I ordered a discovery set from Olympic Orchids, and I asked for the fifth one to be dealer’s choice based on my other selections. They sent Tropic of Capricorn, which was the one I had hoped for! The thing is, I made my deductions based on their website, and checked zero reviews. I tried it on and found it utterly untoxicating, like a new future version of myself suddenly unlocked. I immediately put it on again twice in a row.

I went to add it to my Fragrantica wishlist and checked the reviews afterward. That was when I realized that uhmmmm this is apparently a fragrance that many people find stinky, challenging, confusing, and gross.

This review in particular, by Fragrantica user ikea pencil, was a lot: “Feral animals eating ripe mango in a tropical jungle, fucking next to a pile of rotting dead bodies. I’ve only smelled a rotting animal corpse once in my lifetime and I’ll never forget it. This is very close to that.”

Other highlights include:

“Imagine a zoo with animals kept in cages that are not taken care of, that are not kept clean. The fecal matter is kept unattended for days, possibly weeks. To make things worse, they try to cover that ill smell with something extremely pleasant, with exotic fruit and flower essences. Well. It doesn't help much.”

“Panthers fucking ferociously on a bed of rotting banana leaves.”

“Not for kids.”

“Doesn’t smell like perfume but potions on top of a scab!”

“It reminded me of a public restroom, not sure why.”

And the utterly devastating:

“4/10.”

So what is the worst thing you’ve ever seen someone say in a review for a fragrance that you like? Even if you like it, do you agree with it?