Andreiphontes

[ami226]

Tonka, benzoin, black sandalwood, and nutmeg.

On the skin: Slightly sweet, yet.... dry. There is something here though, that doesn't smell quite right. I might have to try this again because I feel like I should love this scent.

[fairestrocza]

In the Bottle: a fairly light scent; I can smell the benzoin

 

Wet on Skin: very unassuming

 

While Drying: I'm picking up the sandalwood, and maybe the tonka. Not really picking up nutmeg or benzoin initially, though a bit of benzoin starts to pick up as it dries.

 

After a Little While: This is sexy in a non-overt way. I'll have to try this one on The Boy. I imagine it would give the impression of naturally smelling good, rather than announcing the wearing of a scent.

 

Later: I am hoping that this will have better staying power with a bit of aging

 

Final Thoughts: As for other reviewers comparisons… not at all Oil of Olay (my mom also uses that), but I can agree with the comparison to Raven Moon - it has a similar dark sweetness - makes me think this one will improve with age.

Andreiphontes earns a 3.5/5

[Ravenclaw79]

I'm starting to wonder if sandalwood hates me.

 

In the vial, this was really intriguing, nutmeg and warm tonka, a hint of spring and a hint of autumn pies all at once.

 

But on me? It's toilet paper. I'm not kidding -- go get a pack of Charmin, pull out a roll, hold it to your nose and take a great big whiff. That's what I smell like with this on.

[fairnymph]

Very pale yellow oil. Sweet, smooth, and spicy with a lot of resinous & woody depth. The tonka is more creamy and vanillic - the light sort - and not BUTTER SN, and the black sandalwood smells like a red sandalwood mixed with a little light vetiver. The nutmeg is surprisingly pleasant - not too strong, and the benzoin is a golden sweetness.

 

A little less sweet, more musk with definitely more sandalwood and overall deeper - more benzoin, too, though it's a resinous sort that's not as honey-sweet and benzoin often is on me. The tonka is heavy, but still not buttery or cloying - just rich, lightly sweet - it's the 'masculine' sort of tonka that reminds me of the note in Dee. The nutmeg is even less apparent on my skin, overwhelmed a bit by the amped notes. And while that vetiver tinge in the imp was a bit sharp, it's smooth and sexy and lightly cologney but still adds depth, on my skin. A much softer and more affable blend than I expected.

 

The final drydown is light, warm and faintly sweet - all warm sandalwood and golden, softly honeyed benzoin with a faint trace of vanillic tonka and woody but barely spicy nutmeg. My roommate think it smells like a bathroom (not like waste products, but like cleaning products or toilet paper), and I can sort of see that...maybe. Most it's a very soft skin-scent with low throw that fades rather rapidly. I find it unremarkable, but at least not viciously unpleasant like most of the other Ares blends.

Edited March 23, 2010 by fairnymph

[Schmoozy]

 

Dry, dusty and spicy. The black sandalwood is dark, rich and very warm. It pairs beautifully with benzoin and tonka making it golden, thick and smooth. The nutmeg adds sweetness and spice.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottlethis is the second scent i've tested today that i couldn't really smell in the bottle. O_o it's... dark... sweet-ish... masculine... with maybe a tiny touch of something anise-y? i don't know what that would be. hm.

wet on skin omg! wonderful, lovely, spectacular! why does this not have a single note in common with hellhound on my trail and yet smell like its antisocial cousin? not as sweet, not as strong as HomT, but classically sweet and masculine and slighly herbal.

dry on skin oh, yuck. wtf? this is Not Good At All anymore. bitter and almost slimy, but at least still blessedly soft?

and later on: ooo, nice again! i have to say, i rather hate that middle phase, but the extreme dry-down is lovely: sweet and primarily the tonka and benzoin with a touch of sandalwood. i have to say, the nutmeg really doesn't ever make an appearance as a note unto itself, but this works well without it and i'm guessing that the nutmeg riches it up a bit. one thing i'll say about this last pretty phase is that it's not a very manly pretty. for the, uh, lord of battles and destroyer of men? he's a bit of a nancy. a sexy nancy, mind you, but.

 

one last thing: this is probably the quickest-fading scent i've encountered in a long time. i believe "poofgone" is the word most often used in reviews.

[steelgossamer]

Love this one. Sandalwood always works for me, and it's nice to be able to rely on it ;-p.

 

In the decant: Rich spicy men's cologne. Sandalwood, HO!

 

Wet: SANDALWOOD and a bit of spice

 

Dry down: More sandalwood with some of the tonka and spice coming through

 

Dry: Delicious spicy sandalwood with a slight sweet note. This is a very sexy scent and were my husband at all receptive to wearing cologne, I would make him try it on. Instead, I will have to settle for huffing my own arm. I think this will layer really nicely with some of my sweet vanilla scents- Sugar Cookie and Cake Smash in particular. It does remind me of Voodoo and Dee though, so I'm not too sad that I passed on a bottle.

