Thirteen (13): July 2018

[brwnpaperhag]

13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate

because there were 13 present at the Last Supper.
Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldurs death.
Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamias suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king.
In ancient Rome, Hecates witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven.

Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi.

The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins:

Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th.
On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights.
In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose.

To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters:

Theodore Bundy
Jeffrey Dahmer
Albert De Salvo
John Wayne Gacy

And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit Jack the Ripper and Charles Manson into that equation.

More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasnt exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears.

For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number

In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity.
The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death.
The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means must be alive.

Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around.

In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions.
It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number.
There are 13 Archimedean solids.

AND
There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded.

Says a lot about the US, doesnt it?

Its been a tough year all around, so this take on 13 utilizes scents geared towards an influx of joy. While we may not always possess good fortune, may we always hold onto the laughter that will bouy us through the tough times. Smoky cacao, with thirteen jubilant, uplifting companions: white carnation, pimento, whiskey, Madagascar vanilla cream, sugar cane, almond, coffee bean, perigord truffle, tea leaf, nutmeg, cardamom, orris butter, and coconut.

I couldn't wait. The bottle came in and I think I let this settle for about 20 minutes before diving in
In the bottle, I get the Mother Shub fudge note from the Nov 13 a while back--I'll have to compare the drydown on this to that one when I have a moment. EDIT Aug 05 '18--Now that I can compare side-by-side, the fudge note in the Nov 13 is extremely similar, but the notes obviously lift it different ways. Their bases make them feel related.

Wet, it is very smoky on me. This isn't surprising because I have found that I tend to amp smoke notes, and it balances the chocolate out nicely, which does not keep much of its fudge-ness on my skin, yay.

As it dries, I get a bit...more, but what, I can't say. Everything feels well-blended, but it also could be the fact that this bottle is so fresh. I do get a hint of a sweet creaminess, which could be carnation and sugar cane, or the vanilla cream, but honestly my nose can't detect any of the other notes (yet, I hope).

EDIT Aug 05 '18--The carnation is definitely out now, and it is creamy and spicy. I can also make out the cardamom, which makes it brighter. I'm hoping the other notes will come out as it ages, but for now these prominent notes (cacao, smoke, carnation and cardamom) are wonderful.

All in all, the impression is a smoky yet happy scent--it makes me feel cozy, safe, and cheerful, even though I'm wearing it in the middle of summer and in 90° weather --maybe like how happy most people get walking into a chocolate shop, even in summer.

I can't stop sniffing my elbow crook! This scent also wears fairly close to my skin, and if i do catch a whiff while walking, it has that fudge-y vibe, like it does in the bottle. I really like this.

Edited August 5, 2018 by bluberyapulsaus

[thecaitycat]

In the bottle

Slightly buttery (?) chocolate, with an alcoholic aftertaste/smell. Like liqueur. Whiskey and chocolate. We're really onto something decadent here.

 

Wet on skin

As soon as this is on my skin, the butteriness goes away but a lot of other notes make their debut almost instantly. I get coffee bean and vanilla along with a bit of spicy floral.

 

Dry on skin after 30 minutes

The carnation and other spices add more complexity while the coffee and vanilla fade a little bit without fading completely. This still smells like something I would drink if I ordered it as a fancy cocktail at a bar.

 

Thoughts

This is like that expensive chocolate liqueur I sip a bit at a time when I'm feeling fancy. Decadent. Overall this is a sweet, chocolatey, and something unlike any other cocoa-based scents in my collection.

[purestmaiden_]

In the bottle it smells strongly of whiskey and smoke, with a more muted chocolate scent and the faintest lingering whiff of coconut in the nostrils. I’m expecting a boozy chocolate scent on the skin, since my skin tends to amplify chocolate notes.

 

But once it hits my skin, the scent just.....vanishes. I’ve tried wearing it on three different days since it’s arrived, and perhaps it’s because the bottle is too fresh, but something about my skin chemistry just cancels this scent out completely. Upon applying I detect the faintest hint of chocolate that completely vanishes after about two minutes.

