The Antikythera Mechanism

[jehrichardson]

Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco.

This is the sweetest, warmest, richest scent. Deep and glowing, satiny and bold. It smells like sophisticated man-musk, book-lined studies, antiques on the sideboard, and a well travelled life.

For being soft and sweet, this is incredibly masculine. I love it desperately and passionately and I think I'm going to trade in my husband and marry this instead.

[hkhm]

imp: tobacco!

 

wet: this is initially very strong, almost burnt, tobacco on my skin. after about ten seconds ot smoothes to a very sleek woody tobacco scent.

 

dry: this dries far sweeter than i would have expected, sweet woods and soft tobacco. lovely.

[MisterShrapnel]

Why haven't I reviewed this yet?! D: My imp is practically empty already, because it features the best note combination ever. Gorgeousss.

Highly evocative; makes me think of dark polished wood exactly. Smooth, deep, and rather classy. Kind of sweet but not foody at all.

If this were a guy, I'd be swooning.

(I love Andra's reviews: "VICTORIAN SEX WITH A MAD SCIENTIST." mmyep. Reminds me of this Kate Beaton comic?)

The imp was more sharp/cologne-y when it was fresh; it toned down just a little bit after some oxidizing... I think it's the oak that gives this a "burnished bronze" gleam? This oil is rather strong, too. Good throw and lasting power.

I kind of want to see what happens when it ages for a couple years... at times the oak part is too much for me.

It verges on masculine in character but I think it would be easy for anyone to sport. AND it has the best name!

"What are you wearing?!"

"The Antikythera Mechanism."

 

A very unique scent all around.

(post edited because my link broke?)

Edited March 29, 2009 by MisterShrapnel

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Rut roh. I smell something vetiver-esque...

 

Wet: Oh hell no. I smell like my dad the 45 year smoker.

 

Drydown: The wood scents have come out to play. Now I smell like a cheap cigar box. I'm not getting any vanilla and there's this weird rubber-y smell in the background.

 

Overall: So sad! Wood scents can be great but on me they're doing something with the tobacco that is decidedly weird. Maybe this wouldn't be such a jarring scent on a guy, but as I lack one of those, I'm afraid it's off to the swap pile.

[Dianora]

In the bottle, this smells strongly of woods and tobacco, very masculine but in a comfortable way. It reminded me strongly of a store that I used to stop by, which sold high-end cigars and pipe tobacco, just to inhale the air. I put it on, and the pleasantness intensified. It got rich and mellow, the masculinity of the scent curled up into something a steampunk lady might be pleased to wear. As I wore it, it just seem to get more and more comfortable. I am very pleased with it.

 

However, on another note, my mother came by and as soon as she walked in the door made an awful face. She wanted to know what smelled musky and stinky. This might be one for at-home wear.

[kjirstiben]

This scent goes on sweet and somewhat undifferentiated to my nose. (I read it as "fuzzy" if that makes any sense.) There's a quality here that I'm not super-fond of, similar to what was in Antique Lace: vanilla gone perfumey. The woods aren't sharp enough to balance it to my liking and the whole thing dries down to a fuzzy, faintly sweet, somewhat blah scent on me. For all the hype about the Antikythera Mechanism, I was underwhelmed--I far prefer the sharpness of No. 93 Engine.

[ami226]

In the bottle: Definitely lots of wood, tobacco, and something slightly sweet (the vanilla?)

 

On the skin: I should mention first of all, that I don't really like tobacco scents... Anyways, this scent is pure man. Pure library/lawyer man in my opinion. I still get lots of the wood coming from this scent now with a bit more vanilla and the smokyness that is what I think of as tobacco.

 

This one is definitely being traded off, but I was so glad to have gotten to try it!!

[unlaced]

In the bottle this is heavy teak. Like an old spiced wood chest you'd find in an attic. But once it's on my skin it sweetens up with the vanilla and there's something else in there which I'm guessing is the tobacco?

