Clockwork Couture: Female

[Little Bird]

Leather, golden amber, vanilla orchid, Spanish moss, Oxford clay, and tonka.

I thought that maybe this would improve with aging, but my bottle is still underwhelming. I don't get the leather, moss, clay or tonka at all. It's perfumey vanilla orchid and bpal's baby powdery amber. Not very sweet at all, but perfumey and powdery enough to give me a headache. For a better girly-vanilla and leather scent, I'd suggest picking up Liz. Liz is sweeter and you can actually pick out the leather in that one. Edited February 22, 2012 by Little Bird

[Invidiana]

This is divine. Leather can sometimes be too manly on me, but this is a soft, feminine leather that provides a backdrop for the gorgeous amber, vanilla and tonka. I definitely recognize this as the vanilla (or one of the vanillas) from Snake Oil, and I love Snake Oil so that makes it even better. It's a creamy vanilla, not necesarily foody but just creamy and sensual. As it keeps drying down the vanilla amps and the amber and tonka add warmth and depth. The leather doesn't disappear, but just remains gentle in the background. I don't really get much moss or clay, but they are probably adding to the depth factor. This is just gorgeous and I'm so glad I risked two bottles of it unsniffed.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Invidiana

[Aldercy]

A very tart vanilla with creamy clay and a hint of greenery. It has a rather gauzy texture about it and is, indeed, very feminine. I don't even get a smidgen of leather. Very bright and youthful.

 

Thankfully, I don't think I need to lust after a bottle, but it is an all-around pleasant scent.

[milo]

Oh, this is GOOD!! At first, this is a dusty, musky vanilla. I get a *teensy* bit of leather, but probably wouldn't have know it was there, but I took a peak at the notes. This blend actually reminds me a LOT of Lyonesse, so if you're a fan of that or want to try something similar, this is quite close. This is very warm, delicate, feminine and bright. The only complaint I have is that it is a fast fader. I really wish I'd thrown two bottles in my order, but wasn't sure if I'd like it. Yes, the $25 shipping was worth it here, though I'll probably use my less expensive Lyonesse and cellar CCF, as I'm hoping the notes will strengthen with a bit of age behind her. Definitely a keeper!!

 

eta: After a couple of days of settling, it is more like A Mouses Long and Sad Tale, rather than Lyonesse. It also seems to hold the scent longer on me. This is soft and pretty, and still a WIN!

Edited May 5, 2010 by milo

[crebbsgirl]

This smells so much like a slightly dangerous Morocco on me it's not even funny. A little similar to Liz but without as much smoke. This is vanilla and leather and a hint of moss. I actually quite like this.

[nekogrrl]

This is one of the rare floral blends I can wear without gagging. I suspect the strong leather note keeps the orchid from taking over; they blend with the vanilla to give a lovely overall leather floral.

 

I love this scent and will wear it when I want to feel girly.

[SueTigger]

I received a decant of this from a friend last weekend. I really liked it when I tested it. In the sun. And humidity. Out doors. Now? At work, in air conditioning? I don't know. I'm trying to figure out what it smells like and can't put my finger on it. I'm definitely pulling the vanilla orchid and get a hint of the amber... I think? But I'm not sure what else is going on here. There's another note coming out, but it's not easily identifiable on me (or maybe it's just my nose).

 

For the record, I'm finding it amazing that scents that smelled gorgeous on me under one set of circumstances, smell completely different in different settings. Freaky!

[damonkitty]

This goes on all sweet and nice like a big cloud of cotton candy . After about 10 minutes though I get slapped in the face with the leather . The foodie stage did not last very long on me. I am amping the leather note more. I like it though. It is not what I expected from just sniffing the bottle. I have a hard time with a lot of the leather blends, but this one works for me. I may suck it up (talking about the shipping charges ) and get another bottle.

[fetish911]

This was the first time I sniffed out most of the notes & got em right! I finally found an imp and tried it out (w/o looking at the notes before hand)

in the imp- Sweet & some musky/amber.

on- I got vanilla- very prominent. I amp vanilla so its prob not that strong on others. Then add in some warm amber & sweet sugar & a bit of musk. It smells so good. I don't detect any leather on me, which is good, cause I hate leather notes. I was really suprised how much I liked this. Well not really, I always fall inlove with the HTF ones. =(

[gypsyjolie]

First sniff: a blast of strong vanilla and some sort of floral.

 

on, wet: Within minutes, the floral dies down and the amber comes out. Now it's a (french) vanilla and slightly spicy amber.

 

dry: hello leather! this is a worn, warm leather, with the amber and vanilla

 

15 mins: The vanilla died down. I'm getting most warm, spicy amber and delicious worn leather. The vanilla sweetens things up but isn't a mega player any more.

 

30 mins: primarily nice worn leather, with some amber-vanilla sweetness.

