Blood and Judgment So Well Commeddled

[IronMollyBlack]

Blood and Judgment So Well Commedled

 

This year, Lilith started cultivating a love of Shakespeare, especially Hamlet. Man, this kid loves that play. I assumed, when we started talking about Shakespeare’s works, that she’d love the comedies, particularly Midsummer Night’s Dream and all its attendant fairies. Nope; it’s all about the mopey Prince of Denmark and his teen angst.

 

When she started at her Shakespeare summer camp this year, one of her teachers asked which characters she liked best. She replied, “Horatio.”

 

“Horatio? But he doesn’t have many lines, does he? Why do you like him so much?”

 

“He’s Hamlet’s best friend, he’s always there for Hamlet, and he’s the only one that doesn’t die.”

 

Wise words, kiddo!

 

This is a photo that I took of her watching Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet with her trusty sidekick, Wednesday. The dog, for her part, is a huge fan of the Two Gentlemen of Verona.

 

A little kid’s interpretation of Hamlet’s BFF. A scent of kindness and devotion, friendship and loyalty: soft brown leather and brushed suede with bourbon vanilla, toasted almond, tonka bean, and amber.

This is the scent I was most excited about in my order, although I was a bit nervous about the almond. Unfortunately, it does go to cherry on me, and mixes with the leather in a way that makes it smell sort of like gasoline when it first hits my skin. That fades within a few minutes as the almond backs off. After dry down, I get mostly sweet, ambery leather. I can't detect the bourbon vanilla. The dry down is really nice, and I'm hoping some aging will mellow out the almond.

[Aviatrix]

This starts out as a blast of almond that seems almost bitter. It's a little too powerful for my tastes, but it fades quickly and settles into a soft, well-worn leather with a sweet overlay. The leather feels more like dusty suede, actually. Very nice. I am not getting much of the other notes, though, which is a shame.

 

Overall I quite like it, and it feels like a rather grown-up scent for Lilith

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Cherry-almond-vanilla.

 

Wet on my skin: Sweet, lovely, snuggly vanilla and cherry-almond with brown leather.

 

Dry: This dries into a warm, fuzzy, soft brown leather with vanilla and a bit of amber. The cherry-almond almost completely evaporates on me, leaving the toasted almond to back up the warm snugglies of the other notes. It's so, so pretty, and exactly what I was hoping for. I was just thinking about ordering a bottle of Captain Cully, but I think this will do quite nicely to fill the brown leather-vanilla/tonka slot.

[HerbGirl]

This is one of the nicest perfumes I have ever smelled. It is just NICE. The almond is prominent but not overwhelming and works perfectly with the tonka/suede softness. I love this so much and am so glad I bought a bottle.

[ltrittipoe]

I amp almond, but everything else sounded soooooo perfect that I had to get it anyway.

 

It's a little .... bitter, oddly. I think the almond and suede make it a little bitter, while the tonka and amber are sweetening it up. Bourbon vanilla can sometimes be a little sharper & more herbal on my skin than expected, so I think that is happening as well. It's a very unique scent on me, definitely more than the sum of its notes.

[gentle-twig]

Wet on skin: ALMOND EXTRACT

Dry on skin: The almond gives way to the leathers, with perhaps just a bit of toastiness left behind. I can get a little bit of vanilla, as well. The sharp leathers slowly give way to the sweet backdrop of amber, vanilla, and tonka. To be honest the leather stage smelled a little thin and sharp on me, so I am glad it's developing this way, but it's still not as rich as I would like. It's not love, but I think this will improve with age.

[cvelis]

This is the softest of leathers, a whisper of vanilla and almond. The wet phase smells like leather treatment, and quickly dries to a faint throw perfume on me. Sadness!!!

 

It's really a beautiful scent, but it's practically non existent on me.

[milo]

I love all of these notes, so I thought this would be a no brainer. Almond for sure right off the get go, then, it takes a turn for the worst. Something medicinal rears it's ugly head, and we're left with a slight almond note and a tea tree like herbal/cleaner/medicinal perfume. After about an hour, it settles into a soft, warm amber vanilla with a touch of almond. THIS is more like it, BUT, it's pretty soft, and takes a good while to get there. I am not giving up on this baby, and I will tuck it away for a few months.

[Haltija]

I am starting to think almond might be a no go for me, note wise.

