Psychedelic Love
Initio (2017)

A gourmand-leaning spicy amber despite the florals listed in the notes. The whole thing rests on a sweet ethylmaltolish cushion, which is modulated by the warm base – the myrrh flexing its muscle and possibly some frankincense too. And it’s through this dense veil of warm and sweet that the florals try and express themselves – the main player being the somewhat mournful, powdery and vanillic heliotrope. It’s a curious concoction, sitting between expectations of the perfume families it encompasses while being very much part of the Initio stable of somewhat pushy perfumes. Not an everyday kind of creation and I doubt whether it would grow on me, as the deep drydown is one of those thick ambers that register like an olfactory latex glove.

Psychedelic Love is another release that leans heavily on that obnoxious ethyl maltol and almond-like sweetness, as described by Varanis. It’s tolerable in the air thanks to its potent sweetness, but after a while, it gives me a headache—or a nose ache.

The bland sweetness overshadows any unique nuances in the floral notes, and I don’t pick up any real quality from the myrrh. It just smells like cheap vanilla powder with some pseudo-floral undertones. Another pass from the brand.

Heliotrope in high enough doses is a hallucinogen, hence the name Psychedelic Love. This is a vanilla powder bomb with some banana ylang and the latex drydown of myrrh. This is how I imagine a fun and classy stripper would smell. It doesn’t smell like body spray, but like an expensive oriental perfume. It’s a very niche offering. Something about this provokes an emotional response recalling a favorite aunt, though this smells great on younger men, too. My favorite from the line with Addictive Vibration (they could be cousins) and Oud For Greatness.

Psychedelic Love by Initio (2017) is neither psychedelic, nor particularly lovely, but I don't hate it either. A slightly earlier composition from the house, it has the usual DNA of thick benzoin saffron and sandalwood compounds layered with ethyl maltol and almond-like sweetness that pervades about 80% of their catalog, passed along as "the smell of luxury" to justify the insane price tag, when it's really just the smell of cheap-but-potent base materials wielded with the subtlety of a construction worker using a jackhammer. Still, not the worst Initio by far,as Psychedelic Love at least has a little something left-of-center going on in the heart.

The opening is sweet, with the bergamot ylang-ylang combo instantly overpowered by the caramel sweetness of the almond roca-style base, rose and jasmine mixing with heliotrope. Honestly, the heliotrope just adds to the almond-cookie facets of the perfume and becomes mostly invisible, but the whole thing is sort of saved by the peppery incense in the base, and the halfway-decent sandalwood, amongst all the other nonsense. This contrast of sweet and peppery wood is what keeps Psychedelic Love interesting enough to not just be an instant pass, as with most of the range, although that isn't to say I'd either pay for, or wear this with any intent beyond smelling for a review. Performance is of course, nuclear.

Psychedelic Love feels cut from the same cloth as Initio and by extension, Parfums de Marly, and this is no surprise to anyone familiar with current "niche" luxury swindle scent offerings; it just feels built with a tiny bit more attention to detail than most, and shows potential for something great, even if it's just another thing to blend in with the miasma of Baccarat Rouge 540 by MFFK (2015) that ostensibly inspired basically everything this brand does. If you're a fan of Initio, my words read like nails on a chalkboard; but if you're just dead tired of all these candy aromachem moneypits with weapons-grade performance in place of style, I've just saved you the effort. Not bad, but not noteworthy. Neutral

Beautiful heliotrope perfume that it's easy to fall in love with.

I want to expand my usual, go-to, masculine leaning "unisex" fragrances. I adore well-done, floral fragrances and I own (and owned) many rose-blend fragrances. Because of the unique "heliotrope, ylang-ylang" notes, someone suggested I sample Initio Psychedelic Love. I'm leaning (now) towards violet-centric potions but...someone suggested I try Psychedelic Love (?)...so, try it I did.

Psychedelic Love definitely opens with a sorta screechy, sour, cold medicinal note, which I truly do not enjoy. The opening is not bad but much colder, metallic and sour than what I'm accustomed to. Within minutes, yes here it comes...heliotrope...which of course, smells like almonds. On my skin, within minutes Psychedelic Love turns into a powdery, milky, creamy almond butter cake fragrance. I've never been a huge fan of heliotrope fragrances because the note can lean too much into territory gourmand, which is something I really dislike in fragrances (minus some well-blended vanilla). But, Psychedelic Love does not (thankfully) morph into a 100% gourmand scent; however, the heliotrope & the ylang-ylang definitely make their presence known. And the dry down is myrrh, sandalwood, greens, a bit more almonds & florals. This is the aroma for hours & hours.

So, longevity is moderate at 4+ hours and silage is low. This is not a big, huge, make-a-statement type fragrance that will leave a trail of lovely in its wake. On me, this fragrance wears close to the skin and does so for quite some time. While not quite my style, I find this fragrance beguiling.

Psychedelic Love is nice enough, it really is. But it is not quite the "style" I seek, despite the very welcome absence of the over-done above mentioned notes that I wear daily. Not sure this is a fragrance I would wear on a regular basis, or as a "signature" fragrance. It's a nice relief to experience (what I would consider) a wearable unisex fragrance that is NOT laden with resins, woods, amber, exotic spices and oud. This fragrance is definitely unisex, a genre I'm trying to depart from...but unisex with an interesting twist. With that said, I think I'd prefer smelling Psychedelic Love on a man versus myself (or any other woman).

A nice enough fragrance. Initially thought this was a strong pass. But after several hours, I'm somehow not so sure.