[milo]

Hmm, this one reminds me a *bit* like Black Lace but with more wood and more spice. I am really starting to like wood in perfume, and this one does not disappoint. The only complaint I have that there is a touch of sour, vinegar note, but only just a touch, and it fades kind of quickly. I am most likely going to hang on to this gem unless the sour note sticks around. I can see it aging fantastically.

[Greenwoodtree]

Oh how I loved this one for the first 5 minutes... and then sadly the beautiful dark notes turned to the exact scent of that bad 1980's aerosol hairspray...and stayed like that until I had to scrub it off. I just couldnt wear something that reminds me of when I lacquered my hair with hair spray.

[aquazoo]

Dusty — that's the sandalwood. Spicy and an almost wet sense. I can smell the nutmeg, too. Masculine.

 

[Reedsong]

I agree wholeheartedly with Ravenclaw79 - while Andreiphontes is an interesting, vaguely spicy and pleasantly unisex fragrance in the imp, it goes to Charmin instantly on my skin, with a slight after-scent of baby powder. I also spilled half of my imp on myself, so now I smell like I've been rolling around in a huge pile of TP. ARGH!

[zankoku_zen]

Dry sandalwood and dusty nutmeg. This one ended up as a really dry scent on me.

[Roogna]

interesting

I get the benzoin and sandalwood. there's a sweetness to it I'll attribute to the tonka, but I'm not getting any nutmeg..wait...upon close sniffing I get a hint of it.

it's fading very fast (while I sit here and type) and turning a bit sweeter

the hubby likes and it's faded down to a nice soft and sweet sandalwood

Edited May 27, 2010 by Roogna

[filigree_shadow]

I... kind of like this? Honestly, with those notes I sorta thought I'd put this on and love it. I'm surprised I don't. I like sandalwood, but this is very dry. I guess I just thought it would smell different. Smoother, with more of a vanilla-like feel to it. It's not bad, it's just not really jumping out at me as something special.

[Aveya]

I was under the impression that Benzoin smelled like Vanilla (based on other forums and apothecary places I read) but then stumbled across some other sources that said it does NOT smell like Vanilla. That it's more relate-able to amber or copal, because it's a resin. Combine that with black sandalwood (which is apparently a very dark, "dusty" scent) and it accentuates into a masculine mess. It almost comes across as a leather (maybe a recently polished leather? lol).

 

As it dries down I find it does morph slightly. From what I've seen from Tonka (a favorite scent on my skin) it really blooms as time passes. Becoming a sweet, spicy, delicious thing my skin reacts well with. So in this combo- as the tonka pokes out slowly it turns into a sort of sexy man sweat. Which he tried to counteract by rolling in baby powder (sweetness from tonka makes it girly?).

 

It IS a pleasant scent, don't get me wrong. If I sat by someone wearing it I wouldn't crinkle my nose or want to hurl, it's just not as clear a scent with as specific image-invoking concepts as other scents from BPAL. I also didn't find that it was too light as others mentioned. I thought it had average throw for an oil and didn't pollute my house with scent. I haven't had it on too long for this review so can't attest to longevity, but I've worn it once in the past when it was new (and it hasn't morphed much in the bottle since I purchased it ) and it lasted for a few noticeable hours- so it had strong staying power for an oil.

 

I might try it on my slightly feminine boyfriend to see if it blends well with him. But, it will most likely go to swaps/sales because I like him smelling spicy.

[Lucchesa]

Andreiphontes is good but not great on my skin. It's an intriguing combination of warm, buttery tonka and dry sandalwood and just the barest hint of nutmeg -- this does not smell like a spice drawer or a pumpkin pie, it's very subtle. There's some sweetness from the benzoin and tonka. It's funny given that this is supposed to be the destroyer of men, but one of the words I would use to describe this is gentle. Unisex, no throw (normal on me). Nice, but there are other blends in this vein that work better on me.

[DiZZysTARdust]

this is the ultimate comfort scent. i just put on way too much by accident while getting ready for bed but it’s totally cool cause i’m about to be on cloud nine with this scent enveloping me.

 

i’ll start by saying i agree with other reviews that this is indeed very powdery to my nose but in an amazing way. like an elevated powder. there’s an element of creamy/clean going through this that seems to stop the powdery aspects from becoming cloying. i think it’s the sandalwood. other than that very well blended. 

 

this is a great “your skin but better”, neutral type clean girl scent. delicate but beautiful, i agree with other reviews that the destroyer of men name is a good one! unexpected but yet somehow totally can see it imo. beautiful, again super soft and relaxing, the one downside is my skin drinks this up. i accidentally spilled a LOT on myself while testing and applied to both arms and legs and it was just a trace left about 1.5 hours later.