Neglected Calligraphy

[Seajewel]

Burnt pinewood ink, terebinth resin, and green tea.

[HerbGirl]

Would you believe the green tea is the strongest note? Yup. And this is beautiful, lightly piney but grounded by the resin. I love it. The tea fades pretty quickly but it is still wafting around me...this is gorgeous.

An hour later, the tea is still the strongest. I wonder how this will age and am contemplating another bottle.

 

Eta- March 17- this has smoothed out and blended and is, dare I say, inky. If you think you might like this, you will most likely not be disappointed. This is so very good.

 

Eta- September 28- very deep and smooth combo of green tea, terebinth and ink. "These woods are lovely, dark and deep" This oil reminds me of early morning army training exercises waiting in a tree line as the sun just starts to come up...there's a brightness to the velvety inky darkness.

I am thrilled to have a bottle of this because the decant I've been carrying with me all year is almost gone. Soooo good. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by HerbGirl

[starbrow]

Neglected Calligraphy is a roller coaster ride of a scent. Every phase is SO different. Wet, it's damp and mineralic; I specifically imagined "waterpark!" Like an old local waterpark set in a forest, because I get lots of fresh trees and fir-needle-breeze swirling around chlorinated water and dripping stone. I didn't expect this to be so watery, but it's not a turn-off aquatic the way most are for me. The minerals are almost limestone? This is a really cool but also weirdly atmospheric phase. Me: "will I reach for a perfume that makes me smell like Adventure Park?"

 

Early drydown, the green tea peeks out more, crisp and spa-like, and the waterpark effect slinks away. There is still plenty of lingering dark pine/resin, deep and a little sinister. I love how terebinth is such a blackened pine already, and it really comes out that way here too. I was worried the "burnt" pine would be too campfire, but the scorch just makes it darker and a little...brimstoney, rather than the aggressive smolder of campfire. "Sinister forest, okay I'm here for this."

 

Late in the game, the ink transforms into the ghost of old-school BPAL plum. Witchcraft! This is a delicious stage and to be honest my favorite. I could imagine layering this with some of my favorite plums for some truly stunning combinations. It is quiet and understated, maybe more than you'd expect from a perfume boasting notes like burnt pinewood ink and terebinth resin. Kind of a bookish vibe, which is really what I was hoping for from ink. (No cucumbers, whew!) "Plummy ink, SIGN ME UP!"

 

Huge contender to upgrade my decant into a bottle. I am going to wait and see how this one ages, because I suspect it will continue morphing over the weeks and months, but I have high hopes!

 

[doomsday_disco]

Okay, time for what's becoming my traditional pass-some-time-in-the-office-on-a-Wednesday-morning-by-posting-a-slew-of-reviews review dump. 😅

This was one of the first decants I tested in my first round of Luper decants (consisting of only general Lupers and Shungas -- cherries, chocolates, and raunchy hearts will probably arrive next month). I decided that it had to be among the first tested after @HerbGirl's rave review. And it was an instant love for me. Of the decants I've tested thus far (over a dozen of them, with about seven more to go), this is one of my favorites.

 

Neglected Calligraphy is a cool, pine-infused green tea scent, swirled with some ink that gives it a somewhat industrial vibe. The green tea is the perfume-y variety that you would find in something like Shanghai or Embalming Fluid, and it is not like green tea leaves. The terebinth resin has a tinge of smokiness to it, but it is really well-behaved and tamed by the green tea and is no way the campfire found in the terebinth-heavy Gacela of the Dark Death from Yules past. The throw is mostly the cool green tea and pine, but up close, I get lots of ink, which is indeed very-ink like, but also with a slight rubber-y quality.

 

I'd recommend this to fans of Cooling Breeze (another cool green tea scent) and those who like industrial notes sound give it a try as well, because the ink is definitely noticeable in this blend. You do have to enjoy green tea and pine notes, though!

 

I will absolutely be upgrading to a bottle as I can't stop sniffing my wrists. Plus, the name of the scent appeals to me (as someone with calligraphy-esque handwriting that doesn't do calligraphy but probably should).

[Biocarbons]

Wet: This is....very mentholy pine with the gritty, astringent ink note. The green tea is a powdery background note adding a touch of citrus and melds with the resin.

 

As it dries down, the menthol evaporates a bit.

 

I'm not mad at it, but I would need the menthol to calm down more with age for this to actually be wearable.

 

15 minutes later I'm left with an astringent green tea and pine. Disappointing the ink smell didn't last longer, but the simplicity of the green tea and pine is nice.

[Llanval]

I had a lot of hope for this one because i love the notes in here A LOT. Tested from an ajevie slonk, I get good strong mentholated pine and a tinge of rubbery black ink.  The pine stays mentholated and somewhat inky/fruity for several hours, but I never get a clear 'burnt' note and the terebinth resin doesn't shine like I would have preferred. The green tea is fresh and lovely, but I have a bottle of Cooling Breeze (the superior cooling scent tbh) so this isn't something I need. It also reminded me so so much of last year's The Snow Woman, and I still have my full imp of that so.....no FS for me *sigh*

[feyofthefellwood]

This is so weirdly addictive to me! The pine ink note is almost petrichor ish to my nose at first (I LOVE this stage), but as the scent dries down the green tea dominates. I find this scent soothing and meditative and can see myself reaching for it a lot before bed or just when I need a calming scent. Glad I went for a bottle. 

 

Edit: I really hope this pine/ink note shows up in more things, I love it so much! I'm going to have to get a backup of this. 💚

Edited May 4, 2023 by feyofthefellwood

[Bassmastadroog]

Green tea and pine in the bottle. Very refreshing and strong.

 

On the skin the green tea still remains pretty heavily, with the pine. I’d order this drink. It’s like being served green tea with a cube of sugar and pine needles. There’s a light sweetness to it. That might be the resin.

 

As it dries the ink starts becoming apparent instead of straight pine. It smells like my art supplies, my inks. This smells exactly like drinking said drink above on a freshly dewy morning with my drawing supplies.

 

Throw/sillage is very light, I’m going to try to slather more on later. Very nice though! It’s like a darker and more refreshing Green Tree Viper without the vanilla spice.

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Bassmastadroog
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[Little Bird]

I wish that the green tea didn't completely overwhelm the other notes in the drydown.  I love the glowing green, sweet pine sap, juicy, thick evergreen and hint of dark ink in the first 20 minutes or so.  Then the good part just disappears suddenly and completely and I'm left smelling like Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea + black pepper.  I don't like the musky, perfumey, warm, citrusy, artificial tea smell at all.  I don't think that it smells like real green tea at all, but it is absolutely that artificial green tea scent that's super perfumey and dry.