Sherlock Holmes

[freneticfloetry]

A fastidiously clean scent, with a dash of pipe and cigarette tobacco. Faintly beneath, you catch the fragrance of a smear of greasepaint, a stray horsehair, and a whisper of Moroccan leather and rosin.

Okay so, I've tried to come up with a coherent review for this blend, and it's just impossible. Hence, I'm just posting my nonsensical notes.

Wet:
Sharp, almost chemical. Odd - not quite acquatic, but vaguely reminiscent of ozone. Thick, heavy ozone, not metallic at all. Hint of something green.

Drydown:
Sweeter, slightly resinous. The rosin, I think. Something that reminds me a bit of absinthe (a 7% something?). Chemical smell, whatever it was, has gone bye-bye. There's a crisp kind of dryness -- less books than paper. And oh oh, leather. Hello, leather. You're my favorite kind, all warm and brown and broken in, like a trusty saddle.

Dry:
OH. MY. GOD.

Yeah, that last part is where it really went off the rails. Here's the thing: Sherlock Holmes is my favorite literary character in history, and one of my favorites in any other medium (and any adaptation). And this? This is Sherlock Holmes in a bottle: impossible to describe, and impossible to resist. That first chemical tang is off-putting - my first instinct was to recoil from my wrist. And then it warms, and changes, and loses that completely, and it becomes this mercurial mix of sweetness and smoke and ink-splotched notes and a cacophony of other things that cannot be named. There's something sharp in the background (ash?) that is so deliberate and so welcome, and I swear there's this waft of what feels like coconut pulp (just nutty in a fresh and light and clean sort of way, not BAM, COCONUT), which sounds like it should be out of place but absolutely isn't. In a way, it reminds me of the CCs androgynous English cousin, who's all at once aloof and offputting and the most interesting person in the world. The whole thing is a beautiful exercise in character understanding and appreciation, and I think it's my new daily blend. I need vats and vats of it. If there are prototypes, I hope they see the light of day -- I'd love to test the steps that led to this masterpiece.

TL:DR; I SMELL LIKE SHERLOCK HOLMES. Beth is made of magic.

P.S.: I know the label art drew from Conan Doyle's description of Holmes, but the more I wear this the more it looks like a portrait of Jeremy Brett, and that makes me irrationally giddy. (And makes me nervous for the BBC Sherlock special all over again -- I love Cumberbatch, but nobody does Victorian Holmes like Brett. That's why most people have stopped trying.)

P.P.S.: I layered it with John Watson (BECAUSE I HAD TO OKAY, I LITERALLY COULDN'T NOT) and together, on me, they smell exactly like The Antikythera Mechanism. I'm... not sure what that says, but I am deeply amused nonetheless. BRING ON THE STEAMPUNK!AU. Edited February 4, 2015 by freneticfloetry

[unxolve]

Fresh, clean, and completely perfect. I was nervous about my first anatomy course and this saw me through the day with a bright (a bit masculine) intellectual bearing. Cool sweet aftershave. Like the above poster, I find this incredibly well-blended, difficult to describe, and a keeper that is amazing for daily wear.

 

Warning: It's very light, very, very, perfect, and very sensitive to other blends. I tried this another day without having washed off the previous day's sample from each wrist...soured/berried thanks to one, and got completely eaten by the gingerbread from other. Probably best with a clean slate or at least a planned pairing.

 

Edit: Let me say further, even though it's still new, this is one of my favorites, and may be the best blend that I've tried, period. Maybe a Holy Grail. After this bottle runs out, I'll get another. This belongs on the "best of" and "masculine" imp set staples. It is pleasant, smooth, agreeable, and a great experience from bottle to the very last stages of dry down. If you like gender neutral/masculine scents (or have an friend/SO who does), get a hold of an imp.

Edited February 6, 2015 by unxolve

[zankoku_zen]

Oh god, this is right on the money. It smells clean, but it's not. You get those whiffs of tobacco, leather, and rosin. Which to me ends up pushing this from the gender neutral category into the masculine.

