactory ribaldry. Both invoke vignettes of sweaty mornings in bed with a long-familiar lover: when there was no opportunity to shower, your teeth were unbrushed; you both went off-script; the sheets are a mess; the mattress is soaked; neither of you can find your underwear; you're both late for work; and you couldn't care less because it was the best sex you've ever had. There's nothing glamorous about those memories, but they're the ones you savor. Decades later, if you catch a whiff of this scent, you'll shake your head and giggle. Salome by Papillon: It's unrepentantly androgynous. It's unrepentantly old-fashioned. It caters unrepentantly to the wearer's basest instincts. Because Papillon don't judge and spontaneous sex never gets old. And what's the matter--when it's time to get down--are you really scared of a little urine? Salome could be the most dangerous perfume on the market if it weren't for the fairly easy accessibility of Bal-a-Versailles on the secondary sales websites (for literally half the price and sans the IFRA restrictions). Do yourself a favor and snag a vintage bottle of B-a-V while it's still available at these prices. Or better yet--snag a bottle of each. Because Papillon definitely deserves its flowers, too, for bringing Salome into this market. In an era typified by harmless blue freshies, saccharine club scents, and sterile "niche" syrups by PDM... In an era where OF accounts and triple digit body counts are ubiquitous and mundane; where we all know the lyrics to W.A.P; where sex is just another commodity to be traded in public view... It takes genuine guts to issue a fragrance that pulls you in close, shoves a hot little hand in your pocket, and gasps in your ear, "my bussle's undone and I'm soaking wet; now take me into the cloakroom and f*** me like it's 1689." You know you want it. Easy 9/10.

I was recommended this fragrance when looking for a skanky, dirty musk and it did not disappoint! If you love that dirty, skanky, sexy, intoxicating, animalic musk, then this is for you (I'm going for the queen of adjectives here, smutty, freaky, adventurous, spicy and can't forget SAVAGE)!) I despise leather notes in fragrances but I can't really detect it in this one. For those who dislike animalic musks, this will likely come across as fecal to you, so I'm saving you the hit to your wallet if that doesn't get your bedroom mojo poppin'. In terms of projection, far and wide; in terms of sillage, eternal. I had this on for 23 hours and it was still projecting fairly strongly when I went to sleep 16 hours later. When I woke up, I sniffed my wrists and it was still easily detectable. After my shower, I could still faintly smell it on my wrists, so it's pretty nuclear and damn good value for money. Definitely a unisex fragrance, and as a female, I intend to rock it day or night, summer evenings, winter days/nights, and everything inbetween. I don't quite get the "reminds me of Bal a Versailles" association. I own Bal a Versailles as well and yes, it's dirty but more like L'Heure Bleue. Salome is more similar to Musc Ravageur, Unspoken Musk, and Sacred Scarab and Civet by Zoologist. This definitely evokes one of those "How YOU doin?" 😉😉moments by Joey from Friends, and that's the fragrance speaking to you, not the person wearing it LOL. This fragrance is the type that undresses you with its eyes, and unabashedly teases you with flirtatious remarks. After it has finished toying with you, it pursues you aggressively with bold, explicit advances. It doesn't give a fuck—it wants what it wants. Those carnal desires are what drive the beast within! As the receiver of the attention, you'll have a firm understanding of the difference between attraction and forevermore, and the latter isn't up for consideration. In the words of Saving Abel 🎵I'm not in love, but the sex is good🎵 NOTE: As the wearer of the fragrance, sit back, say nothing, do nothing, relax and enjoy yourself, and let the fragrance do the talking. Quiet confidence and Salome are your secret weapons 😍 10/10 for me.

