Tiresias, the Androgyne

[diamondstars]

Dark, moody, and bittersweet: black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, and red sandalwood.

I was eager to try this because of the caramel but unfortunately I didn't detect any!

I wore it today and the checkout girl at Asda gave me an honest opinion on it:

Her: Ooh, what perfume are you wearing? It smells..different.
Me: What do you think it smells like?
Her: Really nice, like coffee scented candles.

Charming!

I see what she's saying though, it does.

Nevermind!

[Stephanie]

To me, this is predominately smoky, spicy, leather-y caramel.

 

I could smell the sweetness of the muguet mingling wonderfully with the caramel. (I love muguet and caramel together!)

 

The spice has a dry, "dusty" quality to it--very "dried leaves" (must be the tobacco and cinnamon leaf). The patchouli seems aged and very "brown".

 

I like this a lot. It's mysterious and strange.

 

I love my aged bottle. When it was fresh, I didn't like it much at all--it was kind of "sharp" somehow. But it's different now--richer, mellower, more blended.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Stephanie

[MeiLin]

OK, promising. I love all the notes.

 

In the imp: Patchouli and caramel, a dirty, round, spicy scent.

 

Wet: Tobacco, a lovely pipe tobacco. I love that smell. It reminds me of my grandpa, and I used to smoke a pipe myself way back when (can't anymore). Smells of Cavendish tobacco, lush and dark.

 

Dry: Stays remarkably the same.

 

Sir doesn't care for it because he doesn't like pipe tobacco. I LOVE pipe tobacco, but I can live with just the imp of this. So yay! a CD I don't have to buy! (Now watch, I'll change my mind once this is impossible to find. ah well.)

[Dark Alice]

This should be love at first sniff for me!

 

I read the notes, black currant, caramel, pipe tobacco....... This was supposed to be true love for me....

 

However, its just not meant to be...

 

Wet in imp: Caramel, pipe tobacco, and black currant!

 

Drydown on skin: Peppery caramel. That's it! Just caramel sprinkled with pepper

 

I so wanted this to work!

[jewelbug]

Imp: Sweet caramel with a woodsy/cologne like edge.

 

Wet: The caramel is still there, but takes a back seat to some woody and dirty patchouli notes. I’m getting a smokiness, too.

 

Drying: Wood and patchouli with caramel sitting right underneath. Its smoky and a wee bit spicy…and weird on me. Its weirdness reminds me of the weirdness I got from ventriloquist dummy. Just sorta off-putting on my skin, but the similarity makes sense since they’re both caramel/patchouli blends.

 

Dry: Stays weird, no better way to say it. The caramel notes seem to be going a little burny, this particular patchouli is one that I recognize from other blends that just doesn’t sit well on my skin, and the combo of that with burny caramel is just…not good.

 

Overall: Just not meant for my skin chemistry, despite the fact that the listed notes sounded so nummy…

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: Other than that patchouli sat there, bein' all menacing like, this is hot to trot. Tobacco, caramel, currants? I'm after a fruity version of Red Lantern, and I don't think I'm going to be dissapointed...

 

In the bottle: Burnt caramel, hint of tobacco smoke, dark berries... mwah.

 

On the wrist, wet: Fruity, smoky caramel. This is a little like Red Lantern, but much, MUCH darker, thicker, richer, and more sombre.

 

Drydown: This gets a little bit smokier and more complex on the drydown - things like the sandalwood and the cinnamon leaf come forward a little more, I think - but largely remains that sultry burnt caramel scent tempered by fruit. This is a new favourite, and I think another bottle is in order.

[zankoku_zen]

I agree that this is like a fruitier version of Red Lantern. Except without the caramel being overwhelming. On me, it's a tag team of patchouli and blackberry. It's very sweet, and musky.

 

Not my kind of scent.

