DigitalCoyote

There's smoke in this? Normally I amp smoke and smoke adjacent scents (like incense) with phenomenal staying power....but it's nowhere on me. This one is all freshly watered honeysuckle and warm sweet jasmine (no screech, no indole/poop, no sour) on me from application to drydown to fade hours later.

Wet: This is the second kind of fight with a fifth of something that could double as rocket fuel immediately upon application. HIGH PROOF AND VIOLENTLY FLAMMABLE ALCOHOL NEAT WITH NO CHASER in very big letters. After that burns off, I'd compare it to red Nyquil: there's the big, boozy, and in your face smell plus a burning syrupy sweetness that probably doesn't mean you well. Semidry: That honey is powdery. It's riding the line between cloying and chemical. Dry: The bottom of this screams "your favorite dude" smell. This is sorcery. It's masculine and cologne-like but sweet--no hard wood edges or deep vetiver smells. I caught a whiff of clove in there, too. I could see this as the aftermath of the fight, a body cooled down with the memory of sweat and whatever he put on a few hours ago before he went out. And then my skin ate it.

Mmm. It's bright tangy metal then turns in to the smokey steel of SkekUng and leather with an amber bottom. I enjoy this.

Wet: BIG BLAST OF LEATHER quickly subsumed by vanilla, both crowded out by the vegetal aspects of Snake Oil. Semidry: Plastic. Updates: if you can endure the shift to plastic, the reward is the worn leather + spicy snake oil center of Western Diamondback (e.g. sans sage and sandalwood) with vanilla. It's love. Update 2: It might be a batch thing. Got a bottle of this and it sat for about a week. No plastic gnarliness to be found after application yesterday (15DEC). It does have some serious staying power: mom says she can still smell me in her car after a 15 minute ride and the leather-vanilla-spice complex is still huffable on my left wrist.

I really wanted to like this but it turned in to industrial strength cleanser (like a lower pitch, less bleachy Comet powder) on me immediately. I can smell all of the notes in the tester so I know they're there. I LIKE the way they smell together. This is well-blended with a good balance of low-key sweet, citrus, and floral. I'm not sure if it's the violet, bergamot, or champagne (a very dry brüt could have this kind of tang) but this one does not like me and my skin chemistry. Edit: tried on a spot closer to my elbow a few hours after initial application about a minute ago. I got a blast of neroli and bergamot but that cleanser smell is screaming to the surface (~45s).

BLUF: The notes of all three smells work together to create a gentle yet sweet dark scent that doesn't overpower or dominate. Wet: Rum (not boozy) and molasses combine to make a rich and sweet pairing. Semi-dry: The patchouli keeps the two of them from going over the edge in to a saccharine abyss. Dry: Warm, sweet smell that has a long throw but holds close to the skin. Not particularly foody/gourmand at this point.

BLUF: Sugary strawberry and fruity red currant get blasted with salt until this mellows in to sweet--but not foody--elements. Notes that would ordinarily command attention (leather, patchouli, orchid, vanilla, coconut) with my chemistry are supporting characters in a deep blend. Wet: Definitely red, juicy, and fruity smell with a shampoo-esque background. There's a tang of salt that kind of mellows it out. Semidry: Strawberry Sour Power with brown leather tang. Coconut and almond milk lurk in the baground. Dry: Just the barest whiff of patchouli and amber with the leather. The strawberry and currant are gone; orchid is there at the very bottom of the smell.

BLUF: Layer perfumed dirt (Earth Phoenix) with a riot of freshly waterhosed nursery inventory (Enkindled Spring) and give it a dusty grass back (Dog Days of Summer, Coyote). Wet: Perfumed dirt--not clean potting soil or baked baseball diamond in summertime dirt--verging on being incense-y. Semidry: Steamy greenery/succulents and flowers (daffodil). Dry: There's the summer grass I've been looking for! All together, this is a very peak summer [in CA] smell. It's not "forest" to me (no tree/wood action that I can pick out because I don't smell like pencil or hamster cage) but definitely the far leading edge or middle of a transition zone near one. Very dry: L wrist - green and dried grass with a light floral and dirt smell R wrist - dried grass and dirt.

I feel like the California scents are seriously evocative. This is a firm flesh peach eaten while on the PCT somewhere up in Kennedy Meadows after you've trekked through twiggy shrubs, chest high wildflowers and succulents, and stopped in a broad meadow for a snack. Wet: Non-syrupy peach, sage, smoke/musk, and a tiny citrus. Semidry: There's something medicinal--astringent even--creeping out. Is that lilac? I think it's lilac. That's where the Last Unicorn scents went awry on me. It's very loud whatever it is. I don't like this phase. Dry: Light peach and much sage. I like that this isn't a sweet peach. It'll be a good late summer in to fall smell.

Wet: A brief hit of floral quickly succeeded by the ORANGEST [Blood] ORANGE TO EVER ORANGE IN THE HISTORY OF ORANGE. Semidry: The ORANGEST [Blood] ORANGE TO EVER ORANGE IN THE HISTORY OF ORANGE SAYS THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE in this trio. Dry: Blood orange with a faint hint of lime. Just fresh citrus, like if you were in the process of cutting fruit. Hours (approx. 15) later? Still blood orange. It's not unpleasant to me: I just wasn't prepared for how it played out on my skin like a single note. I think this is a keeper if your skin amps citrus or fruit over floral or if you're looking for a very citrus forward scent.

Wet: Black leather. Semidry: Weirdly sweet and almost fruity (say grape-like rather than a berry). I want my leather back! Dry: Snooty Bat wears a well-loved leather jacket while it holds court and smokes clove cigarettes in an empty doorway. It's quieter than Thorns: the smoke and clove smells are there but they are happily tempered by the gentle unfunky sweet of the patchouli. The cigarette's been burning a while and nearly out. This is the end of a night of dancing and philosophizing. Or maybe lurking in a private library. If you like clove and smoke but with an air of subtlety suitable for office work or going out, this is it. I enjoy that.

I think @Janis might be on to something about the temperature: I put this on today and got bowled over by rose. First wear, it wasn't as warm and all I got was amber. This is wild.

Wet: AMMMMBBBUURRRHHHHHRAH. I'm aware that I amp this one because of my experience with On Darkness. Semidry: Amber, a green vegetation smell, and incense roses. Dry: Several hours after application, it's just [a more subdued, not so bellicose] amber and elements of Snake Oil. I got this a few days ago and thought I would let it settle after I tried it. The story is the same for both wears. Snake Oil and I aren't friends most of the time but I had hope because the adulterated variants get along better with my skin. It's wearable but I don't know that this one is good on me. I'll have to try it when I'm around people: sometimes I can't smell what's happening on my skin but other people can and find it pleasant. This happens with Womb Furie and Habu. #reviewathon2023

This started almost woody then slid in to a musky green and sour pepper on me. Leather and incense came out much later. ....jasmine who?

Wet: SHHUUUGGGAAAAARRRRRUH, cinnamon, and vanilla. I smell like I've been baking again. Semidry: The spices are out and it's warm, comforting...but the pink peppercorn is simultaneously screechy and smoky on my skin. I don't like this note in the mix. It's got a weird tang. Dry: L wrist - inoffensive gingerbread cookie R wrist - cinammon sugar with chewy molasses This is a foodie gourmand smell for late fall/winter baked good connoisseurs. #reviewathon2023