If you're looking for a signature scent that captures your high school locker room and your grandmother's timeless fashion, there's now something to fit your needs. Avant-garde product release app MSCHF just dropped a perfume that smells like Chanel No. 5 and Axe body spray. Why? Because they're both undeniably iconic scents.
You may be wondering if this combination has any chance of actually smelling good. We are, too. But the MSCHF perfume drop sold out in 20 minutes on Monday so a lot of people are interested in smelling the combination themselves.
MSCHF users already know the deal—the creation app releases two unique product drops per month sporting items, or concepts, you won't find anywhere else. Some of its past products include Jesus shoes, a sneaker that allowed wearers to walk on water and a Slack account that re-created every episode of The Office.
In order to be among the first notified about the drops, which are released on the second and fourth Monday of each month, MSCHF users must download the app. And most releases fly off the shelf before you can even hit refresh. The worst part, if you were dying to try the perfume—MSCHF drops never restock.
Axe No. 5, the lime-green-colored perfume, was released with a whopping $400 price tag on Monday, but that didn't keep it stocked long.
It's not uncommon for MSCHF to push the boundaries on what's acceptable product-wise. That appears to be the purpose. But why Axe and Chanel No. 5? The scents may seem dramatically different, but to MSCHF, they're all the same.
"Picture Chanel No. 5 in your mind's eye and you may see a certain golden color, perhaps conjured alongside generic images of Marion Cotillard or Brad Pitt," the app-release explained. "But think of Axe and you feel that acrid burn in the deepest recesses of your sinuses; you remember vividly the sun slanting through a high window to cast striped shadows through the half-open metal door of a school locker."
It continued: "You can taste it floating on the air—that brutal tactless scent-struggling valiantly to mask its wearer's particular pubescent musk and failing, ever failing, creating a nasal cocktail of unrivaled pungency."
The explanation ended: "It is culture, not price, nor exclusivity, that makes icons."
The release states that Axe body spray is as much—if not more iconic—than Chanel No. 5 because of its cultural accessibility, and Axe body spray, which is imprinted in the memories of many a 2010s teen. That may be why the scent sold out in minutes—two nostalgic smells competing in the same bottle. It probably won't be a scent buyers will wear every day, but one that will bring back moments they miss. Of course, it's also mere entertainment to fit the wildly different smells in one perfume.
While you may be out of luck if you want a bottle of Axe No.5. (MSCHF confirmed to Newsweek there is no plan to restock Axe No. 5) you can download the MSCHF app today. Then, wait for the notifications to roll in every other Monday.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kelly started a career in journalism after completing her education at The New School in New York City. She currently ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
