Two Monsters

[phedre]

Oakmoss, vetiver, black musk, champaca flower, leather, patchouli, ginger, Japanese pittosporum, ambergris and white pepper.

 

In vial: deep moss and vetiver, a bit of spice from the ginger and pepper. Patchouli? There's a lot going on here.

Wet: peppery and fiery. The vetiver doesn't overwhelm like it normally does on my skin. Petrol? Something very strong, like gas fumes.

Drydown: wow, something interesting is coming out here. It must be the pittosporum, because I don't recognize it at all. It's sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.

It's now turned to cologne, and is slightly aquatic with more moss and vetiver. The lovely sweetness has disappeared. It'd be lovely on someone who enjoyed more masculine scents, though.

[jiggahava]

I spilled half the imp all over myself. Luckily Two Monsters smells pretty good on me! At first the leather, patchouli and vetiver come out, very strongly. Then the scent sweetens up and I can smell the lovely champaca flower and black musk. At first I didn't like this because it was so masculine on me, then it sweetens up and becomes more feminine. I was worried the vetiver would overwhelm this scent and become nasty on me, as it usually does, but the other notes seem to be keeping it in check. Kind of a hard scent to pin down. I like it alot, but I don't think I'll need a bottle.

 

The scent gives off a minimal to moderate amount of throw, despite the fact that I spilled so much of it on me!

 

Edit: four hours later: OMG, I love champaca flower! It's almost all ambergris and champaca flower on me now I need a bottle of this after all. Forget what I said earlier.

Edited March 25, 2007 by Hava

[theseagrows]

at first the vetiver is very strong. once it fades a bit i think i am getting primarily leather and champaca flower? it's leathery but sweet with a faint herbal-earthiness in the background. reminds me of the smell of tobacco, even though tobacco isn't listed as an ingredient.

Edited April 14, 2008 by theseagrows

[Mianjo]

Quick review: I wanted this to be darker than it ended up being.

 

Once it dried, it became this perfumy, woody floral. It's almost soapy(?). I can smell the ginger in there, which my nose wants to read as sort of a powdery citrus. I wanted more oakmoss and more vetiver. Not bad--I can see where it would be beautiful on someone else. It just isn't me.

[Browneyes]

Imp: Alot of pepper, vetiver and something perfumey - probably the musk and oakmoss

Wet: Cologne... with pepper. Then something happens! The champaca flower and the leather emerge.

Dry: This is a *really* nice blend on me. Rather masculine, but I like that The champaca is an unexpected twist and develops it in a slightly less masculine direction after a while. The leather is *very* nice here too. I wish there was a bit more vetiver and patch, and the ginger is non-existant to my nose. I have never tried anything with Japanese p.... nor ambergris, so I don't know if I can smell those. The very final drydown is quite sweet. This could be totally gorgeous layered with something woody.

 

Thank you for frimping me (you know who you are ) and I will cherish my very first Salon blend!

 

ETA: I just realised that this reminds me of Temple Viper because of the champaca, but I actually prefer this, I found Temple Viper to be too sweet for me.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Browneyes

[Trish]

This is my very first Salon scent! I'm becoming braver about ordering bottles unsniffed now.

 

Bottle: slightly sweet, warm incense. Heady, intoxicating.

 

Wet: Mmm, the notes in this are so entwined! The only one I can definitely pick out is the ginger and it's quite muted.

 

Drydown: It's becoming softer and warmer, and the ginger has gone. I can pick up the ambergris the most now followed by the leather, but the latter is perhaps the most subtle I've tried. I can also just pick out the vetivert and oakmoss at the edges if I really concentrate, which give it a slightly darker edge. It's got a little bit of throw and is very intoxicating. Quite perfumey in that wonderful ambergis way, a note I'm discovering of late that I really like. There's a little bit of musky smokiness to it too.

 

Dry: It's changed very little at all, remaining this wonderful blend of all the notes. And it really is incredibly well blended, I have to concentrate to pick out the few notes that I can.

 

One Hour: The leather has become a bit stronger, but it's still pretty soft and muted. The musk is also a little more apparent, but otherwise it hasn't changed a great deal at all. It's a wonderful warm, soft, intoxicating, musky, heady scent that is likely to become a firm favourite. I'd consider it gender neutral, leaning towards the masculine.

 

1 1/2 hours: The leather has decided to rejoin the other scents so that it's more like it was when first dry. It's also already fading quickly and I fear this isn't going to be a particularly long lasting scent on me.

 

3 hours: Alas, it has nearly completely gone.

 

Needless to say I really like this a whole lot!

[impadua@aol.com]

These Monsters get along very well.

I got this bottle quite awhle ago with my virgin Bpal order. It seemed to have all the great things I love to sniff, plus a few extra.

The leather, patchouli, and ginger jump out at me as soon as I open the bottle, then something faintly sweet seems to creep along, I don't know what that is. Then when I apply it, I smell something peppery, and something kind of woodsy, kind of dank, but the leather never leaves (nor would I want it to).

It stays on fairly strong for hours on me, the peppery smell fades, the ginger continues, and I am smelling a little of the vetiver.

