The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Wild Salesas arrived in 2025, composed by Lorenzo Volonté for Friend of a Friend. Its brief is immediately legible: cherry and raspberry meet crisp apple, then the scent moves toward caramel, cotton candy, and vanilla. Nothing about that structure is subtle. It is a fragrance built around a playful tension, pairing vivid fruit with a warm, confectionary heart and a calmer base of amber, cedarwood, and sandalwood. The result feels youthful without becoming one-note, expressive without tipping into excess. For a house that frames fragrance around places, moods, and versions of the self, this release fits naturally as a mood with bounce, intimacy, and a little mischief.
The interesting part is the handoff between fruit and dessert. Apple, black cherry, and raspberry keep the opening bright and juicy, while caramel, cotton candy, and vanilla give it a plush, creamy center. Amber, cedarwood, and sandalwood then give the sweetness a place to land. The combination is distinct because it never asks the fruity notes to behave like fruit, or the sweet notes to become syrup. They work together, but they retain their edges, giving the composition a polished tension.
The evolution
Wild Salesas opens with a lively fruit hit. Black cherry and raspberry bring a dark, jammy brightness, while apple cuts through with a crisp edge. That first impression feels fresh enough to notice, but the heart quickly turns the scene warmer: caramel and vanilla add creaminess, and cotton candy gives the sweetness an airy, almost spun-sugar quality. As the fragrance settles, the fruit recedes without disappearing, leaving a balsamic warmth beneath the sugar. Amber gives the drydown depth, while cedarwood and sandalwood bring a composed, woody frame. After 4-6 hours, the lasting impression is soft, woody, and gently sweet, like the warm scent left in a favorite sweater.
Cultural impact
Wild Salesas fits Friend of a Friend's people-and-place philosophy through a mood that feels easy to picture: expressive, sweet, and slightly unexpected. Its place is in the independent fragrance world, where fragrance is treated as a personal chapter and discovery often comes through a trusted recommendation rather than a rigid fragrance hierarchy. The release also reflects the brand's unisex point of view, where a composition can be playful and structured at once. Named peers include Creed, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Le Labo, Ormonde Jayne, and Roja London, all part of the house's wider fragrance context.
The House
Friend of a FriendFriend of a Friend is a San Francisco scent shop founded by Alissa Sullivan and Leslie Hendin. The pair began their fragrance journey after meeting at a friend’s wedding in 2009 and later created a perfume house together. Its identity combines personal discovery with a place-led point of view, reflected in a catalogue that includes perfumes from independent houses such as Creed, Maison Francis Kurkdjian,|Parfums, Le Labo, Ormonde Jayne, and Roja London. The founding range of eight fragrances was built as a collection of unisex scents connected to different locations, moods, and expressions of the self. Friend of a Friend now presents niche perfumery through its own retail and subscription platform, with locally delivered and mail-order options reported for San Francisco customers.
The Creator
Lorenzo VolontéVolonté's technical foundation in production perfumery gives his work a structural clarity that distinguishes him from artists trained purely in creative environments. He demonstrates particular fluency with Italian aromatic traditions, though his early exposure to industrial-…