 

And by clean, its like soap, and clean skin, and clean water. It smells sophisticated, despite being such a clean smell. But underneath are still the traces of the day - the tobacco, the leather, the rosin. I don't know how the Lab did it, but it's really a scent experience. My god.

 

Not the type of blend I can wear, but will have to give to mr. zee_zee to try out.

 

ETA:

Tried it on mr. zee_zee last night and this may amerit a few more tests. But so far, signs are encouraging! It starts off very clean, which wasn't all that impressive on wet. As it dries, some of the clean burns off and you get more of the rosin and tobacco shine through. After about an hour, it's a very warm scent with just a whiff of clean skin. It smells at this juncture more like a combination of tobacco, roisin, and just a hint of brown leather. At this point, its very very good.

Edited February 11, 2015 by zankoku_zen

[loubric]

Ok so I wasn't sure what I expected when I got this bottle, I was thinking maybe a very clean, somewhat medical and leather male smell ... let me tell you ...

 

OMG this is amazing. I opened the bottle and the first whiff is sweet, clean and herby. And not many purfumes or oils do this (or any beauty products) but it smells like a memory!! I love it when this happens.

On my skin it's wet and juicy and still beautifully sweet and clean. Drydown it blends into my skin beautifully. This is all sweet goodness on me, I didn't think it would be this feminine on me but it is so amazing. Sweet lemon, sweet herbs, juicy fruit .. I just can't even.

 

So so beautiful words cannot even express how delicious and sexy this smells on me.

[barilace]

God this is amazing. Clean with tobacco and leather and a tad of sweetness.

 

Must. Buy. Bottle.

 

God it's so good.

Edited February 21, 2015 by barilace

[deleahrium]

This reminds me of a commercial perfume, not sure which one since I haven't sniffed them in years. Or maybe it just reminds me of them in general. But all the notes blend smoothly into one single scent very nicely. It's not for me, but I can see how many people will love this. Certainly gender-neutral. I could also see it layering nicely with a chocolate blend. Will have to try that.

[LiberAmoris]

Ugh, this is so good. Sherlock Holmes is tobacco plus soap (in the best way) plus Morocco on me. I've smelled a lot of rosin in my day (my best friend from childhood was an amazing violinist) and pick up on the rosiny resin from time to time, which hits me like a brick-wall flashback. But mostly this is manners meets man—something clean and leisurely up against something striving and dynamic. I bought my husband a bottle, but got a frimp from the Lab that's all mine.

[Aviatrix]

Sherlock Holmes is very faint on my skin, but it actually suits me just fine, as this kind of scent does well as a close-to-the-skin scent.

 

It does indeed feel very "clean" and a little soapy, but not in a bad way, more of a cheerful way. There is a distinct tobacco note underneath, and sadly it is not the sweet tobacco note I love the best. But it'll do!

 

I do however get a little whiff of something sweet, that I assume is the leather and rosin, hiding in the waaaay back.

 

It is a difficult scent to describe, I think, as it seems more like a feeling than an actual scent. But so far I quite like it. I wear it to chemistry class to boost my science-ness!

[annemathematics]

this is some quality sauce. I have to confess I was a bit taken aback by how high and bright it is. with notes like leather and tobacco, I was thinking it would be dark and rich. nope! not on me! I received this as a frimp with my luper order, and tested it along some bright song of venus florals, and this was higher and sharper than all the white florals. it actually remindes me of a violin playing and holding higher notes, beautiful and slightly despondant.

 

I'm excited to see how this scent will layer with the others in the series.

[Nicnivin]

This scent encompasses everything I love about Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes from the BBC series. Clear and crisp, the leather and high florals establish themselves first, followed by leather, a kiss of greasepaint, and the tiniest tobacco note.

 

Tobacco goes far too sweet on me, but I absolutely love this scent on my husband. Sherlock has replaced Dee as my favourite scent on him.

