(second review)

Round 2: I tried this again, and all my initial impressions are there, but it didn't go right to powder this time; instead, it just faded out completely. Still not ideal, but better than a baby's butt. I still have a sense of wood, vanilla, and something oddly cocoa-y (which, with more concentration, I can now say is definitely the tobacco). I do like this one. Medium like, not omg-gotta-have-a-gallon like.

Seems like I said this somewhere else in this blog, but I really think that the ones that go to powder do so over clean, dry skin -- meaning little body oil and no lotion. I have several lotions and they're all fragrance-free, so I have no excuse not to layer oils over lotion, and I'm wondering if that's the only way to get a real sense of what these oils are like (at least on my skin). I have to believe that it would make a difference. Having said that, I also have to believe that there would be just as much a difference between the scent produced over skin softened by my own body oil as opposed to skin softened by lotion. One is full of, well, I don't know how to put it, but the essence of me, essentially. The other is just a barrier and a carrier. Really didn't mean to rhyme that.

It's sort of a moot point, as I've reached an age where oil production has slowed and I have dry skin most of the time. So, lotion it is.

in the bottle: Dry wood and vanilla -- a very warm, smooth, non-sweet, non-foody vanilla. Luscious. I want to pour it over my head, let it run over my whole body, then drink the last dregs. Yum!

on wet: The vanilla really stands out now. It has changed to something that reminds me of dry cocoa, but still definitely not sweet. Something in this is modifying the vanilla and giving it a powdery effect.

drydown: Powder, faintly vanilla-y. This has gone from "yum" to "after-bath powder" in ten minutes flat. I can see how this might work on someone else, but unless this does some kind of miracle morph, I think the experiment's over.

one hour later: After an hour of powder, I decided to force the issue. I layered "No. 93 Engine" over the top. Now that five minutes has gone by, I can say with certainty that this move was a mistake. Something about the combination smells almost rancid, and all the nice warm notes have gone all jumbled and icky. Oof. Time to scrub.

end of day: Didn't make it.

compared to official description: I wasn't picking up the tobacco outright, but I'm sure it was modifying the whole. I think I'd prefer to pick out the tobacco as a separate and distinct scent.

notes: I'm really disappointed -- not in the scent, but in my skin's reaction to it. I had high hopes for this when I smelled it in the bottle.

added to forum reviews