The Court of Honor

[freneticfloetry]

A marble-white blend of sandalwood, pearlescent orris, white amber, blonde tobacco, and chilled crystalline musk.

In the bottle: Oooh, pretty. And actually morphs while I huff it. First it's musk, then it sweetens.

Wet: Musk and amber, with a woody, smoky base. It's creamy, but not in a cream sense. It just smells smooth.

Drydown: Oooh, the orris has come out to play. It's sweet, slightly floral - almost violet, but softer and rounder.

Dry: This is so much sweeter than I expected. Not cloyingly so, but it is. The orris is really prominent, on me, and mellows out the musk quite a bit. But it also plays really nicely with the tobacco, which I only get once this is dry. The whole thing ends up smelling like smoky, humid hothouse flowers, without being in-your-face floral. This is lovely.

[malibusunny]

Creamy but not in a cream sense is exactly true! Musk and tobacco and amber, with a little extra richness. I expected this to be a cold sandalwood (which, for me means baby powder) but that was not my impression at all. can't wait to skin test this one!

[ellebelle]

I love this very much - the mixture of orris and tobacco smells very much like tobacco flower which predominates on my skin. It makes this smell very grown up and sexy. As it dries, it sweetens a bit, which I think might be the amber coming out to play! I do not get much sandalwood at all which is a blessing because it typically smells like pencil shavings on me. I wasn't planning to buy a bottle, but then I did.

 

Try this if you like tobacco flower heavy scents - it's most similar to Earth Spider (the Salon LE) in my collection.

[Poenari]

The Court of Honor is just too white for me. The topnote, and my initial thought was it has the same note as in Snow White that gives me a headache. I think it will mellow due to the sandalwood, but I decided to pass on a bottle.

[pinkgyrl]

At first, this seemed like a scent that even a man could wear - my fiancé loved this one the most right from the bottle. But, now that it's dried on his skin - it's a very soft, creamy (from the notes - not a foodie cream), and slightly sweet floral. This is one of those scents that is very difficult to describe because everything just blends sublimely as Beth's blends often do. The tobacco note is barely there for me - I get a whiff of it here and there but not enough to smell it unless I breathe in deeply near the skin where it's applied. I mostly get the orris (in a creamy/slightly amaretto sense - and I'm assuming this note is also responsible for the sweetness similar to a very light violet note) and amber.

 

As mentioned above, which is actually good for me, this is similar to Snow White - but a very soft whisper of that scent and not as "cold" if that translates. If you're put off by the wet stage, please do try it on your skin, because even non-floral lovers, like me, could wear this pretty and unassuming scent. This is all white to me in color - every note seems white when I visualize this scent.

 

Thanks to my wonderful fairy for allowing me the chance to try and own this scent!

 

Naughty rating: This scent inspires cuddling - when I kept sniffing my fiancé's arm to read the notes - he kept shivering but nothing untoward happened - that perfectly describes how this scent feels in the physical sense I would definitely change my mind if the tobacco comes out to play more on my skin and will update if that happens with age!

[Lorna Brigid]

This scent looked so wonderful to me based on the notes....plus I love the title because I am trying to break into the legal field this year. That's the degree I am graduating with this year.

Thanks so much to my lovely fairy for getting this for me!!!!

 

On initial opening and application, it reminds me strongly of OFF mosquito repellant... that worried me greatly at first.

But on drydown, this becomes just like the vanillic base of my beloved Raven Moon! I don't know why. The notes listed do not match up.

Other people have noted it smelling like Snow White...I could not do Snow White because it smelled like a plastic bag on me, so I would not know about that. But it smells just like the base notes of Raven Moon 2012 to me.

After an hour or two of beautiful sandalwood, orris and musk, the amber and tobacco pop out and make themselves more prominent. The amber gives it just a slight touch of sweetness, but just a touch. The tobacco gives it...I'm not sure how to describe that tobacco quality, gives it a kind of heat so it is not completely cold.

It is evocative of something like a Jovan musk or something else I have worn in the long ago past. It doesn't smell like Jovan musk, but it has the same qualities and feels similar.

It stays very close to the skin and would not overpower anyone. I myself cannot smell anything but the tobacco and touch of musk notes unless I huff my arms.

This will be a beautiful soft scent to wear on hot summer days or nights, and I'm so grateful to have gotten a bottle!

