Old Man Ackerman's Instructional Toys

[Dark Alice]

Educational toys for tots! Learn non-Euclidean calculus, catoptric theory, quantum physics, and the mysteries of Elder magic the fun way! An ancient baetylus floating within an array of bizarre trapezoidal figures, glimmering tubes, rusting spheres, and whirling gogs formed from peculiar metals, glowing tektites, strangely suspended lead mirrors, and eerie driftings of meteoric dust.

Wet-Bright shiny golden metallic toys. That is exactly what this smells like. There is a hint of citrus in this....swirling around in the oil...but dead on this is a light golden metal. As it dries....it turns a little cologney...but not manly cologne and it becomes quite clean..... It's quite nice. I think a little aging will help tone it down a little. Also as it dries...it gets lighter but it does have a good throw.

[Xanon]

In the imp this smells a lot like a new vial of Tweedledee... but perhaps a little less fruit-loops-esque.

 

Wet: this could seriously be a cousin to Tweedledee. All the citrus and fun, but there is something that makes the go a little cologney. It almost smells aquatic, maybe its the metal.

 

Dry: citrus clean cologne. It's nice, though nothing like I had anticipated.

 

The throw on this is not all that strong, which is fine as I don't like when I amp too much with the cologne scents. (If I go masculine, I want to be spicy) Overall I like this, but not enough for a bottle. Great scent, just not really something that would get much use. This just came today... got to decanter on Monday and to me today (Wednesday), so this may change as it settles. But I am sure that people are anxious to read reviews.

 

 

[Venneh]

This is probably my biggest risk with the decants, but it sounds hella interesting. In the decant, it's very gold, metallic, and a bit soapy. On my skin, this is lemon wood polish. ...Bwa? This is metallic lemon wood polish on me, and just worlds of no. Swaps/sales.

[angelicruin]

Sharp metallic right after application. Develops a citrus-like scent shortly thereafter (common on my skin with metal notes).

 

Stays sharp and metallic through drydown. Interesting blend, but nothing I would reach for regularly

 

 

[Prism]

in the bottle - citrus, but not lemon. I get orange out of this more than that. Oil and metal. Orange, Oil, Metal. A little dust.

wet - about the same, more metallic and oil than citrus. I'm having a really hard time describing this. Golden is a good "color" for it. though.

dry - spiced oranges? I..must be nuts. I get spiced oranges. on metal. lots of metal.

 

Interesting. definately interesting. but nothing I'd reach for regularly as someone else said.

 

Rating - 5/10 (debating 5 and 6 heavily here).

 

I think I"ll keep it and retest/wear later and see what i think.

[patina]

Freshly applied: Oh, my. This smells like lemon dishwashing soap. I bet one of Mr. Ackerman's toys involves bubbles. Ginger slowly becomes apparent.

 

Dried: This isn't soap at all. In fact it's a lemony honeydew melon. There's some ginger and just possibly wood-shavings below, but this is overwhelmingly HONEYDEW. (Or possibly canteloupe.)

 

I'm just not sure about this one.

 

(Edit: Occasionally, I do get something that could be lemon pledge, but this still smells more melony than lemony to me. And then it turns glassy, shiny, cologny...hmm?)

Edited December 2, 2009 by patina

[bLissKite]

old man ackerman can take his, uh, toys and his instructions and go home. i'm no admirer. on me, it's the most chemical-drenched version of irish spring bar soap imaginable. thick with deodorizing ack. greeny green slippery palmolive dishsoap. floofy leprechaunical laundry detergent. zest fully clean. you get the idea. too bad, so sad.

[Altaira]

Since metal, furniture polish, and dust is what I was expecting from this, it didn't disappoint.

 

Wet, the lemon polish smell is very prominent. As it dries the metallic and dust scents come forward. Not sure this is something I would reach for all that often, but I do like it quite a bit.

[papermaker]

This keeps flip flopping on my skin... metal- lemon, lemon-metal. No clue where the lemon comes from. It dries down to shiny new toys that were polished with lemon.

[Little Bird]

I agree with Xanon that this reminds me of Tweedledee. In the bottle and on my skin at first, it smells like Tweedledee is splashing about in a tub full of lemony dish soap. As it dries down, it's less Tweedledee and more of a soft, honeyed orange note and fluffy soap bubbles. It actually smells a lot like Possets' "California" blend on me. Soft, honeyed orange splashing around in a bubble bath. After an hour, I get a little hint of bpal's shiny metal note (sort of cool, ozoney soap and cologne), as though the honeyed oranges have emerged from their bubble bath and splashed on a bit of cologne that I don't really care for.

 

This blend just isn't working for me. The citrus is too sweet and mellow, and the blend is overall too soapy and the drydown is too ozoney-sharp.