 

I kinda put a lot on by accident but it's nice... it's strong but sexy. Spicy wood and a bit of vanilla (it's the same almost-sweetness as something else but I can't pin it down)

 

Mmmm... this is really nice. It's spicy and sexy and also kind of comforting in a way I can;t really describe or understand.

 

I'm so glad I bought an impulse bottle un-sniffed.

[tajana]

I was so excited to try this! I like the smell of tobacco, vanilla's often nice, and hey, a brand new wood note to try. It smelled nice enough in the imp, and the reviews were so glowing...

 

But EAUHGH oh god wet on my skin this was terrible. Incredibly strong, I should have put a drop instead of a smear. I made the mistake of taking a whiff off my wrist and the smell totally dug into my nose and practically choked me to death. Incredibly strong, HUGE throw. The tobacco is incredibly strong, viciously strong, and it's combined with a scent that does remind me very strongly of polished wood, but sharper to my nose. I'm guessing it's the teakwood or maybe the oak that went all berserk on me, since I've never tried teak before and there's something totally bizarre about this wood. It's ridiculously strong, and smells just plain bad. I didn't wash it off because the reviews were all so good! I had to see if maybe the drydown would be ok. After about half an hour it chills out a little and starts to smell more bearable. Vanilla and tobacco with a hint of wood. That by itself is nothing special, and there's still a dark, leering shadow of the way this smelled a little earlier. An hour and some minutes later it's still going strong, and it smells sweeter. I suspect this has an exceptionally long wear length, but I don't want to make it all the way to the end. Time to scrub this one off.

Edited March 10, 2009 by tajana

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Sexy! The tobacco and vanilla hit it right off, equally matched into a sweet, spicy, slightly smoky whole. I get little hints of that nice dry wood in the background from the teak and oak, but the tobacco and vanilla are the stars.

On, wet: Even lovelier. The tobacco blooms as soon as it hits my skin, a spicy-sweet whoosh, and then it's melded with that beautiful dark vanilla. The woods are stronger but still in the background, polished and steady and beautiful in their own rights. It's such a rich, warm, gorgeous scent, pleasingly smoky and not aggressively sweet. It calls to mind a Victorian gentleman's club—a very fine one—with exotic wood paneling, a whiff of good cologne and an impeccable choice of cigars.

On, dry: One silky-smooth scent, perfectly blended. The black vanilla is the heart of it, enhanced by the other notes. The tobacco gives it spice, the teak adds dry, exotic wood and the oak holds everything together, keeping the sweetness from ever becoming too much. Mmmmm, I can't stop sniffing it.

Later: Pretty much the same, though it's a little bit drier—more teak, less tobacco. It's just rounder, fuller, more fully blended into a sweet-smoky-woody whole.

Overall: I can't gush enough about the Antikythera Mechanism! I'm always a sucker for anything vanilla, and I've tried a lot of vanilla-scented perfumes and creams over the years, but this comes the closest to capturing what makes a true, high-quality vanilla so intoxicating and exotic. It isn't just sweet and light and simple; this is sensual and dark and rich, and above all, it has depth, thanks to the woods and tobacco. Easily worth a big bottle purchase.

 

 

[mineralgirl]

This is just sexy on my husband.. it's still one of my faves on him.

Edited December 11, 2014 by MineralGirl

[Tracelina]

I'm a newbie, so I haven't experienced the wonders of Glowing Vulva. But if it smells anything like Antikythera Mechanism, it must be wonderful!

 

When I first put this on, it was rather heady--none of the notes dominated, but they were all definitely coming out to play at once. After the first few minutes, though, I kept finding myself turning my head, sniffing my wrist, or putting my nose down to sniff my cleavage. I can definitely see this working as a unisex scent; it's warm and intriguing and a little sweet without being too sharp or cloying. And--bonus!--it smells absolutely amazing when layered with No. 93 Engine.

 

I used to think that I didn't like vanilla, but Antikythera Mechanism and Illustrated Woman have completely won my love. My mom (who has similar scent tastes to mine, but very different skin chemistry) received Mechanism as a frimp from the Lab. The imp broke in transit, but she loved it so much that she's still using it! Now that's love.

