Metalica

Conclusion

Wearing Metalica is like admiring a painting from across a large room. You get the general idea of the original; the colour palette is similar, but up close, the brushstrokes are crude, the details are missing, and the canvas feels suspiciously like laminated cardboard. If you are seeking a faithful interpretation, you are out of luck. If you simply want a sweet, vaguely metallic-floral fragrance, this offers something... close. But the sacrifice in quality and nuance is apparent.

Scent Breakdown

Metalica opens with a burst of something vaguely metallic, like sniffing a freshly polished doorknob still warm from the buffer. The pink pepper tries to cut through the aldehydes, but the effect is more "pink pepper potpourri" than spicy intrigue. The heart is where it deviates substantially from what I understand of the inspiration. The heliotrope is there, but instead of a powdery almond, it's closer to cherry cough syrup, fighting a losing battle against a screechy lily-of-the-valley note. The drydown is a vanilla-esque, synthetic musk. Ambrette offers a powdery veil that attempts sophistication, but the plasticky, linear nature of the base is undeniable. It tries to evoke warmth with a balsamic resin, but ends up smelling like cheap vanilla air freshener on a hot dashboard.

The Performance Stats

On my skin, Metalica lasts about five hours, but it’s projecting only within arm’s reach for the first hour, quickly retreating to a skin scent. I tested it during a moderately active day – errands, walking the dog – and it didn’t evolve or bloom much. The initial blast simply faded into the final vanillic stage.