[DevilsCandyCane]

This is really, surprisingly lovely! The notes I would've guessed at were totally different, to me it's like a clean, efficient sort of violet-lavender cologne, yet wholly different from Villain or Wilde, this is much softer and more gender-neutral. In the early dry-down it was giving me really weird memories of my big brother's room in the late 80's, that it was painted this grey-violet colour with hints of pastel lemon and blue - I think partly because this smells exactly like those colours, and partly because there's an odd hint in this of the subtle muskiness that my brothers' rooms always smelled of, when we were little. (but don't worry, it doesn't smell like sweaty boys - I had a bizarrely heightened sense of smell as a child, and whenever I came home from school I could immediate tell who had visited that day, by their lingering scent. Dog-child! )

 

Overall, it smells very clean, but not in a lemony-soapy way, this is just...reassuring, it smells like the sort of guy who is always effortlessly in control of every situation, which is fitting! It almost has the slightest scent of freshly ironed, perfectly creased laundry, immaculately clean shirts. I rather love it, and think it'll be wonderful for summer - quite possibly a bottle needed!

[Soupy Twist]

Clean, juicy, and hints of tobacco in the bottle. Goes on as a juicy rosin? Then I get maybe a little citrus and some linen, and definitely leather — a nice one. This becomes pipe tobacco. Then there's some "citrus aftershave" notes (probably from snogging Watson ) and it goes back to the rosin. Dries to a wonderful clean pipe tobacco. I love this. It has a lot of throw, which tobacco tends to do on me, and the longevity is amazing. Absolutely must get a bottle.

 

I did try layering it with Watson, but the "lime aftershave" from that scent crowded out all the tobacco. Sorry, John.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: I’d swear there was balsam in this, which I’m wondering might be the “clean” in the description or if the rosin happens to be very balsam like here. It is very balsamy, with tobacco in strong support. Leather is understated and one of the softer versions of that accord. I like what I suspect is greasepaint, or possibly rosin if that isn’t the thing that is balsam like, and the ghost of hair adds a hint of mystery, but I don’t do well with balsam and I think this is too much.

[GoddesShel]

I got an imp of Sherlock Holmes in my Luper order! I was almost as excited about that, as I was about the bottles I ordered! So I handed it off to Chris, he takes the top off the imp and says "Unisex if I ever smelled it - I can't decide which one of us is supposed to wear it!" So I decided I'd take the plunge and skin test it.

 

I have no idea what I'm smelling (on my skin, it's reading as almost floral???) but it's not anything I'd have associated with the listed "notes". It does read as more masculine though, the longer it stays on. I'm going to make him skin test it and see what happens.

[MCS4096]

This becomes almost fruity on me the longer it wears-- vaguely sweet and somewhat musky, but definitely reading as fruity. I imagine it's part of the "clean" aspect that I'm amping. It's quite pleasant but I do like Sherlock and Watson layered best.

[bulletslc]

Holy cow!.I actually smell the grease paint in this! How does she do that?! This smells clean yet masculine. It really does smell like the skin scent of a complex and fascinating man.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sweet pipe tobacco and a bit of leather.

 

Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp.

 

Dry: This is that tobacco that goes so gorgeously sweet and almost fruity on me, and which I love in several other blends. There's just a bit of leather here, along with something thick and ...yep, greasepaint. There's a whisper of instrument rosin, a scent I know so well from coming up on 20 years as a violist. It adds just that touch of resinous warmth to the tobacco and leather. This is quite nice on me in a similar manner to other leather/tobacco blends, and I'll surely be using up this imp! Maybe another imp later, though I do tend to prefer Hellfire for my tobacco/leather fix.

[Malaena]

I got to try this at Will Call today. After drying it has a light, sweet leathery scent with an undercurrent of tobacco. I didn't like it enough to purchase a bottle but I will definitely acquire an imp.

 

ETA: I got an imp of this and the scent is still nice outside of the perfumy enviroment of Will Call. It's quite an unusual scent. It's a bit of an oily, aftershavey, leather with sweetness from tobacco. I like it but don't love it.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Malaena

[ChernobylLegacy]

I wish I had purchased a bottle of this. Sherlock is the first blend that I really fell in love with.

