The Small Brown Cat

[Mergekat]

The small brown cat opened her eyes and stretched to her feet. She padded across the kitchen floor and pushed at Shadow’s boot with her head. He put down his left hand and scratched her forehead and the back of her ears and the scruff of her neck. She arched, ecstatically, then sprang into his lap, pushed herself up against his chest, and touched her cold nose to his. Then she curled up in his lap and went back to sleep. He put his hand down to stroke her: her fur was soft, and she was warm and pleasant in his lap; she acted like she was in the safest place in the world, and Shadow felt comforted.

Warm brown fur, cardamom-infused bourbon vanilla, and a touch of cedarwood.

This American Gods perfume has elements of Tombstone (with its cedarwood note) and the nuzzly Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (likely from its bourbon vanilla). It comes across as warm, woodsy, and somehow furry vibes coming forward on little cat feet. Much like a kitty that has been sunning itself on an old cedar deck.

[hammy]

In the bottle - Vanilla cedar. I love it already.

 

Wet - My skin does wonderful things with cedar, and it’s happening now. The blend is getting sweeter by the second; it’s starting remind me a little of Amicitia, one of my favorite blends with sweet cedar. Where that one has a touch more greenery, this one has spice and vanilla. God, I’m loving this. This is the first time in a long time I’ve been so in love with a scent so quickly.

 

Drydown - OK, there’s the fuzziness. It roars to the front for a few minutes and then the whole blend just purrs. "Nuzzly" was a great word for this. "Snuggly" also jumped to mind.

 

Verdict - It feels like this scent was made for me. My skin loves it, and I feel peaceful and content when I sniff my wrist. It even reminds me of a vaguely cedar root beer float at times. Not quite Anti-Saloon League, but my nose thinks there’s a connection. I definitely see the Tombstone comparison. Amazingly rendered blend. Highly recommend.

[Jenjin]

I’m not sure if I can fully describe just how amazing this brown cat is. The bourbon vanilla comes round and envelopes the smoky cedar, becoming a cozy warm bubble of delicious warmth. All of this surrounds me and becomes a musky, better than skin...and meow hiss~ purrrrrrr, almost forbidden, private and exclusive scent when skin close. This is like sinking your face into a friend's fur collar in a wooded grove, or taking a long-haired lover by the fire. Extremely intimate, meaningful and special.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Jenjin

[Casablanca]

Sniffing the bottle: oo, snuggly musky spicy woody kitty!

 

First on, this reminds me of Coyote and Faunalia, and a little of Buffalo Man. It’s the brown musk, not as heavy as in Buffalo Man, and super-fuzzied, more comforting. The cardamom-spiced vanilla cedar is right there, too, rounding out the blend with a cozy, hearth-like mood.

 

It’s like a fuzzy pet basking by the fire in a wood cabin.

 

I’m probably maxed on brown musk animal scents at this point, but wouldn’t want to let go of the ones I have. They’re all different and have their own uses.

[tziporra]

This is a spectacular variation on the brown fuzzy theme. To me, it's cleaner than Tombstone, as if this brown cat is carefully groomed, but I definitely feel the comparison - if instead of sassafras you have just a powdery dusting of golden cardamom. I definitely get a menthol-y aspect, but maybe that is a thing the cedar is doing on my skin. If this theme appeals to you, and you use up the bottles of outlaw and unicorn and ram as quickly as you get them, this one will be extremely satisfying.

[miss_rynn]

This is a fancier, sweeter version of Velvet. It has that elusive soft and fuzzy scent memory. At first it comes on all pencil shavings, much like Tombstone, but if you wait long enough it settles. I suppose you can think of it as the love child of Velvet and Tombstone. Soft, but with a sophisticated coat. If you can get passed the sharpness of the cardamom and cedarwood it settles to a very sleek scent indeed.

[Dark Alice]

Cardamom infused bourbon vanilla and cedarwood! It's AMAZING!!! This is better on me than Bast. I see a bottle in my future.

[annemathematics]

on me this is a pure, soft cedarwood SN. the lab's cedar does amp on me like crazy, rarely letting other notes come through.

 

I am a sucker for the label art and all things cat, so I may still keep this even though wearing straight cedar isn't my thing.

 

I did discover that it layers fantastically with the Buffalo Man, which helps tone down the cedar and allows the fluffy musk to emerge.

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

Cedar and vanilla

On the Skin:

Not a lot different to any other cedar and vanilla blends I have tried to start with but the cardamom starts to emerge to make this really special. It's a fairly slow eveolution though.

