Christmas Eve in the Counting House

[tailoredshirt]

CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE COUNTING HOUSE
It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day—and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.

Creaky wood, thick fog, and dying embers.

This is so different from what I was expecting!

In the bottle and on my skin, it is mostly slightly sweet aquatic-ozone. I think I was expecting the fog note to be slightly smoky and not as sweet, but I really don't get any fogginess from this at all. I also don't get any dying embers or smokiness on my skin. I do get some wood underneath it, but it's not prominent. I've been wearing it for a couple of hours now and it hasn't changed.

I pulled this out of the mailbox last night, so I might let it settle for a week or so and then try it again.

[Dark Alice]

This scent evokes an image of creepy fog and creaky wood on a cold winter's day. There is a bright shiny note to this that smells like a penny (I guess that's where the counting house comes in!) It's also very clean and really smoky. This is truly a work of art. This scent is gorgeous yet headache inducing as I sniff so I will have to pass it a long. However, any time a scent invokes an instant image in my mind it is truly a work of art and thing of beauty even if it doesn't work for me.

[Incendiare]

In the vial, Christmas Eve in the Counting House smells like dry but sweet wood. Wet, it smells the same. As it's drying, the wood itself is becoming drier too. That's all I really get out of this unfortunately. No fog nor embers. It's nice and very straightforward, but nothing more to me.

[Mamma Badger]

I get slightly sweet aquatics. Pleasant but not my thing.

However on my husband its warm wood and smoke and smells wonderful.

[Little Bird]

On me, this is like dry wood, a bright, sweet, slightly masculine sort of metallic-aquatic smell, and a drydown that's more and more like a whiff of woodsmoke in the distance. It's sort of like a pale version of Port Royal that has been set on fire (but not all that intense, because that wood smokiness isn't super-strong on me either, and sort of fades in and out, and PR has more depth). Mostly this is light, dry wood and a hint of masculine clean smell on my skin. My husband likes this and will probably get my decant, but we both prefer Port Royal on him for a 'woods & clean' blend...

[SophieCedar]

Wet: foggy for sure. I love the creaking wood note. It smells like an old house in a damp climate. The dying embers mixed with the fog note is translating to cigarette smoke?

 

Drydown: this is very light. The cigarette smoke smell passed (whew) and it's mostly creaky wood and fog now. Love it.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This is one of the darker wood notes. The embers give the impression of frankincense without whatever it is I find annoying about frankincense. The effect is sharp and a little viscous, with an ashy aftereffect. The fog note grants what little softening there is here. This is not a comfortable scent, but intriguing. Wet: One the skin, the wood goes from dark to green, I think due to the way it blends with the ash. The frankincense feel is gone. The fog bank rises. This is making me think of unripe coconut, for no reason I can quite pin down, though I’ve reacted to wood/ash combinations this way before. It is lighter and slightly sweeter on the skin, and much easier to live with than I was expecting from the bottle. As it warms, the fog/ember combination turns out to be quite lovely, and vaguely spicy. It’s an androgynous scent, which I think will vary widely with skin chemistry of those wearing it. Dry: The fog does the thing that ocean/ozone/strom scents do sometimes on my skin, though not as strongly. I’m having trouble describing this, but it’s clearly a my skin chemistry breaking something down to make something flat and not quite right. In this case, itt’s a much softer version of whatever it is goes wrong and I could likely still wear this in a pinch. It’s basically the degraded fog note, linen, and a touch of wood at this point. I’m not sutre how useful this review is to other people, as it’s very likely my bizarre skin chemistry, but this is a sad finish for a promising scent.

[rayvn1]

I originally had the same reaction as tailoredshirt with a prominent sweet and salty aquatic note and that was pretty much it except for a very faint bit of wood note. Now that it's had some time to dry I can picture fog though I think that's more mental suggestion from the name It's a very faint scent now of a slightly smoky aquatic which is interesting, not like any other aquatic I've tried. If I huff repeatedly at my arm I do get some wood as well. The scent itself is so subtle and faint I may have to pass, but I'll give it some time and another application because the scent is very nice!

[zankoku_zen]

Darker woods and a swirl of a sweet aquatic note.

 

Oddly enough, it makes me think of a pirate ship. Yarr!