This is a classic chypre scent done well. It's absolutely vintage in style, bold, and unapologetic where it's veering, at times, towards a vulgar, animalistic display of primal sexuality, which it flaunts without shame. I imagine here there's a confident and voluptuous lady, who's going out wearing absolutely nothing but the smell of her own sweat and her excitement after meeting her lover. As she grabs her bag she quickly sprays a little bit of soapy and intensely musky perfume, which merges with her own bodies sweet perfumes, but it doesnt hide the scent of her recent passion. She is wearing nothing but this heavy odor which is radiating off of her warm body, as her skin is caressed by the floor length fur coat. She smiles in delight at her own secret knowing of her nakedness hiding just behind the vintage furs. Her smile's exagerated by her full face of makeup, with heavy powder and a shocking, bright red lipstick, which she's reapplied and tidied up again in a compact mirror before she steps out the door into the cold winter night. Leaving a perfumed trail behind her as she walks to get the next train back home. I can see why some people will feel uncomfortable with this enormous scent but I admit that I actually love feeling like I have my face in this imaginary women's armpit. I think I secretly wish that this imagined lady, which comes to my mind when I smell this fragrance, will transform me in real life too. Perhaps there is a hope that this perfume will install within my own psyche a sense of sensuality and sexual confidence, making me feel like some sort of mature and self-assured femme fatale with zero inhibitions. You need to be brave to wear this one out of the house! So what do we actually have here in this vintage powerhouse? There is a powdery rose, indolic white florals, cumin tainted sweat, soapy orangne blossom, filthy patchouli, animalistic musks and furs and I love it. My god, I love it! Even if she isn't the most pretty or perfect example of femininity, she is still beautiful. This is more the dark feminine, the wild woman, the scarlet woman, the nymphomaniac, the shamless whore, the bitch who doesn't need you to love her at all.

I'm a die-hard fan of Papillon. I haven’t smelled anything from this brand that I wouldn’t consider full-bottle worthy, as I love natural-smelling, evocative, vintage-style scents. Salome was the fragrance that first sparked my interest in the brand, and it has since become my signature, closely followed by Jubilation XXV woman and Anubis (also from Papillon). I even got a backup bottle of Salome -something I basically never do. This is a genius creation. It is certainly animalic with a hint of skank, but on me it’s far from shouty or vulgar. That’s thanks to the extremely elegant floral notes, with jasmine and carnation standing out most. These beautiful flowers make the fragrance very wearable, even suitable for social or professional occasions. It is confidence-boosting, yet also enveloping and comforting. Don't get me wrong-it has claws and may not appeal to those who prefer sweet, delicate scents. Yet its chypreesque elegance balances the intense, animalic and feisty notes. It is also worth noting how it compares to another highly acclaimed animalic - Musc Tonkin. While Salome is spicy and its florals are tempered with some savory notes (hay, oakmoss?), Musc Tonkin is much sweeter and considerably more powdery. To me, Musc Tonkin feels less suitable for formal occasions and far more boudoiresque. Both are great creations, and I can easily imagine the perfect circumstances and moods to enjoy each of them. Just note that these are two completely different scents. There is also another thing I have to point out. I often share my perfumes with family and friends, and I’ve realized how strongly skin-dependent Salome is. On me it’s an elegant, animalic carnation-rose chypre, but it can smell radically different on others. On my mother, for instance, the cumin note becomes too dominant, disrupting the subtle elegance of the other ingredients. While blind-buying is generally not recommended, it is especially true for this one. Test before you buy !

This is a stunning perfume, definitely has the modern-vintage thing going on. The hazy aura that surrounds me is that of perfume still clinging to my skin after having been with my beloved all night. It smells like dense clouds of frankincense combined with rose-scented candle wax and oodles of rich musk. Salome is warm and romantic and surprisingly wearable. While it is very animalic, it does not smell like a barnyard animal the way Muscs Koublai Khan smells. The animalic note I detect is more along the lines of leather-tinged civet. Reminds me of Absolue Pour le Soir, but I had to sell that one as it goes way too far into armpit & urine territory, while Salome never even comes close to that yet still retains an equally full animalic splendor. Again, very animalic, so I might be tempted to call it raunchy, dingy, dirty, skanky, naughty, or nasty, but I feel that the negative vibes those words convey are not appropriate words for a perfume of this caliber of artistry and dedicated passion. Salome is the afterglow, not the act. It's the guy who calls the next day, not the guy who sleeps with someone else the next day. It's the vulnerability of soft lips brushing against supple skin for the first time. It is salubrious and sanctified, not sinful and salacious. Salome is a masterpiece, the perfect addition to an already phenomenal line of carefully constructed, unhurried releases. I already loved Liz Moores' other perfumes, particularly Anubis, but Salome has sealed the deal for me in feeling that she is one of the absolute best noses in niche perfumery today. I hear whispers of a new release on the way, possibly a green, possibly a vanilla, and I hope it's true. I eagerly look forward to any new release from Papillon. It took me at least six months of wearing Salome over and over again to really formulate my thoughts on it. A full bottle is probably necessary! (Edit: Bought a full bottle, Salome is now on my Top 5. Love it to bits!)