On the Drydown:

This is a quiet snuggly scent. Definitely a vanilla warmed cedarwood but the cardamom is subtly blended to add an unusual round spiciness to this. Completely gorgeous and will age to perfection.

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla cedar with brown musk. This one is a warm, furry blend. Cozy skin scent. If you love animals, I'd totally try this. Good throw and wear length.

[Lambent]

The Small Brown Cat reminds me a bit of Unicorn and Ram without the scratchiness of the wool and the weight of the oud (and also a bit of Dee and The Bow & Crown of Conquest). This cat is softer and more tame. The cardamom is also not as spiky as it was in Unicorn and Ram. I usually amp cedar and it is definitely the most prominent note. However, it is tempered by the bourbon vanilla and becomes less pencil shavings and more of a creamy wood. Linear and comforting.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Kris

[roseus]

This warm and spicy scent is a nice counterpart to Bast. It's softer and fuzzier, but quite similar. It also reminds me a great deal of Aelian's Phoenix without the cocoa. It must be the cedar, which is light and fairly smooth for cedar. I don't know if it is the combination of musk and cedar but I am getting a soft fuzziness I often associate with sandalwood. I wouldn't call it powdery but sweet and fuzzy. I get a similar vibe from the sandalwood in Mouse's Long and Sad Tale.

[torikitty]

In the imp: warm cinnamon with a hint of dirt

 

On the skin: vanilla and cardamom. actually kinda coming across as warm pencil shavings. I wonder if this what my skin chemistry does to cedarwood? I guess I'm amping that over anything else.

 

Drydown: fuzzy, powdery from the cedarwood. Still sweet pencil shavings.

 

I wanted to like this, oh well.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Carrie

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp/wet - Cedar. LOTS of cedar. I think it's Virginia cedar/blood cedar, which is my favorite kind, so my hopes are high for this blend.

Freshly applied - vanilliac cedar with hints of what smells almost like wood smoke. For the first few moments, it's like Tombstone without the rootbeer, but then a sweet/smokey/hazy musk similar to the one in Buffalo Man takes over (except this isn't as sweet as Buffalo Man, possibly because it's got the cedar backing it).

Five-ten minutes in - cozy/warm/dry Virginia cedar beneath a soft haze of sweet musk. It's official: "fur" musk goes sugary-sweet on me.

Thirty-forty minutes in - the sweet musk has gotten sweeter, but the cedar remains the same.

two hours in - faint cedar-musk skin scent. Over the past two hours, the cedar and the sweet/snuggly musk have gone back and forth in terms of which dominates. This is a pretty unisex-leaning-masculine blend, despite the sweetened musk, and while it's very different from Bast on me, I agree with Roseus that it complements it well.

[Teaotter]

Triple-cream butter, plasticky vanilla, and freshly-sharpened pencil. The lovely brown musk tries to fight its way through, but alas, it is overpowered.

 

To be fair, bourbon vanilla and cedar both tend to go wonky exactly that way, but you know how it is -- BPAL hopes spring eternal!

 

Good throw and longevity.

[lexyOZ]

One day I will find the cedar perfume that loves me as much as I love it, but SBC is not the one unfortunately. This is just straight, damp pencil shavings on me and doesn't dry down to anything different. For those that cedar behaves on, I'm sure it's lovely.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: Dusty cedarwood and warm dark bourbon vanilla.

 

Wet On Skin: The cedar is coming out a bit more now but it's not doing the "pencil shaving" thing it normally does, so, I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

Dry Down: A sweet cedar-based scent with, yes, a bit of snugly vibe. I will hold onto this for now, but it might require some layering for me to really utilize it, probably with some smoky vetiver to play off the sweet woodsy aspect.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Dry cedarwood, with just a touch of warm sweetness.

 

Wet: The cedar comes out swinging, but is swiftly tamed by a lovely, spiced bourbon vanilla. The "warm brown fur" isn't as prominent as it was in Coyote, but I am getting a snuggly, comforting feeling overall. Oooh, this is going to be in heavy rotation this winter!

 

Dry: The cedar steps back to become an accent for a lovely, spicy bourbon vanilla. It stays this way for a good six to eight hours, eventually boiling down to an oddly plastic-y vanilla. Hmm, maybe aging this will help, or pairing it with Bast. (Now there's an idea...)

