Ray-Flection
Masque (2020)

Cardamom-touched fabric softener. Don’t get me wrong: the scents of fabric softeners often have good perfumers behind them and there’s a reason why they are so enticing. But what they do have in common is a hazy, amorphous though effulgent quality that is not always a strength when it comes to perfume one chooses to wear on the body.
The intention behind Ray-Flection, according to the brand, was to create ‘a fluorescent, sparkling, alien flower’. They wax lyrical further: ‘A dream. A flower, with an incredibly intense smell. And huge, humongous. Not a normal flower, one that you can find on earth. This flower was emitting a surprisingly bright light. As the time passed by, and the light grew even more dazzling, the flower starts melting, dripping like honey from a rich and mellow honeycomb.’ Well, huge and humongous it ain’t, and it is overwhelmingly pale and creamy rather than bright, with the ozonic duet of mimosa and violet leaf fuzzy and baby-soft. The cardamom is an interesting touch, bringing a light warmth and a hint of soap, and the backing woody whisper is also good filler for a perfume that seems to be on a quest for body. Its presence in a room has a light citric accent enlivening the florals, however I don’t perceive this on my person. I like it, but here’s the rub: just a couple of hours in and it’s stripped to its smalls, and all that’s left is a sweetish synthetic powdery-woods skin scent.