Rich Mess Ryan Richmond

Normally, I think the idea of a “clubbing” scent is a bit outdated. I’ve never been to a club myself, nor do I ever really intend to - I’m just a major introvert. All that to basically say, nothing about something like Versace Eros has ever made me think “Hm, yeah, I can see how this could be associated with clubbing.” Then I discovered Rich Mess. First off, let’s just say that Rich Mess makes Eros look like a safe wear for someone working in the ICU at a children’s hospital. If Amouage Reflection smells like someone with money, then this smells like someone who made billions smuggling cocaine and firearms. At first sniff, you get sparkling champagne and a nice dose of leather - as if your chauffeur accidentally hit a pothole doing 90 on the way back from the Met Gala and your glass of champagne splattered all over the sweaty leather seats of your Rolls-Royce Phantom. Much like what others have said, the initial reaction for most is to recoil immediately - and then come back for more. Once the sweaty/salty opening settles, you’re left with a smooth, beautiful dry down, with lots of leather, hints of vanilla, some grapefruit, some bergamot, some fig, sandalwood, and just the slightest trace of that champagne. But simply listing notes doesn’t do this justice. As jarroditshallbe below so eloquently put it, it smells of “vermouth, tits, cocaine, and leather pant crotch bulges.” Despite how trashy that all sounds, there’s plenty of beauty to be found in this fragrance. This isn’t a clubbing fragrance. This is what an exclusive club for the elite smells like. It’s complex, it’s mysterious, and most importantly, it’s addictive. Definitely not a safe blind buy (even though that’s what I did. I lucked out and absolutely love it), but most certainly sample-worthy in my opinion. It’s edgy, potent, and 100% original. A true niche perfume, in the purest sense. 10/10 Update (11/25/20): I’ve had almost a year with this fragrance and it’s still one of my favorites. Despite how strong it is, I don’t find it to be cloying or headache-inducing. I’ve yet to get my nose on another fragrance as captivating as Rich Mess.

My signature scent for 2023! 🙌🙌🙌 Nobody should rely on a particular fragrance to feel confident but Rich Mess feels like something larger than life that feels like a second skin of confidence. Rich Mess is all about the luxurious things in life and it doesn’t care whether you are a big shot or a nobody, whether you are strikingly rich or a mess. You are invited to experience Rich Mess and it will make you feel like a million bucks!🤑 I haven’t had many fragrances that I call signature scents, namely just two, Zino Davidoff for the late 80’s and Fahrenheit for the 90’s. What exactly is a signature scent? To me a signature scent is a definition of yourself. It’s the smell you want to portray to others whether they understand it or not. It’s the second invisible skin that fits your character. Absolute confidence. Rich mess is a hugely bold fragrance that makes its presence known. It’s a fragrance that screams luxury, fun and satisfaction. Whether you’re invited to the biggest party in town or off to Sunday Mass it will make you stand out with originality and uniqueness. I feel my character and spirit connect seamlessly with this scent. The beautiful bright citrus opening blended with the fig note and champagne is truly a pleasure to the olfactory senses and sets a tone of happiness and confidence. Once the fresh leather starts to kick in it keeps the fragrance vibrant and bright combined with saffron and vanilla. Then as it further dries down you are left with the most impressive and gorgeous dry down probably ever created in the name of designer shifting to niche territory fragrance. The sandalwood and cedar in the dry down are simply made in heaven. I wish my description could really give its true justice it deserves. It’s simply a jaw dropping beautiful timeless fragrance. Rich Mess feels vintage, present, and modern and a fragrance way before it’s time coming to us from the future!

This starts with a big juicy green fig that surprisingly morphs into many facets of leather, initially shifting wittily back and forth between fig and types of leather--patent, car, handbag, jacket--as if to suggest the creator is playing an olfactory game. It's a bit of an intellectual game because who knew that fig and leather had such a clear and strong relationship. And it's a delight to wear. The leather itself, a unisex Hermes saddle variety with a creamy wood enhanced by a rich sandalwood, is very smooth, becoming more deconstructed as you get further away from it. At the skin with about three inches of projection is the classic sophisticated saddle leather, softened with saffron and vanilla, up to 18 inches away there is more of a deconstructed aura of leather which has some of the citrus, some of the sandalwood, maybe a musk. It's an aura that makes you almost subliminally aware of something that smells good, that draws your attention, and once you pay attention you smell the leather, the citrus, the lilies, and the grapefruit which is much deeper red grapefruit note, it's a game of consciousness. Rich Mess smells great and fulfills its niche credentials with more than enough wit and thought to make it top of the line. It's not going to be for leather purists but if you are in the mood to smell great, smell like leather, and also have an art experience this is for you. Hats off to Christophe Laudamiel who is such an artist and such an able communicator. This is a very special fragrance worth trying and if you love fig and leather worth a blind buy.