All together a very good combination. I think I will enable my favorite man of the moment with this. But only an imp at a time.

[shadesong]

In bottle: Vetiver, musk, and the bite of ginger.

 

On me: Something sweet and dark. Folds of soft leather. The ginger and pepper are subtle here. This is a leather garment infused with the scent of its wearer, held foldly by a lover in the wearer's absence. Beautiful. I need a bottle!

[LadyCrow]

In the imp: Resins, very sweet. Vetiver?

 

Wet: Peppery leather with an underlying deep sweetness from the patchouli and florals, kind of like Dragon's Hide with much more spiciness -- so much I can taste the spice just from sniffing my hand.

 

Drydown: Oh, there are those flowers again, and I like them! The pittosporum definitely seems stronger on me than the champaca. (Seriously? Beth? There needs to be a BPAL Spelling Bee.) Then, it's the resins again, still very heady and sweet -- this is kind of like one of the "ritual incense" blends met one of the "sex" blends, to their mutual delight. The oakmoss is in there, but it's down deep; the vetiver is sharp around the edges of the throw. I find it hard to pull out ginger specifically, but then I think my skin eats it. I'm not familiar with ambergris, so I'm clueless about what that might be doing here.

 

Sweeter than I thought it might be from the listed notes. I never pulled out the black musk specifically, but the complexity and strength of the blend did remind me of Minotaur.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Whoo, vetiver! Very serious swampiness.

 

Wearing: I did the crook-of-the-elbow thing because vetiver always hates me and I didn’t want to be bathing in it. And sure enough, despite all the other fascinating notes listed, the vetiver just completely takes over.

[Jenesis]

Bottle: This is looking promising! Rather Geek-esque (yay!), but I can't pick out any individual notes.

 

Wet: An odd blend of aftershave and leather.

 

Drydown: It smells like a rugged, ranger (go on then, Aragorn) type man. His leather clothing is brushed with woods from his wanderings, spices from his travels to exotic places and flowers crushed under his boots.

 

Dry: Repeat above description, only the flowers are rather more prominent now. My skin amps anything with petals. I hope this doesn't ruin it for me.

 

Dry (10 mins): This is an incredible piece of scent mastery. The fragrance is complex and deep. However, I'm sorry to say, whatever champaca flower is it is turning this whole thing into Old Spice Shower Gel.

 

ETA: I FINALLY, eventually, after much cajoling, got my boyfriend to try this one.

 

HOT. DAMN. This smells stunning on a man. Rather leathery, but warm, smooth and incredibly sexy. And I mean sexy.

 

Excuse me while I go and secretly apply this to his neck. And then jump him.

Edited October 26, 2007 by Jenesis

[hkhm]

imp: i think i can pick out almost every note listed but i think the most prominent note is ginger.

 

wet: vetiver makes an appearance right away but as soon as it does the ginger is warms up right next to it giving it a nice lemony-sweet smoky scent. this is by far the lovliest vetiver scent i have tried. there is a nice hint of musk that warms up as well. another complex and beautiful salon blend.

 

dry: wow, gingery leather musk. no vetiver left at all. another scent i may have to beg my husband to try.

Edited December 7, 2007 by hkhm

[mmcfa2]

Two Monsters, Heironymous Bosch.

 

 

It doesn't get much better than this.

 

The monsters are very unisex, begining as a strong masculine scent when wet, I get leather and oakmoss, but as it dries it gets sweeter and warmer and really becomes a soft enveloping fragrance that reminds me of the best parts of geek. It is resinous without being cloying, leather without being acrid, oakmoss without the masculine scream. The orange flower and champaca make it just girly enough to be unisex. The vetiver is simply grounding the whole thing and requires quite an olfactory search to detect. The drydown remains earthy and warm with a hint of sweetness and spice. Leather is the last note standing and it is a true leather, not a plasticy one. On a funny note if you get it mixed with lampades on your hand? oddly it smells of URD

 

If you like geek or death cap this one might just belong in your collection.

 

On the whole the Salon scents are each masterful and this one does not dissappoint.

[maribouquet]

I smell the patchouli and the oakmoss, which gives this a lovely, dry sort of air. Then the leather comes up and takes over. Sort of smells like chamomile, too. How odd! Pleasant, but I'm not sure how I feel about this one.

[zomathesadist]

in the imp, it's oddly aquatic. Not in a bad way, just not what I was expecting. hmmm...

 

wet on skin: I can smell the patchouli, but really just barely. Not getting a ton of vetiver either, which is odd for me. Usually vetiver reaches out and smacks me in the face yelling, "ACKNOWLEDGE MY VETIVERNESS!!" not today. just a whisper of, "Hullo. I am vetiver."

 

not much leather. drag. I LOVE BPAL's leather note, and it loves me too.

 

drydown: sweet. quite sweet, actually. it's really well blended. the florals keep the vetiver and patchouli from being too heavy and I can only assume it's the leather going sweet on me. that's a consolation.

 

don't know if it's bottle worthy yet. I'm really hoping! I'll definitely keep the imp though, for sure.