I bought a sample of it 4 years ago. My nose wasn’t quite developed, and I couldn’t stand cumin at all. Fast forward, I thought of it and gave it a try again, and my perceptions about it completely changed in a much more positive way. FYI, I couldn’t care less if any fragrances smell vintage or not since it’s never been my approach, so I don’t really extol/glorify glamours in the old days since all of us have been through those times. Scent-wise, I think Salome has a distinct texture to the scent. It does smell like living animals – not at the zoo but in a wild and primitive habitat as it's not pervasively saturated or piercing. So yes, this is animalic; however, in an animalic realm of fragrances, I find this facet in Salome to be quite soft, rounded, and wearable (I'd wear this out not dressed fancily), even though I haven’t tried too many ‘so-called’ vintage animalic – only some barnyard oud and Prin Lomros’ work (which is much rawer, outrageously experimental, and I would say more abstract with creativity/idea). To be perfectly honest, Salome is perfect as it's planned, but it follows the same path that other older fragrances have paved. What I love about Salome is its smooth quality and how cumin is designed here, which truly captures and shares an affinity with the sensual side of femininity – a component in any gender, everyone. But do I associate the scent with witches? Not really. Indolic jasmin & florals aren't in a rotten stage. Each ingredient proportion is perfectly measured and blended very smoothly that it gives a swooning effect I could feel it triggers in my gum and at the back of my head, especially when birch (and leather) becomes more prominent after it settles (love this note so I pick it easily). It's one of the fragrances that does something to my brain. Will I purchase? I'm not sure. Do not argue with me. This is my honest opinion, and I love this fragrance. Thank you.

I want to be honest with you about something. The first time I smelled Salome, I put the cap back on and walked away. Not because it was bad. Because it was too much of a thing I wasn’t sure I was ready to be confronted with at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday morning. Liz Moores was inspired by a 1920s photograph of an erotic dancer. She wanted, she said, to take the fragrance to the point of everyone’s safe word. I do not think she was exaggerating. Salome opens on hyraceum — crystallized excretions from a small African rodent, which is a sentence that should not make anything smell beautiful and yet — alongside castoreum and the kind of jasmine that has absolutely no interest in being polite about itself. The cumin arrives like a fact you cannot unknow. It smells like skin. It smells like the specific warmth of someone standing very close to you. It smells like a decision you are about to make. And then, over the course of an hour, it becomes something else. The chypre structure underneath all that carnality asserts itself — oakmoss, patchouli, birch — and the whole composition settles into something that is still unmistakably sexual but now also ancient and controlled and extraordinarily beautiful. The drydown is the best part. I would sit in a room all day waiting for Salome’s drydown. That is not a sentence I say about many things. A warning: this fragrance behaves differently on different skin. On some people the cumin is the whole story and it ends there. On others — and you will have to find out which one you are — it does what I described above. It is worth finding out. Just maybe not at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday morning.

Liz Moores is one of my favourite perfumers around and Salome was my first fragrance from Papillon. I bought it blind based on the reviews and it did not disappoint. Whilst it's one of my top 5 favourite perfumes ever, I use it sparingly in public, keeping it more of a secret to indulge on my own. The reason for this is that it's a very polarizing fume and those who do not understand the magic of perfumery may get offended being near it. Salome is an ode to vintage perfumery as it mimics a lot of old time scents in its power and composition. The oakmoss in this fragrance is hyper realistic and grounding which is rare to find in modern perfumery. It provides a beautiful base alongside the more animalistic aspects which "dirty" the scent but in a non offensive manner (at least not to me). The oakmoss seems to subdue the animalics and provide a more creamy, calming vibe to an otherwise very intense and strong fragrance. Salome opens on my skin with heavy spicy incense, followed by clean musks, animalics and finally settles into a bed of fresh mosses. I don't smell any of the citrus but I know it's there, cutting through all the heavy notes and providing a little of lightness. It's an absolutely stunning scent and brings me so much joy. As for the review stating this is not for a man - I beg to differ, Salome can definitely be unisex with the right skin chemistry. On my partner this smells even better than on me and makes me feel very sensual. His skin chemistry highlights the stunning floral and animalic notes to a very naughty degree. Salome is for anyone who enjoys vintage heavy hitters, she is just so beautiful.