I got this two years ago or so and wore it religiously to nights out and clubs but then forgot about it and recently rediscovered it. This is THE clubbing fragrance when you want people too turn their heads. The opening smells like a dirty high-end leather jacket, couch, car seat or what have you covered in the driest and most expensive champagne but then dries down into something woody, powdery and slightly fruity, the leather still being there. Don't get me wrong though, even during the dry down is still somehow projects. If Dior's Fahrenheit and Homme Intense 2011, Tom Ford's Fucking Fabulous and Ombré Leather and Chanel Coromandel had a sick and twisted love child it would be Rich Mess. The projection, sillage and longevity is insane. This is definitely not a safe blind buy. This fragrance is ridiculous, borderline offensive and I love it with my whole heart. Easily one of the best frags I own. 10/10

For all intents and purposes, this is a non-musky version of Scent Tattoo by The Zoo (in that it's the same scent profile otherwise), and more woods-floral bias take in place of the musk. Fortunately, this is a more available version of Scent Tattoo, and one that I personally love since it accentuates more on the rubber facet but also gives a sensation of a new pair of kicks (the rubber) and the box it was in (woods/florals), but more emphasis on the rubber in a gourmand-esque fashion. It doesn't quite remind me of new kicks in my personal taste, but it's pretty darn close!!! In any case, this is probably a preference above Scent Tattoo mainly due to the scent profile, but unsurprisingly, easier to get fatigued from, but also projects like crazy. Talk about difficult to work with...in a good way.

I love this scent so much! This fragrance smells like the best American Tires I’ve ever been in. It’s sweet, rugged and rich. It smells like the best bad idea you’ve ever had. Like the hot man/woman/human you meet at a dimly lit nightclub. They look like they’ll ruin your life, but you’re still leaving with them. It smells like a long weekend in Vegas. What happens there IS staying there. This fragrance is everything. I also heard from someone that there is chocolate in this scent and I totally get that. This is def a night/cold weather scent (at least, I wouldn’t want to smell like a tire store in 95° summer weather). Not a safe blind buy!!! You either really understand this scent or you don’t. Both are ok but one smells delicious

This is the hardest I’ve ever laughed sampling a fragrance. This feels like something you should go into mostly blind. Laudamiel also co-created Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce and even though they don’t smell similar, Rich Mess almost ends up feeling like a disturbingly satirical take on “beast mode” fragrances of the same vein. In that sense, it feels reflective of him to put this out. I also don’t doubt that I’m overthinking it. If you’re still wanting some more details, I’d add to the absurdity of the reviews below by saying that this also has a smell of being inside a shopping mall Foot Locker. Gluey pleather logos beaming through a fog of plantar perspiration.

Pleasantly surprised. After reading many of these negative reviews, I was hesitant to try my sample of this fragrance. I was intrigued and captivated with the first spray. Bottom line up front - if you can get your hands on a sample - go for it! Yes, there are the “tire” or “aging rubber” notes lingering in the background, but blended with the sandalwood and citrus notes up front, I am left with a unique fragrance worthy of full bottle purchase. Similar characteristics or vibes to Blvgari Black, but leaning more masculine. Rich Mess has solid performance and unique enough to add to any collection. Enjoy your day, my friends, and happy fragrance hunting.

This perfume is genius in its complexity,mystery and richness, pun intended! When I first smelled it on my skin, it was so unusual and so un-perfume-y. Wasn't sure what to think. Then I kept smelling my wrist over and over, and the notes shifted through fig, leather, a touch of sun warmed citrus and woods. It really does change with each wearer! It is one of only 2 fragrances that piques my need to keep smelling it. I love wearing it everyday and being enveloped in its sensory warmth and uniqueness. Obsessed with this perfume! Not everyone will get it,but those that do will know.

I really want to gatekeep this fragrance! I ordered a 2ML sample, put it on in the AM, and multiple people complimented me throughout the day and told me I smelled really good. I returned home, realizing I could still smell the fragrance late at night. And the scent listed on my clothes days after. The complexity and richness of this fragrance is fantastic. 10/10 for me and my skin Please remember that each skin and pH balance is different. So, the fragrances smell different on other people. But on me, it’s divine.

Completely over the top and either obnoxious or genius depending on your attitude. Deeply obsessed with this one. My absolute favorite fragrance.

@Tasherapd i love it when that happens, you should read what i said about there other scent..

Over the top. Sharp loud leathery saffron bomb. Smells like burning rubber in the best way

Yea so.. if youre not a wild rockstar sex freak, you might not be able to pull this off.

