Sachs

[orata]

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

Pure, herbal/bitter/flowery chamomile tea. I don't get much vanilla out of this one at all. I like the smell of chamomile, and I might have liked this more had it not arrived in my mailbox right around the same time as Against Idleness and Mischief, which is chamomile and honey, and won a handy victory over Sachs in the inadvertent chamomile deathmatch because I love BPAL's honey note.

[biocarolyn]

Wow, this is a stunner. So much more than the sum of its parts! In the bottle, it is strongly chamomile with sweet vanilla underneath, all herbal and sharp. Then the bourbon vanilla appears on my skin, strongly alcoholic and pushing the chamomile around, which is definitely still perceptible. As it dries and wears, there is a warm smokiness that appears over time. The sweetness tempers, and everything smells well blended and good . This is a keeper, for sure.

[puellacaerulea]

In the bottle, Sachs is pretty much all chamomile, with a bit an odd, almost medicinal sweetness behind it (the bourbon vanilla, maybe?). Once it's on, my skin starts amping the vanilla like whoa, which balances out the heavy chamomile notes and makes that odd quasi-medicinal note go away. As the Lab's description suggests, it doesn't have a whole lot of throw. It does, however, have plenty of staying power -- a good 12 hours after putting it on, I can still smell it on my wrists. I quite like this -- it's warm, a bit sexy, but without overpowering sweetness. To me, it seems like a more understated version of O (one of my favorites, but not one I can wear on an everyday basis with all that honey).

[Eliyetres]

Fortunatley I don't get much chamimile at all from this, but a lot of soft, musky vanilla and a whiff of citrus. Wow, I love this one!

This is also GREAT to layer with Violens.

[Monster]

WOWOWOWOW! This...is...STUNNING! I was afraid this was going to turn to candle vanilla on my skin but it's a sweet, lightly herbal vanilla perfume that hugs close to my body. As it dries, this turns to a simple, dusty vanilla.

The description is perfect and so are the notes for the names of his perfume. Sex in a bottle! This is certainly a sensuousness scent. I will be obtaining an additional bottle in the future.

[Monday]

Much to my surprise I do not like this scent at all!

I think the culprit is the roman chamomile because I do like the chamomile in Against Idleness and Mischief. Sachs is a cloying sweet bitter herbal chamomile on my skin. Do not want!

[yakiguri]

Rather than sensual, Sachs on my skin comes off as a clean, and dare I say it--antiseptic--vanilla. It indeed sticks close to the skin, but the chamomile occasionally slips into a sharpness that bites my nose, and not in a good way. I'll keep my decant but forgo getting a bottle.

[ND¢]

Been wanting this one for years, and finally took the plunge. Opened the bottle: underwhelmed. A weird, loud synthetic herb mishmash that is hard to describe. Drying down I didn't think this would work (spoiler: now I think it will)-- the vanilla smelled artificial, the chamomile smelled wrong; I was sad. But now as it's dried, about twenty minutes later maybe, it's a true vanilla with the chamomile adding an authentic layer of complexity to what I feared would smell like generic artificial vanilla flavoring. It isn't an immediate YES on me like it was for so many people because a bad wet stage is hard for me to swallow, but the end product merits more chances. It's reminiscent of Snake Oil some, of a brasher Snow White a tiny bit, like Sachs is Snow White's hard-knocks cousin.

 

ETA: The smokiness comes out after a while, almost as I need to apply more (eaten by skin like sponge in Sahara Desert.) Mmm. Okay, winner.

Edited December 12, 2012 by ND¢

[kolibri]

Decant, purchased from Venus Starfire. Preceded by Delight and Consternation.

 

 

In the imp: Sugary. There's a sharpish note that's not quite green, not quite spice, so I'm thinking that's the Roman chamomile. It reminds me of conventional cologne somewhat, but only because of the depth and subtle complexity of its unified scent.

 

Wet: Sweet apple and vanilla sugar, but again, there's that cologne-like note.

