The Antikythera Mechanism

[JLH]

Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco.

I received this as a frimp from the lab.

Wow! TOBACCO! Rich, sweet, sticky tobacco. This smells to me like a classic woman's or men's cologne: heavy, rich, and sensual. There's a lot of the wood in there as well, and a hint of sweetness. As it dries, the woods come out even more.

[virusq]

I get nothing -- absolutely nothing -- from Antikythera Mechanism. And it breaks my heart.

 

This has all the right notes to be absolutely amazing, and it just EVAPORATES on my skin. I can’t smell it if I’m trying.

 

I've tried layering it on thicker and reapplying throughout the day and it's just ... INVISIBLE on me. I really wanted this one to work out, too.

[TheSinFunnel]

Imp Opinion

Clean, a little musty from the tobacco. General sexy man smell coming about. This was the first tobacco scent I tried, and was surprised at how delicious it smelled. Reminds me of good pipe tobacco in a cold wet forest.

Wet on Wrist

Vanilla really comes out immediately, with tobacco and a sharp oak bringing up the rear.

Dry Down

Vanilla, though dark and tempered by warm tobacco, stays dominant for at least a half an hour before everything mellows together.

Fade

This one changes over an hour or two, very dynamic. After it settles, it's warm, smokey vanilla with only a hint of the woods.

Feel

A fall scent if I've ever smelled one, this brings to mind a workshop with the sun warming the wooden floors. The man who works there must have a weakness for vanilla pipe tobacco. Study smell, comforting and focused.

Final Thoughts

Yummy, big bottle on the way!

[Ondine]

I had tried this back in the day and didn't like it, marking "no" on my spreadsheet. But then I got a frimp from the lab in a recent order and gave it a go once more--just in case. I'm glad I did! Because in the meantime, I've tried and loved Anti-Saloon League and The Girl and that birch/sarsaparilla note I love from both of those is very prevalent in here! So at least for me, I'm recommending this for others who like ASL and The Girl: See if you get a similar feel from them too!

[ziggystardust13]

I'm still trying to decide whether or not I like this. I get all of the notes listed and they are really blended together so well. Its a very smooth scent. Its quite masculine, but still soft. I really like unisex scents too. I could wear this.

 

The only think that is keeping me from loving this scent is that I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it reminded me of. Ah yes. Kinda smells like men's shaving cream.

 

Not sure if I can get past that. Still, I'm happy to have my imp and may test this on my man next time.

Edited August 28, 2011 by ziggystardust13

[ChipNoir]

On my wet, the metallic and lubricant smells come out with a BANG. I feel almost greasy in it. Then on drydown it mellows down, but still feels pretty metallic.

 

On my friend however, for some reason it imediatly comes out as HONEY. Sweet sweet wildflower-in-my-tea honey. I immediately insisted she take it. Whatever the differences in our skin chemistry are, she's much better off wearing it than I am.

[maoric]

In the vial: Sweet, deep vanilla maple syrup.

 

Freshly applied: Not exactly sure, but there's some sort of wood scent with a slight sweetness in the background.

 

Drying: The smell gets faint momentarily, slightly powdery, though still has a sweet wooden smell in the background.

 

Later: Hello! Thick vanilla tempered by some very deep, warm woods. I'm getting just a hint of tobacco in the background, but I'm not getting the reaction I have when passing by tobacco shops, so that's a plus in my book! As time keeps going, the vanilla seems to ebb and flow, at times I feel like I'm swimming in syrup, and at times it's better offset by the wood.

 

A good scent, though maybe a tad too sweet on my skin to warrant a bottle purchase.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: A deep dark woody sweet scent with a strong hint of something that smells a bit like anise. Lots of lovely gorgeous tobacco too.

 

Wet: An almost... um... what? An almost chocolatey-without-the-chocolate smell of incredibly deep, dark, sweetly herbal tobacco, anise seed, and vanilla sugar. Yum. The wood is dry enough to take the whole thing out of 'foody' and push into 'complex, incensey and amazing'! It's almost like a grown-up maple syrup put into perfume form, or a wooden cigar box full of hot, sweet vanilla tea. It's seductive but also very soothing. It's almost a bit like the Feb. '09 13 but with an added layer of sugar.

