Hunter

[plainjean]

Leonine amber, tanned hides, clove, and clary sage.

This scent is so, so beautiful. It's a soft, golden suede with just a hint of clove, if I really sniff my wrist. On me, it turns into this gorgeous skin scent, light but long lasting. I put it on at about 2:00 in the afternoon, and I was still catching whiffs of it at 7:00 that night. It's such a gorgeous blend, and it makes me feel confident and really quite pretty when I wear it. It's warm and comforting, and I'm so glad I have a bottle making its way to me soon. It will be lovely in the cooler months. Though today, when it was 90+ degrees and extremely humid, it blossomed! I think I will be wearing this one year-round.

[wolfensong]

I got this as a tester from a generous fairy package, thinking that it was probably too simple for me to really like it much, but I loved the character of Hunter too much to not want to try it.

 

I am sad to report that I am in love. Sigh, must find a bottle now.

 

Though this will never replace my beloved Coyote, a few people have mentioned that the two are similar. They are, though there is more of a glowing amber quality to Hunter where Coyote tends to be a dusky kind of shimmer. I only recently found out how awesome sage can smell on me, and it backs the leather (another favorite note) fantastically.

 

The clove is... strangely almost not there at all, at least not as much as it is for me in Sunbird or Priala. Later, it comes out just a little bit, but only to give a strange kind of dark depth to this otherwise glowing blend. It's like Hunter's standing in front of you and casting a shadow, not that she herself is in any kind of darkness.

 

Some people were mentioning that this has a kind of sweet, almost honey-like characteristic to it, and I might agree, but I don't know if it's necessarily honey. If it is then it's not clover or wildflower honey, but a darker, deeper sort of sweetness. Maybe tobacco? I would be surprised if that were the case.

 

So, quick recap:

Close to the skin, musky/amber, VERY feint clove, beautiful sage, tobacco, honey and possibly pepper. Actually has decent staying power (which is weird on me, because my skin tends to eat almost everything) but very close throw.

[ravenscanary]

Source: decant

 

In the decant: Musky, soft leather

 

Wet: Musky, soft leather with a hint of amber and clove. Not thrilled by this in the wet stage. It kind of smells...funky. Not bad, but definitely a wet leather vibe.

 

Dry: The amber, clove and sage come out more, to my relief, but they never quite balance for me. The leather remains quite dominant, unfortunately.

 

 

I like all of these notes quite a lot, but somehow this just isn't working for me. I think I hoped for a dominant amber note, but instead the leather has shoved the others to the side. It's a fairly mellow leather, but I prefer it as a background note, not the star of the show.

[Requiem]

Hmm. I like this.

 

It's pretty sagey right out of the bottle.

 

When it first goes on it's strong on the amber with a bit of sage and clove.

 

Eventually fades into a very subtle amber and suede with just a hint of herb. Barely perceptible.

 

Overall it's a very warm smell. Almost comforting. Very feline also, smelling it I get huge impressions of "lioness!

[filigree_shadow]

Hunh. This smells like my husband. Must be similar to a BPAL oil he wears a lot, but honestly I don't know which one it is. It smells like a combination of his leather BPALs (of which he has quite a few) and the shampoo and soap he uses. Like he just got out of the shower and put on some perfume oil.

 

Obviously I wouldn't be able to wear this since it smells exactly like him and not like me, but I'll definitely give him the decant to try.

 

How strange. I've never had this experience before, of smelling something that smells exactly like my husband. His pillow smells just like this. Really.

[Delvian Gardener]

Im not a fan of this one. in the bottle she smells exactly how i imagined Hunter to smell (at east when she's just had a wash). But once i put her on she disappears almost immediately. I've even tried putting her in my scent locket. The only reason im not bitter about not liking this is that the money went to a good cause.I ended up giving this one away to someone with different body chemistry.

 

I have a few other Gaiman's coming, i hope they have better staying power.

[calivianya]

Hunter reminds me very strongly of Western Diamondback, which totally makes sense considering. Either way, I love both of these. Of the two, Western Diamondback is sweeter due to the presence of the vanilla in Snake Oil. I think that if you took that out, these blends would be nearly identical on my skin.

 

I can very definitely pick out the sage, leather, amber, and clove when wet. Leather is the strongest player for me and stays strong well into the drydown on my skin. This is a very soft smelling leather with a touch of amber on the drydown and is honestly the only leather blend I've tried that has kept leather as the dominant player on my skin. It is quite delicious, and I might need a bottle for when I feel like I need an extra leather kick. I think this would be great layered with Western Diamondback to bring the leather note to the forefront.

[CiaoBonefish]

I totally agree with calivianya on this one. This is just like Western Diamondback minus the Snake Oil on me. Which is great because in WD the Snake Oil kind of took over, while Hunter stays true to its leathery goodness. From wet to dry this stays pretty much the same: soft leather, sage, and a touch of amber (not the powdery variety but the deep golden type). This blend is exceedingly warm and round. Some leathers can be really sharp and acrid on my skin, thankfully this leather is extremely soft and very wearable and just delicious and snuggly. I think this is by far my favorite predominantly leather blend, apart from Hand of Glory whose leather is just a touch sharper and a bit more sexy. This is a cosy blend that I can see slathering in the winter, and wearing in the summer just because it is soft enough. Yum.

