On October 28th Melanie Martinez posted a video teasing a future fragrance coming out. On that same day an Instagram account named “PortalsParfums” was created and was mentioned as a collaborator on this post. Melanie would continue to post these teasers promoting future fragrances up until November 1st.
Initial Launch
On November 1st Melanie released her final teaser and launched Portals Parfums. This initial launch was priced at $275 and consisted of a 1-foot-tall statue and four 15ml fragrance bottles (2 oz total) inside. This 1-foot-tall statue was a beautiful art piece featuring Melanie’s The Creature’s head atop a vase. The 4 parfums inside are based on the four elements, with varieties of scents each parfum is vastly different. The four fragrances are as follows:
Air of Clarity (Notes of Caramel, Coconut, Ambron, Musk, Tonka Bean, Sandalwood)
Earthy Abundance (Notes of Green Tea, Jasmine LRM, Turmeric Leaf, Lavender, Vanilla)
Fiery Passion (Notes of Strawberry, Pink Peony, Vanilla, Musk, Woods)
Water of Intuition (Notes of Sandalwood New Caledonia, Amber, Cedarwood, Vanilla, Cocoa)
Backlash
The initial launch of Portals Parfums conflicted many. As the price point of this initial launch was so high, many did not feel it was worth the price. Melanie Martinez has previously released a perfume named the Crybaby Perfume Milk (2.5 oz) which when first launched was $50 and now resales for upwards of $2,000. Because of this, a vast majority of fans felt this launch was not targeted towards them and was rather just an overpriced piece of merchandise that Melanie knew people would still buy because of how many people want her fragrances.
Many also had critiques of the actual packaging itself. Various people thought it was just plain ugly but whenever comments as such were brought up, the price was always mentioned. No plain critiques of just the statue have been made.
Upon arrival many posted videos of their set’s arrival and had much to say about the quality of the actual statue. While some statues looked pretty amazing, many statues came with pupils being placed on wrong leading to the eyes looking wrong, seams of the mold used not being handed down enough and visible on the back of the statue, and hair pieces not being sealed properly resulting in gaps between the face and hair being seen. Some also came in boxes that were bent and warped unfortunately.
No complaints have been made about the actual fragrances themselves as many have stated they love the scents but were disappointed with the packaging.
Price Breakdown
Although many will never believe this set is worth the price it’s important to understand why it is priced that way. Parfums are not entirely the same thing as perfumes, parfums have much higher concentrations of perfume oils and last much longer with less product than perfume, which leads them to being the most expensive form of fragrance. Melanie has also mentioned she loved visiting flower shops to hand pick out the scents and spent a lot of time designing the statue. Time is money and she has to be compensated for that which unfortunately reflects onto the price.
The statue itself is noted to be a collector’s item and said to be made of high-quality materials as stated in a response made by Melanie stating.
“This packaging is very expensive to create, and I did not want to give people something low quality. High quality products are expensive to make these days, but I promise more affordable options will be released.”
Melanie Martinez Responds
Due to the extreme amount of backlash being left in Melanie’s comment section, Melanie responded to a few comments. In response to a comment by Instagram user GlamSlamDunk saying
“I do like Mel’s music but I’m glad more people are realizing how performative she is. She’s a rich celebrity making literal millions (k-12 was 5-6M ALONE to create!!) she doesn’t care about you, your cause, or us (the consumer) who live paycheck to paycheck. I hope the perfume is worth the money and those who buy it are satisfied though.”
Melanie Martinez responded.
“I do not make millions. When the label pays money for my videos that’s how much money I go into debt for my art. I’m risking my stability and my ability to pay my bills every time I make a video, or any kind of high-quality art. You guys have such a skewed perspective. I don’t take brand deals even, because it doesn’t align with my art. If I didn’t care about my audience, I wouldn’t be staying up all night every night working so hard to create art with substance and constantly have to hear from my team how much of a risk I’m taking.”
Not agreeing with the price something is set at is okay, but the amount of hate Melanie is getting for her hard work is so unfortunate and not okay. If you don’t agree with the price, don’t buy it, as simple as that. Sending hate online over the pricing of an item is just unnecessary.
Portals Parfums Future
As of publishing of this article the Portals Parfums Debut Collection is currently sold out but there has been a confirmed restock. There has also been confirmation from a comment Melanie made stating that the parfums will be sold separately and in different sizes sometime mid next year. There has also been confirmation of what the individual parfum bottles will look like. In response to a question on Melanie’s Instagram story asking about future releases she mentioned production will take longer because each parfum bottle will have its own design. In that story she mentioned a coin, cup, wand, and a sword bottle will be created.
Atlantic Records (Melanie’s record label) has also confirmed that a broad collection of scented candles alongside other lifestyle products will be released sometime in 2024.
Is It Worth The $250?
Deciding whether or not this initial collection is worth purchasing is up to you as a consumer and what your budget and views on this product are. As a long time, Melanie Martinez fan, I personally adore this parfum collection and would love to get it for myself. However, the $250 price point is just not within my budget, I love and respect Melanie’s creative process and pricing but sadly this one just isn’t for the vast majority.