 

Dry: This really is astonishingly anise-ish on me for something with no anise listed, but I love anise so that's a-okay with me! Hot damn yeah, this is the good stuff right here.

[TheFrenchWaffle]

I have been dying to try this one out, now I am finally getting around to writing a review

 

in the imp: wood, freshly polished oak.

wet:very oak-y and teak-y then the tobacco comes into play. This reminds me of well oiled cogs and wheels. This is a very nostalgic scent for me.

dry: lovely beautiful oak and teak, this is fantastic! The tobacco is a faint whiff here. I get very little, if any, vanilla which lightens the woods just a tad.

 

Final verdict: I absolutely adore this scent. This is lovely oak and teak with tobacco lightly weaving through. This reminds me of childhood spring cleaning (I was in charge of dusting and polishing the tables). While I do love this scent, I'm not sure that I necessarily like it ON me. I would love this on a significant other, or even as a room scent...

[ianastar]

I got a rum like smell from this when it was wet on my skin, which dried to a slight maple syrup kind of note. On final dry down I can definitely sense more of the vanilla and tobacco combo. It never really got woody for me, so I didnt sense the oak note at all. Most fragrances turn sweet on me, so I can see where the syrupy notes came out. Interesting fragrance but not something I would wear.

[KatharinaNordh]

Delicious. Smooth, shiny, woodsy - and the tobacco smells almost chocolatey on me - this is refined and Intellectual and laidback, Very steampunk, small hat and airships, Conversations over pipe and some small glasses of alcohol. It's feminine to me, the type of capable, almost man'ish woman - that Still also as that exquisite feminine lure.

 

My Only issue is that it is very faint on me - but I love it enough to keep using it and trying it and maybe today is just a bad-skin-day

[rhubarb3point14]

Much like its sibling Perversion, this turns into a single-note tobacco fragrance on me. The difference is, whereas I find Perversion more or less wearable, The Antikythera Mechanism is too super-sweet, with the added bonus that it cannot be removed from skin by any means known to humanity. AAAAGH GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME!

 

(I finally had moderate success using mechanics' hand cleaner. Seriously.)

[84trillion]

A friend received this as a lab frimp and let me borrow it to try it out after she had - I sniffed her wrist and it smelled lovely! But it is far too masculine and heady on me. Another fabulously inspired and named blend that just doesn't agree with my skin chemistry. Ah, well.

[hellok80]

Imp: Amazing. =D

Wet: Sharp! X(

Half an hour: I smell like a dude! =/

Later: Sticky vanilla. =P

[reena1]

This is so weird but on me this is a dead on Banshee Beat! It must be the black vanilla in it I guess. I was just thinking about how I kinda missed my bottle I sold and randomly tried this frimp from the lab. Soo glad I did! <3 it's so shockingly close!!

[maika]

I so want to love this. The notes are perfect, and it smells incredible in the imp. (which tells me it's my skin being funky)

 

Once it hits my skin it turns into a dirty sour weird smell...and it became one of the very rare scents that I had to scrub off.

 

I want to wait another week or so, and make sure that it's not hormones making things crazy.

[theredkilt]

I have no idea what's goin' on, but on the drydown i get manly and bold black pepper!

[bonny]

HO boy. at first (a little over a year ago?) my imp was super sexy, dark vanilla and tobacco with a very manly edge to it... almost a greenness that was a bit harsh on me. about eight months in though, oh, OH! nosegasm the bite smooths out, tobacco calms down and settles in with the wonderfully sexy dark vanilla and the wood hangs out in the background, grounding and deepening the whole thing. number one for me right now, maybe one of my favorite things i've ever worn. if you find it a bit harsh now, give it time!! don't get me wrong, it's by no means a light scent now- the throw here is definitely decent and it seems to last, oh, five or six hours on me.

[curlsandpearls]

Bottle: Ooh, this is shaping up to be good. The wood is prominent, but it’s noticeably warmed by the vanilla. Must get on skin ASAP!

 

Wet: Oh, this is all kinds of love. The vanilla is stronger on the skin than in the bottle, but it’s not a foody vanilla—it’s dark, warm, and works beautifully with the teakwood and oak notes. I’m not getting the tobacco yet but am really excited for it.

 

Dry: The tobacco creeps in to create an almost musky effect. It’s a warm, smoky vanilla, wrapped up with woodsy bark and gorgeous tobacco.

