Blood-Bespattered Locks of Gray

[Failmingo]

Woe for the blood-bespattered locks of gray, alas for the rent robe, which you assumed, it seems, only that you might be slain in it!
Cassius Dio

Ambergris and bay leaf, lemon peel and regal mandarin, white cedar and khus, grey oudh and star anise.

I know the time period doesn't line up AT ALL, but I was really looking forward to this as a sort of debauched powdered-wig scent, based on the name as well as the listed notes. And I've gotta say, I was not disappointed!

In the bottle, I'm getting the same ambergris note that really makes Black Forest glow. Here, that same air of mystery is injected into an insouciant gentlemen's cologne, with almost none of Black Forest's sweetness -- I'm glad she went ahead and used the word "regal" in the description, because that is all I can think when I smell this in the bottle. The overall vibe is... hazardously amoral.

On the skin, the khus is less forceful and sort of lifts the other notes on a waft of smoke, an effect someone at Lunacy last night described as "infernal." The ambergris going airborne like that is what contributes to the powdered wig association in my mind -- it teases the nose from a distance with a deceptively soft touch, but the deeper you lean into it, the darker it gets.

Like so many of these Ides of March scents (and the recent Lupercalias) this blend seems to hint at a cover-up job -- a thin veneer of respectability stretched over something utterly unwholesome. It would be ravishing on a man, but there's nothing in this one that I think would read as masculine on a woman. There's a spiciness in the dry-down thanks to the anise -- this probably wouldn't read as anise to anyone who hadn't read the description, so if that's not a note you cherish, you are probably still on pretty safe ground.

I'll be holding on to this bottle for a long time.

[lizabelle]

At first I was super disappointed with this, because all I could smell was cedar and maybe a touch of ambergris. I'm thinking it just hadn't settled enough at that point, because it's changed into something lighter and brighter. I totally agree with it as a sophisticated man's cologne but at the same time I've never smelled a cologne like this.

 

The cedar is definitely still prominent, with bay blending with it closely enough that they're hard to tell apart. The oudh is subtle in the background but there's a definite earthiness going on underneath the cedar. The citrus reminds me of the inside part of the peel (you know, the white part? I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know it), and the ambergris plays the same role as in Black Forest, lightening everything up and blending it all together. Interestingly the ambergris/orange/lemon combo is reminiscent of the amber/citrus combo in Aelopile and other similar scents, but it's definitely still ambergris. I can't really pick out anise, which is sad more because I love anise than because the scent is lacking anything. Somehow this is completely different from other scents I have with similar notes, and I can see myself wearing it a lot!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i spilled about a decant's worth of this while i was decanting, and the room reeked of this for days.. surviving incense, a/c, the furnace (ah, Georgia weather!), and trying to air it out. either it is finally gone, or i'm just used to it and can't smell it anymore.

 

my thoughts didn't change from the initial sniff, though, and all i can think is the "I got mah pencil" line from Van Halen's Hot For Teacher.

... gimme somethin' to write on. man.

.......... in other words, all i get is cedar. or something very akin to Disappointing Pencil.

[zankoku_zen]

Ambergris, bay leaf, cedar, and oudh. This is a manly, woody ambergris blend. I'm really amping up the bay leaf which is interesting to smell without the rum. Masculine, sophisticated, dark. Good throw and wear length.

[LizziesLuck]

This is a mish-mash of notes that are great on me and notes that are awful. Somehow I felt I should try it anyway.

 

 

Wet: A really gorgeous cedar note (no pencil shavings here!) and some citrus. This would smell amazing on a man, but so far it's not quite for me.

 

 

Dry: Woody and citrusy. A really nice scent, but just not me. I still think it would smell fantastic on the right person, especially a guy.

[Little Bird]

A dry, soft cedar note with a slight smokiness that keeps making me think of incense (I actually keep thinking it's sandalwood), and a drydown that's mostly ambergris, dry wood, and spicy bay. It smells very traditionally masculine to me. I'm glad that I'm not getting any of the citrus notes, oudh or anise. The ambergris smells like cool, spiced amber and smooth aquatic cologne, paired with a smooth, dry woodiness. Resinous, woody and spicy, but also very calm, smooth and clean. I actually like this a lot on my man. I'll keep my decant, but probably not need a full bottle.