# Byredo — Mixed Emotions

> Mixed Emotions, released in 2021, is Byredo's deliberately polarizing pandemic-era release — the 33rd fragrance in the line and arguably its most conceptually loaded. Composed by Jérôme Epinette, the 

## Essence
Mixed Emotions, released in 2021, is Byredo's deliberately polarizing pandemic-era release — the 33rd fragrance in the line and arguably its most conceptually loaded. Composed by Jérôme Epinette, the New York-based Robertet perfumer who has designed the majority of the Byredo catalogue, in collaboration with founder Ben Gorham, it is a woody-aromatic built on the clash between sharp, syrupy blackcurrant (cassis) and a smoky, dry framework of maté, black tea, violet leaf, birch and papyrus. The name is the thesis: Gorham conceived it as an "olfactory sketch of our current, collective state of mind," and the brand's own copy describes "the reassuring scent of black tea disturbed by violet leaf synthetics."
Released one year into COVID quarantine, the fragrance was explicitly framed as bottling the ambivalence of the moment — comfort and malaise together. That framing, plus a moody promotional art film of young Londoners dancing around an English country house, made Mixed Emotions one of the most-discussed Byredo launches of its era. The reception split almost exactly as the name predicted.
## Scent Profile
The opening is the flashpoint. Almost everyone registers a strong cassis/blackcurrant top — "thick and syrupy, like a berry-flavored cough sweet," in one editorial reviewer's words. For a significant minority that blackcurrant reads as the notorious cat-pee facet ("cat's piss or masterpiece," as one wearer reports wearer summarized the discourse), while for the camp the cassis is "juicy," tart and addictive. Layered over and through it is maté — described in one editorial as "uplifting… slightly camphoric and bitter" — and it is this camphorous, mentholated, almost medicinal quality that drives the most repeated comparison: Vicks VapoRub, eucalyptus, blackcurrant throat lozenges, "being sick."
As it develops, the sharpness recedes and the composition turns toward a gently smoky black tea, violet leaf, and a dry-woody base of birch and papyrus. Several wearers detect a barbecue or "BBQ sauce" facet from the smoky birch; others get none of it. The drydown is lighter and slightly powdery — "the once overwhelming blackcurrant scent is evened out by the light tea." The overall effect is a push-pull: a fruity-green-syrupy front in tension with a dry, smoky, woody-tea back. One wearer reports reviewer described an intriguing endpoint reminiscent of "an airier version of Baccarat Rouge."
## Performance
Performance is moderate by Byredo standards and a common point of mild criticism. One wearer reports wearer reported "around 6-7 hours" with light-to-medium projection. An editorial reviewer noted it "isn't as long-lasting as some of Byredo's signature scents, like Bibliothèque," and recommended topping up through the day. The opening is undeniably potent — "begins very strong, like a punch in the face" was an early user impression — but the fragrance fades into a lighter, more intimate skin scent within a few hours. Several reviewers noted it lingers longer on fabric than skin (one editorial reviewer still detected "the smokiness of leather and wood… so subtly on my T-shirt the next" day). The consensus: big, arresting open; moderate, soft-skin development.
## Wearing Context
Mixed Emotions is positioned as a transitional-season, daytime scent. One wearer specifically bought it as a "transition scent for winter to spring," and others endorse it for spring through fall, avoiding extreme heat and extreme cold. It is genuinely unisex/epicene — Byredo explicitly marketed it as "ungendered," and wearers agree nothing leans strongly masculine or feminine.
Its best use-case is as an interesting, conversation-piece daily wear for someone who wants a tea-and-fruit scent with an edge rather than a polished crowd-pleaser. It is markedly less sweet, less citrusy and less fruity than its tea-fragrance peers (one wearer ranked it against Comme des Garçons' Nomad tea, Nishane's Wulong Cha and Vilhelm Parfumerie's Dear Polly). It is not a seduction or formal scent; it is a cerebral, "moody," slightly witchy everyday option.