[tartchef]

Red Lantern's caramel made me , so when that's all I got out of the first few minutes of wear, I was a bit put out. Slowly, though, the caramel eases off, allowing the tobacco & cinnamon leaf to peek out - there's a maddeningly faint whiff of black currant, the one note that made me really want to try this. No muguet, thank heavens. Things eventually settle down to a smoky, salty-sweet scent - I can see where Dark Alice got pepper...

 

Mmm, interesting. A bit more fruit & Tiresias might have had me. As it stands, though, it's a good caramel-scented pipe tobacco - tasty, worth taking for another spin or two, but not bottle-worthy for me.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Caramel and soft cinnamon.

 

Immediately on skin: Mostly, this smells of thick, rich sweetness. The caramel is the strongest note, but it’s more of a base for everything else than the only note here. Blending in I get touches of the cinnamon, sandalwood, tobacco, and then the lightest hint of the currant.

 

After a little while: This just goes wrong on me… I’m not sure what note it is, but this turns into an earthy, fruity, floral thick caramel scent that smells a bit off on my skin. It has a very smooth, rich feel to it though.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is very unique. The notes really combine to create this very thick, rich blend with a lot going on, but it becomes one of those scents that’s just so well blended that it’s hard to pick apart. Unfortunately, this smells a bit cloying on me, but I smell why it could be fabulous on others.

[siren6]

Not completely foody, not totally woodsy, not something to stick in your pipe; Tiresias eases through all these notes and resolves perfectly blended. The cinnamon is dry, the caramel not overly sticky or sweet, the tobacco subtle, the woods are lovely.

 

The only disappointments were that the currants made only a brief appearance and the end went a touch powdery on me (which I don't like); otherwise this would have shot up into my personal top 10. As it is, its a great everyday scent for my spicy tropical lifestyle. I can see how it would wear well on a guy too.

[crebbsgirl]

I think it was the caramel combined with the red sandalwood, but something about this blend just put me right off. I think I may have a problem with caramel as a note in general. This became really thick and heady on me. But not in a good way. The caramel definitely became the predominant note here, almost to the exclusion of all others. I could detect the red sandalwood underneath it faintly, but other than that, I didn't really get anything else.

[savage_rose]

At first it is the deepest, darkest blend of caramel and spices, with just enough tobacco to cut the sweetness. Loving it. And then something (the patchouli?) starts smelling like erasers on me...just a hint of it. I'm very undecided about this...I'm going to have to try it again later and see if it's different with my skin chemistry.

[tinyvulture]

I can tell this blend has notes in common with Monster Bait: Ventriloquist’s Dummy. There’s that same combination of dry wood shavings (sandalwood in this case, while I think Dummy contains cedar) and caramel/butterscotch. This is a little sweeter and fruitier, thanks to the currants, while Dummy is more buttery and rich. I also detect just a hint of patchouli and a wee bit of muguet. No cinnamon on me. I like it, it’s foody and complex.

[rayvn1]

Dark and rich! It was working quite nicely, but never really developed into something that grabbed me. No notes in particular coming through other than a pleasant darkness. So many notes I love though, I'll have to try again later.

[MisterShrapnel]

Intriguing! In the first several minutes Tiresias truly seems to change from one sniff to the next, pacing back and forth between a more woody, slightly drier scent containing more tobacco and one that is more predominantly caramel (not too sticky, thankfully!) and a very gentle floral. Eventually the two things appear side by side more smoothly integrated, and the effect feels gender-neutral indeed. Both rich and dry. Despite the notes it doesn't resemble Red Lantern on my skin, and I will note that the cinnamon is very soft.

It's definitely not bright, juicy, or energetic--this is moody and a bit dark, and fits very well with the character's description. At first I wasn't sure of how easy to like this was as a smell in itself, but I imagine that I'd enjoy wearing it as a perfume--it's quickly growing on me.

[Ceri]

In the vial: Buttery caramel

 

Wet: Too much caramel.

 

Dry: Sour caramel.

 

Overall: Not for me.

[catatonic1242]

In the bottle: Patchouli covered in caramel. Unusual, but not terribly appealing.

 

On, wet: Sour caramel. It's like eating carmel corn in a headshop.

