zmulls

Wherein Scalia channels Lovecraft: raw frankincense and tobacco absolute with Russian leather, blackened champaca, bitter clove, red patchouli, bourbon vanilla and petitgrain. Never been first before. Got my bottle over the weekend and have tried this a few times. My chemistry likes leather *very* much, and I've enjoyed the "burnt" notes in Troll and Rumpelstilzchen, so this sounded like something just up my alley. Keep in mind that I'm a guy, and have that Slavic "hairy and musky" body, so strong masculine scents work on me (and florals and ambers and other "light" tones either disappear or are just Wrong). When I first applied it, there was an extremely unpleasant and sharp note overwhelming the scent. I'm guessing that is the "bitter champaca?" It put me off at first. Of course, these are scents based on the writings of Antonin Scalia, so I wouldn't be surprised if Beth intended the "sharp and unpleasant" effect right out of the bottle. But this sharp note does *not* last. Within five minutes it faded back, and blended better -- much like the sharp pepper note in "Old Demons of the First Class." After another few minutes that sharp note is way in the background, and the vanilla and patchouli seem to linger. But they are not strong -- there's not a lot of throw here. I had to hold my wrist up and huff hard to really get it. Once the dominant notes fade, it's a subtle scent. I'm not getting a strong leather on me, either. But, I did notice that when I woke up the next morning, the scent still lingered on my wrist. So, while there isn't much throw, there is staying power. It's interesting, but doesn't do enough of what I like -- if the lingering scents were stronger this would be something I'd wear more often (though I'd hide in a corner for 5-10 minutes until the initial blast wore off!)

I got this today! The initial blast of salt and stone is amazing, and lasts for a few minutes. When it settles in, it becomes mild, and you get the softer tea and tobacco flower notes. It actually turned into a lovely subtle scene on me, but the first several sniffs were exciting!

Good lord this one was a blast in the face sniffing it in the imp. Scary strong. The initial wet phase was equally "stay away". It settled into a nice earthy loamy scent with an edge, and I wish it had lingered more than a half an hour.

I tried it today finally, and I love it in the bottle and on my skin -- musks are generally a good bet for me, with the vanilla and almond. But ambers invariably fade so it had a very short shelf life on me.

An update from kebechet would be welcome, as a placeholder, but it will constantly change. And as has been said so many times, your chemistry will be the final determinant. For instance, Crowley is praised as a near-perfect "guy" scent, but on me, the lilac comes on too strong. Once you try a number of "guy" scents you will get the sense of which elements work on you and which don't, and you will stop looking for "guy" scents and try to find scents that are anchored in things you like. From there it's a short hop to scouring the Lupers, Weenies and Yules, looking for things that sound like "your kind of thing" and there goes your bank account.

I have no idea where to post these thoughts but "random chatter" seemed appropriate. I've been doing theatre (acting, directing) for over 40 years, and I have done cabaret performances. Now that I'm very deeply into BPAL and have a collection (and have a slate of favorites), it's part of the performance now to choose a scent. Cabaret performances, I usually use Robotic Scarab, as it has an "alert" and bright scent. Last year I played a murderer in DEATHTRAP, and enjoyed putting on Czernobog every night. Tonight I'm making a sort of professional debut as a musician/songwriter. I've been writing lyrics for a number of years now, and some of my songs have made it into my rare cabaret evenings. And I've heard other folks do my songs at music venues. But I've been writing songs with Michael Ronstadt lately and I'm winding up as the lead vox on them. He's doing a House Concert in Ambler, PA tonight, and we're premiering two of our collaborations. So I'm stepping on stage not as a theatre performer, but as a music performer (and songwriter) for pretty much the first time. I was going back and forth between wearing Iago (cause that's my go-to leather scent especially when hitting music venues) and The Music of Erich Zahn (because it's rare and music-related). But I think I'm settling on Enkhespalos, which is a dress-up scent I hoard jealously. I realized I've been hoarding it a little too much, I have a bottle and a half of it, and I have to wear it sometimes! So it's a leather/cognac evening for me....

Yeah, that's it for me too. I'm not getting huge hits of patchouli, and it's a much cooler and sweeter scent than I expected. I got four Weenies and this one is the clear winner, I'm surprised how good it is on me.

