An odd citrus

Posted by Mary Wilson on 24th Mar 2021

I am normally a huge fan of this house. It often receives a love/hate response due to its unapologetic DNA of bold, ‘scratchy’ top notes that novices or the more faint of heart or more sophisticated smellers often find appalling or offensive.
The scratchiness that seems to run through all of creator-perfumer Josh Meyers work is what intrigued me and many others of his fan base.
Sundrunk has that same signature ‘scratchiness’; but so much so (there’s two others from the house that are also over the top in this way: The Cobra and the Canary, as well as Bull’s Blood), that it knocks you off your toes viscerally as if one just got punched in the mouth (metallic blood taste et al..). Somehow my interpretation of a knock in the face might have been Meyer’s attempt at capturing a sunburn? Somehow, as all of Meyer’s magic seems to unfold, this assault on the senses in the top note always seems to mellow down into something beautiful in the heart and base note afterwards. It’s there, but short-lived. I rate this 3 stars-only because the longevity is poor (only lasted 1 hour on me until it became a skin scent that totally disappeared) and also because this particular frag lacks the balance most of Meyer’s other scents have. Too much assault in the top note and then the beauty; the citrusy rhubarb sourness that the name entails is all but gone with a soft incense base note that lasts less than 5 minutes. Bravo though for being able to artistically capture the harshness and fleeting quality of the sun and put it in a bottle.