 

Later: Three hours and still going strong, given that I didn’t put much on my wrist. It’s a delicious blend of everything in the description, and it’s so warm and complexly layered that it’s hard to tease the scents apart at this point. It just smells wonderful—woodsy and warm with vanilla and grainy tobacco. Fabulous scent, the first I’ve been wholeheartedly Bottle Happy about since Dee. The husband is a big fan, too.

[Morsigne925]

Sniffed from the bottle: it smells like a very earthy, vanilla-y scent; it actually reminds me of this argan oil hair stuff I've had, but I forget the brand. There's also something that seems to give off a slight menthol/minty twang, but it's not very prominent and I can't be sure. IT's giving a very vanilla booze aged in a wooden cask type of smell to me.

Wet on skin: There's a sweet, earthy, almost licorice-y smell that must be the tobacco. I also get the sweetness of the vanilla, and a rich dryness keeping it from being too sweet from the wood smells. This smells how I imagine an old wooden chest that held exotic oils and spices on a pirate ship would smell, if that makes sense.

Drying: The licorice-type smell remains fairly prominent for a while, but as time goes on the wood smells come out more and I just LOVE these types of smells; it also reminds me of some nice wooden thing that's been oiled with something that smells wonderful.

Later: Mostly faded, but I still get a sweet, woody tobacco whiff when I move around.

Bottom line: A very lovely scent! There's something very nostalgic about this one for me, and I love the sweet tobacco-y wood smell.

 

Revisit Aug 2014:

 

Bottle/wet - licorice & tobacco; I really hate licorice so I'll be incredibly disappointed if this stays around

 

Drying: Thank goodness the licorice seems to go away as it dries - it leaves behind a woodsy tobacco scent that is lightly sweet. I would break this one out for any steampunk cosplay. Probably not an everyday perfume for me but would break it out occasionally just to smell it. Definitely keeping may do some decants for swaps! 3.7/5

Edited August 24, 2014 by Morsigne925

[Incendiare]

In the vial, there is a non-descript earthiness and none of the notes are really popping out at me. On me, however, after a few minutes, I can smell a shadier, darker vanilla combined with tobacco. Together it smells very unisex and almost a bit cologne-y. It's unique but not my style.

[Nynsnow]

I love the idea of this and I really wanted it to work for me but it just didn't. In the bottle it smells lovely with the wood, and the first few minutes on my skin is just as good. As it dries down though the sweetness of the vanilla comes out but it doesn't mesh well at all with the wood notes on me. I thought it smelled a little like BO which was confirmed when my husband sidled away from me and said I smelled like I hadn't showered in days (yes I showered!)

Edited February 26, 2012 by Nynsnow

[GoddessChaos]

The Antikythera Mechanism is mostly wood, with an undercurrent of vanilla, a whiff of tobacco, and something that hints at the glint of polished metal. It smells like well-oiled gears turning inside a polished wooden box. The tobacco and what I think is the teak are most prominent at first, but as it dries down the vanilla becomes more prominent, softening the scent, and then after several hours fades into soft wood. Throw is very good, staying power is one of the best so far. I bought this bottle unsniffed and I'm glad I did! It also smells divine on the boy-thing and it's one of the first ones he's expressed interest in wearing himself (yay!) ...although if he keeps it up, I might need another one... >.>

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Sweet, warm, comfy.

 

On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp. It's not as smoky or harsh as tobacco usually is on me, so that black vanilla must really be mellowing the tobacco out.

 

On skin, dry: Same as it was wet.

 

After an hour: A little smokier, a little less sweet, but still a very mellow sort of tobacco blend. DEFINITELY worth a re-test!

[KittyHawk]

Mmmm, this is a nice androgynous blend! It's in the same scent family as Crowley and Tombstone, but it brings a few different things to the table. The black vanilla and tobacco are the strongest notes on me, but I get very little wood. I wish the teakwood and oak were a bit stronger, as this eventually becomes fairly one-dimensional on my skin. After about 30 minutes, the tobacco is gone, and within an hour, the vanilla's gone too. Where did you go, notes? The concept is fantastic, but my skin chemistry just flattens the notes into submission. I can see why this is so popular; I just wish it blossomed on my skin the way it does for so many others!