Welcome to the The AnonyMIST rating system!
Each fragrance reviewed on this website is rated out of 5. Here is a full breakdown of what each score means:
1 – MIST me with the BS!
This rating is for fragrances that smell truly awful to me. Reasons for awfulness can include abysmal performance, an appalling cost vs. quality ratio, or scents that I find truly repulsive. This rating is not used for fragrances that I already know I am unlikely to like in advance due to the notes (e.g. I am not a fan of strong vetiver or jasmine scents so I would not proactively seek them to review).
2 – MISTake
This rating is for fragrances that absolutely MIST the mark. Imagine a fragrance with 3 different rose notes listed, but not a single rose note seems to be found. These fragrances bring me absolutely no joy, lack any sense of creative direction and inspire the continuation of mediocrity.
3 – MIST Opportunity
This rating is for the fragrances that would have been good if it wasn’t for at least one factor. It could be that the scent starts off well but then falls flat. It could be one ruinous note that destroys an otherwise beautifully created composition. Or it could be a scent that smells nice but is missing a certain “je ne sais quois” to make it worthy.
4 – Don’t MIST Out
These are fragrances that I like and think are worthy of a smelling, even if you don’t end up purchasing them. These are scents that I love, and do not have a single piece of constructive criticism to contribute. These are fragrances that are staples in my collection and that I would happily repurchase if I ever ran out.
5 – A life of matrimonial MIST!
MISTers and MISTresses! This rating is for fragrances the signalled the beginning of a lifelong love affair when I first smelt them. This is for scents that trigger the compulsion to hoard backup bottles for fear of what would happen if I ever got down to the last drop. This rating symbolises scents that personify an aspect of my personality that I want to magnify, or provoke strong emotion. These scents may have made my eyes rollback into my head or caused me to fantasise about the inability of anyone in my scent trail to resist it. These are the scents that remind me why I fell in love with fragrance in the first place and prove to me that there is a LOT of power that can be held in a 10ml-100ml bottle. Not too bad for some “smelly water”!