Smells exactly like being in the crowd of aunties at an indian wedding. This is the exact smell of their perspiration, and respective perfumes and body odors mixed with the indian clothes which somehow retain this blend and diffuse it - literally like a scent diffuser. This is a very specific, smell I've consistently smelled my whole life. --- So I do like it. On to the thoughts. It is quite delightful once I get across the scent memory the opening brings ^ and now that we've arrived, there's the acknowledgement that in my adult age these are allllllllll my favorite notes found in vintage perfumery. Yum. I sniffed it on a tester strip but I'll have to report back once on myself... Definitely reminiscent of shalimar to me. There is more darker body with the tobacco. YUM! I think this may be tea some may not be ready for - but I feel like this is what Boudoir lovers think they're describing when they describe that perfume. trust me I love boudoir down - but this has the same carnation rose tobacco etc with actualllll animalics....OG boudoir did not have any animalics (right?!) but somehow gets described as such. This is that girl. --- not these edits...Ok update now worn, above was sprayed in air. This is an utterly erotic perfume worn and this was a utterly divine on me. I'm in rapture with my own scent. Bravissima

I have explored a variety of animalic fragrances, and I had anticipated encountering something overpoweringly intense. However, Salome pleasantly surprised me with its exquisite beauty, complexity, and opulence. The composition is masterfully executed, resulting in a harmonious blend where the notes seamlessly intertwine without any conflicting elements. Contrary to what some reviewers have mentioned, I personally did not perceive any unpleasant sweaty odours. Instead, I experienced a wonderfully crafted fragrance dominated by the captivating essence of jasmine and musk. The spicy animalic facets further enhances the overall composition, complemented by a delicate powdery hint of carnation. While Salome possesses certain characteristics reminiscent of a chypre fragrance, I would categorize it more accurately as a floriental scent. For comparison, scents like Musk Koublai Khan possess a more pronounced earthy intensity that can be disconcerting at times. In essence, Salome encapsulates a unique and captivating vibe, from a bygone era. Edit: I was wrong, Salome is a wild wild wild complex composition, it's an experience, a story that follows you. it evolves into different stages, from the beautiful jasmine to the deep animalic sexual tension, that's just crazy. Performance with 5 sprays is beast mode.

Salome's real magic is when a wearer has a courage to enshroud themselves with the scent (full wear on wrists, neck or chest). It immerses you into a different perspective from just judgmentally smelling up close on one spot on the skin/ a blotter to test. I got someone commented that it smelled like jasmine in the air, like a green bulb of jasmine sambac with no sweetness and without indolic quality. I was suprised as before I only viewed it as a dry animalic cumin+carnation scent when I wore it discreetly on the back of my hand for myself. I was expecting a harsher reaction, because it is seriously dirty up close. Salome is a well-balanced concoction of animalic and white florals. It smells like BO sweat, days of unwashed long oily hairs, on a bed of carnations. Howevers, it is not as disgusting as those smells, there is an element in the concoction that makes it pleasant, deep, dark, sensual, and artistic. It evokes feelings other than "Oh wow, it is delicious/ it is a gentleman scent/ it is a cute girl scent". Longevity is eternal. Skin scent of cumin and hyrax will dance for forever. Not recommend for office mornings, or when acquiring professional impressions. It needs a mood of passion/fiery courage, a moment the heart is asking, a audacity to be recognized as someone bigger than insecurity.

That's an atom bomb of oriental amber, clove and animalic notes in a mossy castoreum cocoon, which is why it counts to the one of my favorite fragrances so far. I love the house for its attitude of remaining artisanal and home made against all odds, and staying deliberately away from gourmand anesthesics, of which the current so called copy-cat niche market is simply floating for the past 5 years. This marvelous piece of olfactive gem remains intentionally so distant from that vanilla cup cake topping crowd with its classy spice-oakmoss combo and exquisite patchouli-birch duo, still leans towards feminine side IMO with its floral heart, framed by the mesmerizing vintage aura of benzoin, that throws me in a time machine and I wake up suddenly inside the stone carved temples of Jordanian BC after midnight, where a belly dancer, whose body is barely covered with pieces of leather, bonded by golden cords and accessories together,who makes her fabulous dance in front of the bonfire flames lit in the middle of that crave, whose exit is barely disninguished by the dimmed full moon light penetrating anxiously inside, and she is dancing so sensuously that only Rita Hayworth could have made, so hypnotically like in the film depicting the story of King Salomon and the Queen of Sheeba

