King of Diamonds

[alston78]

Blindingly handsome, imperious, and gleaming with crystalline light. The perfect mate to the Queen’s shimmering hauteur: a white chypre shot through with shards of translucent musk.

In the bottle: This is chypre: I like it- woodsy but not overpoweringly so. For some reason I think I smell lavender, though that's probably from having smelled too many scents in too short of a time. Actually, nope- I really do get either lavender or lotus. Something about this reminds me of Paris, though it's not as sweet and not feminine at all.

On my skin: It's noble but much milder than the Queen. The musk comes through nicely, giving it a gentle and warm feel even though it's still a cool and clear scent on top. It is fairly masculine but not as masculine (to me, anyway) as Vicomte. Oooh...20 minutes or so in I just caught a nice fruity note as well. For some reason, the KoD seems to sink into my skin a bit more, whereas the Queen stayed on top. I'm not sure about their combining- it seems to me that if the scents lasted equally long on my skin they would mesh well, but the King is definitely going to leave faster than the Queen.

Overall: I like this- it's a soft masculine scent that smells natural, gentle, and proud all at once. I would like it better if it was on someone else and I could snuggle up to it, though. As I have no one to give it to, I'll probably start looking for another owner online.

[coulrophobe]

On me, the King turns quite femme! But then, most things do.

 

I bought this and the Queen of Diamonds on the LJ community, and I'll admit getting the King was a bit of an impulse-buy. I liked the aesthetic of having a matched pair.

 

In the bottle, it smelled sharp, woodsy and quite masculine.

 

Wet on my skin - a sharp piney/lemon scent (oh no!).

 

But as it dried, the musk came to the forefront.. and white musk loves my chemistry. This turned into a soft, mellow musky scent - not feminine to the point of being downright girly, but definitely not masculine on me.

 

Someone else said it reminded them of Snow White, and that's true for me as well. Less sweet, and without the buttery-coconut undertone I get from Snow White - but the little whiffs of KoD I keep catching are definitely similar. And that's a very good thing in my book.

[quikslvr]

Very glittery, high in the nose at first. It settles with the entrance of the musk, though, becoming reminiscent of the fougeres. It's kind of a peaceful, soothing men's sitting room fragrance. Apricot/citrus vie for attention--I'm never sure which I'm smelling here. Mostly, though, I get the white musk.

 

Very light, but has a good waft.

Edited June 13, 2005 by quikslvr

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells earthy and a bit pine.

 

Just On: Yeah, I get evergreen, fresh evergreen.

 

An hour or two later: This fades to fruit sweetness replacing the evergreen thing.

 

Around 6 hours: It's pretty well gone.

 

12 hours: All gone now.

 

Overall: This is a nice scent, and I could see wearing it when I go out camping. It makes me think of long walks through the woods.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't really get any citrus out of this, but I did get fruit. It's a nice scent, fairly masculine, and a really nice complement to the Queen of Diamonds.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: Woodsy, earthy & masculine. It screams man in a bottle to me and I believe it is a perfect compliment to the Queen of Diamonds. I would love to smell this on a man...It is sexy and alluring... Thumbs up on this one.

[malanna]

I didn't expect this to be as pleasant as it was, and I thought that this would be more "masculine." Basically, this is glittering musk with bright citrus, and something smooth that makes me think of peach. It's a scent that sort of reminds me of Tamora....

[Undine]

Argh! This is my only chance to review this, since I just spilled the imp all over my kitchen floor.

 

I agree with many of the other reviews. Some scents seem to vary a lot between people, this one seems to have a more consistent reaction. Yes, light, white, and crystalline, but not sharp the way ozone or many "wet" scents get on me (i.e., soap). It's soft due to the musk and oakmoss, and the citrus--which I am normally not a fan of in perfume--keeps very light, sweet, and delicate. I can't identify the type, but to me it is closest to lemon. Perhaps it's Meyers lemons or something a little more delicate than your average lemon. Oh! Lemongrass, since I also think King of Diamonds and Concentration might have a similar function (see below)?

