Mixed Emotions
Byredo (2021)

I have Mixed Emotions about this. No pun intended.
First sniff carries you rapidly through a variety of accords.
To me it is more novelty than actual perfume - it stakes no claim over the course, other than being a mixed bag. You will certainly recognize a bunch of perfumes you smelled this decade.
Most aptly named fragrance.

Tisane with a little plate of blackcurrant on the side.
The house statement on this one is about how perfume tries to bottle emotion and that this offering is an attempt to mix the familiar with the unfamiliar. I'd say the unfamiliar is winning here for the most part – I don't think I have smelled anything quite like it. However, that is not necessarily a commendation: if there was one thing this perfume didn't do for me, it was rouse emotion. Rather it remained at the level of an interesting study in the juxtaposition of notes that don't usually appear together, stirring curiosity without winning my heart. Mixed Emotions riffs on one big contrasting accord: juicy, sweetened, slightly sweaty and fermented blackcurrant against drier, woody-herbal nuances of mate, tea leaves and even a greenish coffee. This shadier side of the accord is somewhere between an herbalist's mix and forest-floor-in-high-summer and does strange but not unpleasant things to the fruit. Those worried about the pissy side of blackcurrant needn't fear; this one isn't heading for the nearest wall, unzipping its trousers.
One of those perfumes that is bound to get a ‘What is that you're wearing?' reaction, I feel. And even though this didn't quite push my buttons, we need more of those. Leans more towards the blackcurrant in the later stages.