No Man is an Island

[zankoku_zen]

Warm, dark patchouli, hazelnut cream, coffee bean, cassis, tonka bean, purple sage, and bourbon vanilla.
 

[zankoku_zen]

I get mainly hazelnut, coffee, cream, a whiff of patchouli and cassia, and a ton of vanilla on the drydown. This one is a sophisticated coffee cream blend. Very gender neutral, and definitely ending up closer to the masculine territory. This is manly coffee. It actually makes me think of Turkish coffee. There's a whiff of the sage on the drydown which gives it some savoriness and exotic feel.  Great throw and wear length.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Thank you BPAL for supporting people in need. ❤️

 

I'm getting a dry vanilla tobacco wood vibe very similar to The Antikythera Mechanism + cocoa and coffee, with light sage lending a dryness. If there is cassia it is very dry and light, lending to the dry feel. It's like a dark Antikythera Mechanism, and has an Old World vibe. I could see John Donne wearing this, or an ancient mariner, and agree that its perfectly unisex. Goddamn this is sexy and I freaking love love love love this!  ❤️ ❤️ ❤️❤️

Later the hazelnut cream comes out with the vanilla. Awesome!

 

Edit: about a month later and it just keeps getting better and better. I don't really get patchouli, it just adds to the overall dark woods vibe without being hippie-like. Where Eve is The Antikythera Mechanism's vampy sister, No Man is an Island is AM's darkly inclined brother.  God its atmospheric yet wearable. So amazing. I might actually grab a backup of this, and I rarely get backups. 

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by RoseThornAndOak

[Casablanca]

Warm patchouli and a purpleness from the "purple sage" -- remember Colemanite Phoenix? that purple sage -- dominate for me, alongside hints of hazelnut, cream, and coffee.

 

I amped the purple sage in Colemanite, and this happens also in No Man. The overall effect, fresh on my skin, is an odd purple-savory note with a nip of patchouli and nutty coffee cream. In drydown, the purple people eater really takes over, though I think I get some cassis (black currant) blending into it. 

 

Later, dry, nutty coffee and patchouli come out more, and the purple calms down.

 

This is pleasant, if not what I anticipated. I'll see what more settling does to the balance.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: I'm getting hazelnut cream, coffee, patchouli, and cassis, as well as the purple sage from Colemanite Phoenix.

On my skin: The hazelnut cream is the first note to jump out at me, but the purple sage jumps in shortly after and immediately becomes the dominant note. Behind these notes, I smell the cassis, with just a little bit of coffee and patchouli. The patchouli and coffee start to gain strength as this sits on the skin. It gets creamier and more gourmand over time, with the hazelnut cream and the coffee ending up as the stars of the show on me, mingling with the warm patchouli. The vanilla and tonka join in after a few hours of wear, sweetening the scent, with just a hint of the blackcurrant in the background. This is the best phase of the scent.  

 

Verdict: This is a cozy, comforting gourmand-with-a-twist that becomes more gourmand over time. I like it, will definitely hang on to my decant, and may end up upgrading to a bottle in the future.

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

To me this is like the gourmand for your Boi. The sage is clarifying and cassis adds a punch go the sage to keep it resonating.  This is a perfect scent for two people 

 

1.  The person who only wears foodies and begs to try something else outside their gourmand wheelhouse, This is a good entry into more scent profiles.

 

2. You think you hate gourmands but really want to be proven otherwise.

 

I really like this scent and am happy to own it.

 

 

[starbrow]

The crazy thing is how perfect a Venn diagram No Man Is an Island makes between gourmand and dank. Like on one end you might be expecting some hazelnut cream coffee tinged with vanilla/tonka, and the other a spiced darkness of patch and purple sage and cassis (blackcurrant minus the problematic "cat pee" edge). 

 

It's neither and it's both. This is not a hazelnut cup of coffee, and this is not a dank cesspool, but this is a beanie-wearing, Doc-Martened cutie hanging around the coffee shopping clutching a warm creamy hazelnutty cup, clothes scented with sage and patchouli and a tobacco-like vanilla. It might not be gourmand enough for gourmands, or dank enough for danks, but for people like me who like to float between, it's super wonderful.

 

Somehow, something is reading like the good tobacco. Could it be the bourbon vanilla? The warm patch? I get a touch of sage - not clary sage, but I don't know that I know what purple sage smells like - but whoof that herb is good stuff. I'm loving it with the coffee. I am so, so into this. Fans of Cafe Mille et une Nuits should check No Man out, not because it's a dupe but because it's in that spiced, herbal realm of exotic coffees and teas. This is better for me than any of the coffee Yules. I am so here for this, warmed from the inside by the goodness that it brings. 