 

I really like it overall, and feel it is very appropriate for the King of Diamonds. (Haven't tried the Queen, so can't compare.) I can see it being masculine, but it's more feminine on me. As opposed to something like Oisin, where I could not see a woman wearing it. Actually, it's sort of like I thought Snow White--not a favorite--would be.

 

I put this on because I wanted something to help me concentrate, don't have Concentration, and to me King of Diamonds is all about the sharp focused intellect, getting stuff done. I think it would do quite nicely, though I haven't tried it out yet.

 

However, it is indeed very light. Despite having put quite a bit of myself, then spilling it on my shirt and finally dumping the remainder on the floor, it's quite a gentle smell and I have to put my nose up to my wrist to get more than a sweet hint of something. It's also just a teeny tiny tad too sweet for me: I'd like a little less musk, a little more oakmoss.

 

And, finally, it cleans off hardwoods quite nicely.

 

On my scale, a 4 out of 5.

[Little Bird]

Wow, this is a very musky citrus. It has a sort of sparkling quality. I keep thinking of that sparkling fruit flavored water that my mother always used to buy. I get more oakmoss in the drydown, but it is overall rather a fresh/citrus scent. It's light too, disappears after about a half hour on my skin.

 

I was happy to snag a decant of this one, but I definitely (thankfully) don't feel the need to have a full bottle.

[Fefferbella]

This is a really masculine citrus... odd combination. Fresh fruity grapefruit and warm thick musk.

 

On my this turns to a soapy, citrus note, but on my boyfriend, this is heavenly. It's light and fresh but manly. Reminds me of a sexy springtime romp in a citrus grove...

[AngellicMystique]

This smell pure in the holy sense. It's sharp and crystalline, a little lemony, clean. It's one of my new great loves. :-)

[darklorelei]

I'm sorry this is so short, but this is from my notes taken way long ago in October at the Chicago Meetup. But any little bit helps?

 

I really liked this. It wasn't for me, per se, but I'd definitely track it down if I had a guy in my life.

 

This was intensely fresh green. Very truly pine needles.

 

On the other hand, I'm the only one who smells it, so...yeah.

[storme]

In the imp: sharp, spiky green citrus.

 

On me, wet: white musk over citrusy moss. very warm, slightly cloying - there's something resiny behind this. also, sandalwood? something woody.

 

On me, dry: whoa, there's sudddenly some hints of peach, but it make it no less masculine. This is very light and gentle and faint and musky.

 

Verdict: I like it. It reminds me a lot of a masculine Ode on Melancholy, warm yet fragile. I think I may have to keep this.

[edenssixthday]

King of Diamonds is light and surprisingly cool and clean, almost minty. It’s got a strong scent of white musk and the chypre is very faint. This reminds me a lot of Snow White, but just a tad more masculine. It’s a gorgeous scent, but on my skin it’s fairly faint (as musks usually are) and sticks very close to my skin, although the staying power seems to be good. I don’t believe I would wear this regularly, although it is a really nice scent. And I really can’t get over how similar it is to Snow White!

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Musky pine.

 

Preconceived notions: On one hand, I'm hoping for something predominantly white musky; on the other (the hand that realises how scarce KoD is) is hoping it's awful.

 

In the imp: Pine and lavender? Surprising.

 

On skin, wet: Ew, sharp pine and something vaguely like lemon. Not at all what I expected.

 

On skin, dry: There's an earthy quality to this that just does not agree with my skin, somehow. It's very musky indeed, but a weird, darker musk. That, combined with the pine (needles, specifically) makes for something a bit unpleasant.

 

Conclusion/Notes: This is just not for me. Pine tends to turn distinctly plastic, and the musk was kind of weird.

[sofiaviolet]

I smell some lavender. I also smell something a lot like vanilla. It is very good, and I am very sad this is so rare. I want more than an imp (which I will probably give to my mother because of the lavender).

