Sabotage Ayala Moriel for men

This smells extremely bitter at first, almost like tansy mugwort, but within a less than a minute it becomes lemony and soapy. Once the dishes have been washed, some dry spices kick in to create a lemon-pepper food seasoning mix that’s quite pleasant in a low-key sort of way.

According to the perfumer’s website, Sabotage is supposed to be a “parody” of men’s scents, but I find that description puzzling. A parody is generally meant to be funny in a derisive sort of way, and usually involves exaggeration of whatever is being poked fun at, not attenuation. I’m sure everyone has their own idea of how to parody a typical “men’s cologne”, but it probably doesn’t involve a super-mild version of a marinade made with lemon, pepper, and green herbs.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t dislike Sabotage. In fact, it’s so benign that I hardly notice that I’m wearing it. I just don’t think it does what it was meant to do. As I continue to Sample Ayala Moriel’s creations, I find that I keep coming back to descriptions that are related to cooking. I use a lot of herbs and spices in my own cooking, so maybe that makes it easy for me to find non-sweet “gourmand” notes in any fragrance that contains spices or herbal essential oils. Sabotage is yet another creation that could have come out of the kitchen.