ETA: Grammar fail

Edited May 2, 2013 by Lorna Brigid

[theseagrows]

a lovely fairy picked this up for me! this is a beautiful, light and slightly creamy scent, and thankfully the sandalwood does not turn to pencil shavings on me, as it sometimes does. in the beginning i am getting mostly musk and tobacco, with the amber in the background adding a bit of warmth. i think this scent is absolutely beautiful, perfect for warm days. I knew I would love this scent, since it seemed reminiscent of Dia to me, which, as you can see from my signature, is one of my favorite scents. this does remind me of Dia a lot but with a bit more warmth, due to the amber. also, I swear there is oakmoss in this...the underlying scent is the same in Dia, and I attributed it to the oakmoss, unless I am wrong!

I am SO glad I got a bottle of this. I knew i would love it and i do!

 

ETA: i am wearing this again today and my reaction is completely different. i don't get any creaminess now, i just get slightly aquatic/cool musk and tobacco. it's a bit too strong and aquatic. i wonder why i am having a completely different impression now?! it is reminiscent of dia, one of my favorites, but i think the coconut in dia helps soften and warm up the scent. this scent doesn't smell warm to me at all now. maybe i was testing several and got them mixed up, who knows.

Edited August 14, 2014 by theseagrows

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

so much love and so many thanks to the fantastic faerie who picked this up for me!

 

it sounded so right up my alley based on the notes! as such, i've tested it before the bottle has had time to fully rest from the cross-country journey. so i may revise this in a few days.

 

but right now?

 

when i first opened the bottle and sniffed, i was reminded of either Dia or Khrysee (i'm not sure which, but one of the two). but then i dabbed a bit on the top of my wrist and sniffed. still-wet, it reminded me more of Antikythera Mechanism or Galvanic Goggles. briefly. in a very masculine-tobacco kinda way.

 

but then whatever turned Ivanushka into Pickle-ushka rears up and turns this into Quart of Pickle. That choking, nose-crinkling boiling vinegar and spices stage of making home-made pickles.

[stellamaris]

At first this seemed very masculine to me, but as I tend to sweeten things up it dried down into the most amazing soft but strong sandalwood, more later...

 

OK, so after a couple of gos, I have to say I think this may be too "manly" for me, even though I like many manly scents. I find this really really wonderful, but I think it reminds me too much of a gentleman's cologne. That's fine, my husband will love it.

Still smells very sandalwood, and it's weird, I would have sworn there was patchouli in this...

Edited May 8, 2013 by stellamaris

[Mellifluous]

Holy Batman, this is a very woody cologne. It doesn't smell like sandalwood at ALL on me.. more like birch, or ash.. very much a whiter and more sour wood. And without any true sweet notes, the addition of the white amber, tobacco, and musk just further push it into cologne territory- for me. It does sweeten a bit as the wood note dies down, but only slightly, and not enough to shake my association with eau de woodlands. It *IS* still a very nice scent however... just a lot more clean and masculine than I tend to gravitate to.

 

Thanks so much to my awesome Picker-upper! I'm so glad I got to try this, as it sounded like it should have been amazing on me,but unfortunately, I think this is headed to the swaps.

[Little Bird]

The Court of Honor reminds me of bpal's tobacco flower note - an intensely soapy, dry, crumbling floral smell. It's a sharp, white, cool, soapy smell. The drydown has something of a sharp citrus note and the blend starts to remind me of lemon dish soap. Way too sharp and soapy for me. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour, because the perfumey, sharp musk + soap was giving me a headache

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, this is a huge note of tobacco and musk. And then it dries to an amber and musk blend.

 

Heady, sophisticated, womanly.

 

Sadly, it is not something that I am loving.

 

BOO.

[milo]

As expected, this is strong perfumey aggressive and musky. After a bit, though, it becomes a lovely tobacco vanilla, not in the Tom Ford way, more feminine, and the orris gives a slight touch of floral. So, vanilla, tobacco and musk. I am in love and would love to have some more, but not sure that is possible. For now, I'll be happy with my decant.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: I smell something sweet, sort of like a cross between jasmine and apple blossom, and a little bit of sandalwood.

 

Wet on skin: That same sweetness, but softened by something else. It could be the sandalwood, but I'm not sure. It could also be the amber, or the musk, I don't know.

 

Dried down: Cucumber. It reminds me of soft cucumber, now. Except a little floral. And the sandalwood's still there, too - just a hint.

 

Throw: This doesn't have a heavy throw on me. I've noticed some perfumes become a little stronger on me after I've written the review, so maybe I'm just not waiting long enough, but yeah. I can smell a wisp of light scent as I type (sometimes sandalwood, sometimes the almost-cucumber), but ?I don't get much of anything unless I sniff my wrists.

