Sachs

[TheOnliest]

A sensual scent, compelling and passionate, that stays close to the skin: Roman chamomile, bourbon vanilla, and smoky vanilla bean.

Two words: Vanilla Sharpie.

A few more words: After the initial Sharpie-like edge goes away I'm left with a warm, buttery vanilla. For all its warmth and butter I don't get much throw from it, and it's sweet but I'm not finding it sweet enough. I think what's throwing me is that vanilla puts me in the mind of foody and I don't find this foody enough. Or foody in a way I like. Or something.

It's sweet, inoffensive, wears close to my skin, and isn't blowing my mind. Still, it's vanilla and I love vanilla; I'm undecided on whether or not to get a bottle just to see how it ages.

[Jettcat]

I've been looking forward to this one ever since I read the notes and was lucky enough to have a friend to went to the Atlanta WC.

 

In the bottle: Bold vanilla and a leafy note.

 

Wet: Heavenly sweet and the chamomile makes a bold statement, the bourbon note stays in the background.

 

Dry: It's like wearing a Snake Oil Light now, a much lighter quality. I wonder what this will be like after a year or so. I love my aged Snake Oil, this might be orgasmic as it settles.

[pinkusmaximus]

I bought this bottle on a whim, knowing full well that chamomile can be a hit-or-miss note on my skin. Some chamomile is lovely--herbal, clean, warm, and comforting. Other chamomile notes can smell sharp, masculine, even dirty on my skin--and I don't care for those. I thought the vanilla note in Sachs made this one worth trying, and I'm so glad I did--I adore this blend.

 

This is my favorite chamomile--strong, but not overpowering, and not even really identifiable, at least not to me. If I didn't know the notes and you asked me to describe what I smell when I apply this to my skin, I'd only be able to say, "herbal vanilla." To me, neither note dominates. They blend together beautifully into a warm, feminine, gentle fragrance that smells like my skin, only much, much better.

 

I think I'll wear this at bedtime or on rainy "staying on the couch" days. It's utterly comforting and girly without being babyish or too sleepy. Love.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Decant: mostly chamomile in the container

Wet on Me: okay some of the bourbon vanilla comes out now

Drying Down: This is mellowing out into a sweet but not sugary sweet scent.

Dry: Light and pleasant. Very glad I got a chance to try this one out!

 

[lilacea]

Close to the skin is right, this is almost barely perceptable after about half an hour. It does seem to dissapear and leave a trace of just clean skin scent behind, kind of like a "you, only better" smell. The initial vanilla is sweet and very close to a sticky, just cut into vanilla pod type vanilla, with that sweet heaviness. Not too smokey. There's a touch of a caramel like vanilla too. The chammomile is understated, but uniquely herbal, gives off a swet sage like impression. It is indeed a perfume of few ingredients, not much, if at all of those hiden and undisclosed notes. Faintest ever skin musk on the dry down, or that could just be my own body musk. The vanilla is threatening to turn plasticy if I apply a lot of oil, but never quite makes it into the full on plasticy burnt vanilla it sometimes can. This is the sort of thing you'd wear when you didn't want anyone to know that you were wearing perfume, but still wanted to smell nice.

[Suusje]

I was a bit worried at first about the bourbon vanilla making it too heavy, but Sachs starts out as a quite heavy chamomile, a bit sharp even. When it dries down the vanilla comes out and keeps the chamomile in check. And it's lovely. Nice and soft and just pretty.

[wl552]

Decided to take a break from testing Weenies today and try Sachs. In a word: WOW!!

 

For about a minute, it's mostly some sort of sweet fruit, but once that goes, it's a wonderful, lovely, beautiful, awesome, rich, warm sensual scent. The vanilla isn't vanilla-y at all, it's so much more than that. I'm having trouble describing it, but I know one thing. I'm in love. I wish like crazy I could afford a bottle, 'cause this just shot up to my top ten list right quick.

[mejuxtaposed]

NOM.

 

All golden bourbony vanilla goodness.

 

I get an initial whiff of herby chamomile when first applied, but that quickly leaves and I'm just left with a rich vanilla. Its not a plain whispery vanilla. Its an OMFG eat me nao vanilla. The bourbon quaility makes it richer and deeper and so so so good. It does stay close to the skin, and lasts only a couple of hours on me, but I do not mind slathering this one on.

