#immediately after I make dedicated sideblogs to it which naturally discourages me because I don't want to lose this passion!

[gayelectro]

I bought a little sample of this perfume and I'm testing it on my skin today at work. I'm just fascinated by it.

I love me a very literal scent.

I don't like when perfumers describe one thing, but then I sniff it, and it's more like such a hodge podge of pretty florals that I'm supposed to interpret as a story. When I read "metallic" in the notes, I want to smell metal, not citruses that I'm told evoke metal. But I am used to little disappointments of scents being more interpretative and less literal. A lot of notes that I want so badly to smell like are things that most perfume shoppers would be disgusted or infuriated by. I understand making something more mass appealing, at the end the of the day, people who compose perfume likely want to make as many people happy with their scents as possible (and maybe even make a little profit). I've come to expect it.

But this scent, ooooooooh. They described it as being an ode to the pinball arcade. Predominately a lime cola scent with the smell of cool steel and waxed wood floors. And hey, I'm constantly on the hunt for metal scents. And as a side quest, I kinda want a nice cola soda scent. So I figured I'd give it a shot.

This scent has got me obsessed. It's not balanced in the way I was expecting or hoping for, but in having it's own unique spin, it's become something just magical on my skin.

What I was expecting: mostly a strong cola smell. Hint of lime. Steel being the second most dominate note, given that the name is "Multiball". Waxed wood floors being a whisper of a fantasy accord to tie it all together and make the scent more appealing to most folk, balancing out the sweetness and the coldness of the steel. I was honestly just expecting it to be a creamy sandalwood undertone.

What I actually got: The exact scent of my Mom polishing the lanes at the bowling alley she used to work at when I was a kid. It's such a specific smell. It's hardwood floors and whatever that grease they use is. It smells spot on to when she'd have to get out that big ass buffer machine.

Then there's the cola note, just like her job too. It's cola out of the machine that's only going to stay well carbonated for like six minutes before going nearly flat. The syrup content is too high, something's wrong with the ratios their machine puts out for sodas, but I actually prefer it that way. It makes the soda taste richer, deeper, almost excessively flavorful. This is the second strongest note, it's always noticable but never more powerful than the greased wood lanes. Sweet but not cloying.

There's the smallest hints of lime and steel in the background. They mingle together in such a way that at least makes me get why so many things with listed metals end up just being funky citrus. It works in a way that makes me happy though, I smell both lime and steel, not just limes being odd. They're intertwined.

I love this. It's so insanely nostalgic for me. It smells sooooooooo nice.

My main concern is that I can tell that this scent could be really off-putting to others. It's almost entirely bowling alley grease. I do wonder what people would think of me if they smelled this on me all the time. Usually the "unpleasant smells" I'm looking are just ones that don't bring to mind notions of traditional perfumery and that I think smell really good, but this could potentially be far more divisive. I don't know if everyone thinks that's a good smell.

The other thing is the price point. I'm broke and cheap so I know I'm not the demographic most perfumers are aiming towards, even indie brands. I want people to get paid for their art, paid fairly, and so I don't want to imply people should lower their prices (once again, especially indie brands because a lot of them are one-man-operations). But this brand is simply out of my price range in this current stage in my life. $120 for a 50 ml is probably generally considered a good price, but it's steep for where I'm at. That's $2.40 an ml, if I did my math right. There's a $45 size option that's 15 ml, but that still doesn't sit right with me at $3 an ml for a perfume who's staying power seems to be about 4 hours with no reapplication. I just can't afford it when I'm still battling with paying for my medication.

But damn, it brought me joy. I'm gonna devour the entirety of the decant and I'll miss it when it's empty.

TDLR; Really good weird perfume. Smells exactly like the bowling alley my Mom worked at in my tweens. A lil pricey for me, but probably a reasonable price because it's just one gal doing all the work and she should get paid. I feel conflicted about buying a bigger size but it compels the fuck out of me.