 

It starts off clean, water and suds of masculine soap. It was a lot brighter than I had thought, which was a pleasant surprise. As it dried down, the greasepaint and tobacco really stood out which was oddly addicting. I swore I smelled a bit of afternoon tea, but that could just be me. About an hour in, my chemistry kicked up the leather and rosin and it left me with something sweet. More feminine. It's a very curious blend that's hard to pinpoint. An air of mystery and an almost magnetic affect to it. Confidant and... comforting.

 

I only wish that it had a larger throw. I've already caught friends standing a bit closer to try and smell me. Haha

 

I have to agree that it reminds me more of Jeremy Brett than any other depiction.

[SimplySyra]

Got this in a lovely little frimp. It surprised me a lot because I wasn't expecting such a nice scent based on the description. Although it's not completely feminine, it's more feminine than I expected! It actually reminds me a bit of Erik. It has something of the same clean unisex scent underscored by resin/wood but I think I might prefer this scent. I'll have to check them out side by side again. I feel Erik was sharper (the kerosene) and faded to must rather than clean leather.

 

Imp: Sweet, clean, and bright with a tiny hint of resin. Something about it is almost citrus but clearly not. People are right in saying it's very hard to pin this scent down. It's just "generally pleasing" yet you don't know why.

Wet: More of the same clean scent. It's very unisex but leans towards a sweeter scent on my skin making it perfectly comfortable there as a feminine scent.

Drying: A smooth leather with a hint of resin is coming forward. It's warming up a scent that initially felt cool and clean. The sweetness lingers but not as bright as before. The scent stays close to me and is quite subtle. It does turn a bit soapy after dry down which is a shame. I was really hoping to keep those warm leather resins.

Verdict: A lovely scent! I'm not sure if I'll spring for a bottle given how it dries down but it's very pleasing while it lasts. If I could figure out a way to keep that drying but not quite dry stage with a bit more throw, I'd be all in!

[milo]

Gritty dude blend for sure. Starts off bright and kind of citrussy. Tobacco and sweetness comes out. A manly tobacco sweet blend, maaaybe a touch of vanilla. This is in the same family as Captain Cully or Crowley. Theres an annoying fungus vibe in the background though, which gives me pause. Ill stick to the other two.

[tinyvulture]

It's hard for me to be impartial so I'll just say, it is a very sexy scent. I wouldn't describe it as clean...that makes me think of aftershave or cleaning products, which this definitely bears no resemblance to. There's tobacco, and fruity notes, like a fruity red wine, or the plum from Bordello. And the rosin in the background gives that little bit of dark mystery which draws you in deeper. Yet on the surface it is surprisingly sweet and bright. It also reminds me of some Lush product that I can't put my finger on. Cocoa-buttery almost. Must get bottle, must slather on husband!

[LexieBlom]

Sherlock Holmes imp

 

Wet/Bottle - VERY clean. Light, airy, slightly sweet and a bit bitter from the tobacco.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Still very clean, but not floral or chemical which often happens. This reminds me vaguely of Neutral, with a touch of rosin.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - Clean, leathery rosin.

 

I actually like this. I have no other way to describe it that "clean" because I can't pick out any specific notes that make it clean, but the leather and rosin dirty it up enough to make it sexy rather than medicinal.

[Tramp]

No clue how to describe this, wet it is a sweet almost juicy blend on me. Clean but in no way soapy. Unisex, or maybe just asexual. Dry it becomes more leathery with a slight bitterness. Definate win.

[radiantfracture]

(Imp from the lab, aged some months.)

 

This is delicate on me -- more innocent than I expected.

 

In the mysterious vial: Sweetness and maybe leather?

 

Wet: Chameleonic -- each time I try it, it seems different. Sometimes citrus, sometimes echoes of a classic fougere like Dorian. Normally leather and tobacco vanish on me, so it’s delightful to smell the leather up front and a fruity tobacco mellowing in. A little of that sexy rosin from Rogue. Something almost spicy I can't place.

 

Dry: A sweet skin-scent of delicate leather and cool clean linen. I like it, though it's not really my Sherlock.

 

Layered with Watson: Fun and strange. Watson's lime, Holmes' leather, a duelling of chemistry, and then a clean sky-high linen scent with lingering citrus.