 

This has almost no throw and fades within an hour on me

[sunlitgarden]

Clockwork Couture Female

 

Starts off with a gorgeous sweet vanilla, then out comes a smooth, rich, creamy leather. This smells so good! It's very rich and deep, yet feminine. I love it!

[meredevachon]

In the bottle: First thing that come to mind is, sweet. Almost fruity, but not. I'm a little surprised not to get any of the chemically note that normally shows up for me in anything the Lab does with leather.

 

Wet: Still sweet, but the vanilla makes it creamier. Hint of citrus. A few people have mentioned creamsicles, and I can see the comparison. It's not the same, but very reminiscent.

 

Dry down: The almost candied sweetness fades very quickly, the blend still soft, but deeper now as something almost dry and musty (but in a good way) comes to the fore. Warm amber starts to peek through, and after about 15 minutes the musty scent begins to seem more like worn leather.

 

Dry: So well blended, if I try to pull out a specific note, I can (e.g., if I sniff deeply to find leather, it's there, if I'm looking for amber, I can find it), but in the waft and sniffing close, mostly I get something deep and round and lovely with the whole being more than its parts.

 

Overall: From the notes and the reviews, I thought this was likely to be a good blend on me, and it is. It really really is. CC:Female has hidden depths. From the sweet innocence of the oil in the bottle, it blooms into this much more complex, deeper, and sometimes darker scent. And there's a sharpness lying in wait for the unwary. This isn't a girl, she's a woman grown, with experience on her side.

[yamiko]

I really like this blend. Usually leather is too much on me, but in this one it just adds depth to the vanilla and only really comes out once it's dry. The whole scent is really nice and balanced, not too leathery, not too sweet, not too floral.

[claudia6913]

In the imp: This smells like a vanilla skin musk with a hint of greenery.

 

Wet on skin: Still a sweet vanilla skin musk with a bit of something heavier underneath. I think the leather maybe?

 

Drydown: Very warm scent, the amber comes through and is very soft. The leather also seems soft, pliable, and the vanilla swirls around it all.

 

Dry: This is a very soft scent, kind of like Sachs was. It has a tad more throw than Sachs however. Overall this is a sweet light scent that balances all the notes perfectly.

 

Good enough I bought a bottle. =)

 

Bottle impressions: This is much nicer than my decant for some reason - or I'm able to put much more on. Not sure which. However, this is a golden blend, almost as bright as a metal (without smelling metallic - perhaps a golden leather), but with a sweet undertone. The moss and/or clay gives it a bit of a dirty feel, while the orchid sweetens it with a hint of vanilla floral. I love my bottle more than I do my decant.

Edited August 29, 2010 by claudia6913

[Pepperminx]

A very sweet vanilla, soft and golden. The leather is quite mild on me. I thought there was some woods in there, but I guess it's the clay and moss playing tricks on my nose. This scent and I were made for each other! Unfortunately I have to slather this one, or it loses its throw pretty quickly.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Grynet

[deviant kitten]

O.....MG!!!!

So, I finally caved and bought a bottle of CC Female

OOOOHHHHH

This is vanilla and leather, sweetened by the tonka, methinks, and amber. This is MY DREAM SCENT!!!!

Blended perfectly, and oh so sweet without being at all cloying. It is so feminine and......AWESOME!!!!!!!

And it is one of those scents you KNOW is going to age GORGEOUSLY!!!!!!

total

 

And as a side note- the sticker on the box was so adorable! It is a pic of a steampunk lady pilot an it says "this box delivered priority by airship"....or something to that effect LOL. I ripped the box open in the post office parking lot, and the box is sitting in my car, so I couldn't tell you what the sticker said verbatim....but it was so neat! I tried to take it off the box to save it, but it ripped

 

So, to review, I give this scent-

 

73

44

67

22

and 933 - just because it is sooooo sexy!!!

[Truelove]

Clockwork Couture Female - I really liked this one. It’s sweet smelling, soft, soothing, subtle. I like it alot, might need to find a bottle of this one.

[plainjean]

Mm, this is lovely. In the bottle, it's very sweet, in an almost fruity sort of way. On wet, I still get a little of that fruitiness, which is annoying, but it's swiftly becoming overpowered by sweet vanilla. Once it dries, it becomes this beautiful soft vanilla suede scent, as if the suede has been infused with vanilla. And, wow! I feel like I can smell the clay. This may just be power of suggestion, though. The combination of leather and amber definitely is reminiscent of Hunter, but this isn't quite as strong (strong as in confident, not strong as in overpowering) as Hunter. The entire scent has a bit of a dusty feel to it, but it's soft and sweet at the same time. I am going to cherish my bottle.

[whisperstilled]

I lucked out and got a tester of this from a kind swapper. I've been interested to try it out, so let's see how it goes.

