Monstera

My strong penchant for green fragrances has led me down an ever more circuitous path through all manner of perfume houses touting vividly verdant perfumes, some that deliver on their promise, others feeling more like a functional product through its wear (sorry, Jorum and your Pluck!). I had my eye on the Mexican house of Xinu since I was introduced to them a bit ago by Dana Sandu (A Nose Knows). I honed in on Monstera because, naturally, the idea of a lush, crunchy, succulent tropical rainforest green scent seemed to describe the zenith of my search. Frederic Malle's Synthetic Jungle, while brilliant, is not terribly jungle-like, at least in my imagination, mostly because of its incandescent lily of the valley accord. Once I finally laid my nose on Monstera, however, it exceeded my expectations for an ultra-wet rainforest, big leaf greenie. It immediately recalls entering indoor botanic gardens, since truth be told, I have yet the privilege to visit a true equatorial rainforest (someday!). It reminds me of entering the indoor portion of The Botanic Garden at Smith College in the winter and admiring the humid flora, or more recently, visiting Logee's Greenhouse in Danielson, CT with my friend John Biebel. Monstera begins with saturated vegetation in 'surround-smell,' condensation and broken stems, sap and phloem, only slightly bitter, more tart. This tartness is like the scent that wafts when you first cut a pineapple, penetrating yet invigorating. There is even a big creeping vine berry, cucumber, melon current running through this hothouse. It grows a bit more fruity, but never quite full-on sweet, with the heart lending an almost sulfurous character that suggests passion fruit or grapefruit, but is still greener than it is ripe. I have never smelled Monstera fruit, but apparently it shares similarities with pineapple. I also can't recall ever smelling another note here, Bull horn orchid, but I've smelled several fragrant orchids and I don't think the idea of an orchid accord of any type is far-fetched in Monstera. Daturas, however, I am acquainted with: yes, the strangely citrus-cacao-vanilla-narcotic scent of these vespertine blooms isn't a reach either. It is the general illustration of thick stalks, pendulous blooms and oversized fruits that most inhabit my wearing experience. Juicy, tart, creamy, slightly-sweet, and crushed leaf-and-smeared-petal ultra-green, Xinu's Monstera turned out to be wholly satisfying for my yen. I do hope to one day truly experience the sensory awe of a rainforest canopy, but in the meantime, this enables me to lean into the fantasy.

I noticed there’s no note pyramid for monstera and although it’s listed in the description above, the notes luckyscent lists are more identifiable: leaves and fruit of Monstera, sacred ear flowers, white datura, bullhorn orchid. Monstera is a very strong like. It’s a juicy fresh green, like an unidentifiable green twig snapped right under my nose that develops into a high end perfume. For some reason I hate using the phrase “smells expensive” because I feel like all good perfume smells like the sum of it’s worth. “Smells expensive” in regards to Monstera, is a sort of criticism. It smells a little pretentious, cerebral, and aloof, like an ice queen. It smells very modern- sleek and polished. Despite being a green perfume it smells “urban”. The fragrance of a new condo dweller. It reminds me of an area of my city that 7 years ago was an old train yard with an abandoned refrigerator factory. It was revamped and is full of industrial style condos, an Urban Outfitters and a sushi place that’s open late and plays dance music. But anyway.....It smells like an incredibly crafted green perfume. It’s a little too clean for me, so I layered it with patchouli. Monstera with patchouli morphed into the cousin of Chanel no. 19, and it went from new condo dweller to NYC rooftop garden and made it more my style, but still felt ostentatious while I was jogging. Overall, Monstera is a modern unisex green frag, and if that’s your jam you should immediately invest in a bottle.

a glorious straight forward (but not boring or obvious) green scent, monstera is quickly becoming a dear favorite. my scent preferences tend to be extreme -- give me enveloping warmth or an aloof chill -- as both seem to give me strength when i need it. monstera falls in the latter category, but it it isn't a floaty aloofness -- its green keeps the wearer grounded and of the earth, it's motto may be 'those who know don't speak', with a sly smile. beautiful and in control. unlike my other favorite greens--such as diptyque philosykos, prada infusion d'iris, maison martin margiela (untitled)--this is pure earthy green, where i find those others have other elements to distract (the sweet coconut of philosykos, the incense of d'iris and untitled) from overt dirt. perhaps a bit challenging for someone entering the green scent world, it's deeply rewarding for those of us who can't get enough of it. while the notes list blue orchid, datura, and monstera fruit, nothing about the feels floral or fruity to me (though, admittedly, not notes i'm instantly familiar with)--but rather of their crushed leaves and dirt they grew from. bliss. edit: i really took note after writing this review of how the floral comes through after a few hours on the skin. it's soft and not cloying and lovely -- though i can't speak of any particular notes.