 

It's a beautiful scent and that's what's so weird. The almond brings out this cherry medicinal thing that I don't like and yet I can't take my nose from my wrist. I think I am liking the leather and vanilla mixing in with it because I don't smell amber at all and hardly any tonka.

 

Even though I don't like it that much I still want to keep it and see how it ages. My Mother likes it a lot so I just may give it to her if it doesn't age well for me.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A harsh, synthetic cherry smell, like that awful cough syrup, and nothing else. If this is what almond works out to, uh-oh...

 

Wet: Ah, now that's more like it! The almond quiets down into something smooth and sweet, and plays EXTREMELY well with the leather. Speaking of which, the leather starts out a little newer and sharper than I'd like, but also settles down into something I like rather a lot. And this may be my post-cold stuffy nose talking, but I could almost swear there's an aquatic undertone hanging around somewhere at the base...?

 

Dry: Got a random whiff of myself, and...HNNNNGGGG. Amber can turn pretty much anything to magic on my skin, and clearly it's at work here - I'm getting something broad and sweet, masculine (or maybe unisex), and utterly delicious. At this point, it's so well-blended that, from afar, I can't even pick out any individual notes - it just smells awesome. There's a touch of sharpness from the bourbon vanilla and/or almond if I get close, but basically I'm trailing a cloud of "I am a good person"-smell. (Seriously, HOW does Beth manage to capture such specific, ineffable concepts in scent?)

[radiantfracture]

In the bottle: Inchoate sweetness (vanilla-paper-cream-strawberry), settling into, yes, that cherry version of almond. Maybe faint bitter undertones. And something almost like gasoline, an oily body-shop smell.

 

(A warning (forbidding valediction) -- I tested this right from the post. I gave it precious little rest.)

 

On the skin: Cherry and gasoline. Cherry burns briefly and then -- vanishes. Fade out to faint toasted almond and creamy vanilla leather. Very faint and elusive -- just a vanillic sweetness, like melted ice cream.

 

I like where this ends up, and I like how dramatic the change is. The result is very faint on me, though. I will re-investigate when the scent and I have both matured.

 

[eta] Re-test a month later gives similar results -- a sharp cherry-almond, then gasoline, then just the ghost of a scent. I don't think this works on me.

Edited December 3, 2015 by radiantfracture

[zankoku_zen]

Brown suede, brown leather, and amber. On wet, this one is definitely a leathery blend. As it dries, I get a bit of the vanilla coming through which softens the entire deal a bit. But on the whole, this is a very BROWN leather/suede blend. Very masculine on me actually.

 

Brown, leather, soft.

[Musamea]

This was the Lilith I was most eager to try -- I was hoping that the scent would be vanilla, almond, and amber forward with a hint of soft leather in the background to keep things from getting too sweet. Alas, this starts off all cherry almond floor cleaner on me, cold, high, and medicinal. Then the leather muscles forward, morphing from a sharp black leather into a soft brown one that takes over the entire scent. Overall far too masculine and medicinal for my tastes.

[Eemia]

Lots of soft leather, followed by a bit of dark sweetness. It's a stronger leather than I was expecting, and it definitely has that worn in, almost old fashioned or Western type of feel. I love the almond in here, which is sweet and sort of creamy, like almond paste or an almond cookie. It balances out all that leather, which would have otherwise been way too much for me in this one. I get hints of a semi-sharp perfumey note that trickles off into more musky territory later on. I'm thinking it's the amber, but I'm not sure. I never notice the vanilla amping at all, but it adds a nice undercurrent that helps make this more feminine.

 

My first impression immediately after applying wasn't too great... it almost felt like a leather single note. And I couldn't figure out what the sharpness was that I was smelling. It almost reminded me of a blood note or maybe wine, and I went back to check the listed notes to see if that was it. Luckily I like this a lot more after the first half hour when it settles down and changes into something more interesting and sweeter. I think it's going to age really well.

[Xue_Bai]

...what went wrong here? This should be a win, but...

 

So in the bottle, amazing! Wet on skin, crazy almond cherry.

 

And then dry it's dirt. Like, I'm going to have to pull out my dirt SN and compare to make sure I'm not just crazy, but yeah...it's a sweet, musty dirt scent.

 

Maybe aging might make things play nicer? This is just weird for me.