In Imp: Sugary florals. Reminds me immediately of Boo and something highly floral, like Black Butterfly Moon without the dirtiness. Checking the description - yep, vanilla orchid just about covers it. I get a background hint of leather and thankfully not too much amber, so hopefully this won't go sick baby powder on me as amber tends to.

Wet: Sweet vanilla and orchid, absolutely lovely, with some leather grounding it. I only get a touch of mossiness. This is decadent and elegant. It reminds me of the impression my mom's perfumes used to give me when I was little - that they were meant for fancy grown up ladies. I cannot emphasize enough how good the sugary vanilla and orchid are in this. I love orchid, so this is straight up my alley.

Dry: As it dries I get some of the earthy stuff in the background, including, peculiarly, the clay, which I expected to be one of those phantom notes that is in the description but nowhere to be found on the skin. It smells like flowers reaching their roots down through a layer of clay earth coated in moss, flowers with a strong fragrance of sweet vanilla sugar, picked by a hand in a dark suede glove. This is what a light leather scent should always be. Phenomenal.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Whisperstilled

[Dharklady]

This is easily one of my favorite leather blends. Sweet without being foodie, smooth as sin from a gorgeously toned leather note, and grounded by the moss and clay. A great try for anyone who enjoys a creamy vanilla-esque amber or leather. While it doesn't have a ton of lasting power if not slathered- it has gorgeous depth and is totally worth it while it does last.

[cranberry]

so gorgeous!

 

first it's all about the leather - clean, smooth and then immediately a sweet fruitiness. the leather and vanilla orchid are most dominant on me at first, with hints of moss and sweet amber. the tonka adds sweetness. lovely. thank you so much Twilight Eyes for the chance to try this!

[biocarolyn]

I'm so glad I tried this blend. I bought a bottle of CC:Male for my husband, since it had notes of win for him. I figured while I was at it, I ought to throw in a bottle of Female and try it, since I imagined it would be easy to get rid of if I hated it.

 

I don't always love vanilla, I mostly like it in the background of things. I love the scent of leather, but haven't been able to find one that doesn't go straight to cologne on my skin. Orchid is the only floral I can do, pretty much. So this had possibilities, but the amber scared me. Amber always goes to powder on me.

 

When the bottle came I sniffed it and it was foody, tooth-achingly sweet. I put it away untested. A couple of weeks later, I figured I better test it just in case.

 

 

The leather warms this up and the orchid gets just floral enough. This is gorgeous. It's sexy and intriguing and not too much of anything, with just enough of everything. I love this blend. I walk around all day catching whiffs of myself and thinking, "I smell good!"

 

I can tell my wallet is doomed.

 

I'm editing to mention that as this ages, I really can really smell the clay and tonka. There is just something about this blend that is nothing like any other BPAL that I have smelled- the clay maybe? The clay, leather, and vanilla orchid in this are just so wonderful. It is so strange that people have such incredibly varied descriptions...I don't get anything sweet at ALL in this.

Edited July 8, 2011 by biocarolyn

[Michele my belle]

Special thanks to Indigo getting to try this one!!

 

In the bottle: very sweet, like spun, fluffy sugar (plain ol' white kind)

 

wet on skin: vanilla!! and sugar. still smells fluffy and dry...not foody, just very sweet.

 

dry: sweet sweet dry leather. maybe leather from a cow which subsided on a diet of spun sugar. a touch of vanilla in there. at the end of the inhale I get something metallic, so faint that it makes you --but in a good way. It is a very mysterious metallic note.

 

I think that this scent is very consistent throughout dry-down...it just gets fainter. Very light throw (personal) and short wear length (all but gone after 3 hours).

 

I like the scent enough that I will wear just to smell myself! It warrants re-application.

[theseagrows]

this scent is extremely subtle on me. if there is an opposite of amping notes, then my skin may be doing it with this scent. i can't really make out distinct notes very well in this-just vanilla orchid and maybe a hint of tonka. i get no leather, moss, clay or amber from this whatsoever. my skin seems to (mostly) eat it right up.

[CreamyJade]

In the bottle: Sweet, fluffy vanilla orchid, a hint of leather.

Wet on skin: Leather, a more floral vanilla orchid.

Dry on skin: Soft leather, a gourmand vanilla orchid, light oakmoss, something almost like ambergris on my skin (the clay?), and a bit of the spice of the tonka bean.

Final thoughts: I got to try this magnificent blend at a meet and I fell in love at first sniff. Truly beautiful, I think finally getting a bottle ended my quest for the perfect vanilla scent (well, along with Snake Oil)! It has a medium throw for the first two or three hours, then it fades and stays very close to the skin. If it stayed longer, I'd surely love it even more, but I'll take what I can get from this one.

Try if you like: Liz (a bit darker and more floral), Perversion (boozy), Antique Lace, TKO (lavender), the Lab's marshmallow note