Indonesian Clove

[VioletChaos]

[No additional description provided.]

In The Bottle: Gorgeous, rich clove. Sometimes clove notes go slightly acrid or bitter for me, but this does neither. Here's hoping that aspect holds out!

Wet On Skin: Glorious, glorious, glorious.

Dry Down: This. Is. Wonderful. This exceeds my expectations by a considerable margin. I used to be in love with the Smiling Spider for its clove-y goodness, but even that was a little acrid on me. Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe is less so, I assume because the clove is sugared, though traces of the sharpness remain (don't get me wrong, I love the scent, but it's still there just the same.) This pure Indonesian Clove has all the rich spice and not a *hint* of that acrid / sharp / bitterness.

 

It's wonderful.

 

I am SO relived I got my bottle soon enough test, because I will *definitely* be needing a backup bottle or two!

[zankoku_zen]

So first off the bat, I do enjoy me some clove in my blends. This one is a very cassia/cinnamon-esque heavy clove. I do get the clove, but its definitely has a high overtone of cassia/cinnamon on it. I really can't decide if its cassia or it's cinnamon. It adds a bit to the dusty impression of it. On wet, I had an almost vague impression of a leather undertone to it. It has dried down to a dusty slightly cassia clove.

 

Compared to the Sweet Clove SN, its definitely that cassia/cinnamon aspect that is the main differentiation. Medium throw, low wear length.

[Dark Alice]

I smell like fancy, non-burning cinnamon clove. In short, I smell like potpourri. What makes this worse is that I spilled half a bottle. So now I have a half a bottle to get rid of and I smell like potpourri.

[LizziesLuck]

I basically obsessed with clove, due to my misspent youth thinking I was cool and smoking clove cigarettes....

 

 

Wet: Sweet, pure clove. Smells very much like the essential oil I use occasionally when I get a little overenthusiastic with the charcoal powder and my teeth get a bit sensitive. You know, oddly enough, as much as I have longed for clove dominant scents lately, not sure if I am digging smelling solely of clove. I am not much of a layerer, but suddenly I want to play around and start adding things to this. Like vanilla, and tobacco. Hmmm.

 

 

Dry: Gone, poof! Surprisingly not long lasting at all, for what started out as such a strong scent. Maybe layering it is the way to go. Or maybe it just needs some age? Anyway, it was pure wonderful clove, as promised, and I am happy to have it.

[milo]

Not clove to me, but Big Red. Not the rich, chewy clove I was expecting, and disappears pretty darn quick into a whisper of actual clove. Hhmph.

[Little Bird]

I love clove and was hoping that this would be like bpal's long gone Sweet Clove single note, but it is not. There's something watery and astringent about this, almost tea-like, and it has a dead leaf scent to it that I'm not loving. It also has a sweet cinnamon quality to it more than clove, as other reviewers have mentioned.

In the bottle, this smells like all cinnamon all the time. On my skin, it's like a watery clove tea with sharp cinnamon and dead leaves. Dries down to something like a sweet cinnamon potpourri.

 

I have a lot of clove essential oils that I like a lot more (and that were a lot cheaper than this blend). Essential Wholesale sells great Clove Bud and Clove Leaf oils and I can get 2 oz or 16oz for what I paid for this. I'm let down by the lack of clove scent in Indonesian Clove and regret this purchase.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: This doesn't smell like merely clove to me. I'm also getting that cinnamon-y clove vibe that others have mentioned.

 

Wet: Very strongly cinnamon-y clove, like Big Red or those gummy cinnamon bears, accompanied by clove. It's tingling my skin where I applied it, and I hope it doesn't welt!

 

Dry: Fortunately, I made it through welt-free. The cinnamon-y clove is still going strong, but I'm getting more of the clove aspect during this phase of the scent.

 

Verdict: I am surprised by the presence of cinnamon or cassia in this. I like it, but I don't think I'd wear it on its own. I'm curious to see how it would be layered with Sweet Orange SN.

[Aveya]

Sniff: Strangely sweet clove

Skin: Yummy clove. Lots of a mixed spice vibe to this. Heavy cinnamon. Strong high note.

Dry: The wafts of this are where the clove reside. To me clove is a hard scent to smell, which is weird. But like vanilla, the best part of the scent is in the base. It has this airy creamy mellow quality that is so distinctly clove I love it.

 

It has an airy or watery quality to it - like it's missing the middle or heart. Which I think is because it's a single note. It needs something in the middle to take center stage. Unlike the Carnation single note which can be a star by itself, this belongs with something else. And amusingly I'm testing Galbanum on my other hand - and the two smell fantastic together. I think this scent needs an earthy or heady or sharp something in the middle to round it out. By itself, it's a spiced clove missing something special.

 

Verdict: Clove tea.