It took 3hrs to come alive, and needs a second wear.

M01 +Champaca is a floral that opens with a nice orange blossom. Within 30 seconds there’s a medicinal whiff, not camphor, more mild hospital anti-septic, I like it lol.

Then arrives a little bit of funk. This funk is like a dog that’s been groomed, shampooed had orange blossom doggo hairspray applied that morning, but has got wet for the first time that evening. It’s not full wet dog smell, just the promise of one with that little bit of funk creeping out.

I’ve never smelt a Champaca tree irl or know the individual note of red champaca absolue, so this is going to be interesting. But what I get at the start is a soft orange blossom water with a little hint of earthy mushroom, I don’t hate it, it’s pleasant but disappointing at this stage.

After 30mins it settles into a soft orange blossom water cologne with whiffs of 01’s sweet other worldly florals coming and going. Theres still a little bit of funky earthy mushroom, but only when I bring my nose to my skin. Very nice and pleasant, but it’s not wowing me and I don’t need it. I could achieve this, with better silage and projection with an orange blossom body spray layered with M01.

And an hour later it’s just a very muted orange blossom water with a soft woody base. I’m disappointed..

… until..

3.5 hours later and this scent has came alive on my skin. What kind of sorcery is this? Bright orange blossom with honied apricot and gentle jasmine notes, with a slight creamy, santal nuance in the base. It’s breezy and elegant. As I move my arms around the scent is so welcoming to my nose, floating in and out are the ambery other worldly florals of M01. I’m a big fan of the OG and I’ve been wearing it for 15 years. I like what I’m finally getting here.

Synthetics are a funny old thing. My nose didn’t detect firsantol in DS & Durga’s I Don’t Know What for the first half hour. And then it arrived and lasted forever! I could still smell it if my skin 3 days and 5 showers later. However, the next time I sprayed it, my olfactory system read the scent immediately. But I’ve never experienced a delay like this.

And so.. Molecule 01 + Champaca needs another wear, possibly a few, before I make my mind up about it properly.