Elspethdixon

I had high hopes for this single note, because vanilla is one of my favorite notes. Unlike some of the other testers, I don't really get any anise from this - it goes on a very custardy, rich vanilla that reminds me slightly of B&BW's Vanilla Bean Noel (I've seen comparisons to Love's Philosophy, but that's a more airy, slightly-tangy vanilla on me). Like the Bath & Body Works lotion, the custard-vanilla scent is almost creme brulee-like, and I feel like I should adore it, but there's a slightly plasticky/oily edge to it that's keeping it from being the perfect vanilla of my dreams. Vanilla rarely goes plastic or play-doh-like on me, so this was an unexpected disappointment. It's not bad, but it doesn't live up to my (admittedly extremely high) hopes. I'm going to try it in an oil burner before sending it to the swaps pile, though, just in case it redeems itself by turning out to be the perfect vanilla room scent.

If you like Smokestack, you may want to look for Dark Chocolate, Blackened Tobacco, and Vetiver from this year's Lupers. It smells similar to Smokestack to my nose (only with more tobacco and slightly less smoky) and I love it. A Grievous Swarm, another LE, is another delicious, smoky vetiver scent. Agnes Nutter, which is GC but unimpable and described as "bonfire smoke and rusty nails" is another great smoky scent, but it doesn't have Smokestack's sweet quality. I've never worn either, but a lot of people describe Jareth, from the Labyrinth line (another that's GC but unimpable) as being very similar to Dorian. And if Al-Azif smells really banana-y on you, you might want to check out The Twelfth from this year's Lupers (still up on the site), which is basically straight-up banana pudding.

Marshmallow Cookie Pie bath oil + Smokestack. Like smores over a tobacco&maple syrup-scented campfire.

Delicious warm/sweet beeswax and golden, buttery pumpkin. The beeswax and pumpkin remind me of a stronger, sweeter version of Bunraku Theater.

I'm not sure which version my decant is, but like bellumed, I get sweet, soothing, gentle spiced milk. Also, I put it on fresh out of a hot shower, and got no skin irritation from it despite the spice note. In the decant, the tangy goat's milk note is the strongest, like opening a container of plain yogurt. Once on my skin, the spice comes forward more, and I get a gentle, creamy-milky warm sweet spice scent. One of my go-to winter hot drinks is hot milk with clove-cardamon sugar syrup in it, and Mother Shub's Spiced Lait de Chevre smells just like that spiced milk drink. Sadly, it's pretty short lived. By an hour in, it had already started to fade, and now, about an hour and a half after application, it's nearly gone. Still, it's cozy and soothing enough that I'll definitely keep the decant for a bedtime scent.

For rose, have you tried Adrastea or Kurukulla? Adrastea is more of a rose + middle eastern baked goods scent, but the sweet/fruity lotus note makes Kurukulla kind of jammy on me. (And of course there's LUSH's Rose Jam).

Oakmoss can also causes a skin reaction in some people, but I don't think there's any in HImerus..

Wet/in imp - perfume-y beeswax Freshly applied - yup, sweet, perfume-y beeswax. It smells almost like a LUSH product, like one of their bath melts. Thirty minutes later, it's still a LUSH bath melt. For the first five minutes or so it kept threatening to become cloying, but never quite did. Gambols of Ghosts is soft/sweet perfume-y beeswax with hints of something floral, very gentle and inoffensive. (Which means it's not FBW for me, because I like my honey and beeswax more raw/sticky/slightly animalistic)

Wet/in imp - smoky vetiver combined with something warm and slighty foodie Freshly applied - nutty grain with a hint of citrus from the pettigrain. The vetiver has vanished (that, or it's what's making the grain smell warm/roasted) Fifteen-twenty minutes in - The citrus note from the petigrain has burned off, and now it's all slightly-nutty roasted grain. Like a warm, wooden grain silo might smell. It's actually not very sweet despite the honey and vanilla - more of a savory scent. It reminds me slightly of the Chicken-Legged Hut, actually. I might have to test the against each other just to make sure I'm not imagining it. Once it's dried, Himalia doesn't really morph on me - at the two hour mark, it was still the same dry, warm, nutty roasted grain smell.

Wet/in imp - anise. Just straight-up anise/black licorice As it starts to dry - anise softens and now it's anise-smoke-a soft/slightly-sweet/slightly 'fuzzy' third thing that I assume must be the teak (the oak and tobacco dominate Antikythera Mechanism on me to much to pick out the teak note in it). The anise gives it an oddly fresh/clean quality despite the smokiness. Fifteen minutes in: my left wrist is a soft/faint cozy skin scent. My right wrist is anise and polished wood. Two hours in - both forearms/wrists have become a soft/faint cozy skin scent, though my right wrist still has traces of anise. By three/four hours, only the faintest hint of skin-scent is left, and only if I put my nose right against my wrist. Not very long-lived, but cozy and pleasant. I'm going to have to investigate licorice further as a note.