[meeow712]

Upon first sniff I didn't think it would work. I got a lot of leather, which has a 50/50 chance of going wrong on my skin, and vetiver, whichusually goes wrong on me if it's GC but not with CD blends.

 

Wet: The wrong kind of leather and some rotted spinach smelling vetiver underneath. I didn't even wait for the drydown and tossed it into the swaps pile.

And then, 10 minutes later, this scent morphed into one of the most amazing scents I have ever tried. Talk about a morpher!!! It reminds me of Temple Viper, another favorite.

The leather blends beautifully with the resins and champaca to create an slightly leathery sweet incense scent that is absolutely amazing!! Must hoard.

[greenranger]

It is a nice musky leathery spicy scent. Not too rough on my nose, but definitely spicy enough to hold my interest. I kind of expect it to vanish, though, since just about everything I have tried with ambergris in it has pulled the vanishing trick.

 

and, there it goes. Not even ten minutes in. It isn't completely gone yet, but, it went from a moderate throw, all the way down to having to sniff my arm closely to tell anything was there. I'm getting really annoyed with ambergris.

 

Something has amped back up. Something sweet like sugar cane...but that isn't listed as a note? Whatever it is, I amp it enough to get past the black hole of ambergris.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Aerinha

[Miss Lynx]

Ooh, this is really nice! I'd been worried it might be a little too earthy and/or masculine, but it's not at all on me. My skin chemstry always sweetens black musk, and the champaca and pittosporum (I had to look that one up -- Japanese mock orange, whose blossoms smell pretty much like real orange blossoms) add a lovely overtone of sweetness.

 

It's definitely got a deep, earthy base, but overall it's coming across as very nicely balanced -- earthy notes, gentle florals, a citrussy element from the pittosporum (orange blossom always smells partly floral and partly just orange on me), and a touch of spice. The leather note thankfully isn't very apparent on me -- I say thankfully because while a small touch of leather in a scent can be OK on me, more than that just ends up smelling horribly wrong, usually.

 

Overall, it's slightly reminiscent of Lot And His Daughters, which also has that citrus-spice-earth thing going on, or maybe a bit like the love child of Vixen and Omen. A lot of people have likened it to Geek, but to me it's very different -- considerably sweeter and less woodsy.

 

Verdict: really lovely, and on my skin it doesn't smell at all like a men's scent, though I can see how it could on someone else depending on which notes came out the most.

 

Grade: A

[zankoku_zen]

This one worked out better than I expected. At the beginning, it was very bitter - I think from a combination of leather and patchouli, and possibly the pepper. It dried to a sweet, incensey sort of blend with a hint of a white floral that I didn't recognize. Very pleasantly surprised.

[butcherbaby]

wicked_goddess suggested i try this for my husband, who likes earthy & deep foresty scents. he may never get a crack at it because i LOVE IT, heh.

in the imp i get a rich loamy patchouli over all else, a bite of something astringent, and a soft sweetness in the background.

wet on skin the sweetness becomes much more pronounced- the champaca? smells like sweet champa incense but also sometheing else that is almost candylike, like a lighter verison of the bubble gummy lotus note, but i can't imagine which note is doing it. i'm not amping the pepper or ginger to hell like like i usually do. the throw is delicious & resiny, though i'd like it to be stronger, this is still a winner.

i love how well blended and subtle the salons are- i can't pick out a lot of the separate notes here (oakmoss, leather, vetiver) but they are meld together so beautifully i don't need to.

i'll see how this wears through the rest of the day, but it's a good candidate for a the big bottle list.

[Monster]

In the imp: A masculine perfume, I'm detecting oakmoss right off the bat along with a drop of ginger.

 

On my skin: Ahhhhhh! Ok....I'm getting a gorgeous blend of black musk, a teeny teeny bit of vetiver, patchouli, ginger and sharp oakmoss...and THEN...gah! I get that poopy diaper smelling champaca flower. Nooo! This is exactly the note that made Dr. John Seward unwearable for me ><

 

Dry: More leather now, along with a really nice, well-balanced blend of masculine notes...and still the plasticy, stinky smell of champaca flower. :'( I just can't get past it.

 

Overall: This would be perfect if they only removed that dreaded note.

[rayvn1]

This blend smells absolutely amazing! dark, sweet, spicy - I get alot of the ginger and pepper. The oakmoss gives it some depth and the patchouli comes through here better than almost any other oil I've tried. This is rivaling Satan and Sin with Death Intervening for me

[SophieCedar]

In imp: smells like a dentist's office..? Weird.

 

Wet: vetivert and oak moss. I think the champaca flower and ambergris is making this smell like the dentist's office. The suspects start to make themselves known!

 

Drydown: this gets spicy and the vertivert stays. leather comes out. oak moss softens. This is a meddlesome, mischievous monstrous scent. Not in a bad way but not for me.

[t_for_tau]

Aeroplane upholstery and urine. *runs to wash off*

[Cali]

The vetiver amps on me, as always. I can pick out the harsher notes in here easily (black musk, leather, patchouli and white pepper), whew. Two monsters indeed!
It's almost like this is funnel of love's evil brother. Not for me, nope!!