smell bent remixes

smell bent has a fun ongoing “remix project” where they take some of their previous scents and add in a new twist to them. I met up with perfumer Brent Leonesio who provided samples of the new ones as well as reference samples of the original versions.

Little Miss Panda Gets Leid is far softer than the original. They’re both white flowers but the first edition is sharper with bamboo while this new version is sweeter, with honeysuckle and quava. Strangely for me, this fruity-floral hater likes the newer edition as being a lot more wearable. Perhaps not by me, since it’s also very girrrly and very pretty. I’ll cop to the latter, but not the former.

St. Tropez Dispenser Apres Soleil goes in a different direction. The original is a giggle-inducing combination of coconut infused jasmine that should make you seriously regret spending a lot of money on Virgin Island Water. The remix is quite literally darker, with a buttery soft leather and warm honey. Testing them back-to-back, I kind of prefer the original, but have to admit I would more likely wear Apres Solail.

Incensed Short Fuse is my favorite by a mile. But then, the original is my favorite of the three firsts by a mile as well. That one is a delight; church incense that eventually mixes in a tobacco sweetness like choir boys singing after sneaking a furtive Lucky Strike. The remix adds in a big, delicious dose of cinnamon red-hots, like the choir boys got clever, but still not quite masking their smokes from the Monsignor.

So If I was going to pick, I’d do the last one and it’s predecessor. Since the 5ML perfume oil roll-on is $14, why not?

These come in various sizes and sets, including sample sizes and travel sprays, at the smell bent website. My samples were provided by the perfumer.