Up from the ashes and out of the shadows

Not actually Clandestine Laboratories

I’ve never been someone who craved public recognition, more the opposite (hence the name), but I’ve been shocked and gratified by the attention I’ve received recently, both online and irl. I’m a bit lost for words, honestly, so forgive me if this is not the most articulate - and rest assured, I’m still not all that public, nor do I intend to be for now. However, my longtime dream of creating an underground “auteur” brand based on word of mouth and referrals from people who wear and love my fragrances is actually happening. I’d always wanted cool people to wear my fragrances and to have a personal connection with them through fragrance and that is probably why you’re reading this now. I’d assumed this would be happen through my connections in NYC’s art world, but I was wrong. In the past few months I finally got around to getting my packaging looking like something that people might want to buy, I found bottles, caps and sprayers I actually like that were available in quantities smaller than five thousand, I designed labels I’m finally proud of, got stamps made of the logo, figured out scalable and on-brand packaging for samples…and then, as a result, finally felt confident enough in my presentation to start contacting a few people I’ve followed for years who I like and respect for their knowledge and integrity - and who struck me as the kind of people I’d want to wear my fragrances - to seek their opinions. TBH I was slightly terrified.

It’s really not that I lack confidence as a perfumer, I’ve known for ages that I’m good at making fragrances that my close friends and I love to wear and I’ve put a lot of effort into creating a line intended to be addictive simply because of its quality and originality. I’m really particular about fragrance and I’ve been hooked on mine for years. However, I’m entirely self-taught as a perfumer and have intentionally avoided smelling too many perfumes, especially at first, and it’s always difficult to objectively evaluate one’s own work. I got into perfumery not really liking designer fragrance in general (too artificial-smelling, too “Look at me, I’m wearing a giant logo!” and, often, too similar in style) and I just assumed that people who love fine fragrances made by highly-trained professionals would find mine amateurish and rough by comparison.

I couldn’t have been more wrong, at least so far. One thing that seems obvious now is that it is often people with the most knowledge of fine fragrance who are most excited about my work and who seem to get how much effort has gone into making it - and who want to have it for themselves. Thank you. Didn’t see that coming. Incidentally, I also didn’t anticipate that people who like my work, or who follow people who like it, would want to buy the larger bottles, several as blind purchases. No one has been disappointed, so far, and I think that probably has a lot to do with the quality of the reviews.

Because I didn’t anticipate the demand for the 100ml bottles, I’m out of labels right now for Silver and Master and may run out of juice temporarily while I wait for the recently-diulted concentrate to macerate and settle so it can be filtered. I’ve run out of sample sprayers but have temporary replacements that are slightly larger. I’m about to run out of logo labels. I really don’t meant that as marketing hype and please don’t panic buy; any disruptions in the near future will be temporary. I’ve always intended to make signature fragrances for repeat customers and I’m fully committed to that, to the extent possible given the difficulties inherent in using such a wide range of materials at (so far) a fairly small scale. I also intend to be transparent and honest when I’m forced to change something.

Final thought: I’ve recently become aware of the phenomenon of “fragrance addiction” as an actual thing. I totally get it, we live in a consumer culture that encourages compulsive purchasing as a substitute for actual satisfaction and security in life. I sincerely want my fragrances to be addictive, but not in that sense. Obviously my brand is a joke about perfumer-as-drug-pusher - and that’s actually my intended business model, to provide a product that’s so pleasureable and addictive that people just keep coming back for more, without my having to put much effort into marketing - but I want that to be a positive thing. My first real experience with a fragrance I loved was, tbh, Desert Spice Sure deodorant. I loved it because it smelled great on me, so much so that people thought that was just the way it smelled. One day I went to the store and it was gone, discontinued. It was like losing a part of myself and other deodorants I tried smelled horrible on me. It wasn’t until I became a perfumer and stopped wearing deodorant that I found a way to smell like me again.

I’m not sure what else to say here other than thank you, everyone, and I hope to continue to deserve your attention and interest. In particular, I’d like to thank Varanis Ridari (Basenotes’ most prolific reviewer and possibly also its most knowledgeable) aka The Scented Devil on Instagram, whose reviews I’ve been reading since I started doing perfumery 12 years ago. Not even primarily for reviewing my fragrances and liking and understanding them, more for the inspiration and insight his reviews have provided me over the years. Much of my approach early on was to read reviews and, without smelling the fragrances, use people’s descriptions for inspiration and to learn what people dislike about fragrances. Not only did his stand out for his depth of knowledge, but they were (and are) often entertaining and engaging - savage and snarky in skewering the kinds of pretentious nonsense and status-seeking I also loathe. I’d never imagined that he would become a fan of my work or that he would play a pivotal role in connecting me with such a supportive group of people, but that’s life sometimes, surprising and unexpected in ways that can’t be anticipated but always depend on the connections we make with others.

Finally, I want to emphasize that I value honest feedback. I only send free samples, occasionally, to reviewers I feel will be honest and who I respect and who seem open to sincere dialogue. Which means people who give bad reviews of things they don’t like. Criticism is valuable and taste is personal and specific. Obviously I hope you like my work but feel free to leave negative or indifferent reviews on Basenotes, on Insta, or to me directly: I will not be offended - though obviously I may disagree. Because I only sell online, the more specific information that’s public, the better - both for me and for potential clients. I don’t want anyone to be unhappy with anything they purchase from me (which is why I’m offering customized discovery sets to make it easy to try things first) and I stand behind what I make 100%. At the end of the day, I’m just some guy who makes fragrances and I’ll always try to be responsive and to serve my customers. I work for you and will never take you for granted. Feel free to say hi and don’t hesitate to ask for what you want or provide honest feedback.

Thank you, friends. Stay safe and smell good.