[avilion]

i'm feeling like an island in these quarantimes, and one of the things I miss the most is cafes. Not like I can't walk to a cafe and get a cup to go, but I miss the quale of being in a cafe, surrounded by life, with a chunky china mug full of latte precariously perched on the table as I type. I miss the busy, bustling, alive smell, I even miss the grinder noise, I even miss not being able to find an outlet when I need one. Enter my newly arrived decant of No Man is an Island. First whiff on my wrist like that first perfect just-hot-enough sip of coffee – I don't even drink hazelnut coffee but if drinking it ever tasted like No Man is an Island smelled, I'd drink it all the time – then it settles down as the patch and sage step forward, and I am feeling content and warm all over. The decant is a keeper for sure, and I'm definitely getting a bottle before it goes away.

[torikitty]

Coffee and Halloween. This is so evocative, but because it's lighter, and somehow ethereal. Like, I have a pumpkin coffee, which is super in-your-face. This is not that. Wow, what a fantastic blend that I can pick up the individual notes if I read them, but it blends so well together, each doesn't scream by itself.

[Lucchesa]

I blind bottled No Man Is an Island and apparently forgot to review it.  I think it has gotten even better in the three or four months I've owned it.  It's one of those gourmand/not gourmand scents that I like better than straight gourmands.  It has all the rich warm hug of hazelnut vanilla latte comfort with the grit of patchouli and purple sage.  Especially the purple sage, which is the standout note on me here.  It's almost on the edge of "No, mom, it's not pot, it's sage." And yet it pairs beautifully with the cozy foodie notes, never quite melding with them on my skin.  Basically, I can't keep my wrist away from my nose.  

[Rayleigh]

This is a powerhouse of a scent. Strong stuff. More coffee than any of the kaffeeklatsch scents I tried. Something smoky, and a distinctive, decadent hazelnut cream mingled with the dank earthiness of the patchouli and the sage/cassis. It makes me think of college, of late night discussions with coffee, coffee, coffee. Or, perhaps something more convivial -- like sitting in a coffee shop with your friends and having a shockingly heated argument about, like, the logistics of time travel, or if vampires can catch blood borne illnesses (they're not alive, Eric! They don't have functioning physiology, ERIC!) This scent speaks its mind, but doesn't lose its nurturing qualities.

 

It's very well made. The blend of sweet and savory is intriguing -- but there's a meaty quality to the smokiness that I was hoping would age out. Four months in, no luck, though that doesn't stop me from trying. I suspect my skin is not being kind to something in here. A shame, because it's perfect in theory, and I really want to love it. I still like it -- it's dark and unique and I feel warmed by it -- but the meaty note prevents this from being entirely wearable on me.

[indie0385]

Oh my god, this might be my favorite BPAL of all time (and sadly discontinued)  I don't get coffee at all, instead mainly the bourbon vanilla and a hint of what I think might be the purple sage. This is a warm, sexy scent that is so comforting.

 

Edit: Welp, I let this settle down for a few weeks, and sadly the scent has changed. I don't get almost any vanilla, sadly it's almost all patchouli. It's not bad, but nowhere near as amazing as when I first got it.

Edited January 6, 2021 by indie0385
Update to review

[groovyrooby]

I think @starbrow nailed it. This is the sweet spot of dusty earthy & yummy sweet for me. And yes, I also adore Cafe Mille et Une Nuits.

 

I blind bottled this one when I heard the Dum Spiro Spero line was coming down. All the notes were promising for me, except the cassis was a little questionable. SO glad I went for it. The patchouli comes off tweedy, the sage green and slightly vegetal like celery, and they are a brilliant bitter balance for the sweet hazelnut coffee. Altogether it's a confident and composed coffee cocoa woody spice, and reminds me a bit of another favorite - Aged Vetiver, Chocolate, and White Sandalwood.

 

Moderate throw, good wear length, and I feel I can wear this in a lot of contexts. Very thankful I grabbed this when I had the chance.

[Alaeidrel]

On skin, most of what I get after a bit is dusty patchouli. Not a winner on my skin chemistry - it's not super pleasant. 

 

In my scent locket, though, I get purple sage and vanilla with whiffs of dusty coffee. It's amazing. There was an Apricot Lane boutique at the mall in my hometown that always had this lovely signature smell, but I could never remember to ask what it was - this is that smell! I'm in love with it on a locket.