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: Old Spice.

 

On me: Barely there, but definitely a men's cologne feel. Kind of indistinct. I'll need to test it again.

[Voleuse]

Hello, oakmoss. This isn't overwhelmingly masculine, but a musky, herbal cologne that nevertheless strikes me as very masculine. Overlaying it is sharp fruit note, brightening the musk sweetly. It makes me think of a stylized forest picture, dark shadows intercut with dazzling white. Sensual, and a little elusive.

[QueenFae]

I bought a gorgeous, full bottle of this on ebay. Just as I was dabbing it on my wrist to review it, my finger stuck to the bottle and I f%#@@@ spilled it!!! RARRRR I managed to salvage about 3/4 of my bottle, but geez, it had to be a rare blend I spilled right?

 

Anyway... this is a lovely, light, cologney man's blend. It's a very "white" smell; light flowers and a shimmering musk underneath. It's very clean, crisp, and sexy. My whole living room smells like this now, thank god I like it!

 

This has medium throw, but sticks around for quite a while. I would like my man to wear this; it's drop dead sensual.

[cranberry]

This is a lovely, light chypre. The citrus and oakmoss blend well with white musk. The citrus is stronger in the bottle, the oakmoss too. On the skin it’s much more a white musk scent on me. It’s crisp and clean smelling. Quite nice in fact. It does remind me a bit of Snow White which is fantastic. I’m so glad that I swapped for this!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i've had this for ages but realised i've never reviewed it... since i decided to wear it today, it seemed like a good day to review it!

 

i love chypre scents, but this is nothing like what i normally think of as a chypre.... and it has changed some as it has aged... it doesn't smell the way i remember it smelling when i first got it.

today, on my skin, it smells exactly like Merle Normal makeup used to - and may still, i don't know, it has been at least a decade since i had occasion to smell any. but sortof a generic cosmetics smell - like your big Caboodle full of all sorts of different brands of makeup items.

 

kinda sad, really.

 

in the bottle, it still smells like a more masculine counterpart to Spirits of the Dead... so i guess i need to wear this in a locket or try it out on the boy!

[zankoku_zen]

Okay, so I get this sweet iris + coconut powder from this blend. Yes, I do get perhaps a whiff of pine, but the 'snowy/chilly' component must be similar to the kind found in Snow White ---- meaning, not so much snow and pine cones, but more like coconut and pina colada on me.

 

Surprisingly femme.

 

On my husband it turned into this ultra-sweet flowery blend.

 

Ah, this King is a little to girlie for us.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Golden oil. Surprisingly sweet, and almost a little citrusy-fruity. Herbal, as expected, in a fresh green way. Earthy, almost like a light patchouli. It is a bit cool, maybe mint?

 

Wet: Very light, and still sweet. I get a sparkling note that really makes me think citrus, maybe tangerine? Less earthy, more mossy. Definitely mint, I'd say spearmint. I get some lavender, too.

 

Dry: Less sparkling, less citrusy - more sweet and peachy - which to me makes this more of a feminine scent. Musk coming out, a very light musk. The earthy note has turned oddly musty, the way that Spanish moss goes on me.

 

Later: I get a little bit of gin, or the way that gin dries down on my skin, so juniper in some form. This has such low throw and overall strength that's difficult to pick out notes.

 

Summary: Musky peach with faint herbal notes. I like it, but it has such DISMAL throw, and I'm not sure I need it when I have Fae.

[theseagrows]

this smells a lot stronger in the imp than on my skin, which mostly seems to eat it right up. in the imp it's clear and herbal, but on my skin it smells like a very soft nectarine with soft, soft aquatics. very beautiful, but very faint-it doesn't have much throw, unfortunately.

[Gin]

King of Diamonds is clean and musky, maybe a little citrussy? It's not as masculine as I thought it'd be, but it still doesn't quite work for me.