Acrasia
Eau de Parfum, Beaufort London (2022)

In general, it does not pay to have expectations. I got over-excited when I heard that Beaufort were launching their first rose-centred perfume and started imagining all sorts of doomy and wayward delight in store. Not to be. The perfume is not quite the disaster that some have made it out to be but stellar it ain’t.
In keeping with the Beaufort mould there is plenty odd about it. It’s not everyday that one comes across a citrus-soured rose that suffers what first smells like an avalanche of attic dust, but which later reveals its true waxy nature – a kind of mutant offspring of an iris-patchouli coupling. This is equally disturbing and intriguing and not for the faint of heart – so, true to form for Beaufort. But it does have the unfortunate effect of stunting the rose and holding it captive. I applaud it for its attract-repel quality, but the balance of those two facets teeters on a knife edge.