Scent Experiment IV: What We Learned in the Back of Legion Comics.

  When I was in elementary school, I was a big Legion of Super-Heroes fan. I did not just read the comics. I read the letters pages at the end of every issue. One reader once complained that even though the Legion had dozens of members, the stories always focused on the same small group. The editor replied that in any large collection, you always end up with favorites, and those favorites will be the ones who solve most of the plotlines.

Today I realized I have been doing the same thing with Problem Child, Montale Sensual Instinct. I keep reaching for the same handful of scents when I try to stack it. I keep hoping that maybe this time one of my favorites will behave differently. Adding one or two new scents into the mix does not change the fact that the favorites simply do not work with this perfume. They never have. I keep trying anyway.

So today I decided to break the pattern. I chose scents I almost never use. These were the forgotten members of my own Legion, the ones who rarely get any attention.

Mysterious: Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 76.
Top Notes: Black currant, pear nectar
Heart Notes: Midnight jasmine, vanilla crème, lush freesia
Base Notes: Amber woods, caramelized patchouli


Everything about this scent is extra. It is lush and loud and indulgent. I like it, but it feels like something you wear to a party, and that is not who I am.

Genderless:Ellis Brooklyn Blonde Musk.
Top Notes: Bergamot, violet petal, and waterlily
Heart Notes: Sheer rose, white floral bouquet, and vanilla orchid
Base Notes: Upcycled musk, ambrettolide, and blond amber


When I first bought it, I worried the rose would smell too old fashioned. It did not. The real issue is that Blonde Musk feels formal. It is crisp and clean and reminds me of the way you style your hair for an interview at a very prim job. It works on me, but it is not casual.

Femme: Commodity Juice.
Top Notes: Raspberry pulp and strawberry
Heart Notes: Bulgarian rose and cyclamen
Base Notes: Rhubarb and amberwood

Juice is a red scent. It is red and wet and fun, but not summer fun. It feels like a winter scent, something you wear during the dark, freezing part of the year when you need to be reminded that there is more than gray skies and cold wind.

These are all scents I like, but none of them feel right for me at this moment. Because of that, they basically get ignored. I might use one on a whim on rare occasions, but usually not.

Provocative Problem Child: Montale Sensual Instinct
Top: Roasted Coffee Beans, mostly, with hints and suggestions of other things
Heart: Praline and Rose
Base: Amber, and Cedarwood

I had no expectations for this experiment. I had no idea what this combination would do.

The result was a 4.5 out of 5. It smells wonderful. The most surprising part is that it is the Montale that is making everything work. Somehow, all the problematic elements of Sensual Instinct are smoothing out the party energy of the 76, softening the formality of Blonde Musk, and giving Juice a late summer warmth. For once, instead of sitting on my skin and sulking, Problem Child is acting as the hinge of the stack. That alone is enough reason to repeat this combination. I am not only shocked. I am genuinely delighted.