“Phoenix is about a girl I know. With fair skin and light blond hair, she’s ethereal and beautiful like a mythical fire bird. When I call her she does not come, but she floats in and out of my life.”
-MCMC Fragrances
Historically I have been drawn to heavy floral perfumes with notes like tuberose, jasmine, and sandalwood. Phoenix is not that kind of perfume.
And it is absolutely delightful.
It’s light, airy, and ethereal; Phoenix could not be a more perfect name for this fragrance!
I roll on the perfume oil and a bright, juicy peach note jumps out at me. Like a stroll through a farmers market in the summer, it is fresh, sweet and inviting – beckoning passerby’s to take a deeper whiff.
A few seconds later, I am greeted by effervescent notes of aldehydes, like someone popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. Aldehydes add a sparkling note to perfumes, a hint soapy and citrusy without truly being either – they tend to enhance the other notes in a fragrance. If you’ve ever smelled Chanel No. 5, you’ve experienced the most classic form of an aldehydic fragrance.
The delicate notes of neroli blossoms tickle my nose and add a happy and playful quality to the blend, like orange blossoms floating through the breeze. It plays off of the peach notes to shift the fragrance more floral while still maintaining that sweet, honeyed quality.
The final base note that adds incredible staying power to this perfume as well as a bit of warmth is vanilla. Might I add, this perfume wears extremely well, as I can still smell it on myself the next morning! Even though this is an oil perfume, it doesn’t leave my skin feeling greasy where I apply it, and because it’s an oil it enhances the staying power. Bonus, it’s extremely portable due to it’s size, making it great for travel and touch ups.
The overall effect is sweet, warm, a little powdery, and youthful. There’s something so nostalgic about this fragrance for me; it reminds me of my childhood summers playing beneath the mimosa tree and the hazy afternoon glow that would wash over everything just before the sun would set.
A note from the founder, Anne Serrano-McClain:
“In my early twenties I began to absolutely fall in love with perfume but I just didn’t find anything that felt like it was speaking to ME. Everything felt too commercial and like it was using sexiness as a marketing ploy, and the niche brands that did have interesting scents were just so expensive and unapproachable. I wanted to create something that felt infused with the natural beauty of the world, and reflected real stories and memories from travel, from people you’ve loved, and special experiences. And that’s how I began MCMC!”
*Please note: product gifted for consideration, all thoughts are my own.
Boldly Lauren 
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