 

Eta: No clove to be seen, and if it is lying around it is extremely well blended because I am not a huge clove fan and I wouldn't love this so much if it was extremely dominant!

Edited July 4, 2011 by ciaobonefish

[joyfulgirl]

in the bottle: all sage, all the time. hrm.

 

on my skin: this opens up quite a bit! it's definitely primarily sage on my skin, but the amber and leather are rounding it out quite nicely. i can't pick up the clove directly, but it's definitely there...it just adds a bit of a spicy depth to the blend. it smells a little like something my grandmother used to wear - in a good way!

 

dried down: i hate to say it, but it's gone a bit soapy on me. i suppose it could be the sage? in any case, it was a lovely scent to start with, and the drydown certainly isn't offensive, it's just not something i'd wear all the time.

[yakiguri]

*sigh*

 

Hunter seemed like it'd be nothing but win on me. Unfortunately she doesn't even deign to show up in the first 10-15 minutes, even after slathering the inside of my elbow. When she does it's nothing but all sage, all the time. After half an hour or so I finally get hints of the clove and amber, and only the most ephemeral appearance of leather. In fact if I didn't already know leather was listed as a note I wouldn't think it was there.

 

All in all, a watered down Bow & Crown of Conquest. Glad I found a decant and didn't buy a bottle blindly or else I would've been sorely disappointed.

[Scorianelle]

Hunter is a beautiful, soft, watery amber. I find this hard to explain - it didn't smell 'aquatic' but from the first sniff I could only describe it as 'watery' or sort of 'watered down'. I think this was the effect of the amber and sage. It started to smell drier after a few hours, when the leather mopped up the sage and the clove entered to spice it up just the tiniest bit. It was a very lovely scent overall, just not for me. I'm very glad I got to try it, though.

 

Colour association: Lion's skin.

[hexnut]

HUNTER

 

Tested and purchased at February 2013 Will Call.

 

 

In Vitro Sweet and mild clary sage and clove.

 

Wet Strong clary sage and clove with a hint of hide, and subtly sweet. Through the wet phase the clove strengthened and became dominant but the other elements remained present.

 

Drying Twenty minutes after application this was clove, clary sage, and leather, with some sweetness that I presume was the amber. The scent remained skin close on me with no throw.

 

 

There's nothing I don't like about Hunter (except the label art, but that's for another thread). I love clove and it shines in this blend. I was worried that the clary sage would remind me of a spray cleaner I use that's scented with it, along with cedar, but thankfully I got no scent association. I've had mixed results with leather but the version in Hunter is soft and non-chemical on me, and although I can't identify the amber as such I like its contribution. I would definitely buy another bottle when this one is used up.

 

 

98

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Pretty much all clary sage. Weird! Clove and leather/suede are such strong notes, but I don't smell them at all.

 

On skin, wet: Still the same as in the decant.

 

On skin, dry: Okay, here's the clove! Still no leather, but the clove and clary sage are an interesting mix.

 

After an hour: For some reason this has gone soapy on me. Never did get any leather or amber to warm it up, either. Very disappointed, I love Neverwhere and this was the scent I had the highest hopes for from that line.

[Casablanca]

With these listed notes, I expected to like this more than I do. But I don't dislike it... and it's growing on me... and it's different, which is a plus.

There's an amber backdrop in this, and it's lovely, but the early standout notes are the hides and clove, with a little rustic dash of sage. The tanned hides note smells different from leather notes I've sampled. It's more raw and somehow the clove seems to enhance this. It's quite a different effect, for me at least, than smelling clove with cherries or smoke or something -- the clove and hides combine somehow to smell rubbery. Not like burnt tire rubber at all, but each time I've put this on, with each first smell, I think, "rubbery." That's what's giving me pause.

That said, it's a great concept scent, and when I think of the clove and hides and the rest in the context of fantasy barbaric or tribal life, I enjoy it.

Hunter smells, unsurprisingly, tan. It goes fine with my faux suede stuff today... and fades quickly into a skin scent that reminds me of Coyote.

[VetchVesper]

Hunter smells beautiful in the bottle. Unfortunately, my skin really amps up the clove and drowns out everything except for the leather, which DOES smell like soft hide. It’s not as sharp and masculine as the leather in Iago, but it still has a rough quality to it. I like it, and mixed with the clove, it has a brassy sort of feel. I think it’s feminine, but in a strong way. Very fitting of the character.

I just wish I got more of the amber and sage. I think this has the potential to be fantastic on the right chemistry. Alas, it’s not mine.

[LizziesLuck]

So excited to be trying this thanks to the lovely VetchVesper! ^

 

 

Wet: Whoa, clove! Dry, warm, not too sweet. I like it a lot so far, but want more amber and leather to even it out. The clove is gradually dissipating, so I have some hope this may dry down OK. Boy that clove note is good!