[fundercat55]

This one smells like I was hoping Ian from the OLLA line would smell. It's the scent of the jacket you borrowed from that sweet, bookish guy in the art program when you were in college. Well worn suede, a clean, soapy spiciness, and just a touch of sweetness. I love it. That said, when I first apply it, it smells like straight up gasoline. Thankfully, that goes away within minutes as it dries. I don't know what element of the scent reacts with my skin to make the smell of petrol while it's wet. It's weird. But other than that, I absolutely love this. It's a comfy, cozy, wonderfully unisex scent.

Edited November 7, 2015 by fundercat55

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Leather and suede dominant with amber support. Almond with tonka support lends it an unexpected sweetness. Wet: Leather dominant, but almond and tonka give it stiff competition. The amber forms a bridge. This may be too sharp a leather for me, but we'll see. Dry: the leather accord breaks down a bit, but the scent reatains some leather. the sharpness softens so it's more suede than fresh leather. The amber lends a kiss of sexuality. The sweetness lingers but loses it's distinctness.

[Leah703]

In the bottle it smells like almond/cherry/vanilla heaven. Once applied to the skin, it morphs into a very dry and very strong leather but not the black leather that I get from many of the other leather scents. This leather is rather brown. Once dry the leather calms down and the amber peaks through. It's a nice scent but not quite what I was expecting, very masculine but not so much that I wouldn't wear it. I'm looking forward to what aging will do to this.

[Soupy Twist]

Someday I will give up hope that the Lab's almond note will work with my skin, but today is not that day. (Which just guarantees more heartbreak. ) Cherry almond in the bottle. It goes on as suede with cherry almond, but the almond note vanishes almost instantly, leaving behind suede, which quickly turns harsh and chemical. After 10 minutes or so some vanilla creeps in, which slowly morphs into amber, and dries as powder. Very sad.

[Gateau]

I have a super hard time with leather scents, to my eternal frustration, because along with tobacco, there is nothing I like more than the scent of leather. The only ones that ever have the slightest hope of working on me are the ones described as brown, soft, worn, or suede. I love tonka, vanilla, almond, and many ambers, so this was a blind bottle purchase.

 

I don't get the bad cherry-almond scent that others get, but it does start out like a jar of maraschino cherries on me, mixed with that distinctive leather scent that goes a bit......minty.

 

On the drydown, this is very leathery with wafts of vanilla. Still don't love the leather, but it's not the kind I can't work with.

 

Fully dry, this is rather sweet and ambery-vanilla. It's not particularly leathery, but it's sort of soft and I can see the suededness of it. It's the syrupy kind of amber that is my least favourite, but again, not bad. It's staying quite close to the skin, and I like that quality. It's sweet but fairly unisex.

 

Verdict -- I'm going to stick this in a box and not take it out for 3 months. I suspect that what I like about it will come out more with age, and what I don't like will blend itself down.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Almond and brown leather.

 

Wet: Leather and almond, with the leather being the most prominent note on my skin. It kind of reminds me of walking into a shoe closet, but with the presence of almond around.

 

Dry: It's still leather-dominant, although the leather is a lot softer now. There's only a bit of the almond left now, and I'm getting some amber as well, but no vanilla, sadly.

 

Verdict: This is just too leather-dominant for my liking.

[Dark Alice]

No almond. Just gorgeous Brown leather, vanilla with a hint of cherry. I am hoping this ages as well as I think it will. It's delicious!

[Roogna]

Very sweet. Lots of cherry and leather at first. But it's a nice sweet cherry, not syrupy. I get some tonka too

as it wears the cherry dies down some and it turns more suede and vanilla with a hint of cherry leather, stays sweet

I plan on trying it again before making up my mind. I wish there was less cherry, but I kinda like the sweet

[Minh Scent]

Oh, such a cuddly leather scent! Love the almond beginning which quickly exits to suede/leather softened with vanilla. I have quite a few leather scents, and funnily enough this little Lilith is most heavy on that note!!

[kajacana]

Total almond/cherry in the bottle.
Marzipan while wet on skin, and as it dries it turns into... cola? It's like those little gummy Coke-bottle candies, or a Dr. Pepper LipSmackers! Weird!
As drydown continues, the LipSmackers and Coke gummies disappear and the leather emerges. It's definitely a soft, worn, brown leather. The sweetness of the vanilla and amber comes out soon after that, and mellows out the leather even more. After drying on my arm for several minutes, it's mostly suede and amber, with a hint of vanilla. It stays close to the skin.
I really love this scent, and I'm so glad because I also love the story behind it!
(Hint: I tested the 13 from Nov. 2015 on my other arm, and these two smell REALLY good together.)