 

For now, I’m going to set this bottle aside for a few weeks and see if improves with age. The concept of smelly like smoky whiskey with a hint of chocolate is appealing, but the effect of this scent is underwhelming.

[Lucchesa]

I love trying 13s, though I can have a hard time differentiating components among all those notes. This one is gorgeous. I get primarily dark chocolate with boozy vanilla cream, sweet and comforting but not cloying; I think the bitter coffee and smoky notes help keep the balance. If you are an almond hater, I get very little almond here. The carnation takes a while to show up, and the cardamom is very understated.

 

After an hour, 13 July 2018 is pretty faint on me; I have to get my nose close to my wrist to smell it. But it lasts at this level for the next several hours, not disappearing entirely. Aging may improve the wear length, but the composition is a winner.

[olhenry]

At first smell, it just seemed odd to me, almost foody - but without any specific association.

 

This is just a glorious tropical smell to me. I can't pick out individual notes (what does pimento even smell like?). At first, it's very rich and slightly sweet, but the smoky, spicy notes pick up pretty quickly.

 

It is a surprise hit for me. I'm so glad I bought a bottle blind.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: I can pick out the coconut, vanilla, smoky cacao, whiskey, coffee bean, and some spice.

 

Wet: There is a lot going on in this one, so there’s no way I am going to be able to pick everything out, but I am getting the smoky cacao (it’s stronger on me than it was in the vial), coconut, vanilla, and spices. Then, I get a little coffee bean and some whiskey, but I wouldn’t say this is a boozy scent. As it sits on my skin, the vanilla and spices become more prominent. The orris butter comes out as the scent begins to dry, and I hope it doesn’t take over everything, as orris typically loves stomping on everything else and making a scent a powdery mess with my skin chemistry.

 

Dry: While I do get the orris butter, it hasn’t succeeded in declaring dominion over the other notes and ruining the scent thus far. And I can smell the truffle note now! It’s a spiced, slightly smoky cacao on me now with some truffle and vanilla, as well as some carnation. After a few hours, the carnation ends up becoming one of the main players -- I’m not surprised, as I tend to amp carnation -- along with the spices and cacao.

 

Verdict: This is a really interesting, complex 13. It’s not one I need to hunt down more of, but I think I will hold on to my imp and maybe reach for it when the next 13 rolls around (since I don’t really wear 13s except on that day).

[zankoku_zen]

Whisky, chocolate, orris butter and a whiff of spices. This one is heavy on the orris butter in my skin, making it actually a less foodie 13 than I expected. More like a Santa Muerte/Dia de los Muertos/Mexican Chocolate sort of blend. Would work well as an altar offering. Medium throw and wear length.

[torikitty]

It smells great while it's wet, but there's a tinge of something that doesn't work for me when it's dry. It could be the orris butter, or carnation, or pimento. I wanted to like this, but I have enough chocolates that I thoroughly enjoy.

[artisjok]

From my most recent wear of this Thirteen, it’s is a super creamy chocolate (thanks to orris butter and coconut and vanilla cream) with a big punch of nutmeg and a touch of whiskey and maybe carnation. I like it a lot, and it’s very complex. I feel like I get different showing of notes every time I wear it, so I may come back and add some other impressions later. 

 It’s in the same scent category as Death Cap to me. Both are used for my I-don’t- know-what-the-energy-will-be-like occasions and when I can only bring one scent to cover multiple days (and moods). 

[Little Bird]

I usually enjoy the 13 blends, but this one is very chaotic and jumbled smelling on me.  The 'smoky cacao' is very smoky indeed, with the bitter coffee and boozy whiskey making it smell like a burnt chocolate and spilled liqueur accident in the kitchen.  I can smell the spicy carnation and powdery, sugary, silvery orris as well, but they just don't fit in with the rest of the scent for me.  It comes off as a very strange, burnt chocolate with some booze and floral perfume wafting about.