 

Verdict: **** 1/* I wonder if the sandalwood and the white tobacco are blending together in my head. I can't tell. But this is SUCH a pretty scent. It's a happy scent, very spring-like to me, even though the description suggest a cold, hard, even wintry picture.

[ami226]

This scent is more on the cologne side than I'd like. Not for me, but I bet it would smell amazing on the right man.

[MCS4096]

Thank you to my lovely enabler and fairy for hooking me up with this blend

 

 

I wish I got the creaminess that some people are mentioning. I thought I would too, what with the orris and amber, but I must be amping the musks because this starts out waaay high pitched and soapy on me. It's very white, very pure (so that imagery works) but very very perfumey. Makes my nose go a bit stuffy.

 

I do start getting more of the other notes as it dries down-- oh hello sandalwood and tobacco. Still not getting a lot of orris... which is weird because I love orris and have many blends with orris, so I'd think I would notice it here, but this *is* a well blended perfume.

 

I dont looove it, but I'm going to hold on to it for a little while to see how it ages

[Monster]

Oh wow, this is fantastic. It sort of reminds me of a deeper, richer version of the original Smoky Moon. This is a green tobacco note (tobacco flower) which is dry and almost sharp but is immediately softened by the amber and sandalwood as it develops. Court of Honor is regal and elegant, a perfume made for the evening and not for every day use. I am completely in love with this stuff.

[LizziesLuck]

Went out on a limb with this, as orris is not my friend. But it sounded like it might be a nice clean, subtle sort of scent, and I am looking for those currently

 

 

Wet: Yep, that's clean! Smells like stones wet from the rain. Neat! It's not a typical aquatic - it doesn't smell like water, it just smells damp. I love that smell! The "marble" note is beautiful, elegant and sophisticated. I totally don't get any of the listed notes, AT ALL it all just combines to smell like wet stone. It's really cool, and pretty much what I was hoping it would be. So different than anything I own. It's light, and has low throw (which is perfect for my purposes right now).

 

 

Dry: *sigh* tobacco flower single note. I amp tobacco flower like you would not believe - if it is in a scent, that scent is tobacco flower single note on me. Venustas - tobacco flower is not even listed, but it was single note on me. Arachnina, - single note tobacco flower (nicotiana). Fractured Singularity smells exactly the same. If you lined them all up I would never be able to tell the difference. ANYWAY, all that to say, this is actually the nicest tobacco flower I have smelled. It avoids going to soapy or high pitched and screechy. It's still fairly soft and clean smelling. I do wish the wet rock scent had stuck around, that was pretty cool, but this is enjoyable in its own way, and I think it'll be OK for my purposes. And if I huff really hard, I can still get a bit of that marble note in there, and I love it. As an added bonus, orris never even showed up. So, ya, this is nice and I like it and will keep it and see how it wears.

[DiZZysTARdust]

This note list reads like a dream scent for me so i was def expecting to love court of honor.

 

In the bottle i was pretty surprised to smell like a generic soapiness. This stayed the same when freshly applied, like i melted a dove bar over myself. Not unpleasant but i'm not really about that, and like i said it seemed very generic, nothing special, not even a fancy soap.

 

 

I am a fan of morphers so i stuck it out hoping for an imorovement, and it took about 15 minutes but it did lose a little of the harshness. It sort of turned more mellow and golden. The description in some reviews of "creamy but not foodie" is p accurate. Unfortunately there was still a soapy aspect to this, now mixed with straight baby powder, that keeps this from being a scent i love personally. The tobacco is probably the most prominent (i'm not good at id'ing that), with the orris a close second. My mom was reminded of the guest bathroom of an elderly woman living in the south/by the seaside and i think that's p accurate. 

 

ETA the word i was searching for here is aquatic. This is an almost aquatic soap with a cologney edge, a trifecta of Things I Do Not Like 

 

Overall it's hard to give an impression of this. I definitely did not like the beginning wet phase, and this is def something that needs to be applied while getting ready to give it some time to settle. The drydown was a little more baby powder than elegant powder for me, though not bad. I'd say this is a scent i like but don't love and i'm happy with an imp's worth. I could see myself reaching for this before some kind of professional event or as an office scent. Light throw but seems to have good staying power.

Edited June 4, 2020 by DiZZysTARdust

[Cali]

The tobacco in this gives me a headache, though it's not a strong tobacco at all! Sad, because this is a lovely blend. There's something harshish about it, wayy in the background, with fresh white florals and a perfect warm hug of ever so slightly spicy sandalwood, amber and musk. Sighs.