MONA

Mona, to me, smells like a woman who longs to be accepted as a part of high society, but is simply to tragic to have that happen. Her desires are always so close to her, but it’s something inexplicable within her that drags her down. She does her hair and makeup and wears her clothes just like the women around her, but they all know she doesn’t belong. She knows she doesn’t belong. In a less artistic, philosophical sense, Mona opens somewhat medicinal with a faint sweetness to it. But that last maybe 15 minutes. Once it blends with my skin the faint sweetness turns into something deep, rich, and fruity. That’s most likely the Cassis. I do get amber, but it’s almost like amber attached to fresh aromatic bark. Maybe the stone note makes this smell so grounded; it feels connected to nature. To be more philosophical once again, it feels like a memory of a certain place in nature lost to time rather than a current living place. I think the reviews of “past lives”, “loneliness”, and “I used to have those dreams” really fit this.

Mona calls to mind a summer shower: the steady, gentle tap of raindrops hitting sun-warmed cobblestones, sounding like a prayer repeatedly murmured through hushed lips. Sun-kissed skin and freckled shoulders cooled by the downpour. Meticulously styled hair ruined by the unexpected rain and the joy of realizing it doesn’t matter anyway. There’s a sweetness here, but it’s just out of reach... the scent feels warm and enticing while carefully remaining a bit cold and detached. Mona dances masterfully between aloof and sensual. It's a puzzle beckoning to be solved. When I first smelled Mona on a blotter, I was underwhelmed. Wearing it on skin is when the magic happens. What a beautiful perfume. Mineralic yet warm -- truly unique.

This one has very sentimental value to me as I was thinking of my grandmother Ramona (Mona) and had been having dreams of her etc. I was on UFs website and saw this gem. Mona. It called to me, leaped out at me, it was not a coincidence and I like to think my grandmother was confirming and/or saying “I’m thinking of you too” this scent... is beautiful. It is warm, sweet, deep and has a timeless quality to it.. I have smelt burnt sugar scents before but this one has depth and an interesting brightness to it I cannot place. Like a warm hug in a storm. I love Mona.

This is so good. Ambery, musky, and slightly fruity from the cassis. I kinda get a molecular, ambroxan-esque vibe from the musk here; not sure if it's even in the notes, but this is much nicer and more interesting than the typical musky, your-skin-but-better ambroxan bomb that's saturating the market. I was concerned the burnt sugar accord would be overpowering and too sugary-sweet, but that's not the case at all, it just adds a warmth and some balance to the muskiness. This doesn't lean gourmand IMO. I find it totally unisex.

Dancing to the medicine cabinet and falling behind the couch, you smell the back of me and touch my waist, We are sitting by an amber lamp your mother gave me. The lightbulb goes out and we make plans to buy a new one first thing in the morning. We dress in neutrals and float down the street, We puff on tiny smokes and kiss in the candy isle. We walk really slowly even though we know Exactly where we're going

oh this one is awesome i can’t really even pick out the notes it’s just warm and exactly the right amount of sweet (tho i really don’t like sweet perfumes, the sweetness here is very well balanced and is more something just kind of peeking through). wears like a veil, feels like velvet, smells like a hug, i gave the last of my sample to beautiful woman at a party i hope she texts me back

this, to me, is a summer fragrance. dry desert air, hot stone, a tinge of citrus that shines in the opening but then anchors itself in the landscape of pure heat. the burnt sugar note rounds out the sourness super nicely,, smells rly good in combination w sunscreen & sweat

Very apothecary herbal with spice and musk and I’m obsesssssssed. It’s not a safe blind buy but I love a tonic note. I really love this house and I have a lot of their frags on my fb list but for me this is a for sure purchase

it feels thick and rich, like a spiced herbal syrup. gorgeous in cold weather. I def agree with the comment below that mona is the sister of poems one through twelve. it captures the vibe of mona dean very well.

a satiny smooth and enveloping caramelized sugar that resembles a toffee dessert. sharing a longing glance, embracing a loved one, sweet and soft whispers. an aching hunger for intimacy.

i initially hopped on here to say that Mona and Poems 1-12 are twin sisters. Poems is dense, unyielding, and stubborn whereas Mona is atmospheric, diffusive, and effervescent. Poems' condensed milk is mirrored by Mona's spilled ginger milk tea on heated floors. i also liken both of these scents to Kacey Musgraves' Slow Burn collaboration with Boy Smells. in the candle form that is. on further thought, Mona in candle form would chew. when i sniffed the atomizer of my bottle to remind myself of what Mona smells like i was met with memories of my mom making maizena, a porridge made from cornstarch flavored with vanilla and sugar and spiced with cinnamon. after spraying the atomizer for extra measure my nose is still picking up on the aroma of freshly baked sweet corn. i am now aching for maize fragrances, but Mona will have to suffice for the time being. Mona, to me, is a like and not a love. if I am parsing things out correctly, and honestly who cares if I am not, the vetiver is too balsamic for my taste. also, it smells better on sweaters than on my skin which is disconcerting enough for me to be self-conscious about it.