 

Besides, who doesn't want to smell like a whip weidling, sexy temptress, vigilante?

Edited October 5, 2009 by mejuxtaposed

[goblinshark]

I love this one. On me it is vanilla with a hint of ... pineapple? and booziness.

[voodoocatwoman]

Sachs starts out screaming CHAMOMILE but soon shuts up and lets the vanilla through. It is very subtle after all the screeching stops and I realize that I need a refreshing of scent after just a few hours.

 

If you can get past the shouting in the beginning, Sachs is quite lovely.

[Venneh]

Got this as a decant in a recent swap, eager to test this. In the decant, this is vanilla with a slight fruity tone to it, and it's the same on my skin. Intriguing. It mellows out to this interesting blend of vanillas with what I'm pretty sure is a chamomile undertone. It does stay close to the skin, but I likes. Definite bottle, and plus I think it's off backorder now.

Edited October 11, 2009 by Venneh

[naeelah]

Ha, I forgot that "stays close to the skin" was actually in the description of this. That's why I chose this scent to wear today -- I wanted something that was be soft and skin-like.

 

When it first goes on, it's very strong on vanilla. It honestly smells a little bit artificial. It reminds me strongly of Love's Philosophy, only with the chamomile providing the odd herbal tone instead of sharp saffron.

 

As it dries, though, everything balances beautifully. The chamomile is very light and sweet, much more like a cup of herbal tea than a nose full of dried flowers. It, of course, smells like chamomile, but it isn't as overwhelmingly hay-like as actual chamomile. I don't care for the scent of the dried flowers themselves, but in this perfume, it's lovely.

 

Dry, it's soft, golden, and round: warm vanilla (which now smells quite like an actual vanilla bean and NOT like artificial flavoring) anchoring the scent to the skin, with light chamomile floating above.

 

I really don't get much sense of smoke from it at this point. A little, but not in such a way that my memory of the scent is smoky. I expect this aspect will develop as the bottle ages. (Obviously, this scent can only get better and better!)

 

The only down side is that the scent fades rather quickly. It was basically gone after a few hours. However, it's beautiful, and probably my favorite vanilla blend so far. It's warm and sensual without being as overtly sexy as something like Snake Oil, and the vanilla doesn't call attention to itself as a food scent. Really the perfect all-purpose fragrance. If you're a vanilla fan, or think you'd like a chamomile perfume, you should definitely give Sachs a try.

 

ETA: with a few months of aging, the smokiness is now more noticeable. The vanilla is richer and more complex and I can smell the smoked aspect. Also, the scent lasts much longer on the skin. I'd even say it has extremely good wear life now. The chamomile is still vibrant and has not faded away, to my nose, it's just better matched by the vanilla.

Edited February 17, 2010 by naeelah

[jade_starlight]

This is a very soft sweet vanilla, with a hint of something maybe a little powdery on me, that does indeed stay very close to the skin. It's a very comforting scent, and would probably work (at least on me) as a scent to put on before bed.

[Schmoozy]

 

 

Sachs is an immediate winner. Right off the bat it is BAM! CHAMOMILE! Right in your face. It is sweet and sorta herbally. However, after a few minutes the chamomile relaxes slightly leaving the barest whisper of scent. The vanilla is kinda boozy, but really sweet and combined with cham, just clings to your skin. The description is bang on. This is one scent that only you and your most intimate partner will smell. It is soft, calming, and just stunning.

[bellis]

I looooooooooooove this. This is what I wish my skin smelled like all the time. And honestly, I drink so much honey vanilla chamomile tea in the winter, I'm surprised this scent doesn't ooze out of my pores naturally. Anyway, this is perfectly balanced chamomile and soft warm vanilla on me. I need a bottle. Kind of as soon as possible.

[MCS4096]

When it first goes on it does have a herbal bite to it that's questionable.. but it very quickly dries to a straight up, lovely, subtle vanilla. Simple and gorgeous, great for those days when you just want to smell nice but not necessarily exciting

[milo]

This is a very beautiful smoky vanilla with a touch of herby chamomile. Unfortuneately, I can hardly smell it after a few minutes. I sure hope it gets stronger with a bit of cellaring, because it really is quite beautiful.