[Spork]

ACK! Who beat me with that lemon? Phew, at least that phase was quick More of a nice metallic scent after a minute or so, and at about five minutes into dry down is a nice lightly lemon but mostly metallic scent...want to say tin for some reason. This lasts for quite a while, going on six hours now and it's still gently metal with just a hint of lemon.

[musichappens]

The minute I opened the vial I knew this was going to be *very* metallic. I've never tried a scent like this before, so it was definitely fun to try it. That being said, I will not be getting a bottle of this.

[MCS4096]

In addition to the much mentioned citrusy soapness, this also has what I guess it supposed to be a dust note but is what I recognize as a cake or cookie note Yeah.. it's like baking sugar cookies in the background?? It isn't an instant favorite blend for me, but I like the concept so I think I'll keep it around for now!

[zankoku_zen]

Holy crap. I think I love this.

 

For me, this is citrus and ginger ale fizz. With that metallic sort of taste that you get when you first take a sip out of a metal can. My skin typically EATS this in like 15 minutes flat though. There is part of this that reminds me to the Android proto. Not the orangey bits, but the same sort of effervescent metal fizz. Perhaps there is a touch of champagne in here?

 

But yes, I would say citrus (not sure it is lemon, it might be more lime), ginger, metal, and just.... LOVE. :love!:

[Invidiana]

This one was probably the one I was most nervous about out of the Cthul-Yules, but it's not metallic on me at all, just clean and warm and comforting, like warm woods mixed with fabric softener (I love detergent/fabric softener smells). Then again, scents that are supposed to be "metallic" never come out metallic on me anyway, which is why I took the risk, and I'm glad I did.

Edited December 15, 2009 by Invidiana

[tartchef]

Yow, that's metallic at first! I can feel it in my mouth... thin sheets of tin & brass, with a lovely citrus note (yuzu? tangerine? not the usual lemon/orange...). There's a whiff of fabric softener, and for a moment I'm reminded of Wensleydale. The metals fade a bit, & I'm left with the effervescent ginger note that Zankoku_zen is loving, clean laundry & something warm & sweet. I'd swear it was huckleberry with a drop of incense

 

I wasn't sure about Old Man Ackerman at first, but now I'm thinking this will need to be retested in warmer weather... it's a lovely spring sort of scent, minus the typical florals & grass...

[sqwook]

In the bottle: Lemony cleaning fluid, metal, bug spray, grease, & wood

 

On me: Metallic, plus dishwashing soap. And I'm one of those who hates "clean"/soap.

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about the description of this scent so much. (Seriously. It's fantastic writing.) And I guess I'll just go on loving the description without, alas, loving the scent itself.

[Sawasdee]

Bright citrus with bright golden metal. In a few minutes it dries down a little, which does give a slight dusty feel, but not something I would enjoy wearing, as it reminds me of furniture polish.

[aquazoo]

Yeah, not a good start. I get cleaning product. I'm starting to get some interesting things underneath, the dusty gears and such, but still a lot of sharp cleaning liquid overall.

 

[Pottersville]

Like a spike through my head. Must be something from the "metals" because all my nose is picking up is some odd florals and cologne.

[Aldercy]

These instructional toys remind me strongly of Cheshire Cat (a certain sweet grapefruit note) with the odd additions of warm chrome and wet concrete. Slightly steamy and cloudy. Citrusy, thick, and industrial. It's a good conceptual scent, but a bit odd for everyday wear.

[Wildbriar]

Wow, this is one of those oils that seems to be different for almost everybody. Personally, I'm really loving it!

 

Wet on my skin it is a warm, bright, and sunny citrus with a slightly astringent tang (must be the metals) that brightens it and something green/herbal to ground it out. When I wear it in my scent locket it is mostly the fresh citrus with herbs (maybe basil) wafting under my nose. This oil is a real mood lifter, it's been a joy to have in my scent locket all day.

[SpookyBunny]

 

For me this is dusty...citrusy...and a bit gingery.

It makes me think of spring cleaning. For some reason I really like it... I wouldn't wear it out too much, but I would love to sniff it from time to time, and perhaps wear it around the house or before taking a nap. I can't really explain the appeal of this, it is odd and makes you feel like you are somewhere ancient.

[voodoocatwoman]

I love love love this blend!! It does start out incredibly sharp, but it dries down to a gingery orange. It's unique and I like it muchly.

 

ETA: It's three hours later and all I have to say is this: OK, Buster, NOW I know why your name is Ackerman. ACK!! ACK!! I wondered who doused my office with P-U PEW. Wait. It's ME. I coulda sworn I put on perfume from Black Phoenix, not Black Flag! This beautiful blend done turned to BUG SPRAY!!

Edited January 13, 2010 by voodoocatwoman

[Schmoozy]

 

Shimmering, fruity metallics with touches of soapy perfume. I can definitely smell lemon and orange. It's bright, yet at the same time there is this metallic, oily feel to the blend. It has this femine vibe to it, which is surprising - I thought it would be more masculine. Overall a light, uplifting scent.