On first whiff it has this tangy expired vibe, like a bottle of scented lotion from your nana's cabinet. This top note dissipates though. Next step is a boudoir, makes me think of art deco and mucha girls. Frilly cosmetics, well-made and well-worn clothes. The amber isn't a victoria secret one, it's old school. Smells like it should be in a bottle with a puff atomizer and a little tassle. Then something smooth and wet comes in - conjures oakmoss, dog slobber, a cold little rock pond. There's a warm, comforting overtone over the course of the whole thing. That burnt amber maybe. I think it's a testament to this frag that every reviewer here seems to see something different in it. Very fertile soil. It's a fun one

clean, soapy amber, like if an ulta perfume like chloé were more resinous. it’s good! the thing i’ve enjoyed about universal flowering is there are never too many notes clawing over each other in their fragrances; individual scents are identifiable, but always harmonious within the perfumes. always weird and wonderful.

A husky, peppery amber. Burnt sugar, wiry vetiver, desert air. And then woodsmoke, leather, myrrh. I get the “warm stone” texture. It’s a very fresh-outta-the-kiln kind of scent. Like basking upon sunbaked adobe or terracotta tiles. Feels related to Rhapsody in Mauve; Mauve being the Upper East Side fortune-teller (glamorous, mystical) and Mona being the Santa Fe pottery instructor (arid, earth goddess). It’s more mineral than Stora Skuggan’s Azalai and lighter than DvN’s Rock the Myrrh, but they’re all scent siblings. I wore this to a Clairo concert and two separate strangers told me I smelled “really, really good.” Mental Snapshot: An Arch Digest home tour. Your home tour. It's a Midcentury beauty: redwood rafters, sandstone hearth, cactus garden. Can’t forget the conversation pit (olive velvet). Your library and vinyl collection are genuine, as is your love of limes. (Favourite drink: spicy paloma). tl;dr: desert retreat treat 🌵🍮

this smells like moving to a big city. you feel overwhelmed and alone so you throw caution to the wind and find yourself a date. You navigate this strange town but you finally make it to the bar and they are there, and they are fun and sexy and that connection makes you feel at home for just a little bit. You never see each other again because this is the big city and things happen but you remember them fondly. The opening is daunting for a couple of minutes, it’s loud (it very fittingly reminds me of mumbay noice by byredo) but as it dries down, the vetiver and the cassis come around to say “come, listen to me” and you focus and the creaminess appear and it’s cozy and sensual. I don’t know if I can handle the noise, but it if definitely gorgeous.

Mona smells nearly identical to DS & Durga’s El Cosmico, despite not having any of the same notes. I still have a sample of El Cosmico and I’m smelling them side by side. Mona has such a strong creosote bush scent, and based on the listed notes I wouldn’t have thought they’d be so similar. It absolutely reminds me of the desert in spring and summer, but man... it smells sooo camphorous, and I realized I have an aversion to any kind of strong camphor smell. I regret blind buying this, but at least it’s just a travel spray. I get no burnt sugar, but I do get both the terracotta/kiln note as well as the impression of smoky bbq, as noted in the reviews below. I’m trying to figure out what I can layer this with so that I can salvage my little bottle. EDIT: Well well well... I let it sit for two and a half months and mature for a bit before trying again. Lo and behold, I finally get the burnt sugar note. The camphorous note is now a little more tame and it no longer has the sharpness that I get from El Cosmico’s camphor. Maybe it’s growing on me?

When luckyscent sends you the wrong sample and its the worst and most basic smell ever. Just an another animalic amber bomb.

genuinely smells like bottled barbecue sauce. i smelled this and immediately had a flashback to eating dino nuggets as a child with straight out of the fridge too cold bbq sauce. lovely memory. added ten years to my life and made me remember and experience things i thought i had lost long ago. weirdly sweet but only in the under tones. i would not wear this or eat dino nuggets or buy pre bottled bbq sauce either.

Hot date with an older wealthy man that overloads on Carmex. Update: this is strange in a very good way. Initially it is very carmex-esque... but the dry down is sweet and very very good; burnt sugar Amber! So lets see it as on older wealthy man wearing carmex that takes you shopping to Chanel and then to high tea. Smells like tea, expensive shopping thanks to a hott sugar daddy.

You’re sitting on a dark brown leather couch in a room with warm lighting, an amber-vanilla candle is burning on the table and you’re rubbing Vaporub on your partners chest It’s so bizarre, I don’t understand how no one is mentioning the intense menthol cloud this carries??? It’s all I smell for the first 20 minutes before it sort of calms down but never leaves.

Phantom Thread as a fragrance. There's soap and vapor rub in the medicine cabinet. You are so so so close to getting what you want. There are wet stones in your pockets, it's just shy of a rainstorm. You're still in your work clothes. Wear this to be poisoned, erotically. Cough syrup dreamboat

To be honest with you, to me, this smells like when you wet your hair and then you try to put it in a ponytail and then the ponytail smells very funky afterwards. I mean the opening notes due at the very least, which is enough for me to boot it.

if byredo blanche is for the clean girl, this is for her friend who listens to a lot of sade, drinks a lot of lapsang souchang tea, and logs a lot of movies on letterboxd (she loooooves emerald fennell take that as you will).

A nice feminine sweet vetiver. Usuallly don’t like vetiver but here it adds a nice hard edge sharp feeling alongside the warm honey sweetness, which again I usually don’t like, but it’s just done so successfully that I must

been wearing this frequently. warm, pairs well with leather jackets and this cloudy weather. spicy toffee, but sharp and caramel balance.. maybe a fancy whiskey cocktail, but whatever dark liquor you're partial too

i want to like this but it smells like i spilled bbq sauce on myself

A pixelated cloud from a fog machine... 🪩