Wet/in the imp - light, floral honey, stronger on the floral than the honey Freshly applied - as it starts to dry on my skin, a resin-y note appears that must be the cistus. Fifteen minutes in - beeswax, light/slightly-grainy resin and hint of flowers/hay, somehow both warm and clean-smelling. It has a good four inches of throw, but isn't strong/cloying or overwhelming. It reminds me a little of a beeswax-based lotion, like a Burt's Bees product. Three hours in - Door hasn't morphed much - it's still cistus resin, hay-like slightly-herbal chamomile, and beeswax/honey. The scent has gotten fainter/lighter, but I can still detect it with my nose several inches away from my wrist. Something about the beeswax-lotion aspect makes Door smell very clean to me, like applying lotion to freshly showered skin.

The Deep Ones starts out a sharp aquatic, with something almost rotting/faintly-urine-like lurking underneath. Five to ten minutes into the drydown the rotting seaweed note vanishes as the expected clean "sea beeze/spring breeze/etc." dryer sheets note all aquatics become on me appears. Forty minutes in, my left wrist is soapy dryer sheets. My right is clean laundry/dryer sheets with a hint of dry incense. After about three hours, the dry incense came forward a lot more, giving me a mix of sharp aquatic and dry incense-y-ness that lasted at least four hours before starting to fade. I like this second stage of the drydown a lot more than I expected to. Yes! A Lovecraft-themed aquatic I can wear.

Smokestack from the GC is also pretty smoky.

You've probably already tried Tombstone, but just in case you haven't... (Outlaw reminded me a lot of Tombstone with extra rootbeer)

In the imp/wet - Leather and sage - a fresh, soft outdoorsy leather rather than harsh/chemical-y or leather-goods-store leather. Five-ten minutes in - Once Hunter has dried on my skin, the leather actually fades into the overall scent rather than dominating (in fact, it reminds me a lot of the leather in Bow and Crown of Conquest, another sage and leather scent where the leather's wll-behaved on me.) The scent is very well blended; the leather, amber, and sage sort of merge into a warm, cosy smell that reminds me of dry grasses and warm sunlight. Like a cat lying in the sun on a hot, dry day. But not a panther or a lion - a soft, furry domestic cat. This really is like a less-sweet/no-vanilla/more-outdoors-y version of Bow and Crown of Conquest (which is one of my favorite GC scents). Unfortunately, it's relatively low-throw I suspect will be short lived. Two hours in - As anticipated, Hunter has faded down to a close/faint skin scent that I have to put my nose directly to my wrist to smell. It's also morphed and now smells not like sage and leather and warm, dry grass, but like amber combined with something that's sort of like spiced chai tea. (ETA: when I came here to post this review and rechecked the notes, I realized I'd forgotten that this has clove in it - hence the spicy smell). At this point, it's reminding me less of Bow and Crown and more of The Lion. The very late drydown (like, 6-7 hours in) is just a hint of amber skin scent. I may have to test this against Bow and Crown of Conquest and The Lion to see if the resemblance is really as strong as I think it is. If not, I may need a bottle of this.

King Pursued was more oak and amber than pine on me, but YMMV.

This is a light, gauze-y sort of scent that's reminiscent of De Vos on me - maybe it's the combination of rose, fruit, vanilla, and white musk. The strawberry is detectable when wet, but as it dries the white musk becomes the dominant note on my skin (in my hair, the fruity/floral aspect dominated and lasted longer). Unlike previous strawberry scents I've tried, it doesn't turn into "vintage 1980s Strawberry Shortcake doll" on me, and the white musk never went high-pitched or turned into dryer sheets. Throw is light, and so is the staying power - it was completely gone from my skin within two hours, and from my hair within three. Since I already have a couple light fruity/floral scents, I don't think I'll need a bottle of Libra, but I'll keep the imp to wear in my hair when I wear De Vos.

Delicious, sweet, almost fruity-smelling lavender. It's very soft and gentle, rather than sharp/herbal/astringent, and reminds me strongly of LUSH's Twilight (lavender/tonka) bath bombs. I can't pick out the hops, which I've never smelled in perfume before, or even the white musk, though it might be what makes the lavender softer and more gentle than usual. I put about four sprays worth in my hair last night, usually enough for my wife to smell the HG from the other end of the apartment, and instead the scent just clung in a soothing lavender cloud around my head. I actually like this better than TKO, which goes weird and slightly plasticky on me, and even better than aged Paris, my former favorite BPAL lavender. If you like lavender, this is a must have.

