catalyst

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The weirdest thing happened today. The imp that I reviewed above there was a decant. Since then, somebody sent me another imp of Havana, this one with a lab label, which is absolutely nothing like the decant that I love. The lab label one is almost floral sweet, and fades after an hour, without any of the dark thickness of the date, tobacco, root and leather of the decant imp. I have to think that this is mislabeled, but the only way to know is to sniff a legit bottle of it. Has anyone else gotten a weird flowery and not tobacco imp of Havana?

Whoa. In the imp, honey punches you in the face, but not in a bad way. Wearing it, it's very unisex, the other notes blending really well and not conflicting with each other. There's a sweetness, but it's not all floral, most of it is the honey, and the resins and woods make this not a girly sweetness at all. It's very sexy, along the lines of Satyr, but with a thick honey poured over it. Okay, wait, that's giving me ideas for later. *cough* Keeping this, and might even look for a bottle at some point. What I don't like about Snake Oil is the vanilla, and Third Charm mercifully has no vanilla. I think body chemistry is helping here too. Someone across the room noticed this as soon as she walked in the door, so I think it has a strong throw. It's very potent stuff, a little goes a long way.

I thought it was okay, but too far over into standard cologne for my tastes. One of the ladies in the office said it smelled like "a Motel 6 bathroom," so I think it got vetoed right into my swaps.

I actually like this a lot. It's a lot sweeter than I usually go for, and I'd like it more without the rose, but it's nice and very golden yellow smelling. It's hard to describe. It's mostly pure chamomile on me, with a little bit of fruit complexity making it amp itself. If that makes any sense? Chamomile turned up to 15? But not just chamomile. All the other notes back it up and boost it into hyper-chamomile. Which, other than the rose making it kind of floral, is really nice. The imp is a keeper. My housemate already has her eye on it, and there may be a shared bottle in the future. She's saying it's the perfect solstice BPAL.

I only get beeswax from Light of Men's Lives. I recommend Doc Constantine. Doc is showing up sometimes on the lab's Etsy page. Cathedral is similar, but a lot less smokey. There's also Tombstone. It doesn't have a specific smoke note, but it might have the type of feel you're after. If you can get Deer Antlers from Violette Market's Diablo Canyon 2012 collection... get me a bottle too. I found out about it two weeks too late.

I just got a sample of this from a circular swap and I want to crawl into the tube and live there. Leather and tobacco are my two favorite notes. I'd say it's at least 50% leather, and probably about 30% pipe tobacco and 20% some kind of high quality alcohol, not a cheap rotgut type of booze. I was afraid this would smell like a drunk in a leather jacket, but it's not like that at all. It's more like Buffalo Bill's study, if he had a study. It's very leathery, warm, and just a little sweet because of the cut tobacco, with a bit of sharpness that's the whiskey or whatever kind of booze "red eye" is. It's probably the same one that's in Roadhouse. There may also be a little bit of some kind of wood in this, but I'm not sure, it's not listed in the notes. Saloon #10 is a well-maintained western saloon that's kept clean of piss and ruffians, so that only the quiet mountain men and sharp-eyed gunslingers remain. There is no smoke in this that I can detect, which is good, because I hate smoke and tar. I must own this.

I've been wanting to try this one for at least six months. Tea and leather? That's pretty much me on any given day. Perfect. So I finally got my hands on an imp, and I like it a lot. But it's gone in about 15 minutes. I put on twice as much just so I could smell something, and it just evaporates instantly. You have to really huff your arm to get anything after 5, and it's gone completely after about 15. So disappointing. The scent itself is pretty nice. Earl Gray tea with cream and sugar (just how I have it) but not at all foodie, and a light leather. Maybe iced tea on a patio with leather flip flops. But again, the problem with it is that you have to dump on a whole imp to get anywhere, or use a scent locket or make it into lotion maybe. Going to try it on this porous stone necklace I made as my answer to a scent locket. One of the rare times when I don't mind that a really good scent is discontinued, because I wouldn't bother getting a bottle of it if it's just going to disappear.

