Soceraphobia

[SolarEclipse]

Fear of Parents-in-Law

A scent of judgement and scorn: blackened vetiver, smug vanilla, and a dismissive, sneering dribble of black coffee.

Nice to meet you, Mr. Soceraphobia. I can see where your daughter Europa gets her good qualities from.

*awkward silence*
*coughs*

Just tried this scent out for work today, and it really does remind me of the Europa scent. Upon opening and trying out Soceraphobia, the most out in front note is the vetiver. The harshness is echoed with the coffee, which itself is barely noticable as a separate note. The vanilla underneath does give it a sweet, mellow flavor to it, but it is not nearly as pronounced as it is in Europa, although is it enough to make the connection. Vetiver remains in control throughout drydown, and although the scent fades in a few hours, every so often it re-emergers, lingering a bit only to fade again...

Definitely a keeper for the days I want something a bit more subtle.

[vthesiren]

I love this. Predominantly vetiver, with maybe a whiff of black coffee if I concentrate, but it's SO ROUNDED by the vanilla. This is one of the nicest vetiver blends I've smelled, honestly. It's not too green OR too smoky and doesn't go super acrid on me like some other blends sometimes do. If you're a vetiver fan, this is well worth checking out.

 

EDIT: Letting this rest for a few days worked wonders. The black coffee is now at the front when it hits the skin, with a wonderful smoky vetiver as support. This is sexy, man. Bottle upgrade.

Edited January 8, 2017 by vthesiren

[zankoku_zen]

Very similar to Europa - alot of vetiver, dribble of chocolate, and a whiff of vanilla. Smoky, dirty, and great throw.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Lots of vetiver and coffee. Vanilla. Yum. Wish it was a bit stronger! It's really nice. Simple, but really good. The vetiver keeps it from being foodie. With the coffee and vanilla combo, this reminds me of a non-gourmand Worst Pillow. so little throw though, I have to shove my face right into my elbow to smell it. I put some on my wrist, and that's easier to sniff. This has a dry, almost cocoa (but no richness, and just a hint sweet) feel to it. I actually really like it.

 

 

Dry: Gone from the crook of my elbow. Completely. Despite slathering. On my wrist (where scents stay less true) there are faint hints of really sour vetiver left. Not nice. This one is not for my chemistry, which sucks, cuz it was amazing when wet.

[annemathematics]

wet this was coffee and vetiver, dark and gritty and maybe on the foodie cusp.

 

this lasts about fifteen minutes on me, before my caffeine-deprived skin completely consumes it. then it is GONE. just like real coffee in my presence.

[Casablanca]

On the wand, this is mainly a subdued blackened vetiver. For vetiver, it’s super low-key. A mumbling beatnik vetiver.

 

On my skin, this begins as a large vetiver coffee with a teaspoon of vanilla-flavored syrup. That’s about the proportion of things. I’m reminded of the Pacific Northwest coffee houses of my school days. The coffee also reminds me of last year’s coffee SN.

 

The vanilla, sadly, fades in minutes. The vetiver coffee is nearly gone at a half hour.

[Little Bird]

This isn't as bad as Europa was on my skin, but has a similar smoky, powdery vetiver and burnt, sour coffee thing happening, and the vanilla never shows up to the party for me. I think the only bpal coffee blend to work for me was Bah, as that one went very sweet and gourmand. This one is too bitter for me.

[radiantfracture]

Hmm.

 

Sometimes coffee is coffee on me, and sometimes it turns into something wholly other, as in The Two Old Men, and now with Socerophobia.

 

My vetiver is green rather than earthy or very smoky. In the bottle and on my skin, this is a juicy green smell like an expensive florist's shop, or a very upscale line of botanical skin treatments. I get a faint peppery/smoky edge like chrysanthemum, and throughout there's a sense of rich, heavy floral / botanical oils. There might, in the bottle, be something that almost smells like cherry.

 

There's an elusive peekaboo vanilla effect that sweetens the botanicals.

 

This smells like a classic perfume to me, something worn by a woman with authority and taste. It's both heady and cool, just the emotional tenor you'd expect from the phobic scenario.

[SecondDreemurr]

I love this in the bottle, vetiver and coffee and a hint of vanilla. On the back of my hand smoky vetiver chocolate covered cherries.... It quickly fades to what reminds me of a sour vetiver tinged The Red Queen.

I'm going to try again in the future but I'm stumped by this scent.

[Juushika]

In vial: Coffee.

 

On me: An entirely different beast wet and dry. Wet, this is a smokey coffee blooming into a sort of tobacco dirtiness; masculine, but not too cologne-y. Dry, this reminds me distinctly of over-applied Lurid Library (the incense-tinged scent of forbidden tomes and the musk-laden remnants of infernal servants), which goes almost floral and distinctly sweet while retaining that library/parchment scent; Soceraphobia is darker in shade and more intense, a sort of vanilla'd, masculine, bookish almost-floral. Throw is low and wearlength is minimal--not much more than an hour.

 

On cloth: For a few hours this is a whisper of smooth, rich vetiver with a vanilla sweetness, a little cologne-y and almost floral; no coffee to speak of. The lingering, long-term scent is much more potent, that overapplied-Lurid Library's darker, sweeter, more masculine cousin, a vanillic/incense almost-floral.

 

 

Verdict: A strange scent. It has so much potential, but that floral late-stage doesn't fulfill it, and it vanishes on the skin. That said, Lurid Library (when not overapplied) is one of my top ten scents, so the overlap in my impressions(/the notes?) intrigues me. All of these notes also age well. I'd be interested to come back to this in another few years and see if it's settled into itself.

 

[VetchVesper]

I think age has mellowed and mingled this one to its benefit.  Soceraphobia is still very acrid at first.  The vetiver is dark and smoky, and the coffee is bitter and black.  It's sharp and unpleasant at first, but then the vanilla starts to work it's way in, warm things up, and calm things down a bit, and the blend sort of works.  It's like that one family member that's the peacemaker who manages to keep everyone else from screaming at each other at the family gatherings, b/c they're just so nice to everyone, and they brought really good pie.  I dunno, it's an odd blend, but definitely interesting.  A lovely take on the smell of dysfunction.  

[Lucchesa]

Soceraphobia should be good on me, but it isn't.  It goes on sour and harsh, like the last quarter inch in the carafe of an ancient Mr. Coffee that's been left on for an entire workday.  Not a pleasant phase.  It does get nicer as the vanilla pokes its head in and smooths things out a bit, but before long the vanilla turns back around and exits, and so does the entire scent.  Really short wear time on me (not unusual for my skin to soak up coffee and smoke notes quickly).  

[doomsday_disco]

The vetiver in this isn't super smoky or BBQ-like, but it is the strongest note out of the gate, followed by the black coffee. Over time, a somewhat icy vanilla joins the party -- more ice than vanilla, though. It helps to tame the vetiver at first, but then the scent ends up being too sharp on me by the end of the day. At this point, the coffee has gained strength, but I don't think it's any one note causing this to be sharp and bordering on headache-territory for me -- I think it's the way they combine together that's doing it. Or possibly the vetiver with the coffee. But yeah. Not the scariest vetiver I've come across, but this one is still too much for me.