Soy una amante de las plantas, y Monstera nos lo muestra tal cual: una planta húmeda, casi como si estuviera recién cortada. Es una fragancia unisex. Aunque he visto algunos comentarios que la inclinan hacia un lado más masculino, yo no lo considero así. Al final, tú vistes el perfume, no el perfume a ti, y eso dice mucho del porte y estilo de cada persona. Es una pena que no muestren las notas, pero, en lo que a mí respecta, tiene una salida muy fresca, con un toque de acidez muy peculiar que percibo como un limón extraño. Posteriormente, evoluciona hacia un aroma floral frutal, casi como un maracuyá. Con el paso de las horas en mi piel, destaca un aroma dulce con notas verdes y un ligero toque de petricor. He tenido la dicha de oler la flor de la monstera y, en realidad, el perfume se le parece mucho. Te envuelve por completo; es como estar en un parque rodeado de plantas, tierra húmeda, flores y frutos exóticos. Sí, es un poco caro, pero el costo pasa a segundo plano por el concepto que ofrece. No he olido algo similar en otros perfumes. Además, la experiencia de compra en Xinu es sublime; el hecho de considerar un segundo uso para las botellas como forma de reciclaje me parece una idea maravillosa.

I'm by no means qualified to review a perfume, I'm not familiar with the lingo and what have you, so I'll just give my opinion the best I can. To start off with I freakin love this. It is GREEN. It is alive. It is verdant. I live in a subtropical climate and when I tell you this smells exactly what I remember my childhood to be playing outside amongst huge elephant eared plants and tropical vegetation. The opening is sharply green, and luscious. A freshly broken stem is the perfect description imho. It softens up quite a bit as it dries down, but always keeps the lovely green note. I love this for spring and especially summer. If I had any complaints, it would be only that I wish it lasted longer and projected more, but I lean towards loving heavier scents as a personal preference. I know this type of scent isn't for everyone, but if you love green, this is a must try. While I adore it, and would bathe in it if I could, I feel it's overpriced. I would love to see it sit closer to 150.00 USD.

I tried this out the other day at my friend's store (called Kick Pleat in Austin, TX, and they carry the whole line). This is such an intriguing scent! I immediately thought of Aura by Mugler...although Monstera is more Aura than Aura is! And the longevity was amazing: put it on in the afternoon and could still smell it in the morning. Although I have to say, this fragrance has so many layers, it's definitely a chameleon. At first it was all emerald green and medicinally herbaceous, almost masculine. Later as it developed it retained a spicy greenness but became softer and almost sweet cream on my skin. I only sprayed one spray on my left arm (ONE!), and I could smell it constantly without having to lift my arm so I'd say the sillage is crazy good as well. This is a BOLD scent. I think men could easily find this a favorite for themselves as well. I'm looking forward to taking the other scents out for a test-drive soon! Highest praise for Xinu <3

I'm so confused. There has been so much hype around this fragrance so I bought the 4.5ml of it directly from Xinu for $30. It arrived today and I can't smell anything?? Did I get a bad sample or something? I can barely detect anything...It reminds me of one of the Escentric Molecule scents because you can tell *something* is there but it smells invisible if that makes sense EDIT: I love it now lol. Maybe I just needed to apply more, or maybe it just needed to sit for a little bit? Anyway, it smells like watery broken plant stems. This scent has more of an aura to it than a scent, if that makes sense. I still think it is quite "transparent" or watery of a scent, but it's not necessarily light. Projection isn't the greatest, but longevity is quite good. It just makes me feel happy. It's photorealistic green and plant-y, but not in the usual herbal/minty/etc way.

Have had this bottle for a while now so it's time to say something: I freaking love this scent!!! It's so refreshing and tropical green, reminds me of Turtle Bay resort on Oahu for some reason. It's a relaxing smell that is also invigorating, and it boosts my mood. This inspired me while planning my container garden, and I'll be looking for a Monstera plant now. I appreciate that it smells 100% like plant stems, leaves, and fruit, with no candy sugar added except a slight natural sweetness. One of my favorite fragrance categories is tropical green perfumes and this is simply heavenly. If you like spa scents this one would be great to sample. Completely unisex imo.