I think Bow and Crown also has cedar which I cannot wear...and it's a shame too because there are so many beautiful blends out there with it I probably should have mentioned my aversion to herbal notes too, haha thanks for reminding me! I just remembered - one vanilla + leather that doesn't work as well on me but might on you is Western Diamondback (Snake Oil with leather, tonka, and sage). The sage isn't very noticeable, and while Snake Oil does bad/medicinal/patchouli-ruins-everything things on my skin, I'm a rare Snake-Oil-hating exception and most people adore it and smell awesome in it.

Favorite fall scents: Beanman & Beanwoman Climb Genital Mountains Frosted Pumpkin Spice Cookie Pumpkin II (2014) layered with Drink Me & Chimera Priala the Human Phoenix The Avenue Dark Chocolate, Black Tobacco & Vetiver Smokestack Krampus' Chains El Dia de los Reyes Antikythera Mechanism + Light of Men's Lives Pumpkin V (2012) Wooden Bullet Lawful Halfling Cockaigne Red Rider layered with White Sage & White Juniper SNs And on my hair: Honeyed Apple Lilith & the Four Son of Horus Jack Bunraku Theater Mars Ultor Antikythera Mechanism + Light of Men's Lives

Orpheus Charming Animals was more unisex than masculine on me, but my perspective might be skewed by the fact that my skin can sometimes turn both teak and myrrh into soft amber-y powder. The three aquatics from this year's Weenies, Water Ghost, Haunted Beach, and The Drowned Man's Ghost, all struck me as unisex when I tried them at NYCC, as did A Kneeling Child (anise, amber, and wood) and Outlaw (like Tombstone with extra rootbeer and less vanilla). Przeczucie, on the other hand, is very masculine - it smells like pine needles and dirt, like a pine forest a very manly lumberjack might walk around in.

2016 version. In the bottle: hints of crisp/dead leaves and apple cider, drowned out by disgusting patchouli. But everyone adores this scent, so I decided to give it a try anyway. Wet - Patchouli: how does it smell like stale filth and like medicine at the same time? The world may never know. As it starts to dry, the patchouli, true to its inherently evil, scent-destroying nature, drowns out the other notes beneath a layer of BO-tinged dirt. Alas, unlike the funky sour/musty smell some honey blends have that goes away quickly, this lingers. Well away from my arm I catch brief wafts of a pleasant apple-cider-y fall scent, but any time I bring my wrist near my nose, bam, dirty unwashed stale-sweat-and-dirt smell. This stage lasts from between one to two hours. Late drydown - by somewhere between two and three hours in, the patchouli finally starts to fade, and what's left is a lovely autumnal crisp leaves/amber/apple cider/mulled wine fall scent that lasts and lasts. If this is what it smells like on some people (those lucky enough to have skin that eats patch, I guess), then I understand the hype for this scent. It's like a walk in the woods with a cup of mulled cider. With, alas, a dirt-encrusted unwashed stoner following you around to harass you for the first couple hours, until someone finally calls the cops on him and gets him thrown out. Basically, Samhain is proof of concept for patchouli's ability to ruin everything, because I can tell this would be the most gloriously perfect autumn scent ever without it. (Despite my ranting about how awful the patchouli element is, I did actually buy a bottle because the late drydown is so good. Maybe the patch will fade with time and the "BO and dirt" stage will get shorter. I'd like to have my walk in the autumn woods without unwashed druggie stalkers eventually)

This seemed like an appropriate scent to test on Yom Kippur, so I broke up my 'weenie-testing regimen to make room for it. In the imp/wet - fresh, plant-like but not quite "green" - more like plant sap than stems/leaves. Freshly applied - Once on my skin, it's more complex than in the imp, and I can smell hints of resin, but the dominant notes are the fresh/plant-sap-like scent along with something herbal and spicy (kitchen herbs spicy rather than cinnamon/cloves/fall craft store spice). It's a really unique scent, somehow outdoorsy as well as solemn/religious-feeling. Half-hour in - Alas, the herbal/spicy notes fade quickly, and by a half-hour in it's mostly frankincense, though a lighter frankincense than most of the incense/resin blends I wear, possibly because in those it's usually paired with myrrh. (ETA: and it stays a light frankincense for the next several hours. I'll have to try it in my hair to see if the olive and hyssop are stronger that way, since I'm assuming those and the galangal are what I was smelling during the wet stage)

Bow and Crown of Conquest is a snuggly vanilla-leather on me, but the sage and lavender notes might make it more herbal/masculine than you're looking for.

Resurrecting this thread to sing the praises of Marquis de Carabas - my skin amps leather to the point where it often drowns out other notes, but the leather in the Marquis is soft and worn and broken in (just like his coat) enough and the spicy-sweet bay-rum-and-opium strong enough that I get a lovely, snuggly blend of the two.