Superstition

[Jenjin]

Everton Sainsbury

Dusty leather, a hand-worn blackthorn staff, frankincense resin, tolu balsam, wild grasses, and medicinal roots.

[MoonRayne]

Can leather be clean and dusty at the same time? The herbs and grasses are hiding deep in the back of this scent but they keep it from being nothing but leather. Can't tell which leather this is. Black maybe. Upgrading to a bottle because I'm a sucker for the Lab's leather notes.

[bheansidhe]

Where are the reviews...?? Is this thing even on?

 

Superstition is good! It's SO good! I'm not by nature a huge leather fan; I'm not opposed to it, but it's not a "sink into my background aura" smell for me the way amber and other resins are. For me, wearing a leather blend is An Event that will constantly tap me on the shoulder, reminding me that I Smell Like Leather Right now. For that reason, I don't need a variety of leather perfumes; I really just need one or two reliable standbys. Of the lab's various leathers, "well-worn" is always going to be my preference, but other well-worn leather blends like The Black Rider and Rogue fail due to other notes that always go wrong on me. Paladin and Gingerbread Jolly Roger are my two standby leathers... to which rank I add Superstition.

 

Don't get me wrong; it's definitely, unmistakably leather in there, soft and supple but distinct, like standing in a room of vintage riding tack in an old but clean barn. This is a sweet leather, sweetened further in the marriage with roots and wild grasses (I believe I get some mandrake accord, dried hay, sweetgrass, and a touch of the dewy grass note). Frankincense rounds it out deliciously, and there's a dusty woodsiness as well that could be the blackthorn. I'm never good at picking out balsam, but I'm sure it's contributing to the herbalness. The herbishness (let's just continue to make up words, shall we?) is in no way culinary or spicy; you have gone into the fields and pastures and harvested the summer-fresh plants, then dried them all season in your creaking wooden attic. 

 

Honestly, I know all of the herbals and woods are modifying it, but this smells like the perfect Single Note Soft Leather on me.

 

Buy it, buy it.

Edited February 1 by bheansidhe

[Roogna]

I'm so glad it worked for bheansidhe!

 

I on the other hand am a leather fiend. I have a lot of bpal leather perfumes in my regular arsenal, but not all the lab's leathers work for me (sometimes the leather, sometimes the other notes). 

This is immediately medicinal. As it dries, it gets more resinous and sour. And herby dust? No leather (unless that's part of the sour note I'm smelling, which sometimes happens)