Indulgence

[absinthetics]

Gleaming black and iridescent green: black patchouli and vetiver with green amber, oudh, tobacco flower, elemi, and champaca.

There is something sharp and un-gentle about this scent, and it remains rather cold and hard. I'd say stony but it doesn't feel earthy or even dry. It's like wet black marble. None of the notes really pop out, certainly not the champaca. If you don't like green notes, don't fear, as I don't get a green feeling out of this at all.

[Poenari]

I can't figure this one out at all. Based on the notes, I would have expected something much stronger, but that is not the case. I can't pick out a single note, but together they make a dark and stony scent. I agree with Absinthetics that this is like black marble, and not a green scent. But after about 30 minutes on my skin, it's more warmed and not a wet marble. I wouldn't turn to this often enough to upgrade my decant to a bottle, but I'm glad that I got a chance to try this!

[theseagrows]

i find this to be green, cool and fresh. however it definitely smells fresh and green/aquatic. it kind of reminds me of irish spring a bit (if memory serves.) i dunno what notes these are honestly, maybe it's the "green amber"? all i really smell is fresh detergenty-soap on me. after being on the skin a bit, i get something that seems kind of floral mixed in, i think maybe it's tobacco flower? wherein it gets a little more typically unisex, but it's still very green and soapy to me.

Edited December 19, 2015 by theseagrows

[zankoku_zen]

Cool green flowers (elemi and tobacco flower) with a touch of smokiness. I definitely am amping up the tobacco flower and elemi, and it smells more like a white smoky floral as opposed to a darker smokier blend (given that this has patchouli, etc.). Good throw, good wear length.

 

Cool, smoky, florals.

[Little Bird]

Indulgence reminds me of The Lady on the Grey, as they both were almost a tobacco flower single note on my skin. It smells like sharp laundry soap powder, sharp greenery, and white, smoky floral. Gives me a headache.

[VetchVesper]

It seems like this one is not too popular, which just means more bottles for me! Of the 11 Crimson Peak scents I tried, this is the only one I will definitely be getting a bottle of. My mom also really liked it though it smells a bit different on her. Yay for shared nose genes!

 

Indulgence is very different from any other BPAL I've smelled and hard to describe, but here's my best. In the bottle there is a very cologney, alcohol quality to the scent with a woody backing. It is sharp, harsh, and somewhat masculine, though I tend to like that. It's very well blended and I don't get any one note popping out. I was worried about tobacco flower, b/c tobacco is iffy on me, but it's fine in this, though I'm guessing it adds some of that harsh edge.

 

Once on my skin, Indulgence loses its sharpness and becomes kind of smoky and nondescript when I stick my nose on it, BUT... ... the WAFTING. This one wafts wonderfully, and perfumes rarely have throw on me. I keep catching whiffs of smokey nag champa with a sort of lemony soapiness. Not quite lemon, another no go for me, and not aquatic soapy or old lady floral soapy - just weird cologne/ clean soapy. It's really odd, and I love it.

 

Though I'm not familiar with elemi, I read that it has lemony and pine resinous qualities to it's fragrance, so I'm guessing that's the lemon I'm picking up and the green others have mentioned. Anywho - on me, gender neutral, unusual incense blend with good throw and long wear time (12 hours).

 

5 Star lurv.

[porcelina]

oof, this one is not for me. i get a sharp and soapy floral with some vetiver thrown in for good measure.

[LiberAmoris]

Indulgence does smell a bit like washing powder at first. It settles down after a bit into a shadowy, grey-white floral with an almost lemony edge. I can smell a smidge of vetiver, but it's very subtle. On complete drydown, this is a big-broadcast floral—I agree that the sillage is phenomenal on this one. I'd definitely have to be in the right mood to wear this operatic fragrance, but I really appreciate how well-blended it is and how skillfully the vetiver and oudh slink up against the green amber and florals to cast a discomfiting shadow.

[sprout]

This does not begin well, as it smelled like hairspray in the imp, but I persevered in the spirit of exploration.

 

Green initially while wet, an undercurrent of sweet from the amber, and hippy dippy patchouli.

 

Elemi gives this an almost citrus edge, with green aquatic suggestions from the? green amber and perhaps tobacco flower. Is an aquatic resin possible? The light of a smoky golden topaz, crystalized into mineral is the synesthesia I envision.

 

Drying, sniffing my wrist is becoming more compulsory. The tobacco flower with perhaps help from the vetiver are present as a contraposition to the crystalline elements of amber and patchouli. The ornate smoky topaz sits on a black velvet cushion.

 

Drydown, now this becomes exquisite. The green, aquatic edge has softened. Tobacco and patchouli are dominant but the champaca, darkened by vetiver are adding a smoky quality, without smelling of incense. The green amber is a new take on resin for this nose. It is green and vegetable but resinous and smoky at the same time. I imagine that this will age beautifully as amber and patchouli are wont to do.

 

I'm suspicious that this will be a sleeper hit as fresh can only suggest the magnificent olfactory glory this will likely become. I'll retest in about 3 months to get a better idea but damn the torpedoes, I'll probably need a bottle!

Edited January 10, 2016 by sprout

[Ina Garten Davita]

Indulgence is a scent that should not work on me, vetiver and chapaca are two of my "great ruiners." And I can smell them at first, dark and dank, the scent oozes out of the bottle and sends a shiver of dread up my spine. I almost didn't want to skin test it.

