BYRON PARFUMS
MULA MULA

2018

caramel
peach
strawberry
raspberry

ginger
labdanum
pink pepper

vanilla
musk
patchouli
laotian oud

There was a period in which Byron was getting a lot of hype in the fragrance community, due to The Chronic and this, Mula Mula (and let’s face it, due to influencers). I’d smelled them briefly in store and wasn’t sold on them at the time. I finally decided to revisit Mula Mula and… I still don’t love it.

This is a fruity, caramelized fragrance, that I think leans traditionally feminine a bit. It is a combination of popular facets, that just happen to all be facets that I rarely enjoy and I feel like they’re put together in a way that makes this one hard to appreciate for me.

What I don’t read too much about, but is very prominent to me, is the patchouli. It has a ‘women’s designer’ patchouli to my nose, for example like in Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.

It’s paired with a fruity and sweet overload. Which end up feeling like a giant mash up to me. I don’t really get any of the listed fruits in particular, just a nondescript fruitiness with maybe peach at times being the dominant factor. The sweetness is mostly caramel and probably my favorite part of the composition, although it still comes across a bit… tacky? for lack of a better word. For me the entire combination is too sweet, too loud.

Put together, it’s a bit cloying and as mentioned above, it feels like one generic overarching ‘sweet’ accord. It’s hard to put into words, but it just comes across as cheap to me, which is ironic giving its name. I believe Byron’s owner Yann Derriennic is credited to be the perfumer for the brand, but if you told me Mula Mula came ready-made out of a Middle Eastern factory, I would have no trouble believing it.

There’s a hint of a sort of leathery and spicy touch in the back, but it’s overpowered by the rest. Although those facets also seem to fold into the one big accord to create an even more ‘Middle Eastern inspired’ type of scent-profile.

I believe that Mula Mula was priced significantly lower when it came out, at which point I can definitely see why this is popular for a certain crowd. At the current price, I personally don’t see it. I’d have to revisit Xerjoff La Capitale, to which Mula Mula is often compared, but from my memory that would be an upgrade. Either way, this DNA is not for me at all.

For a sweet, fruity and leathery fragrance, something like Ella K Melodie D’Altai feels worlds apart in quality.