Wait... tobacco and honey? How did I miss that...? *goes off to drool*

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This may be my new signature scent. The White Rider will always be at or near the top, but this is challenging it. A lot. It's just... me somehow. Maybe a little on the sweet side because of the vanilla, that's the only slight negative, but... 10/10. White Rider is the only other scent that has that distinction in my collection. It doesn't really morph at all over time, it stays about 40% Snake Oil, 30% leather, 15% sandalwood, 10% sage, and 5% tonka. Lasts well, moderate throw. I've been wanting to try this for months, and I finally tracked some down in Greece. It arrived today. After my trip to Los Angeles next month, I'm going to start saving up for a bottle of this, because I know it's going to be ridiculously expensive if and when I ever find any. So how do we get the Carnaval to come back?

Tonka bean, black musk, bourbon geranium, and crushed porcelain. I have fallen in love with Mr. Croup. It was love at first swipe. This is now in my top five as of this writing. 9 out of 10, and the only reason it's not a 9.5 is that the strength of the tonka and musk disappear too soon. It starts out as a fantastic cologne with bits of geranium, and then changes into a different fantastic cologne with more geranium, but it's not a flowery geranium, it's that boozy "bourbon geranium" that's almost indescribable. The musky parts of a geranium plant, mixed with mansmell. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about here, I assume. Like DamnSatyr said, it's a strong, dark guy possibly in need of a shave. Which describes me perfectly. No wonder Mr. Croup and I get along so well. He's on the top of my short list for future purchases.

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That reminded me, there's also Lionheart, but I haven't personally tried that one.

I just got this in a swap, and got an imp as well as a testable sniffie bottle (thank you, Ella LaRose, for the awesome swap). I opened the bottle and I was horrified. It was one of the most rank things I'd ever smelled, and I could not understand the reviews. But, there wasn't anything in the notes I thought I'd seriously hate, and I was in an experimental mood, so I dabbed a teeny bit onto the back of my hand. Oh, hey. I dabbed a little more. This is... this is actually really nice. Very masculine, with strong woods and musk and dirty patchouli. Now, after about ten minutes, the carnation is passing the dark notes in the hallway and coming out to give it a sweeter, more elegant feel, the ginger also coming up to give it a little sharpness (almost too much, wandering into citrus, but right on that line). It's like a satyr in a tux, mingling in a private nightclub, all James Bond style. I like the idea of smelling like a satyr in a tux and/or James Bond. This is very much a keeper.

Magus: Has proven to be powerful for me and feels like strength in a bottle, but also like a male strength so it may not work as well for you. Tzadikim Nistarim: A quiet but powerful holy scent, just like the Hidden 36 it represents. Contains sacred herbs of antiquity. High John the Conqueror: Has worked exactly as in the description. The White Rider: Powerful to me because it's my signature scent. It represents the bright sun of the day (The Red Rider is sunset, The Black Rider is night), and is my perfect combination of sandalwood and leather. It says to everyone around me, "here I am, shining in your face, deal with it."

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I'm going to cause a catfight and recommend Tzadikim Nistarim to both of you.

I can see how cedar might go sharp B.O. on someone. Try some others with cedar and see what happens? Try Tombstone and Lear.

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I agree with Tombstone, but I also recommend Lear: White cedarwood, blue sage and bay leaf. It sounds really sharp and harsh, but it's actually very light and smooth. A white pencil, maybe? *chuckles*

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I don't even know how to describe this. It's like nothing else I've tried, or had on my skin, except maybe Dragon's Bone. It has a similar "dry wood something" note to it, and I'm also wondering if there's a bit of India Ink in here too. It literally defies description, other than to say I really like this a lot. I don't get perfume or floral out of it, but there is a bit of "incense" whatever that means. Frankincense and maybe a little grain of rose or lavender somewhere to make it a little sweet. It really does smell like an old library that somebody's been using incense in for years. And for some reason it smells really good. I'm extremely fortunate that a friend surprised me with a bottle in the mail yesterday as an early present.