 

I steel my nerves, gird my loins, and dab a tiny dot on my right wrist. WHOA! Hello throw! As it hits my skin I am immediately reminded of LUSH Tramp, on of my all time favorite scents. That rich green and chewy black goodness.

 

The vetiver is gone almost instantly. Bye, click.

 

I'm left with rich, resiny, chewy goodness. Definitely indulgent, deeply seductive.

 

After a while the florals come to play as the whole scent begins to soften and sweeten on my skin. This has great throw and is different afar than close up. The green florals are leaping off my skin, while the resins are sticking close.

 

This lasts forever! I'm still smelling a hint of green floral with an undercurrent of sweet amber this afternoon after applying last evening (still in my house clothes, doing housework.)

 

This scent needs more love. I think it's going to age tremendously.

[Teamama]

Decant.

In the imp: Coca-Cola and wood.

Wet: Incense and wood.

Dry-down: Incense, salt, and sweet wood.

 

This is kind of baffling to me. I can't pick out the individual notes at all! It's a lot like Morocco, that way; well-blended and balanced.

 

I have an oddly neutral response to Indulgence as a scent.

 

My daughter says it smells nice on me, which is unusual, given that she usually dislikes Incense-heavy scents. I'm not sure how often I'll wear it, but I'm glad I got the decant, and I'll keep it.

 

3 years later, I found my lost decant. So Smooth! This has aged into a silky oudh & amber blend, with incense notes around the edges. Delicious. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Teamama
Aging

[patina]

Dark, sweet, well-blended, perfumy, tart.

 

This is dark, but ever so smooth. I almost think I can smell plums here. I can pick out the swirling tobacco flower but that's about all. I get no soap, no strong vetiver.

 

On the drydown, whoever said this smelled like smoked topaz was correct. Lucille Sharpe had garnets, silk and old roses, this is smoky topaz and tobacco flower.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Much sweeter than I expected! A bit cologne like on me at first. The vetiver is present, the more vegetal less smoky variety. It blends so nicely with the patch. The green amber is really amping up and making this more feminine and wearable on me. I'm digging it.

 

 

Dry: This is so hard to describe, but I like it. It smells green without smelling like plants. Vetiver and patchouli and an amber note I've never smelled before. Really different and nice.

[Haltija]

This is such a interesting scent.

 

When I first tried it, I hated it. I knew better, and I decided to let it age for quite a long time and now I am trying it again today and wow at the difference. Something about it is so intriguing that I can't take my nose away from my arm. It is indeed green and has this coolness about it. Honestly to my nose it smells like Lady Lucille with just green tones mixed in. The tobacco flower gives it depth and the vetiver keeps it still smelling rich and smoky but not in a outdoors type of way.

 

I am thinking a big bottle is required now.

[freyasfae]

Whoa, that definitely has a gleaming quality to it - and yes of black and iridescent green. How does the lab do it?! Vetiver is usually a death note for me, but yet again the CPs prove me wrong. This is glittering, smoky, Victorian seance with heavy curtains cutting off any light and even heavier fabrics on the participants - think taffata and brocade. Everyone is sweating under their heavy fabrics, scared and excited for the seance.

[Cali]

Hmmm... From the imp it reminded me just a bit of fairy tales & lies, but a little warmer and added vetiver.
The vetiver kinda scared me at first, but applied to my skin it directly went a lot sweeter and warmer and it fell into the background; there's a certain sweetness in here and a soft, woodsy pachouli.
I can also imagine a string of swirling insence which might be the oudh & tobacco notes and it's so smooth.

 

Not "wow" enough for a bottle for me but certainly lovely to try, and another great CP scent.

[roseus]

Everyone has said it. Cold, black/green, gleaming. Like expensive marble. Just a very smooth, it's incense-y but not super smoky. Dark but somehow also shining. So beautiful!

[Joyleaf_]

When I got ready today I said to myself "I want to smell like beautiful murder". Unerringly, my hand grabbed Indulgence, and I can say with complete confidence that I smell like beautiful murder. Or gorgeous maiming, enchanting wounding, other frilly descriptions of blood and rage and power. Truly, any of the Crimson Peak line would have sufficed, but this one is much warmer than some of the other choices *coughLucillecough*, and isn't as soft as my beloved Black Moths. I'm utterly entranced and after several several hours I can still smell it wafting around me. Bottom line this warm, slightly masculine scent still has the sharp edge of the knife. Gorgeous blend of patch and resin and tobacco flower. One I see myself reaching for again.

[Lucchesa]

Indulgence does smell like beautiful murder, as Joyleaf_ says. Everything in this nearly 4-year-old decant is dark and smooth and polished; there are no rough edges on the patchouli or vetiver, nothing indolic about the oudh. It's a black marble foyer with a spectacular floral arrangement in a neoclassical niche.  It is a little more floral than is to my taste, and champaca is rarely a note I can wear, but it's a work of art and I'm delighted I had the chance to try it. 

[tinyvulture]

A soapy, clean scent. Actually reminds me of literal soap. Very green, with undertones of amber and vetiver. I'm not sure how green amber differs from regular amber, but I love this.