New Perfume Review: Imaginary Authors City on Fire by Josh Meyer + Burning Down the House Draw

imaginary authors

Josh Meyer is the creative genius and self-taught alchemist behind Imaginary Authors; a concept of fragrances inspired by created writers and their imagined publications. The writers are an eclectic mix, echoing  Sylvia Plath, J.D. Salinger, Truman Capote, Carson McCullers, Willa Cather, Ernest Hemmingway and Jack Kerouac. Literary Americana incarnate in fact, filtered through the medium of imagined prose and literary biography. Josh has tight control over his motifs and never loses sight of the most important factor – the juice itself. It is an ambitious collection of aromatic work, distilled and washed with wit, charisma and charm.

josh in lab

Josh Meyer in the  Imaginary Authors Perfumes  Lab

I have been a fan for a while now, and with the new A City on Fire, it's eleven fragrances and counting. Josh’s work fascinates me and my skin adores his mix of whimsy, art and olfactory élan. . Josh is not afraid to play and tease, give us oddity – tennis balls, oak barrels, limestone, walnut bitters, mountain fog, orchard dust, burnt match and the month of May! Fabulous aroma abstractions but so evocative, the imagination seethes. I LOVED Yesterday Haze, released earlier this year, a gloriously moody fig and nutty iris scent inspired by a love triangle amid orchards and crop dusters. It is the only fig scent I have ever liked so bravo Josh for that, but it was a remarkably moving scent, a woman’s lonely early evening walk in the orchard, torn between lover and spouse, the air tainted with damp fruit and shifting soil.

a city on fire imaginary authors x machus

Imaginary Authors A City on Fire x Machus

Now we have A City on Fire (How good is that name btw…?), something new and rather different form Josh, created as an exclusive for Machus, a designer menswear store in Portland, Oregon. I ordered a bottle blind. I knew it would be amazing. As with all Imaginary Authors fragrances, the scent has been inspired by a created narrative, this time, oddly, a graphic novel with two matchmaking protagonists – Rupert who literally makes matches and Frances who runs a dating column for the City newspaper.

 graphic novel art lovefire charles burns imaginary authors a city on fire

Graphic Novel Art by Charles Burns Lovefire

Night creatures, they spend the dark hours inhabiting shadows as voyeurs, distancing themselves from any actual participation. One night they both witness the same high profile murder and must struggle to keep themselves safe in a city burning with temptation and untruths.  This dramatic and tantalising synopsis has been rendered in smoke and dirty sweet flame. A City on Fire is an austere, smouldering scent of stalking and growing obsession. It’s quite claustrophobic in its dingy film noir enclosure. The lick of illicit is lovely, sticky and jammy as dark berries burst and ooze in the flames.

The main character of the scent is cade oil, a volatile and often brutal note, bruised and shadowed, perfect for scents of smoke and danger. Often known as juniper tar, the branch and twigs of this shrubby aromatic bush are distilled into a smoky, butch oil, reminiscent of gaiuaicol. Josh has tempered the potential violence of cade with the jadeite aromatics of spikenard, an offbeat vegetal musk and mucky leathered labdanum. The conflagration of petrolic reduction in the base reeks of birch tar poured over ripe hibiscus hips and set on fire. Just enough oily cardamom and its inherent tang of dry sweat filters through the murkiness of the cade to see the woody light of day. The cade imbues the juice with a burnt umber colour, like peat-infused well water, adding to the sensation of smoke, fire and gasoline.

cityonfire imaginary authors josh meyers

TSF Burning Berries A City on Fire tableau

Over the day I wore it, the dark, slutty weather outside tore at the city’s skies and buildings. Waves of darkness rolled over the city, with screeching squalls of hail and spinning sleet.  Winter had arrived and never was the weather better suited to such a fierce and enveloping scent as A City on Fire. Imaginary Authors’ scents (on me anyway) have tenacious sensual hold. As A City on Fire strengthens its grip on the skin, the smokiness becomes dreamy and floats around the senses, but the body is sticky, tactile with crushed berry juice and ash. A scent for walking winding streets home alone, lost in thoughts of distant skin left behind in a room with snuffed out candles and fevered hands. You have to walk away, too much anointed desire and you could burn the city to the ground.

Disclosure – From my own collection

 – The Silver Fox, Sr Editor and Editor of The Silver Fox

Thanks to Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors we have a 30 ml bottle of City on Fire for one US reader. To be eligible, please leave a comment with what you enjoyed about the TSF's review and your favorite Imaginary Authors Perfume. Draw ends December 14, 2013.

We announce the winners on our site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize wil be just spilled perfume

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22 comments

  • I’ve always been interested in trying L’Orchidee Terrible. It sounds beautiful and dangerous.

    I’m still marveling at the image of “dark, slutty weather” in The Silver Fox’s review. I’m sure it must be a typo, but it is still a very funny image.

  • Wow – that closing line is just amazing – too much anointed desire and you could burn the city to the ground. This sounds so intriguing! I’ve never tried an Imaginary Authors Perfume – but I’ve heard so many great things about Yesterday Haze! Thanks for the draw, I’m in the US!

  • Mr. Silver Fox, your reviews drive me crazy, not just because I seem to like the same notes. They’re always so passionate, and this one, well. . . .”A scent for walking winding streets home alone, lost in thoughts of distant skin left behind in a room with snuffed out candles and fevered hands. ” Indeed, who wouldn’t want to smell like that!?

    I was already fairly well excited about trying A City on Fire. Now I’m nearly breathless for it, lol!

    I’ve only tried two IA scents and so far I haven’t a favorite. This one sounds like it’d be it. I love cade. In the US. Thanks for the draw and this piece of nearly purple prose. Cheers!