 

Dry: This is hard to describe, it's so well-blended. It's still sweet and vanilla-y, but it's also skin-scented, and it's not my skin.

 

 

Overall: I have to give props to the lab - this was like wearing someone else's physical smell, and the skill it would take to replicate something like that just boggles my mind. To be honest, it smells so much like someone else, that I'm creeped out wearing it... I should smell like me - even wearing perfume, I have my own indigenous scent, and this does an amazing job of re-scenting me completely.

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Straight-up chamomile.

 

On skin, wet: Still mostly chamomile, but maybe with a hint of vanilla.

 

On skin, dry: The chamomile has faded to the background and this is now mainly smoky. No sweetness, and I don't smell *vanilla*, per se, just smokiness.

 

After an hour: And the chamomile is entirely gone, leaving this as just a smoky scent. It's nice, but doesn't stand out from other smoky blends for me.

[Acayde]

Bottle: Sharp chamomile and strong vanilla

 

Wet: Creamy fruit (light bananas?) and vanilla

 

Dry: Creamy and warm vanilla. Not foody, but soft, sweet, warm and comforting. Does not last long.

Evokes images of: A fall or winter dusk during a blackout. The room is illuminated with the light yellow glow of vanilla-scented candles. Sitting on the couch and bundled up in down blanket, mindlessly rolling a ball of the warm vanilla wax with your fingers while reading by candlelight.

 

Note: Tried this again, the smell still disappears after about 10 minutes, then I can only catch it if I smash my nose against my wrist...which I do...with no shame. Oh, how I wish this lasted longer!

Edited August 7, 2013 by Acayde

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: My first thoughts - sweet and heavenly. This has a very sweet scent, which makes sense, since two of the three notes are vanilla.

 

Wet on skin: I hate to say it, but suddenly there seems something very off on this scent. I think it may be the chamomile, souring the vanilla.

 

Dried down: This dried very quickly into my skin and almost disappeared. There's a faint hint of something, but I can't really tell what. After a while, the vanilla comes back a lot stronger again. Hmmm.

 

Throw: Almost none at first. After about five minutes, though, I've got a light vanilla cloud around me, with a hint of chamomile around the edges. This is much better.

 

Verdict: *** It got knocked down to three stars for that funky wet stage, but I think I'm going to have to try this again before sticking it in the swap pile, especially since I do love that vanilla throw.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I've never smelled Roman chamomile before, but vanilla bean and bourbon vanilla are two of my love muffin notes, so we'll see what happens!

 

Wet: Pretty vanilla with a green floral tinge.

 

Dry down: The smoky vanilla comes out to play and elevates the whole scent to a fabulous level. The greenness calms down and becomes a little more floral, and the whole thing is just lovely.

 

Dry: That smoky vanilla is still the star player here and works beautifully with the floral chamomile. Phenomenal.

 

Final thoughts: I do believe I've found a new favorite. I'm a sucker for vanilla scents, and this one is very different than anything I have in my collection currently. The staying power is decent (around 5 hours), the throw is low. Love this!

 

Verdict: Keeping, potential backup bottle.

[bellumed]

To me, Sachs exists perfectly at the intersection between sexy and comforting. Like a cute mom or an attractive, friendly nurse. No-nonsense herbal chamomile softened up by pretty vanilla. My only complaint would be that this one is very light, at least to my nose, and I have trouble finding it a few minutes after applying.

[MiasmaResonance]

In the bottle, upon cold sniff, it is smoky chamomile DOOM! Sharp but smoky...

 

On the skin, it's a 'WTF AM I?' battle of chamomile vs vanilla. But thankfully it calms down after a few minutes into sweet, dusky vanilla with a hint of more marshmallowy but still a tinge green chamomile. Now THIS I like, not it's very sharp initial stage though. I do think this will age very well though, and thus calm down.