SALOME: 2015 VS 2025 I was very scared to start this comparison. I had been wanting to leave the small sample of the current version aside until I found a certain courage....because you know 10 years is a lot of time (in perfumery is almost a geological era) and reformulations are inevitable. Apart from dilution or the use of lower quality materials, three are the tricks a perfumer may perform: a) simplification of the top notes with the deletion of the challenging ones b) to abbreviate the heart of a fragrance, usually when expensive floral are involved c) saving on the base materials when they are no longer available (or severely regulated) or when the perfume producer want to save a buck or two. And so I have seen many destroyed scents (some were reviewed here in their original andchanged formula)... you can imagine how fear I was while spraying my bottle of Salome on the left arm and the sample on the right. And then...then the RELIEF. Yes, my untrained nose did not detect any difference; the sane treatment of hyraceum, the samde amount of cumin, the leather..that gorgeous vintage orange blossom mix to that fiery carnation, the same use of civet. Salome 2025 is as rich, sweet, spicy, floral, musky, and above all, alive as the original. IG @alexolympia6

Ohoho! When Muscs Koublai Khan shows up to the gig thinking everyone is going to admire her, only to be upstaged by this untamed beast of a scent! Seriously though, this is an animalic-lover's ambrosia. Thick with cumin, castoreum, and (apparently) hyrax, Salome smells like you've taken an injured forest predator into your arms, when it is caked with dirt, and inhaled deeply. It's positively burning with musks and spices, and there's a hefty jasmine rolling around too. Nothing obviously urinous or faecal, and nothing "barnyard"-like about it, but layer after layer of animal furs, so many that undressing them all would take years off your life. After the initial shock fades away, what's left behind is a rumbling animalic chypre, with a clear oakmoss and the faintest twang of something ever-so-slightly sweet. The drydown only improves it, as it grows less spicy, more amorphous, and more overtly vintage with each passing minute, until you really do feel like a 1920s hooker (and I love it). 10/10, one of my all-time favourites. A crash course in mammalogy, with practicals besides!

Salome is unspeakably impressive. It’s hard to find the words to describe such a scent, but for this is something that can only be experienced to be understood; though even then you never might. It takes the idea of chypre to regions uncharted, and yet still retains subtle characteristics of bygone masterpieces we know and love. The scent itself is very dry, surprisingly so, a central theme of warming carnation and tobacco find themselves leaning into their spicy facets through an outrageous dose of cumin, giving the scent this almost sweaty filth. Hyrax, hay and oakmoss further this dry dirtiness, whilst the sweet, dense nature of castoreum and vanilla create what seems almost fruity in its flair when combined with the indolic charm of jasmine, orange blossom and rose. There’s so much going on in this scent, it’s impossible to find where it ends. You’ll spend hours scrambling your way through this dusty boudoir, only to find dirtier secrets within, the longer you look. If any scent defines what a modern masterpiece means, it is this one.

Oh boy, this is really something. I understand the references people make to this smelling pissy, but if for just a moment you can look past it being something nasty and consider the intention - warm bodies, underwear soaking wet with anticipation. Hot, sweaty lovers entangled in a beautiful embrace; the desires of forbidden love culminating in a lustful exchange of sweat, bodily fluids and passion. The eroticism moves this away from simply smelling dirty and pushes it into something complex, provocative, and deeply sexy. There is no subtlety here. This is pure indulgence that owns any room it walks into. Jasmine that doesn’t flirt with being indolic, but instead embraces it completely, combined with sweaty cumin, an overdose of absolutely filthy musk, and an abundance of smoke that amplifies the already animalic nature of what is quite possibly the best indie release to grace us in the last ten years. I said what I said. What a fkn perfume.

there are some fragrances that are simply life changing, and salome is one of them. i now remember life before and after this. not to be dramatic or anything but i would literally die for her. this captures a feeling so hard to describe, but for me it's everything i enjoy about being human: romance, companionship; the fantasy of the past, present, and future; beauty, ugliness, elegance, lust, raw and sweaty moments after making love where the silence covers you up like a blanket and makes you feel so safe. salome makes me feel so safe, and yet so powerful. it is an animalic enigma and will absolutely offend some people, but it is my ultimate comfort. my adorable fuzzy & warm little hyrax that loves to play in the flower garden. you don't get to choose salome, she chooses you. i never thought i would ever like something like this (let alone be head over heels in love), but she has chosen me, and now i can't live without her.