We Cared About Such Different Things

[annemathematics]

“I have a brother. They say, you put us together, we are like one person, you know? When we are young, his hair, it is very blond, very light, his eyes are blue, and people say, he is the good one. And my hair it is very dark, darker than yours even, and people say I am the rogue, you know? I am the bad one. And now time passes, and my hair is gray. His hair, too, I think, is gray. And you look at us, you would not know who was light, who was dark.”

“Were you close?” asked Shadow.

“Close?” asked Czernobog. “No. How could we be? We cared about such different things.”

You would not know who was light, who was dark: iron and amber, gold-limned white musk and ink-gloomed dark musk.

On me, the opening of this is very much about the lab's black musk. Think Haunted after you've stripped away all traces of femininity. Streets of Detroit sans urban grit. This feels like a smeared greyscale watercolor of Dream from Sandman. Beautiful, ethereal, but a little pale, melancholy.

 

The musk retreats and a faint smear of metal remains behind. It all hums close to the skin, almost but not quite fading away completely. It's very pretty. I wager a bit of time will boost its strength but I like how ghosty it is now.

[lookingglass]

Out of the bottle I smell musk, but because of the amber, I thought it was red for a minute. It dries down SO fast, though, and I know it's not red. It smells...not quite grey...like a transparent sepia...I can't tell if it's the iron on the black musk being ever so tangy, almost lemony...but not screechy or sour. The amber adds a touch of rich goldern sweetness. It does remind me a bit of Haunted, but it's not as ambery, and it wears much lighter- not as dense or strong; the white musk really changes the tune with her pale creaminess, not too "clean"...more gauzy...adding an airy haze. All dried out it smells like what my partner calls "warm woman".

 

I think it's a beautiful, wistful incensey blend for summer or when you want a lighter oriental blend without much projection.

 

I really love it.

[zankoku_zen]

Amber, white musk and black musk. The amber acts like a medium for the white and black musks, so it toggles between both of them. Gender nuetral, but sometimes the black musk pitches it into masculine territory. Good throw and wear length.

[Dark Alice]

This amber, the stripped down black musk from Streets of Detroit, with a nice clean white musk. Not headache inducing. It's light and dark. Warmth and cold. And beautiful.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm, musk! Rich, fruity musk, almost grapey, but in a really good way. There's hints of spice and an earthiness about it. Oh this is gooood.

 

 

Dry: I can't describe it, I have no words. It's like no white or dark musk or amber I have ever smelled. It's a thing unto it's own! And I really like it. I will need to test it some more though, I have a feeling this is one of those scents that changes a lot with both age and skin chem.

[roseus]

In the imp: amber and fruity musk, almost like a sheer red musk to me. There is also a wispy breath of clean white musk.

 

Wet: the fruitiness fades back and it is more like black musk and amber. Still getting a clean white musk wafting in and out.

 

Dry: The black musk lightens up a bit and it is balanced with the white musk. I get warm amber but also a cool-toned note in the background. Not metallic but something similar. I have a hard time summarizing this scent but it is gorgeous.

[lexyOZ]

This is my surprise favourite from all the American Gods I've tried. I was so ambivalent about it I left it till last to test and I've fallen in love with it hard.

It's all musk, all the time, but it has such depth. You can really smelly the dark metallic musk fighting with the golden ambery musk. It's really wonderful, rich and sophisticated. I don't have any musk single note scents (well not single notes, but where musk is the star of the show) and I think this is it for me. Definite bottle upgrade.

[Little Bird]

White musk, black musk and amber work together so beautifully in this blend. Black musk can be too harsh, masculine, and veer towards being ashy, white musk can be sharp and perfumey, and amber is often baby powder on me. This is powdery and creamy and lovely on me, though. The white musk is that slightly sweet, creamy variety, the amber powder doesn't go too dry and has a warm, woody, resinous presence to it, and the black musk smells like dark incense and dark musk with no ashiness or growly, too much-ness about it.

Warm and surprisingly creamy fragrance on me.

[sarandipitee]

Dear god I love this. Beautiful, beautiful musks. I think I’ve found my winner from the AG line. I need a bottle. Maybe 5.

[Lucchesa]

I agree with a couple of other reviewers that the combination of black musk (which almost always works on me) and white musk (which rarely works on me) with the golden amber settles into something like fruity red musk -- maybe there's some red musk in a rusty iron note? Actually, the drydown is a little like Smut on me, almost with a cola sweetness. This is not nearly as masculine as Czernobog from the GC -- We Cared is definitely unisex. No throw (normal for my skin) but good wear length.

 

ETA On a second test, I do get some throw. I keep wondering, what am I wearing that has red musk in it? Red musk tends to do that taking the hell over thing on me, but it's actually really nice here.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Lucchesa

[follis]

I tested from a 2017 decant. 

Wet: leather, slightly sweet
Dry: strawberries? Very lightly musk on me. I'm actually finding it quite sweet but not in a foodie way. Seems to be fading quickly 
Later: lightly sweet musk, short throw. I have to huff my wrist with the nose directly on it. 
Short life. Surprisingly not what I thought it would be, not overpowering and quite lovely. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by follis

[theredkilt]

Starts off musky, obviously, but still the musk variety is hard to pin down. Over time, the white musk wins and becomes more and more sharp and aggressive, like in Othello.