  • I love the Imaginary Authors line and my god, this review – the slutty darkness, the bursting juniper berries – is, um, tantalizing to say the least. While I found Yesterday Haze completely beguiling, Memoirs of a Trespasser is my favorite of the line, I think. Keep up the good work, Josh! Thanks to all for a great draw.

  • I enjoyed the entire graphic novel story and the characters in it. My current favorite from Josh’s line is, Falling Into the Sea. USA

  • What an amazing review. I thoroughly enjoyed the
    As A City on Fire strengthens its grip on the skin, the smokiness becomes dreamy and floats around the senses, but the body is sticky, tactile with crushed berry juice and ash part 🙂
    I am a huge fan of Josh’s work and enjoy them all but Cape Heartache may be my favorite. Thanks for the draw!!
    I live in the U.S.

  • How fitting the aroma seems for Portland, in general. Night creatures, voyeurism, difficult beauty (cade), petrol meets plant, plus your own experience in “slutty weather” – all these things speak of the city of the weird.

    plus spikenard? it’s a match.

    another review which reads like catharsis… cheers!

  • This story for the fragrance is really interesting and fits the name. matchmaker and dating specialist…as the name suggests, i expected it to be smoky and it is , with cade oil among the ingredients. My favorite from the line is Memoirs of a Trespasser. thanks so much for the wonderful draw. I am in the US

  • I love how he describes the scent as one “for walking winding streets home alone… You have to walk away”. Is it that good and brooding? I really like dark scents that smell of smoldering flames, burnt leaves and snuffed out ambers from a campfire. This sounds great i cannot wait ti get my nose in it. Josh does amazing things with his scents and are very unique. All of them arent for me but they are polarizing which is wonderful. I love a line with variety; there’s something for everybody! My favorite scent from Josh’s is The Soft Lawn.

  • rivercitylizzy says:

    I really enjoyed how the whole review took on a “gritty film noir-graphic novel” tone, echoing the inspiration for the fragrance itself. In addition, I find I too am developing an addiction to Imaginary Authors scents (I have yet to dislike any that I’ve tried and Mosaic and Yesterday Haze are both on my FB wish list), as they develop deliciously on my skin and last for an age. A City on Fire sounds right up my (dark and rain-soaked) alley and I would love to try it! I am in the US and mahalo for the draw!

  • Dark berries bursting and oozing in the flames? Wonderful! (And just as evocative as all of TSF’s reviews!) I’m very partial to Yesterday Haze, but am looking forward to smelling A City on Fire. Thanks to the Silver Fox and to Josh!

  • Imaginitive review- I like how you got into the spirit/inspiration of the scent. My favorite Imaginary Authors is Memoirs of a Trespasser. I’m in the US.

  • I agree with Silver Fox, A City on Fire is a great name! I love the description. Out of the countless new perfume companies, I find Imaginary Authors to have the most intriguing and creative concept. I love their imaginary world and the stories they weave as background for their perfumes. The only one I’ve tried is Yesterday’s Haze, and I liked it very much. USA

  • I enjoyed imagining what the combination of smoke and berries might be like. I already have Memoirs of a Trespaasser as a favorite for winter. Adding A City on Fire would be wonderful. 🙂 USA

  • This review is like the beginning to a novel . Silver Fox sound like he/ she has found the perfect perfume to use as an outburst to the day on which it was written. Smokey and perhaps challenging? It tempts me to try it. Wrapping up warm and opening the door into a world that will surprise me. I have never tried Imaginary authors but this one sounds like anpede t one to begin with! An inspiring review, a generous draw
    Thank you so much. I’m in the US

  • I love so much the description of cade oil: “…a volatile and often brutal note, bruised and shadowed, perfect for scents of smoke and danger.” Bruised and shadowed are amazing words to describe a scent… My favorite Imaginary Authors scent that I’ve tried so far is “Memoirs of a Trespasser.” It is a beautiful woody vanilla. I am in the US. Thanks for the great draw!

  • Wow! What a great (and HOT) review! “You have to walk away, too much anointed desire and you could burn the city to the ground.” I must try this!

    I have not tried this line, although I have been tempted to buy Yesterday’s Haze unsiffed after reading favorable reviews. A City On Fire is also very tempting …

  • Big fan of imaginary authors violet in disguise
    The Silver Fox is absolutely a brilliant writer and the review is phenomenal.i agree that Josh Meyer is a genius
    Best name too!!
    Berry and Cade sound so interesting

  • I enjoyed, as usual, the visuals that The Silver Fox conjures up in his writing. I think it’s the first time I’ve read the weather as being referred to as slutty, yet somehow it seemed very appropriate!

    My favorite Imaginary Author scent is Memoirs of a Trespasser, a very well done boozy vanilla scent!

  • Thank you for the review and draw!
    Bull’s Blood is the Imaginary Author scent that has most intrigued me to date. A City On Fire is also intriguing–I like the pun on matchmakers, and the “struggle to keep themselves safe in a city burning with temptation and untruths. This dramatic and tantalising synopsis has been rendered in smoke and dirty sweet flame.” Plus it has some cardamon!

  • Cynthia Richardson says:

    I always enjoy the TSF’s reviews. What most appeals to me are the notes in this fragrance and the “sensation of smoke, fire and gasoline.” I have not yet had the pleasure of wearing an Imaginary Authors Perfume.

  • I love how The Silver Fox described the smokiness of this scent. And this line: “A scent for walking winding streets home alone, lost in thoughts of distant skin left behind in a room with snuffed out candles and fevered hands.” That is a scent I can relate to. Thanks for the draw, I’m in the U.S.