Brazilian Crush Cheirosa '62 Perfume Mist

It is the last day of a certain year Beyond which there is nothing left of sun. It is the zenith of the desire, many-colored,… A land too ripe for enigmas, too much self, The world an immeasurable crust of pastry.

-Wallace Stevens, “Credences of Summer”

Cheirosa ’62 is the bottled equivalent of Sol de Janiero’s popular Bum Bum Cream. Cheirosa literally translates to “smelling lovely” and, well, I’m sure that’s what they were going for. This one is simultaneously heavy handed and fleeting. It’s sunny, but less “chic Mediterranean villa” and more “I accidentally spilled a salted caramel latte on my expensive beach towel.” Sticky.

The opening is a sugary pistachio and almond. It does successfully avoid the synthetic cherry note a lot of almond accords give off. There’s a brief intermission of jasmine and heliotrope, and then the dry down is mostly caramel and vanilla. There’s a bit of sandalwood, but overall it’s creamy and aggressively gourmand.

This is not an olfactory masterpiece, but I wouldn’t say it’s trying to be (they call it a body mist themselves). If your goal is to smell like a literal snack and get a mood boost on a rainy Tuesday, Cheirosa can be a playful romp. It’s a low stakes dopamine hit.