 

 

Dry: Leather! Lately I have been having much better luck with leather - it used to be most leather notes hated me, but this is really nice. Now I am wishing the clove was stronger though! It faded away. Wish there was a bit more amber too. I think what I will do is age this a bit and see what happens. If the spice comes out a bit with age, I may be needing a bottle, because I really do love that leather note.

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp/wet - Leather and sage - a fresh, soft outdoorsy leather rather than harsh/chemical-y or leather-goods-store leather.

 

Five-ten minutes in - Once Hunter has dried on my skin, the leather actually fades into the overall scent rather than dominating (in fact, it reminds me a lot of the leather in Bow and Crown of Conquest, another sage and leather scent where the leather's wll-behaved on me.) The scent is very well blended; the leather, amber, and sage sort of merge into a warm, cosy smell that reminds me of dry grasses and warm sunlight. Like a cat lying in the sun on a hot, dry day. But not a panther or a lion - a soft, furry domestic cat.

 

This really is like a less-sweet/no-vanilla/more-outdoors-y version of Bow and Crown of Conquest (which is one of my favorite GC scents). Unfortunately, it's relatively low-throw I suspect will be short lived.

 

Two hours in - As anticipated, Hunter has faded down to a close/faint skin scent that I have to put my nose directly to my wrist to smell. It's also morphed and now smells not like sage and leather and warm, dry grass, but like amber combined with something that's sort of like spiced chai tea. (ETA: when I came here to post this review and rechecked the notes, I realized I'd forgotten that this has clove in it - hence the spicy smell). At this point, it's reminding me less of Bow and Crown and more of The Lion.

 

The very late drydown (like, 6-7 hours in) is just a hint of amber skin scent.

 

I may have to test this against Bow and Crown of Conquest and The Lion to see if the resemblance is really as strong as I think it is. If not, I may need a bottle of this.

[Lucchesa]

For the first two hours, Hunter is a clove scent on me. The beautiful clary sage, warm leather and amber are very much in the background while the clove has free rein on my wrist. After a couple of hours, the clove starts to fade away but so does everything else. I wish my skin allowed me a better balance of notes, because the notes are lovely. At any rate, Hunter has not replaced Coyote or the Lion in my affections.

[torischroeder9]

In the decant: Amber and clary sage. 

 

On my skin: 

 

Wet, it's clary sage in the forefront with the background going kind of soapy. Once dry, the soapiness settles down, and the clove and clary sage are dominant, backed by amber and an undercurrent of leather. 

 

After the initial drydown, this doesn't morph much on me. (The amber is the longest-lasting note on me, so there is a time when it's the strongest note on me, but this is mainly because this is the time when the other notes are fading through normal wearlength attrition.) 

 

The scent balance is really lovely on this. The amber and clove give it sweetness and spice, the clary sage adds an element of cleanness and freshness, and the leather grounds and unifies the blend nicely. It wears very close to my skin with minimal throw. 

[doomsday_disco]

If you enjoy the Lab's brown leather note, you need to try Hunter.

 

Hunter starts off a little wobbly, as the clary sage, brown leather, and clove work things out, but once it gets its footing, it ends up being this comforting, sweet, well-worn brown leather scent touched with clary sage. I am usually a clove amper, and I do not get a ton of it here, just in case you are worried about that possibly taking over. I think this is the same brown leather note that I love from Outlaw. It's so good. It's almost like... a syrup-y leather. I wonder if the amber is adding that sweetness, or if there is a secret ingredient like tonka in here? I'm not sure what it is, but I am loving this sweetened leather.

 

I have been curious about this ever since I sniffed it at Drag Con 2018, and I'm thrilled I got to properly test this one. I am not sure I need a bottle just yet, but I may once I start to get low on Outlaw...

 

Thank you to the lovely BPALista that frimped this to me.  

[ka hulu]

Hunter, just wow. Reminiscent of standing in a vast open plains, alone at barely dawn or just past dusk.

 

Clean tawny soft suede, maybe a generations-old hand-sewn medicine bag, rolled in sage and the dust of places of prehistoric and fossilized trees. I don’t get amber or clove, nor element of sweet or hot spice here. Just …very clean, very natural, and very wise. Deliberate and self-contained. 

 

The scent is light and also light-wearing, turns to a skin scent in too short a time. Faintly resembling SL Daim Blond, but much more subtle. Like a riffling of a thick stack of freshly-minted (or freshly-laundered!) hundred-dollar bills.

 

I bought this a million years ago and for the label art and story excerpt, although to be honest, I don’t know Neverwhere and also didn’t know this was not a scent that would be continually available. The art and words resonated at the time, and they do now again — and the scent, while fleeting, is so lovely and clean, taut, confidence-inspiring. My guess is that if the Gaiman character appeals to you, you’ll find this scent appealing too. I was sorry to find it’s no longer listed on the shop site! Hunter is sly, beautiful, and divine.