Puredistance White

Exploded Flowers by Fong Qi Wei

Oy.

Puredistance White is not the first release of the season that broke my heart a little by being below standard for a beloved perfume house (see Amouage Sunshine and both "Flashes" from Tauer. I'm also quite underwhelmed by the newest MDCI, but only gave it the quickest sniff so far, so the jury's still out, at least officially). But I think it's the one that made me feel the most upset, because until now even when a Puredistance perfume had been decidedly Not Me I was still highly impressed with the quality it exuded. I might not feel comfortable in Puredistance I, but just like the other fragrances in the line it's stunning and has that "smells like a million dollars" vibe (see also my reviews of Antonia, Opardu, and Black).

But Puredistance White kills me.

It kills me with a major blast of Macy's-worthy white musk (and I usually like white musk). It kills me with a rose-not-rose note, with a not-exactly-sandalwood base, with a vague makeupy powder that doesn't live up to similar notes from Guerlain or Chanel. And it sure doesn't kill me softly. More like Valyrian steel thrust into the nostrils of a White Walker.

Had Puredistance White been one of perfumer Antoine Lie's mainstream creations for a major designer brands I would have called it competent and predicted that it'd sell like hot cakes. And that would have been fine. We could all enjoy whiffs of stuff that isn't Marc Jacobs Daisy on the streets, so why not? But this non-committal and hyper-synthetic musky rose perfume is friendly yet unremarkable. And that's just not right considering the hype, the press release (" It took Antoine Lie one year to complete the magic formula, using the best and most expensive ingredients in the world. The result is a one-of-a-kind perfume made to enhance your mood through intense, but comforting beauty - if you like it, a warm and natural happiness will be yours!"), and the opulent packaging of the sample (complete with a large lacquered box). I guess I'm part of "the era's global negativity" (also from the press release), because all I feel like doing is keep kvetching about this perfume.

Puredistance White ($198, 17.5ml extrait de parfum. Larger sizes can be purchased at $330/60ml and $590/100ml) is available from Luckyscent. The sample for this review was sent to me by Puredistance.