reasonsays

Vincent Van Gogh Cypress and black juniper, fir balsam, oakmoss, benzoin-laced snow, and the last remaining leaves of autumn. In the bottle, this is cold juniper, with something vague but sweet in the background drawing me in. On my skin, the balsam comes out, and the sweetness resolves itself as dead leaves, rather than the benzoin I had been expecting. After a while, the cypress rears its head, but this is primarily juniper and leaves for me, which is not remotely a complaint! This is a scent that starts off very sharp, but softens over time. Grant me poetic license: it's like leaving my house to a shock of cold air, then making camp in a thicket of fragrant trees. The coldness doesn't leave, but it's overwhelmed by what surrounds it.

I was honestly worried about this perfume, because none of the notes particularly appeal to me (I find turkish delight nauseating, and patchouli to me just smells like rotting dirt), but I bought it instantly, of course, on principle. Luckily, it works for me! In the bottle: Molasses. I don't get any patchouli at all, which puts me in the definite minority going by previous reviews, but I'm very glad about that. The vanilla and fig work together to create a sort of syrupy scent, and in the bottle, that's all I can smell. Wet on skin: Still molasses, but there's a sort of sharp undertone I can't define. It might very well be oud, I've never been sure what that smells like, but it's not unpleasant by any means. Dry on skin: OK, there's the earthiness I associate with patchouli, but it's spread out so much by the other notes that I don't find it as horrifying as I normally would; it's more like the smell of mildew than decay, which I can work with. The sharp undertone has turned powdery, but still sharp. So we end up with sharp, sweet, powdery, and earthy, which seems like everything I could want out of a scent. Overall, I don't know how often I'll wear this, just because the various notes are far from my favorites, but they come together nicely and it was for a good cause (also political pettiness), so I don't regret buying it.