Smell Bent is an indie perfume house in Los Angeles, founded by Brent Leonisio in 2009. Brent’s fragrances are playful, some are avant-garde, and all are in tune with current trends and pop culture. They are high-quality fragrances and thoughtful artistic expression made affordable, approachable, and fun.

In 2017, for the 8th anniversary of the brand Smell Bent, Brent created a collection of fragrances infused with neurochemicals and pheromones, inspired by pop music icons of the 1980’s.

Forget about whether or not you believe in fragrances with pheromones — I believe in the 80’s, so I had to check these scents out as soon as they were released last fall. I chose the fragrances inspired by George Michael (i want your sex) and Prince (i would die for u).

i want your sex

Smell Bent describes this scent as “sweet rubber.”

I grew up in the 80’s, and my little group of friends loooooved singing and dancing to George Michael, so I really wanted this to be good.

< I imagine the bottle singing to me as I spray:  C-c-c-c-c-c-come on…. >

After applying a liberal dose of i want your sex, I inhaled deeply, and what I smelled was an inflatable pool lounge chair. The smell of blowing up a few dozen beach balls in a hot car. As the initial blast of plastic started to subside, it began to smell more like an Ace bandage. But not the fancy ones — these bandages are the drugstore brand, the kind with all the little white lines of rubber elastic showing.

About 20 minutes in, i want your sex takes on the smell of a virgin piña colada. Heavy on the virgin. A kids’ drink, for a kid’s palate. And not the kind that you would make from pineapple juice and cream of coconut. This is more like something made from a powder. It could be this piña colada Tang.

After about an hour, i want your sex settles into a phase that reminds me very much of the 1980’s. This is because I keep scratching my head and wondering “did they make a coconut Strawberry Shortcake doll?” 

I will admit, I had to check. Sadly, Mattel did not ever make a coconut Strawberry Shortcake Doll. Today I think they would, for diversity’s sake. The indigenous girl from the islands. Maybe her name would be Angel Flake. And her little head would smell just like this perfume.

I have to admit, the smell of Angel Flake was enjoyable in a nostalgic sort of way. But as the plastic aspect of the scent faded, what was left behind was the scent of Palmer’s cocoa butter cream. The kind that you put on stretch marks. This knowledge is a brutal reminder that the 80’s are over, and I’m an adult now.

My overall impression of Smell Bent’s i want your sex was that it is a fun and quirky scent that I enjoyed wearing. But it was more silly than sexy, and it didn’t remind me of a gentle lover with a heart of gold. It was good, clean fun — more Jimmy Buffet than George Michael.

Longevity on me was about 6 hours, and sillage was low-moderate. i want your sex would smell equally bitchin’ on men and women. Manufacturer’s listed notes are jasmine absolute, amber, saffron, patchouli, coconut infused with pheromones.

i want your sex is available for $65 per 50 mL bottle at smellbent.com

Find Part Two of this review series HERE