Tum

[MaidenGenevive]

Tum

Hail unto Thee who art Tum in Thy setting, even unto Thee who art Tum in Thy joy, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Down-going of the Sun.

Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Day!

 

Initial impression in vial is, yuck! Dirty socks! Or fermented fruit. I'm a little scared to try this on now, but I'll be brave.

 

Wet on skin, still kind of stinky, but I smell a bit of spice rising up from it. The yuck parts are now completely gone, and it's a sweet, spicy smell. I can see how some people get raisins, or grape, out of it. It does resemble that, like a spicy raisin or fermented grape. But really, it's hard to describe.

 

[1 - Hate / 3 - Like] I hated the initial stage, but once it dried on my skin it was definitely interesting. I don't think I can stomach that first part, though, so this is going up for swaps.

[hkhm]

imp: sweet, honeyed wood with lavender. this puts me in mind of a bee tree, dripping with honeycomb, surrounded by wild lavender.

 

wet: this smells like warm, honeyed amber with soft spicy notes. this is super sweet at first but mellows out to something more tame after a few minutes.

 

dry: rich honey and light herbs. this has an amazing scent that feels very comforting. beautiful.

[laliloo]

A frimp from a lovely seller. When I first put this on my skin it's really horrible. Sweet and sickly in a way that just confirms to me that there's honey lurking somewhere in this blend. As it dries, the honey dies off a bit and it's less horrible to my nose but it's not a favourite by any means.

 

Swaps I'm afraid.

[maribouquet]

I get a rich resinous grape in the drydown. It's very nice - I think if I liked grape more I would want to wear this a lot.

[alicia_stardust]

TUM

 

Tum brings to mind a brilliant, fiery red-orange sunset with a golden orb that is disappearing behind the horizon. Areas of the sky have begun to turn a deep shade of unnatural purple. When I smell Tum, I get a strong sense of that glowing sunset with a slash of purple darkness in the sky. That smell is of strong, thickly concentrated grape juice, a touch of spice and warmth, and a smattering of dry herbs and woods. Despite listing all of those other impressions, I really do smell mostly grape juice. It has a strange familiarity to it. I like that.

[heidijoy]

In the imp, it's straight-up grape Hubba Bubba. On me, it's very much rotten fruit a la Sugar Skull. Not a fan--this just doesn't work on me.

 

As a room scent, though, it's pleasant. I used this in an oil warmer and it's pretty. The incense came out and the fruit hung back.

Edited December 1, 2007 by heidijoy

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: something both repulsive and attractive. i get whifs of rotten cheese and fruit. i immediately gag, but then want to take another sniff. WTH?!

 

wet on skin: ewwwww. more of the same! like opening a garbage can behind a restaurant! blechhhh!

 

dry down: it mellows a bit, i can pick out dried apricots and something else mellow, like a raw nutmeat sort of smell. hmmm. it's becoming nice, actually.

 

in all: if you can stand the initial period of vomitous aroma, you will be justly rewarded. like a parable, really.

 

 

 

[Babylon]

Wet: Plum wine, olive leaf, and a light mint or clover.

 

Drying: The plum wine vanishes momentarily, and as Tum is drying, it smells like sage and dried herbs.

 

Dry: Straight up plum wine. It's a pretty nice scent, somewhat sophisticated, nothing smelled bad or weird, and I didn't get a grape smell out of this at all. However, I tend to go for things like Midnight Kiss or Centzon Totochtin when I want a scent with a touch of booze.

 

ETA: This is from a well-aged imp.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Babylon

[willowtreeling]

In the imp, this smells like rotting, fermented fruit and stinky feet.

 

On me, it smells okay, and then as it dried, it smelled amazing. I think. My nose and brain do not know what to do with this perfume! It smells floralish and spicyish and woodyish....

 

I wish I had noticed that it was discontinued YESTERDAY! because I think I might have wanted a bottle:(

[angelslurry]

Frimp from the Lab with my last order (along with Vinland---probably had some extras from mixin' up those last minute batches).

 

Hmmm. Somewhere tween spicy candy and cherry wine. Not too much with the wine part, and not noxiously sweet like some stuff amps on me. If I were to "disguise" myself by actually wearing sweet scents I could tolerate this, but I dunno if I'll wear it much.

 

Oh, and of course DH likes it. Conflicted on swapping/selling now

[Limelight]

Oh, Tum, you were so fucking disgusting when first I tried you. Wine-soaked uncleanliness. Now you've dried and you are better than it seemed you would be at first, like that skeevy guy you're somewhat attracted to in spite of yourself and your better judgment, and once you do go to bed with him he turns out to be kind of...talented. Which is what I heard somewhere, a friend of mine had an experience like that. That's what I remember. Anyway, you've got this winey-floral thing going on with some kind of spice note perking you up, and while I don't think a bottle of you + me is meant to be, I'll always think fondly of our time together in the imp.

[engelvonblut]

My first review post!

 

In the bottle it smells like potent honey drizzled grapes!

 

On my skin.. the same but a little more complex..darker.

 

Drydown.. Omg! This is so familiar..grape flavored cigars that I bought from Cohiba!! I adore the smell of grapes and cigars so this was an instant hit with me. A cancer-free olfactory treat!