 

On, dry: Okay, it's a little less sour now and more almost-peppery. I believe this one might be a little too dirty for me, between the patchouli and the sandalwood, but I could see it being really nice on the right person.

[magikalbrownies]

oh man this one works...i smell baked goods and caramel.

 

and if there's patchouli there, its faint enough not to be mean to me~! because this is developing so well...

 

this one is executed perfectly definately a bottle of this on the wishlist.

[devilot]

In the vial: I sense patchouli. Eek.

 

Wet: PATCHOULI!!! This isn't the first time this has happened to me-- the lab's patchouli note is super-amped by my stupid skin. *retch* But within seconds, it morphs into a really strong sweetness: definitely that caramel and yes, that v dark fruity sweetness of the black currant.

 

Drydown: Ginormous sigh of relief-- the patchouli doesn't linger forever on me! Victory! The caramel shoves its way to the forefront w/ the haughty black currant right behind. Definitely smell a hint of tobacco and on occasion, the cinnamon leaf. Way way way after the fact, the red sandalwood makes a timid appearance.

 

Verdict: Terrifyingly patchouli for the first 5-10 minutes, but then a lovely dark, fruity, sugary sweet scent. It reminds me a LOT of Sugar Moon and Midnight Kiss (Shojo Beat). So no bottle for me-- I've got bottles of both of the other two and can do w/out the patchouli kick in Tiresias. My main wish? No patchouli and more tobacco-- I think this blend would be amazing with a touch more tobacco in it.

[stardreamer]

First impression: Oh-oh, this is going to go burnt-sugar, isn't it?

 

Drydown: Well, not quite; it skirts around the thin edge of that note without ever quite sliding over. I think this must be the caramel, and it's pretty much overpowering everything else.

 

Long-term: After an hour or so the patchouli and red sandalwood come up, and the combination isn't a happy one; I smell like a slightly-overdone caramel candy in a NewAge store. I can catch just a hint of tobacco if I sniff closely. The cinnamon and black currant never put in an appearance at all, and I don't know what muguet is. After 7 hours, all I can smell is the incense-y, NewAgey resins.

 

Bottom line: It doesn't quite make me want to wash it off, but it's definitely not a success. Swap pile for this one.

 

[TheOnliest]

I bought this for the caramel note. Hm. In the bottle I get something like caramel, something nutty, something astringent? I can't pin it down. On my skin it's about the same, but instead of astringent now I'm getting wood (sorry). It took about 10 minutes of alternately sniffing the inside of my left arm and my right middle finger for me to figure it out why it smelled so familiar... pee. It's pee. Huh.

 

How 'bout that bottle art?

 

 

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, it's caramel and tobacco. Interesting...

 

On my skin, tobacco, patchouli and black currant to start. I definitely pick of wafts of caramel periodically.

 

Not getting much sandalwood or cinnamon leaf in this one.

[milo]

Wet, this is pan-fried brown sugar, not scorched, must be the caramel. There is a touch of something dark as well, must be the patchouli. Dry, it is all about the caramel. This actually reminds me of Red Lantern, and a bit of Sugar Skull, though the caramel is seriously taking over the whole blend for me. Caramel and Butterscotch are generally not my friends, especially since I seem to amp them. No tobacco. *sigh* Off to swaps.

[ami226]

I kept the partial bottle of this left over from one of my decant circles around a year ago just in case I ever got around to wanting to try it....

 

Well, this morning I felt like something new and chose to wear this scent for the first time.

 

Wet: Caramel!! Tasty!

Dry: Incensey caramel. Still nice!

 

It lasts hours on my skin and there is never a point when this scent turns icky... Wheeeeeeeee! It is a keeper!

[loladae]

In the imp I definitely catch the caramel. On the skin, it smells like coffee as someone else has noted. The cinnamon and a bitter note are apparent. I like it, but I don't love it. I don't notice the caramel once it has dried on my skin. It's a dark coffee blend now. I'll keep my imp to see how it ages.