[catatonic1242]

In the bottle: Teak and tobacco, first and foremost. This smells fairly masculine to me, but not unpleasantly so. It's lighter than I anticipated.

 

On, wet: Still powerfully teak, but the oak certainly sneaks in. If I had to summarize this scent in one word, it would be "wood." This is freshly cut wood in a lumberyard, not trees in a forest.

 

On, dry: This doesn't change much from wet to dry. It's still a woody smell, and if the vanilla is there, it's hiding in the background. I like this one for neutral occasions, when I'm not entirely certain what I'm going to be doing, but I know I want to smell nice. This feels very all-purpose to me.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This starts off smelling unpleasantly astringent, and it takes a few minutes for the teak to make an appearance on my skin, but when it does - watch out! I can see how people find this to be kind of like Glowing Vulva minus the cream accord but plus a weird beeswaxy note (like the one that made me wrinkle my nose in Hand of Glory.) I'm not mad at it...I can feel myself falling hard for this blend, but it's just not love at first sniff. Antikythera Mech is gonna have to wine and dine me and work for it. Right now, the black vanilla and tobacco notes are already sweet talking me into a second date...

 

ETA: This ended up being way too similar to Hand of Glory's beeswax for me. I tried to let my guy wear it, but it was too feminine, so I had to swap it away. In the end, I didn't really find this very similar to Glowing Vulva, which I love and much prefer personally. It doesn't add up because I love black vanilla, oak, tobacco, and teak, leading me to believe that there is some malicious ninja note secretly hijacking this blend from perfection. Ah well, at least I have GVaRB to console me.

Edited March 11, 2009 by OneTheyCallLuna

[vanillaskwirl]

I agree somewhat with the previous review that AM starts off all sharp teak, though I happen to like it that way. However, I don't really get anything sweet per se from it on dry down. It does mellow some on my skin and I enjoy it on me, but I have to say on my guy it's heaven! Extremely long wear on both of us and a decent throw, but not over-poweringly so. I felt the scent was very well balanced and even upon long wear, nothing seemed to come to far to the forefront. I'll definitely be ordering a large bottle and sharing with my guy. Instantly on the favorites list.

[Twitch]

This one really doesn't work for me. It turns sickly sweet, like a cookie. Which would be good if I wanted to smell like a cookie, but I can't imagine that happening anytime soon.

[Inventrix]

Summary: It makes me smell like an expensive tobacco pipe! And no, I don't mean expensive pipe tobacco, I mean the pipe itself.

 

It smelled very much like vanilla to me in the imp, which was surprising from the description but nice. I do like vanilla. I feel obligated to mention at this point, however, that I have absolutely no idea what teak smells like. Hence, the lack of it being mentioned below.

 

The tobacco jumped in almost immediately after applying, with a big HEY LOOK AT ME! I was (pleasantly!) surprised by the way the tobacco smells, although it was somewhat overpowering at this point. It's like a high-quality pipe tobacco smoke, which I've always held is a wonderful smell and puts those icky cigarettes to shame.

 

A wonderful woody smell started coming out after about a half hour, and the tobacco ran away again (to my surprise) before coming back much more sedately (to my even greater surprise) and partnering beautifully with the vanilla. There was something almost spicy in the overall feel, which I think was the tobacco. The vanilla and the tobacco combined to make a delicious creamy smoky scent, which clung to the wood smells. Much like the scent of smoke might imbue the wood of a pipe after much use.

 

It is a somewhat masculine scent, but not to the point that I feel awkward wearing it. I absolutely adore it, and if I can convince myself that it won't drive all of my acquaintances away with looks askance then I shall have to purchase a bottle.

[MrGrey]

I received the teakwood then the oak. no other smells. But I still enjoyed it.

[riflmom]

- My first review! -

 

Wet on the skin, my first impression was rich caramel - but not sweet, if that makes sense. Must be the vanilla and tobacco. Then upon drying I got more of the smoky blend of woods with the tobacco and vanilla in the background. Very smooth and sexy - I think this could be great on a man or a woman. This will be a bottle purchase for sure!