[whisperstilled]

In Imp: Fog, wood, and a touch of smoke as advertised. The wood is piney and the dominating note, but almost smells as if it's been polished smooth.

Wet: An uncomplicated scent, this one - mostly wood, with just a brush of smoke and something aquatic that does indeed smell like a thick fog.

Dry: Unique, masculine, and a touch sweet, but not all that interesting.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Whisperstilled

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Wood-smoke and slow-moving river water.

 

Wet: The dying embers make an appearance. The wood that's burning must be something sweet, like apple or cherry wood. The water has returned to the river banks, but it's still around.

 

The dry-down: Basically, this is wood-smoke, some water, and the faint incense of the dying embers. Very evocative of the scene. A skin scent that's unisex, good to wear to the office or out for a walk, but not a party scent.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I'm also getting a sort of aquatic/ozone thing here! That's not what I was expecting, but maybe the water content of the fog is higher than I thought it would be

 

I was hoping for warm, old wood.. and something a bit smoky.. but instead I have something that's quite clean and fresh. It's not horrible or anything, but it's kinda un-interesting on my skin.

[melange]

This is amazingly realistic, and I wish the wet scent lasted longer, even as I enjoy the morphing. It dies quickly on my skin, then resurrects into a lurking fog.

[milo]

At first, I get some strong woods. As it dries, it kind of smells aquatic and woods, a bit odd. I would say it's more aquatic now than woods. I love me a good wood blend, but this is just a bit to ozoney for me.

[porcelina]

kind of reminds me of singing moon, another smokey aquatic, although this scent is cooler and doesn't have the salty tang of singing moon. the aquatic note is subdued and, i suppose, "foggy" which makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it! i agree with zankoku_zen, who said it made her think of a pirate ship.

[surf-tormented]

I got a similar fogginess in this blend. I did also get a tiny bit of smoke. It smells like embers and woods when it hits my skin, but not for long. Then it goes into a foggy wood. Probably because the last tiny piece of wood has burned out.

[biocarolyn]

This is so realistic! I smell exactly the description... Wood, something thick, murky, and aquatic, and a hint of wood smoke. It's a quiet, settled smell, probably from the wood and fire which reads campfire to me. Although all my campfires have been in warm weather, and this is mist definitely not warm weather. It is chilly and damp. It smells like the weather is like that line in the beginning of Moby Dick, when he says, "a cold, damp November in my soul."

 

Seriously, how does this happen? So. Cool. And it smells nice, too.

[tinyvulture]

This is my kind of perfume! I can indeed smell the creaky wood, the smoky dying embers, and the chilly, heavy fog (which is a combination of cold/rain notes, without ozone, which is perfect since ozone turns sweet on me.) It’s a scent that makes me want to put on a sweater, as though I can feel the damp cold closing in. So oppressive and hopeless, yet the scent is somehow beautiful. My only slight criticism is that I wish it were stronger. It fades too quickly.

[brilliantcat]

In the bottle: Exactly as it sounds, amazingly evocative!

 

Immediately after application: At points I can smell wood overlaid by fog and then I'll catch a hint of fire-charred wood. I love scents like this! I hope it stays complex and interesting.

 

Warming up: Charred wood and "fog". It smells amazing.

 

Overall: Sleeper hit, whoa! LOVE LOVE LOVE.

 

Rating: 5/5.

[MCS4096]

I'm a huge sucker for atmospheric scents, so I absolutely had to try this one. I don't know why I didn't get around to reviewing it earlier as I purchased it when it was first released.

 

As others have said-- it is perfectly evocative and just as described. I don't personally get an ozone note exactly, the "fog" is more of a slightly sweet aquatic, and it's the predominant note on me upon application. Dry, not musty or mildewy, wood is next. There is just the smallest hint of smoke (again, light and clean not bbq-ish or heavy) that wafts through the whole thing.

 

This is one of the lightest and shortest lived bpals I've ever tried. It fades to nothing within 15 minutes, then as melange said the fog note somehow returns, but stays extremely close to the skin. It's difficult for me to smell even with my nose pressed against my skin.. the very definitely of a skin scent I guess!

 

I'm really torn on this one because it is such a work of art, but is no where near a practical blend for daily wear on me: it fades much too quickly.