OK, I love Iago, but there's no smoke in that at all. Djinn is a "hot" scent, a fire scent -- there's lovely smoke in there but not what you're looking for. Smokestack is great and very surprising, based on the description. There's a sweetness to it. I think I'm like your husband -- I don't wear any florals or fruits or herbs (mostly). And incense and amber tend to disappear on me. My body chemistry just doesn't like the pretty stuff much. If your husband likes leather he will love Iago -- there's no smoke but the leather and musk is to die for. That's ultra-masculine. But the *perfect* woodsmoke scent is Rumpelstilzchen. It's woodsmoke and burnt herbs, and it is the first thing I reach for when the weather gets cold. In the summer I wear Voodoo and Troll (and Iago when I go out at night with my leather jacket). In the winter I wear Rumpelstilzchen and sometimes Old Demons of the First Class (dry, peppery and crackly but no smoke). I'd get him Rumpelstilzchen, based on what he's looking for. It's awesome.

"Punches you in the face rose" is just the best description of whip ever! I just got an imp of Whip and couldn't agree more. It's like the flip side of Highwayman, where the leather dominates but the rose peeks through. My own body chemistry just doesn't want florals anywhere. Whip would be horrid (on me), and Highwayman is acceptable at times. Scents like Crowley sound great but when I have tried Crowley the LILAC punches me in the face. Sad fail.

I am so not going to try this scent as it sounds like it has many death notes for me. But I have played Oberon twice (and directed DREAM another time) and know these lines backwards and forwards. I've spoken "Dian's bud" to some interesting Pucks.

Some of the leathers can be very heavy -- Iago, and Black Rider, are dark steamy leathers -- and you sound like you want something a little more unisex. I tend to the heavy leather scents myself. I'd recommend White Rider, of the three Riders. Black is more masculine, Red is interesting (I personally don't like the red scents on me). White is a clean fresh leather and is a little subtler than the others.

All the "burning" smells do very well on a cold winter day. My go-to scent is Rumpelstilzchen, for the same reason, but Smokestack is a nice change of pace. I don't do a lot of doubling up, but unlike Rumpelstilzchen (which has a very complex collection of scents), I think Smokestack would pair well with some other scents -- it would be a nice 'extra' note of smokiness. Salmon is nice, but smoked salmon is better. (I don't think Beth makes a salmon scent, though)

ladymeag and I often like the same things so it's a surprise to see us on such opposite poles. I am trying Unstern Sinistre Disastro this morning and so far it's really lovely. On me, anyway. I'm a huge fan of Iago (which has black musk and vetiver) and my favorite "lost" scent is the discontinued The Music of Erich Zahn. And I realized pretty quickly that Sinistre reminds me a *lot* of Erich Zahn The Music of Erich Zahn: ajowan, vetiver, black musk, opoponax, mimosa, and tamarind. Unstern! Sinistre Disastro!: Indigo musk, opoponax, champaca, guiac wood, Haitian vetiver, and lemon peel. So both have musk (black/indigo), vetiver and opoponax. Both have a citrus note (tamarind vs lemon peel). So I wasn't wrong about the similiarity. I need to try it again to pay more attention to the morphing and to the length of time, but for me (a guy who doesn't take well to floral/herbal/sweet scents) it is hitting the right notes.

I cannot seem to wear a single floral note. Not one. Wonderful blends are ruined by an amp up of a floral, which clashes with my chemistry. Crowley is bad on me due to the lilac. And incense does the baby powder or disappearing act. Just doesn't register. So all those lovely light and airy scents are wasted on me. It's easy for me to bypass most of an update now. But on the flip side, most people shy away from vetiver, but it's one of the things that settles in nicely on my skin. So there's some justice.

I've always thought Glukuprikos smells like a freshly scrubbed naked man.....