## Comparisons & DNA
The most frequent in-house comparisons are to Byredo's own Eleventh Hour and Sundazed, with one editorial reviewer placing Mixed Emotions "on the intersection of these two." Across the fruity-medicinal axis, the most-cited external reference is Vilhelm Parfumerie's Dear Polly (a green, blackcurrant-forward fragrance), with one wearer noting Mixed Emotions is "less sweet than that." On the tea-fragrance map it sits near CdG Nomad and Nishane Wulong Cha but drier and less sweet. A wearer reports reviewer's surprising comparison — a drydown like "a 'good' Baccarat Rouge" — speaks to the slightly sweet-woody-ambery resolution beneath the smoke.
Conceptually, the closest DNA is the small family of perfumes deliberately courting unpleasantness for artistic effect. wearer reports's own news critic invoked Etat Libre d'Orange's Sécrétions Magnifiques and Nasomatto's Fantomas as rare comparators for a "fine fragrance… designed to inspire negative emotions," while arguing Byredo "excelled in execution." That tension — beauty engineered around discomfort — is the fragrance's defining DNA.
## Reception
Reception was loudly divided, exactly as designed. The skeptics describe medicine cabinets and cat litter: "Vicks vapor rub (camphor) very strongly on first blast," "a blackcurrant-flavoured Vicks throat lozenge," "like eating apple pie with kimchi… a total clash," and the recurring cat-pee accusation. Even some Byredo fans bounced off it.
The admirers, equally vocal, found it original and addictive: "an addictive juicy black currant on top of green tea and smokey woods," "the only scent from Byredo that I've truly enjoyed and wanted to own," and the strongest critical endorsement came from a wearer reports news feature headlined "Byredo's Mixed Emotions is a Masterwork in Olfactory Metaphor," which read it as a deliberate, successful piece of conceptual perfumery tied to the cultural moment of 2021. Editorial coverage skewed positive-to-glowing (Marie Claire's Tatjana Freund called it "basically, therapy in a bottle," even while noting the opening "was too intense, and carried a hint of something that was reminiscent of tobacco"), while the enthusiast wearers (wearer reports, wearer reports) split sharply. The fair verdict: Mixed Emotions is a well-made, intentionally challenging fragrance that succeeds precisely by polarizing — the "name fits," as multiple wearers conceded.
## Versions & Reformulation
Mixed Emotions is an Eau de Parfum, released 2021. The note structure is consistently reported: top of maté and blackcurrant, heart of Ceylon black tea and violet leaves, base of birch wood and papyrus. There is no documented reformulation. Sources are unanimous on the perfumer attribution to Jérôme Epinette (with Gorham as creative director), confirming the nose — Epinette is indeed the perfumer, consistent with his authorship of most of the Byredo line. The brand and various stockists note the violet-leaf note is explicitly synthetic ("disturbed by violet leaf synthetics"), a detail Byredo foregrounded rather than hid.
## Acquisition Notes
Mixed Emotions remains a current, in-production Byredo fragrance, marketed by Manzanita Capital (Byredo's then-owner) and widely available through Byredo boutiques, department-store concessions and authorized e-tailers, plus the usual discounter channel. Pricing is at standard Byredo niche levels — full bottles have been listed in the roughly 200–245 USD/EUR range at various retailers, with samples and decants readily available. Because this is one of the most divisive scents in the entire Byredo line, sampling first is not merely advisable but essential: the blackcurrant-camphor opening is a genuine love-or-hate proposition, and blind-buying carries real risk. There is no scarcity premium.
## Notable Facts & Lore
- The defining lore is the explicit pandemic framing: launched roughly a year into COVID lockdowns, Mixed Emotions was pitched by Gorham as bottling the "tumultuous nature of our times" — "We're in the business of bottling up emotions." A wearer reports critic situated it pointedly "in the same cultural breath as Black Lives Matter and the splintering of global identity politics." The accompanying art film — young Londoners discussing identity while dancing around a misty stately home — became its own minor talking point, variously read as "dreamy and restful" or "pretentious and indulgent." And the single most-quoted line in the fragrance's reception is the binary it inspired among wearers: "cat's piss or masterpiece." Few mainstream-niche releases have so successfully provoked the reaction their name promised.