Reek Perfume should be too good to be true*. With un-retouched model photographs, a blog celebrating diverse fierce feminist voices and ideas, ethical, sustainable, and cruelty-free products and packaging, without even a sniff of the nauseating marketing language of “clean” versus “toxic” ingredients, it’s almost too much to hope for that their scent would be up to scratch.

Because Damn Rebel Bitches is a big name to live up to, and the back story of those fearless Jacobite women even more so (from facing down soldiers to breaking husbands out of the Tower of London by dressing them in drag). My fear, of course, was that the perfume would be dreary. Or worse, insipid. But the endlessly innovative Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays did the mother and daughter team of Sara and Molly Sheridan proud, with an enjoyably moreish malted concoction of juicy blood oranges, hazelnuts, and pink peppercorns that never feels sticky. 

Sure, I’d like it to be a little louder, a little more intense, a little stroppier, but no one has ever accused me of being a subtle bitch. And while it is relatively quiet, it’s persistent, and radiant–and thrives on fabric even more than skin–and takes up just the right amount of space without apologising. And that contrariness appeals to me, as much as wearing perfume when powerlifting does.

Acts of everyday rebellion? Aye, I can stand with that.

* Perhaps it was. They’ve been closed for a few years now.

first posted 5 May 2019, footnote added December 2025