 

 

Tum= Yum!

[Dracoo9]

I'v read about Tum, comparing it to dirty socks and in the imp...thats what it smells like. Its kind of...wrong.

 

On it becomes..less sock like but still has a slightly grunge scent to it that is practically blocked out by the powerful grape in the front. I'm kind of glad that I didnt fall head over heels for it sence its discontinued.

[donnatron]

Imp: Oh, no. Maybe I don't want to do this.

 

Wet: Blurgh. I think it's the honey/fruit scent. Jezebel is also horrific on me.

 

Dry: Better. Sharp and fruity wiht an underlying earthiness. It's sort of a scent memory, it reminds me of something not-unpleasant so I'm a bit more inclined to like it.

 

Throw: Pretty minimal. I'm okay with that.

 

Overall: It's kind of clean and fresh in a fruity air scent sort of way. I guess it's best I don't like it, being discontinued and all.

[yewberry]

I love Tum. Figures it's been discontinued.

 

Wet, I get (very oddly) freshly-bruised valerian root. I suspect this is the "sweat sock" odor others have mentioned. Fortunately, I'm one of those weirdos who actually likes the smell of valerian, so even the weird wet stage appeals to me.

 

On the dry-down, undefinable flowers and amber emerge, as does cardamom (yum). Though the throw is minimal, the cardamom note lasts for hours. Goodbye, fair Tum. I hardly knew ye...

[savage_rose]

This smells like grape, berries, and...wood? Strangely beautiful, alluring even. Not remotely like a sunset though, unless you're watching it from under a grape arbor . I wish I'd smelled this before it was discontinued, so I could have gotten a bottle...

[Champagne]

Wet it`s herbs immerged in grapy wine with a hint of mint, on the drydown it`s more honey grape and it`s lovely, if someone has dirty socks like this, send them to me please Truly sunny and feminine.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: I’m guessing there’s a lot of berry in this. Wet: Berries and wine with a spice undercoat. Some sort of incense and wood comes out next. It’s beautiful and complex, but the berry/wine note really doesn’t work on me, which is a real shame. Dry: Rich insense with spice. I can almost wear this. Heartbreaking.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Peppery over honey and grape.

 

Wet: The grapey element recedes, but it's still very sweet. There are warm spices in the background, or is that maybe carnation? A wood is present also.

 

Twenty minutes: Delicous resin, or is that carnation? Grapey sweetness and the impression of a wood, although both have gentled. This reads as warm, spicy, and sweet. I like it.

 

One hour: Much the same as before, but with a deeper impression of resin now. This is great.

 

Two and a half hours: A lovely carnation blend; I like it very much. There's something just a shade powdery about it -- a honey note, maybe?

 

Four and a half hours: Past its prime, but still very nice. Win.

 

Seven hours: Still there, faded but nice. What a great scent! This is my favorite of the Stations of the Sun.

 

[isisonearth]

Imp: Cloyingly sweet with some lavender. I closed the imp back up and can still smell it!

 

Wet: Spicy and sweet. Apples, cinnamon and honey and a discordant herbal note. Maybe some fermented grape.

 

Dry: It is starting to remind me of Carpet Fresh.

[Kayah]

I am so sad that this has been discontinued.

I have a partial imp and, well.. this smells dead on like buckwheat honey, in all its dark sweetness. I absolutely LOVE it. Right after application it goes into something herbal/floral, and then as it dries down it goes back to that buckwheat flower sweetness.

 

Now I'm going to have to hunt for "if you love this then try X" recs because this is just amazing!

 

definately no stinky socks smell to me

[Reedsong]

When I first tried Tum years ago, it was a wild panoply of spice, resin, and fruit scents, which mirrored well the painterly setting sun in the western sky. Unfortunately, this one alone of the Stations has not aged well. All of the kaleidoscopic nuances that made Tum so intriguing have faded, and what's left is only a concord grape syrup with a few dribbles of spice, maybe cinnamon and nutmeg, with a tiny touch of the carnation that seems to be a unifying note in these scents. It doesn't work for me at all anymore, which is really disappointing.

 

(Fans of Tum who are lamenting its loss might do well to try Horreur Sympathique, which has similar notes of spice and grape.)

[DevilsCandyCane]

I'm so sad to finally notice the stations of the sun discontinued I still have 2 bottles of Tum, one a cobalt, and it's such a classic summer scent for me. In the bottle I get none of the grape other people mention, to me it smells like sun-warmed grass, and sweet white wine (which I guess is a little grapey, but more wine-grapey!)

 

On skin it gets drier and muskier, but it stays sweet and bright, it always makes me think of riding through farmers' fields of overgrown, dry grass, with the sun shining - it's such a happy, mellow, summery scent. This on one wrist, and Jolly Roger on the other, is total summer BPAL for me - sunshine+wine, and seaside.

 

I really regret not getting a bottle of Ra before they came down, I loved that too

[Lucchesa]

Tum on me was warm honey and dark fruit. I didn't specifically get grape like everyone else seems to have, but after reading the review thread and resniffing the imp (it's evening now and Tum is long gone), yep, it does smell a lot like the grape note in Bess. I like it but don't love it, so it will go to swaps for someone else to try. Tum wears close the the skin, which is normal on me, and has about average wear length.