Well I'm a vetiver lover, in most cases, but this was a little too extreme for me. I think saying that the vetiver was dirty and unapologetic was right on the money (and "dirty and unapologetic" can be quite arousing under the right circumstances). My skin tends to dislike fruits and florals. Florals are always repellent on me, and fruits are iffy. (The melon in Ogun is a fruit that plays nicely on my skin, for instance). But the pomegranate doesn't come through for me. When the vetiver wore off, it left behind baby powder. So, on me (a guy with a little extra swarthiness, chemically), I got nasty vetiver and not much else, with a sad aftersmell. I'm afraid this one will be an unloved one for me.

I love two scents that are very "green" but not in the sense of wood and forest smells, specifically. Both are a little masculine. Van Van is very green, but it does contain vetiver (which is a death note for many women). Van Van is one of the Conjure Bag oils, based on traditional voodoo. One is supposed to use Van Van for purification. I like to wear it the next morning when I've had a particularly debauched evening. Troll is very heady, and has scents in it you wouldn't expect to like. The burnt spices and "troll musk" and general greenery -- it has a hothouse kind of feel. I wear Troll a lot during Spring and Summer -- it just doesn't smell right in the Fall and Winter when nothing is blooming.

Two scents that I like very much that are "woodsy" are Godfather Death and Old Demons of the First Class. Old Demons doesn't have any wood in it, actually, but it is perfect for a crisp winter day -- the Siberian musk and the pepper are really wonderful. It's a great guy scent. Godfather Death is a very dry and crisp scent -- I pick up fennel and wood from it. It's another good winter scent for me, though there's not a hint of sweetness so I use it sparingly. I quite like your screen name. I hope there aren't too many bombs dropping in your neighborhood.

Snake OIl wasn't doing it for me, even though the Indian scents should have worked. I switched to Ogun, as the melon seems to be OK with Ganesh. That's also the scent I wear to yoga. I tried one night being really radical and wearing Voodoo, but it was one of the worst performances I've given in a long time......saving my Voodoo for summer and spring when I'm feeling more mischeivous.....

I was asked to step in for an actor who dropped out of A PERFECT GANESH, which is being performed in our Black Box theatre upstairs. It opens this Friday, I have had just over two weeks to memorize the part and create the character. I am doing it as a favor for the director, who's a longtime friend who has bailed me out plenty of times, but it's a good challenge and out of my wheelhouse. I'm playing Ganesha, the god with the head of an elephant. I have a headpiece we borrowed or rented from a professional theatre company that did the play a few years ago, and I have ample vision and open space at the bottom so I can speak clearly, but I have to act with my voice and body, without relying on facial expressions. Most of my scents are rough and masculine (Iago, Czernobog, Rumpelstilzchen, etc.), or upscale drawing room (Antikythera Mechanism, Dee, Robotic Scarab, etc), and simply not Ganesha-like. And I am a total fail for any incense or herbal scents. So I'm relying on good old Snake Oil for my onstage scent -- hopefully it will be the "queller of obstacles" that I need.

I know I'm already on record upthread as being a fan of this scent. But I can *only* wear this in cool/cold weather, when the bonfire smell is most appealing. It just doesn't work in Spring and Summer. We got our first good solid chilly spate this week, and I pulled my Rumpelstilzchen out of the box for the first time in months. It's lovelier than I remember -- the smoke comes in early, and wafts, but it's the trailing notes, the burnt/sweet spices, that linger for hours. I feel bad for those (many) who cannot do the Vetiver, because there is so much yummy going on in this scent.

And of course, the Buggere Alle This Bible (Neil Gaiman, Good Omens). Very much a book scent, but unimpable.

Old Demons of the First Class is based on Siberian Musk. It's an excellent cold-weather scent.

Well, now that you mention it, any of the booze scents would work for a guy. When I think "masculine scent" I think of spices and musks and sweat and all that good guy stuff, or wood & vanilla & books, etc. Booze works for anyone. Besides Absinthe, there is always Twenty-One (the perfect martini), and Juke Joint (big hit of bourbon). I have them but rarely use them because, well, I'm not sure reeking of booze going *into* a bar is such a hot idea.....

I knew I wasn't going to be the only one who went through this kind of decision making! (Wwindy, it went well. Very small house. They usually get 15-20 people on average, but we only got 8 or so. But that was OK, as it felt like a test run for the songs. I'm sure Michael is going to want to do them again for more people next chance he gets).