Strange Invisible Perfumes Musc Botanique

By Tom As you know from reading the Posse, the LA ScentSation was a big success. The first gift bag (the one from the event, not the ones from the stores we went to) alone was worth the the trip. I think the highlight everyone would agree was the full-sized perfume from Strange Invisible Perfumes (I think it's $225 retail). I lucked out and got Musc Botanique. I write about it previously and bought myself a bottle years ago.back in the day I wrote: "But the one that I kept coming back to was Musc Botanique. Through the alcohol haze I remember the nice girl telling us that it was meant as a sort of riff on the idea of plants seducing each other through their smell, like the musk that animals produce to attract a mate. This makes immediate sense in its tart opening: the woody, almost harsh geranium mixes with sweet angelica to make me think of berry patches. It gets earthier and earthier as the frankincense and amber come in, until the whole thing gets surprisingly, delightfully slutty. But slutty in a wholly different way that you would imagine: not human and not even animal. It's as if you're walking in a night-time garden and suddenly the whole place starts giving you the glad eye; the woods, grass and flowers are waving their little fronds at you with a decided "Hello, Sailor" attitude. Not in that somewhat confrontational Satyr-of-the-berries CB I Hate perfume way (which, as you all know I adore) and not in some Majicky, Sci-Fi way either. It's different: it's also entirely wearable (I would and did wear it to the office) but definitely, wonderfully.. odd." The pure perfume version takes it even further- it's more than winking, it's standing there, hands on hips, daring you to come over. It's Sadie Thompson in a bottle and I love it. It's also very long-lasting for a pure botanical- I smell it on me the next day. There are many SIP fragrances that I would cheerfully buy if I could just hit the darned PowerBall: Lyric Rain, Fire and Cream, and Black Rosette to name three. But I was so thrilled to get Musc Botanique in my goody bag I feel like I did win the lottery.. Notes from their website: Egyptian geranium, frankincense, notes of white amber & botanical musk $225 for .25 ounce at their store in Venice, which if you're in Los Angeles you really need to visit. Mine came in the gift bag at the event. Image: Legendary Joan Crawford Website