Says the fig-drenched well-to-do sadist, “Your safe words are ‘Rich Mess.’”

Leather to the leatherth power. It’s almost comical. As it sits on the skin, other scents emerge - fig, grapefruit, a hint of spice - but only if you get close. If you’re more than four inches away, it’s pretty much a leather bomb. It’s not subtle, but I kind of dig it. It’s not a polite dinner date or business meeting scent. It’s the aroma of Christophe Laudamiel doing lines in a private room at Limelight in 2002 on his first Abercrombie & Fitch paycheck then blowing a model in the back of a cab on his way to a secret rave in Tribeca named Submersion where Colossal Amoeba will be playing. It’s the scent of leather pants, vinyl car seats, overpriced batched cocktails, the lingering cold metallic aroma of cocaine, sweat, and car exhaust wafting in the open taxi window as it circles the block a couple extra times. Rich Mess is kind of a twisted sister scent to Folie à Plusieurs’ Black, which I’m also very fond of. Both are leathers that feel inspired by Downtown NYC in the late 90s / early aughts, the heyday of their respective noses. They’re not retro, more like they’re capturing the scents that were in the air than the scents people wore.

This reminds me strongly of The Cobra and the Canary from Imaginary Authors. The citrus, the coumarin/tonka/hay aspects of leather, and gritty asphalt accord is shared by both. This is not skanky, and I was fully expecting it to be. I fully expected it to be alive, not dusty, dry leather like C&C. I like C&C really well, but it's too tonka/coumarin for me, and so is this. I get a bit of rubbery leather, like Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef and Arpels, which I had to sell due to its tonka-leather note, too (and due to the fact that I could and did sell it for $100 MORE THAN what I paid for it... ). I was really excited to smell a more oily leather, and more fig and saffron, neither of which do I detect at all yet. But..... now I'm detecting Fat Electrician type synthetic, dark vetiver. As time goes by, I dislike vetiver more and more, with few exceptions. Yeah, tonka leather and vetiver and citrus and asphalt. I might be confusing vetiver and asphalt. But this smells like a cross between The Cobra and the Canary and Fat Electrician, with a little bit of Midnight in Paris thrown in. I'm really disappointed with this expectation vs. reality. Sorry if I demystified this perfume and ruined this perfume for anyone. Also, this is unisex, but leans slightly masculine. It smells just fine on me, as does C&C. I wouldn't have any trouble wearing this if I liked a coumarin type note more. I also would be no more self-conscious wearing it in public than I would, wearing C&C. (I've used half of my 50ml bottle since 2018, so there's that.) I think this is just a really nice leather perfume, all-season, all-occasion, and easily worn by anyone. But it just isn't my style of leather. I do recommend it for anyone who likes any of the 3 perfumes I mentioned.

I really had fun reading those reviews below. Overall my experience with this one is not as eccentric. I get the rubber-plastic accord on opening but it disappears in the dry-down. For a while I can get the "new luxury car interior" feeling but again, it disappears after 5-10 min. What I get in the end is mostly a sour-fresh-leather smell mixed with fig leaves. It's heavy on the notes but it's mostly leather and sourness. I don't get much the association with "luxury" or "rich mess" at all besides the fact that it can remind people some strong perfumes from the 80's. Another thing is that perfume is intense and longevity is incredible. We're not used anymore to these kind of strong scents that get stuck in your nose and that might surprise people. For confident individuals only. Interesting creation I guess but sour leather are an hard pass for me. I don't find these notes together pleasant at all.

Laudamiel has a very different idea about leather: what he calls “leather” smells like suffocating canola oil to me. The whole thing is an unlikely marriage between Laudamiel’s own Club Design and perhaps Fig My Love. So it begins with canola oil, similar to what he used in Club Design, but added a distinctive bitter undertone. The soprano is an artificial “green apple/fig” notes, which can be found in his Fig My Love, so bright it’s gonna cause chemical burns. The bitterness disappears pretty fast, what’s left is a dance between canola oil and chemical green apple/fig. Gradually, the canola oil fade out, the green fruity notes lost its chemical edge, turned softer, even has a fresh aquatic tinge. Then a slightly heavier soy sauce muddles up the aquatic breeze. The stuff is tenacious, I’d say. I can still smell its woody cedar base after a long bath.

I received this as a sample in a women's perfume subscription service which was surprising because it's not even a masculine scent to me. It's an automobile fragrance. It smells like what auto dealerships spray in used cars to give them the "new car" scent. I'm always trying different samples and scents and will usually give them all a day to really see how they wear throughout the day, but this is the first perfume I have actually scrubbed off (and even after scrubbing, I can still smell it). It wasn't for me, but if you like new-car leather scents, this one definitely has longevity.