Opens with delicious floral tones with leafy undertones and soapy musky cleanliness - fougère. Develops away from the florals into a more masculine scent as the fougère aspect takes lead and terminates in a woody base not far off Gucci Intense. A very interesting, highly dynamic scent with a widely spanning changing profile. It brings about a reminiscence of walking your poodle down the Paseo Montejo like a billionaire. It lasts long. But it doesn't smell the same throughout.

The most unique scent of the 5 from Xinu. The initial blast of humid greenhouse and broken vegetation is really special and maybe polarizing, but it is short lived and drys to a soft pleasing fresh green slightly floral scent. Love the botanical feeling, and it is wearable and unique, but they have a hand cream, Flor de Musgo, which does something similar but lasts longer and I think might make a better perfume overall.

This is an amazing scent, it starts off with a bitter green scent, akin to trimming a monstera plant. As the scent evolves it leaves a woody fougere-esque scent that leans masculine. The closest scent I have to this is Malin+Goetz Cannabis, but it only captures the dry down and not the titular monstera. The longevity and projection leaves something to be desired, but this is a truly unique scent.

When I first applied this it smelled like plant sap dripping from broken leaves. So green and beautiful. Really alive and rich. It dries down into a fresh, spicy, and lush, jungle. It does lose some of the initial magic of the opening over time but it's a really beautiful and refreshing scent. Wearing this in frigid weather feels a little like being in a greenhouse.

A full bottle is a need, not a want. This packs a PUNCH of green, fresh broken stems underfoot, a hint of florals in the distance, muggy air sitting close to the body. It's very bitter and realistic, so be warned. The smell of gardening strange, alien plants in a hydroponic setup - no dirt smell here.

The first 10 seconds feels like you are running through a jungle and green vines are crushing under your feet. Then when the green fades, it rests at a slightly smokey, powdery, aquatic scent. The highlight of this perfume is def the opening and the bottle. 7.5/10

Green, watery, fresh, naturalistic, uplifting, simple. Love it. Great springtime fragrance

A burst of monstrous fresh citrus, woods, and nature. Welcome to the Frag Forest.

A bitter cucumber with gin and tonic water. Very nice

First impression and thoughts: Some scents yell and shout to get you to notice them. They blast off from the bottle and enter into a room or onto clothing demanding attention and seeking a nose to infiltrate. As much as I love these ones, the ones that get wild and loud. However sometimes I want to seek out more of a soft spoken and mild-mannered scent. One that doesn’t roar but maybe speaks up to politely call attention to itself. Monstera is just that; a well crafted, lush, green fragrance centered around vegetal and more crisp aspects of green notes rather than say green apple or something sweet. Monstera is a tamer green scent and might be a good option for those dipping their toes into the waters of trying a green fragrance. When wearing this, I primarily got notes of green, floral leaves and a damp/wet/humid aroma that mimicked the feeling of being in the jungle (much like the description states). There was no one singular note that was more prominent than others rather, they all seemed to mesh together to form a cohesive layer. Would I buy a bottle: As lovely as this one is, the staying power was disappointing. When it stuck around, I fell in love with it. A well crafted and lush (that seems to be the best word I can think of for this fragrance) and almost dreamy scent. Personally, I like something a little “louder” but, I do appreciate the creativity and craft of Monstera. For those that want a more toned down, softer scent though, check this one out!

Definitely hits you with a Chanel no. 19 intense green at the outset, but something tart and teensy tiny sweet also takes it out of harshness. I like that. A few minutes in, it acquires a clean, slightly piney jungle soap aspect. It's intriguing, and though I fear soap for its headache-inducing qualities, this stays close to the earth on me. By that I mean it evolves into natural greenness, perhaps a touch of sap, pine needles, plant. I think layering this with a touch of something sweet would be marvelous. For green lovers, this is also great on its own. It's got a botanical naturalness that makes me imagine being in an open-air dwelling in a tropical place. Fresh.

Sometimes I wonder if all my samples have been mislabeled cuz I'm having one of those sampling days where my perceptions are just not matching other's descriptions. My Monstera sample opens with with a blast of green, damp rainforest floor. It smells like wet dirt and humidity. You can practically hear the chirping of exotic birds and insects. After a bit it dries out and I'm left with what smells like inky nagarmotha and bits of abstract fruit and it reminds me a lot of Bruno Fazzolari's Lampblack at this stage. The phenolic aspect of this perfume would make it too overwhelming for me in the summer (Lampblack is a cold weather perfume for me as well).