[rayvn1]

I was so sure this would be the bees-knees on me with favorites like bourbon vanilla and smoky vanilla bean. So maybe it's the chamomile that drags this down? I usually like chamomile though It's hard to say why this isn't fantastic on me. It's good. It's nice, but it doesn't blow me away as i thought it would. I'm going to let my decant age and see what happens. Maybe she just needs a little time.

[Wench457]

I loooooove this! The chamomile gives it a bitter edge that perfectly balances the richness of the vanilla. And it lasts forever on me too! The vanilla is that lovely, smoky vanilla too. It reminds me a lot of my Vanilla Bean SN. I hope it ages as well as the VBSN too, because I plan to stock up on this baby.

[silver_springs]

Ok I'll admit that I am a huge comic book fangirl and even though I had only heard about Sachs and Violens (the characters), I was definitely going to try these two regardless of the notes. And also there was no way my fiance was going to get out of trying Violens, but that's for the other review of course. So I impulsively bought the set.

 

 

Reading the notes I thought this scent could go either way. On one hand bourbon vanilla: delicious! I cannot deny I love the boozy scents. On the other hand so far nothing with the words "smoky" has ever liked me.... til now!

 

Wow, wow, wow I'm in love. This is sensual and soft and warm and all things smelly goodness.

 

In Bottle/Wet: All chamomile with slight vanilla background. Quite lovely, I've always liked the smell of chamomile and it's very creamy in this scent.

 

Dry: Mmmm... The absolutel perfect amount of both chamomile which comes out first and then the intoxicating boozy vanilla. Sexy and sweet at the same time.

 

I didn't get any of the strong herbal scent some others mentioned. Honestly it reminds me more of Snow White (another favorite of mine) than Snake Oil but I can see the comparison to Snake Oil too. It is a lighter scent but that can be good sometims. This was a wonderful blend, I am so glad I took a chance on a bottle and when I get some extra money I think I'll purchase a back-up. I can see myself wearing this often, it's a really nice go-to scent for any occasion.

 

[scarletgenesis]

In the bottle, this is bourbon vanilla with an almost woodsy incense smell....

 

Once on, the vanilla becomes both softer and more complex, and the chamomile/herbaly nature comes out.

 

This is really soft and sexy. Just beautiful.

[AEris]

The chamomile really dominates this scent on me. It smells powdery, herbal, and floral. The vanilla isn't making much of an effort, it's soft and quiet and is sticking to the background. The vanilla note reminds me of Antique Lace.

I was hoping for more vanilla and less chamomile, but sadly my chemistry doesn't seem to be cooperating. : -( Oh well!

[thewondersmith]

Lemony vanilla. Similar to Dorian, without the overwhelming sugar note. Once wet, the lemon fades, leaving a creamy vanilla scent with soft chamomile. This is really delicious, and a gorgeous snuggly scent, but I wish it had more throw.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

On my skin, this is quite herbal when wet but that softens up a bit once it dries. I'm left with a somewhat sharp chamomile, a slight hint of vanilla and a wispy smoke - I was expecting this to be rich and heady with its bourbon vanilla and smoky vanilla bean, so I'm disappointed - those are usually two of my favourite things. Everything here is very very soft but the chamomile is too dominant for my liking.

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Really lovely chamomile, sweet and slightly 'smoked'. Already I can see a similarity to Dorian.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied -Dorian, but no lemon, no musk, more vanilla, and a stronger tea. Less sweet, lots of chamomile. Vanilla is definitely present on me, in it's dark and woodsy incarnation. I don't get anything foody, too sweet, floral, or fruity. I've yet to smell this much vanilla in a BPAL blend, I used to think it just melted away into my skin--but whatever this one is, is gorgeous. Dorian is a tea-musk on me, mostly, and with Snake Oil I get nary a bit of vanilla, it's all just powder and musk. If you have a similar reaction to Snake Oil's (assumed) vanilla component, and you think that your chemistry might just screw with/eat the Lab's vanilla, you might want to try Sachs out.

 

Dry, on Skin - It's worn well on my skin for about 4-5 hours now, and it has a pretty decent throw. I've had some real luck with Sachs! It's chamomile and this rich vanilla, all the way through. I'll definitely be picking up a bottle before this one goes away for good.