Acne Studies by Frederic Malle is here, and if you want the promotional videos, Malle says that he wanted to make this perfume because Acne is one of the most relevant brands today. The perfumer, Suzy Le Helley, references the iconic oversized Acne scarf as her inspiration, and actually, yes, this does evoke that aesthetic. It’s like walking into a room of peach vape juice and dryer sheets, which is what I imagine the Acne customer smells like. Clean and boring!
Is it classy? For sure. Anyone who has money for Acne, and this perfume may not want to wear something that’s going to draw attention to themselves. If someone smells you while you’re wearing this, they’ll think you smell of starched warm laundry and that’s not a bad thing. It’s a strong perfume and one spray lasts a long time – likely because this type of musk sticks to skin for a long time, but also I live in a cold dry place, and perfume lasts a long time on me. If you get this, it’s not going to be a scent for special occasions – it’ll be a daily driver.
If you like Byredo Blanche, then this might be for you – the fizzy top notes are like those in Chanel No. 5 and might make you think of more old-school perfumes, but once they die down, you get a fruity sugar-free gum peach, and then the white laundry musk that smells like Tide soap or Bounce dryer sheets.
I realize that some of these references are specific to North America – you might not have Tide laundry detergent that smells the way it does in Canada, and you might not be bored with the smell like we are. You might relish the scent of clean clothes fresh out of the laundry! How novel! They put the scent in a bottle!
If you’re interested in something niche, I smelled Hot Cotton by Baruti Perfumes today and it smells exactly like a hot iron on a shirt – steam and starch in a perfume. Try it too – it’s a better perfume because there’s honesty in the message it delivers.
