Titus Andronicus

[sofiaviolet]

Dark musk and black amber with frankincense, red sandalwood, neroli and bergamot.

It's bergamot and sandalwood in the imp. The frankincense comes through on my skin. I can't really smell any neroli, which is good because I usually don't like it. I smell very little musk, either.

[Tess]

Dark, dark, dark. From the notes, this is one dark scent. Not usually my cup of tea, but who knows.

 

In the vial - This is fantastic... I'm getting mostly the dark musk sweetened a bit by amber with a large kick of bergamont.

 

Wet - Bergamont go poof, but the frankincense came out nicely to play with the not quite so sweet amber and musk.

 

Drying - The bergamont is on the way back! Joy! I am having joygasms here over this. It's very true to the scent in the vial with the added layer of smokey incense underneath. If this stays true when it dries, we have a winner!

 

Dry (1 hour) - It's much more dry than before, heavy on the incense, but it still has that lovely amber+musk and just a touch of bergamont on the edges.

 

Overall - This is the perfect scent for a leather corset, a glass of red wine and a sly smile at a targeted lover. While the wet stages are by far my favorite, the dry isn't bad. This is a bottle scent for me with experiments in scent lockets. Very fitting for the powerful man it's named after.

[PilotKitten]

Very dark musk with a heavy overtone of the red sandalwood. Too much musk and wood for me though.

[almeda]

First Sniff: Butter & spices.

On: Floral and ... citrus? Sweetness, anyway. How odd.

Dry: Now it's musk and sandalwood. It's weird, no note is remaining from one stage to the next, yet.

Long-Term: I like it -- sandalwood and musk, with a little teasing now-there, now-not floral floating overtop.

[theseagrows]

omfg i love this. it's like a deeper, darker more complex haunted on my skin. i get lots of black musk and amber with touches of neroli and bergamot. thankfully i cant smell the frankincense at all! i may need a big bottle of this.

[Rock Geisha]

In the bottle: Neroli, you are all over the place. I guess this is my confirmation that I amp neroli.

 

Wet: The neroli backs down a bit due to competition from the bergamot.

 

Drydown: It dries down into a musky bergamot with a light sprinkling of sandalwood. I don't smell the amber or frankincense.

[Reinaluna]

Titus Andronicus: I love It! It is similar to Haunted but with more throw and stays longer. I will get me a bottle soon.

[Trish]

I started testing this without looking at the notes, and since it was a frimp I had no idea what was in it.

 

In the imp: frankincense and something sharper, almost green?

 

Wet: Frankincense and sandalwood. Damn I love both of them!

 

Drydown: Oh wow, this is gorgeous! The frankincense is becoming softer, and I'm sure there's musk in this along with a little floral. Soft musky frankincense and sandalwood with a little floral.

 

Dry: The floral is really coming out now. I'm not a fan of florals but I like this one. It's familiar but I can't quite place it.

 

5 minutes later: Oh CRAP!! It's going powdery. Amber no doubt...

 

*checks notes* Yep. Amber. *sigh* And neroli which I do like. But now it's just floral baby powder.

 

This is a swap sadly, because I did so love it for about 20 minutes.

[jade_starlight]

Oh, this is nice. The amber and the sandalwood are nice and warm, but still sort of soft. It's definitely a unisex scent, but not too masculine. I like it, a lot, and am very happy that the lab decided that I needed to sniff it.

[crain]

I got this as a frimp in a swap, and I was so excited to try it as it has been on my want list for a while. In the imp, I can smell bergamot and spices. On my skin, it is all baby powder. Obviously, not too masculine, but girlie, powdery and fresh. I was hoping this would be a keeper, but alas, I will pass it along to a new home!

[filigree_shadow]

Of the masculine blends in Illyria, I think this one is my favorite. Not because it smells great on me (on my skin it goes powdery from the amber and too sweet from the frankincense) but because it smells good on my husband. The sandalwood stays nice and dry, the bergamot sweetens it up, and the dark musk gives it a wonderful depth.

 

It makes me think of a rogue-ish character, someone you shouldn't necessarily trust because underneath the flash and glamor lurks a dark heart.

[asciident]

Wet: Spicy musk and citrus. A little cologne-like.

 

First on: Frankincense and sandalwood are coming out to play with the spicy musk. The neroli and bergamot are a bit drowned out.

 

Dry: It's citrus baby powder. What happened? I want the first on stage back...

[girlyghoul]

This was a frimp for me, so I had no idea what to expect.

 

It was very strong and sharp in the vial. Once on it almost instantly turned to powder on me. What's werid is when I was a little girl I had a locket with a perfume cream inside and it smelled exactly like that! So I had a bit of nostalgia for a while. Overall I think it's nice, but I don't like it on me.

I'm surprised so many folks said they got a citrus smell, because I never got that. There was a sporty Right Guard undertone, which is very strange because again it overall reminded me of a perfume in a little girl's locket.

I need to grab a guy friend and see how it smells on him.

[storme]

In the imp: sweet amber and musk and woods.

 

On me, wet: ah, the frankincense, I can sense you powdering away in there, behind the sweet soft woods and musk.

 

On me, dry: wow, frankincense with neroli and bergamot is not making my nose happy. Wurgh, citrus sherbet explosion in my nose.

