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| Tornado Alley. There's a stillness, a quiet chaos of an oncoming storm. |
Sometimes when shopping for more ethereal, "conceptual" fragrances, I can't help but feel like a fraud. Standing in a crowded modern art gallery, sampling fancy hor d'oeuvres from a plate while nodding along as someone explains the deeper meaning behind the exhibits. "Yes, definitely! I completely see it!" and hoping no one can see through your facade (or worse, accuse you of being there for the free food)!
But every so often I really want to venture beyond the free appetizers and try to better understand and appreciate more conceptual pieces, and the world of indie perfumes is no exception. Unfortunately, many of the more conceptual fragrances tend to either be a little too "weird" for my tastes or wind up just not working well on my skin.
Sixteen92 went all out with their newest fragrance, Supercell - what kind of indie fragrance has its own freaking trailer video?! When you dangle the word "limited edition" and "you need to preorder from this batch because the last release sold out in three hours"... what can I say? I have no restraint. I know good marketing when I see it.
Supercell
5.5mL glass bottle for $18.00 USDSUPERCELL is a conceptual, atmospheric fragrance that bottles the essence of a Spring thunderstorm. The first cracks of ozonic lightning in the distance, rolling humid air, sharp green grass under heavy grey skies, the smell of rain on hot asphalt, crushed green stems, windblown hay, soaked earth and ancient branches snapped open by the forces of nature.
I have a bad history with "storm"-centric scents. Last one I tried was Thunderstorm from Alchimia Apothecary. Something about it made me very nauseous, I ended up having to wash it off after 20 minutes. After that, I swore off storm scents.
Supercell promises to be the full package deal - ozone rolling in with the humid storm clouds, the wind and rain hitting the grass and hay, and then possibly the calm afterwards. I don't live out in tornado alley. I'm in New England, so my
thunderstorm experiences are not quite the same. Regardless of where you
are though, I imagine a thunderstorm is pretty much the same. Does Supercell live up to the hype?
Supercell begins smelling startlingly similar to Darling Clandestine's Xenon Nightly - a nose-wrinklingly sharp bitterness for the first few minutes. This is very brief and evaporates almost instantly on my skin. Five to ten minutes after application it smells like an entirely different fragrance on me.
The second stage Supercell morphs into reminds me of the green cuttings leftover on the lawn after mowing, hazy and humid and above all green. None of the initial bitterness is around for this stage, it's the promise of rain that hasn't yet begun. I enjoy the green notes in this stage because they are much smoother. I don't know if this makes sense, but there's a sort of pressing weight, a heaviness in this stage that reminds me of heavy humid air - it's "stuffy" in that it's not a crisp or sharp note.
The third stage smells like damp, sweet grass and maybe a bit of hay. It reminds me a little bit of OHWTO's Dandelion Wine with a grassier sweetness. This is my favorite stage of Supercell. It's damp but not chilly, and the hay notes are gentle and just a smidge earthy.
Duration:
Unfortunately, my biggest complaint with Sixteen92 perfumes is still valid here - this scent just doesn't have kind of robust staying power I'd prefer. I'm sure you could tie this up neatly and say something about the fleeting, "gone as quick as it arrived" nature of thunderstorms, but I have this trouble with nearly every Sixteen92 scent. Plus, I feel like I barely get a chance to truly become acquainted with that lovely last stage before it's gone. After 3-4 hours on my skin and it is little more than a whisper.
Unfortunately, my biggest complaint with Sixteen92 perfumes is still valid here - this scent just doesn't have kind of robust staying power I'd prefer. I'm sure you could tie this up neatly and say something about the fleeting, "gone as quick as it arrived" nature of thunderstorms, but I have this trouble with nearly every Sixteen92 scent. Plus, I feel like I barely get a chance to truly become acquainted with that lovely last stage before it's gone. After 3-4 hours on my skin and it is little more than a whisper.
Score: 4.5/5
I really do love Supercell. I've worn it almost every single day since it arrived in my mailbox, and it has been such a wonderful fit with the recently early spring storms. I didn't think I'd enjoy it nearly this much, but I can't give it a full 5/5 because it just doesn't last long at all. Furthermore, given that this was an extremely limited offering, I'm not too pleased that I have to slather on copious amounts from a bottle I'm already coveting!
I really do love Supercell. I've worn it almost every single day since it arrived in my mailbox, and it has been such a wonderful fit with the recently early spring storms. I didn't think I'd enjoy it nearly this much, but I can't give it a full 5/5 because it just doesn't last long at all. Furthermore, given that this was an extremely limited offering, I'm not too pleased that I have to slather on copious amounts from a bottle I'm already coveting!
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