Edited August 12, 2014 by MiasmaResonance

[aiobhan]

Initially, it's sugary and vanilla and there's an almost medicinal scent to it. After it warms up it gets more smoky, the sugar dies down a bit, and the vanilla darkens. Now that it's been a few hours I can barely smell it at all - just a touch of vanilla.

[bulletslc]

This starts out with the apple/ floral blast of chamomile. I find chamomile soothing so this doesnt phase me. On drying down the vanillas come out and seamlessly blend with the chamomile becoming a soft floral vanilla. This is one of my "keep by the bed" bottles because it helps sooth me to sleep if im anxious.

[Missy_killer]

In the imp: What? What is that? It doesn't smell like any of the listed notes... Very sweet and almost green. Fruity? Floral?

 

On: Slightly smokey and still quite sweet. I smell more chamomile than vanilla. It's kind of like a non-woody Araña. It's odd that I find this "fresh" even though it's certainly smokey. And it does not smell like sour camp fire either! After a little while it almost has a soapy feel to it. The vanilla seems to be shy, it only came forward for a couple of seconds.

 

It goes a little buttery for a couple of seconds and then it smells heavenly! Like Lush's American Cream!

 

It stays very close to the skin and doesn't have the best staying power.

[Soupy Twist]

Something weird and bitter in the bottle — maybe the chamomile? I get a little leather, then something which smells like cherry tobacco (as in chewing tobacco). No vanilla at all. And then it's gone. Quite disappointing; this sounded so good on paper.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: A little bitter and medicinal at first. The vanilla is sweet underneath. There is something about this that reminds me of laundry. It might be the dreaded dryer-sheet effect, this weird thing vanilla sometimes does on me.

 

Dry: A very clean, sweet vanilla. The chamomile is non-existent on me once dry. I had thought this might make a relaxing bedtime scent for me, but I just don't think I can wear this at all. Too close to dryer sheets on me. Sad Panda.

[Happicuppa]

In the bottle: Herbal vanilla, very 'green' and sweet for a moment.

 

On wet: Still very chamomile, but the vanilla comes out as it begins to dry.

 

Drydown: Ahh there's the smokey vanilla, a little bourbon, and behind it a mild chamomile that balances it and keeps it from being too sweet. The chamomile gives it a skin-hugging dusky quality and I love it.

 

Even better, my husband likes it too!

Status: Buy a 2nd bottle

 

Edit: revisiting to say that this could definitely be a daily signature scent. Very subtly sexy.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Happicuppa

[Teamama]

A little sneezy in the bottle; I guess that's the chamomile. Still tickles my nose while wet. One it's started to dry though, it's all lovely creamy vanilla. Perfect for layering. Very low throw, medium wear.

[rachelos]

I like this, I find it calming, but I might use the whole bottle up before the week is through, because it's just not potent enough. the chamomile note is medicinal, but overpowered by vanilla, which isn't smoky in the least. I'll finish the bottle and enjoy it, but I wanted something with a little more boost.

[doomsday_disco]

In my early BPAL days, I received a sniffie of this, but I hadn't actually been able to try it until recently.

I tested this twice, and both times, Sachs was a vanilla-forward scent on me. I got much more vanilla than chamomile, and I am not sure if that's just due to my skin chemistry or the perfume's age (I am not sure how old it is). It's mostly bourbon vanilla and vanilla bean on me, and the vanilla bean just has a touch of smoke (which I'm happy about, because I had expected it to be a smokier vanilla from that sniffie I once received). The chamomile is present, but content with its background role. I'd say Against Idleness and Mischief has more chamomile in it than Sachs, but again, that could just be because of my skin chemistry or the age of the oil (since I see other reviews mentioned the chamomile being medicinal, and it's not like that on me at all).

I am thrilled to have gotten to try this. It's another unimpable GC win on me, and definitely bottle-worthy! Now I just hope that, whenever I do get a bottle, it will be just as awesome as the scent in this decant...

Edited February 22, 2019 by doomsday_disco