 

Verdict: Off, off, off! Not one for my skin.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is heavy frankincense, amber and musk...

 

once applied...good heavens!...this turns into a sperm scent *gag*...you know what i mean

 

thanks be to the powers that "sperminess" calms down after 10 minutes or so...

(for the record, i have discovered that fresh cut grass in heat and humidity makes

that sperm scent apparent)...not that i have anything against, well...you know...nuff said

 

a powdery incense after all is said and done; the neroli is phenomenal...i cannot believe how much i

love this after application and the wait ... i definitely need a big bottle ... i am

a frankincense fanatic so this must be what tempers the blend...

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Black musks and black amber--although I almost get an effect that reminds me of the ambergris in Hellfire. I'm quite keen on how this smells in the imp.

 

Wet: Bergamot! This is, of course, completely different from Severin, where the bergamot is buttressed by the lemon. Here the bergamot is a citrusy outgrowth of the black amber. Honestly, I'm really pleased with how this is proceeding in the wet stage--this scent has been on my W/l for almost two years, and the reason I kept on putting it off was disaster after disappointment with black amber. This actually reminds me a bit of Haunted.

 

Drydown and wear: This basically dries down to black amber and bergamot with a hint of "red" in the background. I'm not entirely sure what to do with the scent in terms of how I feel about a bottle, but I do like the imp and I'm glad I have the scent.

[maribouquet]

News flash: my nose is officially crazy!

 

The drydown on Titus Andronicus smells like herbal coconut to me. I also thought there might be sage in it. Whaa? I can only guess that it must be the black amber &/or neroli that smells sweet to me...and the 'sage' smell? Eh. WHO KNOWS?

 

Anyhow, it is nice. Not calling to me at the moment, but nicely balanced and not too masculine on me.

[euterpe414]

Wow I really loving this one! It's really smooth and sexy, with the amber definitely in the forefront. In fact, the amber in this is amped so much on my skin that it reminds me a lot of The Lion, but a much less spicy version of it. As it dries, the frankincense, sandalwood and musk come out a bit. I don't ever get a lot of bergamot, which is sad, but not too sad since I am really enjoying this anyway. Perhaps it is lending some depth to the amber. I would definitely call this a unisex blend. It lasts and lasts and is definitely going straight to my bottle wishlist! I'm in looove.

Edited August 18, 2007 by euterpe414

[lamenteuse]

in the bottle: Not as strong and powerful as I had hoped. I can smell the musk, and the spice, and it's warm and kind of sexy. I like it!

 

on (wet): the spice starts dying instantly....I wonder....

 

on (dry): bah! powder! what a waste.

 

verdict: I wanted to wear this and love this, but i cannot. i guess this has to end up in the swap pile. If it worked, I would worn this all the time. it smells wonderful in the bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Musky, amber and sandalwood. Smells slightly incensey.

 

On Skin: Is there wine in this? I get something that smells slightly boozy and the sandalwood is very prominent

 

On Drydown: Powdery musky sandalwood

 

Verdict: Very older gentleman on me, but I think that's because the amber is very powdery on me in this blend. Definitely makes me think of Anthony Hopkins in Titus. Strong, old, regal.

[aquazoo]

Ooooohhhhh, yeah! Dusty, spicy and complicated. Just like my men. I wish I could sniff this one forever! Again, just like...

[500ml]

A disappointing one for me. It starts off with a lot of neroli, which I truly don't mind at all, it's light and a bit sweet. Then it starts to morph into... oranges? Hmm. I'm starting to figure out that this blend just isn't doing anything for me, I'm left feeling quite unimpressed by it. Even the final appearance of the amber does nothing to change my mind, Titus and I were simply not meant to be.

[angelslurry]

I'm a bit nonplussed because I've been wearing this once every few weeks, and while it started out dark and incense-y as I usually like, with only a mildly powdery dry-down, with each wear the sandalwood seems to take over and go to (that dreaded!) baby powder sooner and sooner. No other scents I've worn lately seem to have changed so drastically, so I'm left wondering what in my skin chemistry is "getting used to" what note or note-pairing that's doing this.

[idoru]

GoodNESS. Seems like I was halfway through page 3 before any of the ladies said they liked Titus on their own skin!

 

I am female. I don't usually like 'masculine' scents. I adore Titus Andronicus.

(My skin plays well with ambers and musks, so I don't have to worry about 'turns to powder' or 'omg too sweet'.)

 

Titus is hard to describe, for me. It's a very balanced blend, deliciously clean [neroli/bergamot] -- but dark -- with a hint of smokiness. Early on it's brighter, more citrus-y, but by the time it fades, I get this gorgeous hint of autumn woodsmoke over the dark amber and musk. So, so good.

 

I'd say Titus is certainly unisex, and would smell wonderful on a man, but it doesn't smell masculine on my skin at all. It could last a little longer -- I usually reapply after 5-6h -- but it's so very worth it.

[MaidenGenevive]

Titus Andronicus

 

Warm, with faint hints of sweetness, citrus and pine. It's refreshing, yet round with a zesty kick.

 

[4 - Really Like] I enjoy the layered complexity of this scent.