[amanderinorange]

In the imp: almost pure patchouli. I realize that's not what's in there, but my nose thinks it is.

 

on me: sickly sweet patchouli. I was hoping that it would morph or get lighter, but it didn't.

 

Overall: made me very sick feeling and gave me a headache. I had to wash it off after just a few minutes. I gave it another sniff a few days later and it still smelled like patchouli, so I didn't bother trying it on again.

 

[ephemera]

In the bottle this is warm but not soft. I smell lots of wood and vanilla, and I think a bit of the tobacco.

 

On my skin while it's wet the wood is very prominent, and the tobacco is adding a depth to this. It smells similar to some un-smoked tobacco that I've caught whiffs but much sweeter.

 

During drydown, this has throw like whoa. The wood is gradually getting less prominent and the vanilla is stepping it up a notch, but I'm smelling something just a touch unpleasant. Not like a note gone wrong exactly, but... almost like an after-smell of something overly aggressive. This doesn't last very long though, and it's worthwhile to wait it out.

 

It dries down to a soft, slightly powdery vanilla with the added tobacco and wood warmth. I really like this one, and I'm so glad it's a GC!

[dorothy humbird]

Holy intense teak and tobacco. I can see the similarities people are drawing between Anti-M and Glowing Vulva, but GV stays just over the line of golden wearability for me, whereas the Anitkythera Mechanism is just a shade too manly for my tastes. Very, very strong, dark, and devious.

I've noticed in a few blends with tobacco that I've tested that there is some danger in that note dominating. I can't handle its presence in Perversion, Elegba, and now apparently Anti-M (but it behaves on me in Black Lace, Red Lantern, and a handful of others).

I passed this one on to another BPALer before long, but now I'm wishing I'd kept it long enough to wrangle the current gentleman friend into testing it. Ah, the intricacies of frugal BPALery.

[Schmoozy]

 

I realized I haven't done a review, and while I was sorting through frimpage from my lab order that arrived on friday, I realized I was frimped with this. I kinda of find it funny, because I had a decant that I kept using and bought a bottle in my year end order, and then stuck another bottle in with my Jan. order, and then I am frimped it.

 

I am rolling in the AM love.

 

To me this is a beautiful, dark and rich. Teak and black vanilla are the major players until hints of tobacco creep in. It reminds me of Haloes and Black lace, you just know that this is going to age wonderfully. While oak is prevalent, teak, vanilla and tobacco are the stars and it doesn't get any better than this. The throw is long, and lasts forever, and it is sexy, confident and simply gorgeous.

[awesomeoverlord]

This is...odd. Very dry and woody vanilla, not sweet in the slightest, with an almost nutty metallic kind of tinge to it. The tobacco is nowhere to be seen. I'm a bit disappointed, truth be told -- I was fully expecting to love this one. I think maybe it's the teakwood and oak that are just failing to wow me. Ah, well...

[sunshinedaisybliss]

To me this is a beautiful, dark and rich. Teak and black vanilla are the major players until hints of tobacco creep in. It reminds me of Haloes and Black lace, you just know that this is going to age wonderfully. While oak is prevalent, teak, vanilla and tobacco are the stars and it doesn't get any better than this. The throw is long, and lasts forever, and it is sexy, confident and simply gorgeous.

 

Ayup.. couldn't have said it better myself.

 

I think it's not quite as rich and deep as Haloes, but it's definitely got the same sort of vibe. There's a top note in this that's a bit sharp - probably the tobacco - it's not sharp or strong, but it's.. uhm.. shiny? Yeah, shiny. The black vanilla isn't sweet, but it's heady with the oak rumbling around in there, on me it has a slight honey feel to it but my skin is weird like that - it likes to convert everything to honey.

 

A lovely blend, it will be interesting to see what this does with some further aging. I think this has a lot more to reveal, much like its namesake.

 

Fab label too!