Blow Up

“Blow Up by Moth and Rabbit Perfumes Review: Smoky Woods and Absinthe”

Spraying Blow Up immediately catches your attention with an unusual, bracing burst of bitter green absinthe and tart cassis berries. Perfumer Mark Buxton balances this biting opening with the aromatic warmth of cracked cardamom pods and a light dusting of saffron. It does not hit like a typical sweet fruit punch or a sharp citrus splash. Instead, it smells like a cold herbal liqueur poured over crushed currant leaves on an unpolished wooden cutting board. You get an immediate sense of vintage textures, mixing green sap with a faint hint of darkroom developer fluid.

After roughly twenty minutes, the sharp bitter edge softens into a quiet, atmospheric heart. Resinous myrrh and cold church incense drift through dry cedar needles and earthy cypriol oil. The cypriol brings a smoky, loamy quality that mimics damp soil drying after an afternoon drizzle in a city park. Chinese cedar adds crisp wood shavings that keep the blend feeling structured rather than muddled. There is a cozy, slightly dusty warmth here that feels like opening a vintage leather case filled with old paper prints and darkroom chemicals.

On skin, the dry-down turns distinctly woody, balsamic, and slightly animalic. Smoky birch tar weaves into soft jacket leather, sweetened just enough by amber and sticky labdanum to prevent it from smelling harsh or medicinal. A subtle touch of civet sits far in the background, adding warmth and lived-in human skin character rather than a funky barnyard punch. The woody accord stays dry and smooth, evoking lacquer furniture and antique bookshelves rather than a damp pine forest.

In terms of performance, Blow Up behaves like an intimate personal fragrance. Longevity clocks in around 5 to 7 hours on bare skin, with the final three hours lingering as a quiet, close skin scent. On cotton shirts or wool jackets, you will pick up the smoky cedar base for well past 10 hours. Projection stays polite, floating about arm's length for the first hour before settling within your personal bubble. That understated sillage makes it surprisingly versatile for open-plan offices, coffee shops, movie theaters, and casual dinner dates where loud fragrances would feel suffocating.

This perfume is geared toward fragrance lovers who appreciate subtle indie perfumery with storytelling behind it. If you enjoy artistic cinema, vintage clothing, and atmospheric woody scents with a hint of smoke and leather, Blow Up will feel right at home. It is completely unisex, sitting right down the middle with its balance of fresh green absinthe and deep resins. However, if you are looking for sweet vanilla crowd-pleasers, clean laundry musks, or high-octane projection beasts that announce your entrance, this scent will not satisfy you.

Blow Up by Moth and Rabbit succeeds as a smart, textured tribute to Antonioni's classic film. It trades mainstream commercial gloss for authentic personality, capturing the smell of darkrooms, damp London parks, and weathered leather jackets. While its modest projection and niche price tag mean you should definitely sample it before buying a full bottle, it remains a uniquely rewarding wear for anyone seeking an evocative, low-key signature scent.