California Perfume Company
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The gasoline note hits with startling clarity—not gratuitous but precise, like catching the scent of vintage racing leathers aired in a petrol-scented garage. Black pepper crackles against juniper's gin-bright sharpness, creating an aromatic spikiness that's bracing rather than welcoming.
Iris and violet stage their powdery intervention, their cosmetic elegance smudged and dirtied by the leather accord that dominates this phase. The Vorblex (presumably a synthetic woody-amber molecule) adds an almost metallic shimmer, whilst something darker—that carcass note—begins its unsettling presence, animalic and faintly decay-tinged.
Black amber and patchouli form a resinous, earthy foundation that's simultaneously sweet and shadowed, the vanilla tempered by leather remnants and that persistent animalic musk. What lingers is oddly comforting in its strangeness—a second-skin scent that smells of violet powder, old books bound in leather, and something indefinably carnal.
California Perfume Company's Honeysuckle is a masterclass in olfactory misdirection—the name promises gauzy florals, but Jérôme Epinette delivers something altogether more confrontational. The opening salvo of juniper and black pepper collides with a petrol note that evokes vintage motorcycle leather and fuel-stained concrete, whilst iris and violet attempt to civilise the chaos with their powdery hauteur. This isn't the sweet honeysuckle of cottage gardens; this is the scent of someone who stopped at an abandoned petrol station in the Mojave, crushed violet stems underfoot, and left wearing a stranger's leather jacket.
The leather accord here is substantial—not the genteel suede of boardrooms but something more visceral, almost animalic when the carcass note emerges in the base. That unsettling accord threads through the composition like a memento mori, preventing the vanilla and patchouli from tipping into gourmand territory. Instead, they form a dark amber embrace that feels both ancient and unnerving. The powdery iris-violet combination fights gamely against the spicy leather dominance, creating a push-pull tension that never quite resolves.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
3.8/5 (255)