Edited August 23, 2017 by Lunasariel

[milo]

I have a small brown cat, that pretty much looks like the above cat, so this was a must try! Cedar at first, which reminds me of my hippie parents who had a cedar sauna. After a bit, the cardamon and what smells like vanilla and musk. I adore this, even though it kind of reminds me of Tombstone and Bast. I may spring for a bottle if layering Tombstone and Bast doesn't create this.

Edited August 6, 2017 by milo

[LizziesLuck]

I have let this settle for quite some time now before even testing, because I know cedar is not great on me when fresh. I imagine this will need at least a year to age before it has a chance of being really good on me, but I want to at least try it somewhat fresh!

 

Wet: Sweetness and cedar. It's actually gorgeous. It does need quite a bit more age to round out the cedar, but it's going to be amazing. It actually reminds me of The Cat from Coraline, which I also love. Mmm, when I sniff deeply the cardamom comes through, and hints of a warm musk. Lovely!

 

Dry: So very lovely. Those who love sweet, smooth, woody scents like The Cat and Tombstone would love this. Cardamom and cedar stand out most, and the vanilla is rich and syrupy, almost reminding me of honey. Gorgeous. So glad I blind-bottled this. It's going to age so well!

[Little Bird]

I full bottled this immediately, because I love cardamom, vanilla and cedar, and it has a cat on the label. Cat on the label will always win (along with bird on the label).

 

Thankfully, this oil is gorgeous and one that I'm going to be wearing a lot. I am absolutely crazy about Solstice Scents' unfortunately discontinued 'Attic' fragrance, because it had the most realistic and beautiful cedar in it, and the cedar in The Small Brown Cat is that type of cedar. It smells like true, dry, spicy cedar wood chips with a tiny hint of green to it. The vanilla adds the creamy, delicate sweetness and the cardamom a hint of spiciness that just makes it more true smelling.

 

I don't get any musk or powderiness that I usually get with 'fur' notes.

 

I think this is a great fragrance, and a perfect kitty scent. Outdoorsy, but sweet and warm.

[SparkKisses]

In the bottle: LOTS of cedar with a hint of cardamom. First sniff was nothing but pencil shavings, but second sniff a couple weeks later and I smell a little of the cardamom and maaaybe a tiny hint of vanilla sweetness.

 

Wet: Cedar cedar cedar. First attempt was just overwhelmingly cedar, second attempt is... less overpowering but still nothing but the cedar.

 

Dry: Cedar and something I think might be the bourbon-vanilla that honestly mostly smells like bourbon. I smell like a drunk carpenter.

 

The Small Brown Cat sounded so lovely but I'm not sure it's going to work for me. Cedar scents seem to overpower everything else on me. This one mellowed out some and I'm just starting to get hints of the other notes, but it's still WAY too much pencil shavings mixed with vanilla extract. I'll give it a couple more months since someone mentioned that the cedar ages, but this might be on the swap pile for me.

[RedAoife]

This! This is the cardamom scent I've been searching for!

Not too spicy, not too sweet, and none of that red-musk that overpowers whatever else is on my skin; it's perfect. I'm reminded of a stronger version of Possets' old "Feral" (terribly hard to find now!), and this is actually better, I think. Vanilla and cardamom and cedar blend so perfectly that it's almost not even helpful to describe this scent in terms of its notes; it's one of those rare scents that becomes more what it evokes than what constitutes it. And this (from in-the-bottle-wet to skin drying) evokes dark, cosy, warm, furriness. It's the perfect curled-up animal scent I've been searching for--and I'm not even a cat person. That said, it can certainly work on a day-to-day basis as just a warm autumnal skin-perfume. A bonus that I've also been on the hunt for the perfect cardamom scent!

Beth did a wonder with this one. Rarely do I spring for a full bottle upon the first test. This is one. Oh, man, do I love this.

[agirlnamedfury]

LOVE this. It's so warm and cozy, with the rich woodiness and vanilla. Definitely reminds me of Tombstone. I can see myself slathering this on all winter. Might need a full bottle....

[fenharel]

A warm, cozy, cuddly scent. A little bit of a spicy bite up front - that must be the 'warm brown fur.' It reminds me of Goblin, a little bit. Once on the skin it softens significantly to a soft, powdery spiced vanilla. The cedar gives it a solid base and keeps it from being a sweet/foodie vanilla. It's intensely nostalgic for me, for some reason. I like to wear it on rainy days, or before bed. It's comforting but not boring.