Most of you guys who've been here know I'm a super fanboy of Imaginary Authors. I have samples of every scent they've put out in the last 3 years and have quite a bit of discontinued fragrances as well. I've been going through them one at a time and doing bigger reviews as a I work my way through them.
Time has gotten away from me, and I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to do the final reviews on the last 5, so I'm going to go ahead and post my summary of the house. This is how I rank everything that I have tried so far (a total of 28 fragrances out of 38 that they have produced).
- O, Unknown! - 9.75. (discontinued, 2025)
- Blend No. 83 - 9.60 (winter 2023 limited edition)
- Telegrama - 9.50 (discontinued, 2024)
- Memoirs of a Trespasser - 9.40
- A Little Secret - 9.40 (2025 limited edition, re-released November 2025 for regular sale)
- The Abandoned Mansion - 9.20
- Every Storm A Serenade, 1st Edition - 9.18 (reformulated, 2024)
- Saint Julep - 9.10
- Every Storm A Serenade, 2nd Edition - 8.80
- Dipped In Chocolate - 8.65 (winter 2024 limited edition)
- Cape Heartache - 8.63
- Yesterday Haze - 8.55
- Mosaic - 8.50 (discontinued 2018, but still available at a local spa in Oregon)
- A Whiff of Waffle Cone, 2nd Edition - 8.28
- Whispered Myths - 8.28 (discontinued, 2024)
- A City On Fire - 8.20
- In Love With Everything - 8.15
- Falling Into The Sea - 7.85
- Fox In The Flowerbed - 7.80
- Sundrunk - 7.80
- The Cobra And The Canary - 7.48
- Slow Explosions - 7.40
- How To Say Bicycle In French - 7.25
- The Soft Lawn, 2nd Edition - 7.00
- The Language of Glaciers - 6.95
- Decisions Decisions - 6.90 (discontinued, 2019)
- Bull's Blood, 2nd Edition - 6.60
- Untamable - 6.05
Still missing / no longer available:
An Air of Despair - limited edition, sold in 30mL bottles instead of the usual 50; reformulated to become Slow Explosions
A Plume of Blooms - still available through Salt & Straw
A Cloud of Cocoa - still available through Salt & Straw
A Swoon of Citrus - still available through Salt & Straw
L'Orchidee Terrible - discontinued
Violet Disguise - discontinued
First editions of Whiff of Waffle Cone, Bull's Blood, and The Soft Lawn
The Hall of Hallucination - exclusive loyalty fragrance for reaching the fourth floor tier (currently sold out)
What I like most about this brand is the versatility. There's something for everyone. The cohesive branding and marketing strategy is a masterclass in how you do it. There's infinite potential to tell stories with the perfumes. And it feeds into the collector mindset that I have. I currently have 10 of them in the 50 mL presentations, and there are at least 3 more that I want to eventually buy. I will likely end up with most of the house, if not all of them, over time. And their loyalty program is generous and well thought out with some amazing opportunities to find rare and discontinued things in their "rare books room." I like supporting a small business, and they are very interactive with their customers, especially if you are in the loyalty program.
If I had to recommend a place to start, it would be with their discovery sets. They are relatively inexpensive, and IA is very generous with their samples. I'd start with The Abandoned Mansion, St Julep, Cape Heartache, Memoirs of a Trespasser, Yesterday Haze, In Love With Everything, Cobra and the Canary, and Every Storm A Serenade. My second round would be A Little Secret, How To Say Bicycle in French, Falling Into The Sea, Sundrunk, Fox In The Flowerbed, The Soft Lawn, Slow Explosions, and The Language of Glaciers. The more challenging scents are Bull's Blood, Whiff of Waffle Cone, A City On Fire, and Untamable.
I'll eventually do the write ups on the remaining fragrances, but I hope this is a nice little guide and is helpful for anyone interested in the house.