Hilf, Ach, Hilf Mir, Kriegsgeselle

[zankoku_zen]

A scent of triumph, of defeating your oppressor through mockery and guile: orange blossom, honey and beeswax, sweet orange peel, khus, ti leaf, amber, and white patchouli.
 

[starbrow]

A gorgeous array of notes earned this a blind bottle. I am always in search of a good orange blossom, and everything else seemed right on point.

 

I have to say, the sweet orange peel is DOMINATING. Right down to the bitter white pith that makes peel different from the fruit itself. It is sweetened considerably by honey, thick and syrupy and a little stomach-churning. It's like an orange liqueur candy, pungent and saccharine, lightly spiced, but with something unsettling about it that is faux-boozy. I think the beeswax might be adding to the thickness of the mixture. I can't specifically smell anything smoky in here, with either the beeswax or the khus (vetiver). It is more high-pitched, short of floral but definitely loud.

 

I wish I could pick up more of the fragrance of the orange blossom. ever-present in humid Florida nights and a comfortingly familiar note to me. I would love to extract the orange peel and leave just the blossom to shine. 

 

At the moment, the individual notes aren't harmonizing perfectly. Orange peel is just too much of a diva, and honey WANTS to be a diva, and they're sort of trying to out-scream each other. I'll be interested to see how this ages, and whether the full cast steps up as I'm hoping. 

[zankoku_zen]

Orange zest, honey and wooly khus. Frankly, this smells like orange honey and a cozy sweater. It smells homey and safe. Medium throw and wear length.

[kakiphony]

This one really surprised me. While it was immediately citrus heavy when applies, the citrus was spikier and sharper than I expected it to be. It definitely said mockery and guile as in a sharp tongue, and quick witted deception! This is not a gentle citrus. It dries down into a more gentle, incense ash (as opposed to unlit or burning incense) scent with a hint of beeswax and really gentle patchouli. At one point my husband asked me to please some hug him so he could smell me some more. This is a winner.

[doomsday_disco]

For those that are curious as to how to pronounce this, I tried to do the best approximation I could via text: Hilf, ahk, hilf meer, kreegs-guh-zell-uh.

 

In the decant: Orange blossom and orange peel.

 

On me: The orange blossom and peel are the most prominent notes on me. The honey and beeswax add a light sweetness in the background, and behind those notes, there's a titch of white patchouli. In an amazing feat, the honey and beeswax rise to the forefront to help tame the bitter orange blossom and peel notes, and it stays that way for a while, until the grassy khus (vetiver) emerges and becomes one of the dominant notes on me. The ti leaf just adds to its astringency. Once the scent reaches this point, it does not morph anymore. It's mostly grassy khus, backed by the astringent white tea and a touch of honeyed beeswax.

 

Verdict: I am surprised that only the khus was problematic for me, and not the orange blossom. I'm not a fan of khus and preferred this when the honey and beeswax were much stronger. Those that enjoy grassy vetiver may like this, though.

[Casablanca]

Pots and pots of beeswax and honey drizzled over orange flowers and peel.

 

Beeswax and honey were most prominent for me, with the orange-grove things close behind. Very spring-like, very sweet, very pretty, but with an airy-clean astringency, too, from the ti leaf. 

 

The ti leaf added intrigue for me in the early stage; without it, this perfume might have smelled less distinct from some other spring blends. But I noticed the leaf and it added a lot.

 

An appealing blend.

 

 

[theredkilt]

It's been 2 days since i received a bottle of this and i still can't pin point what i'm smelling.

 

I am greeted by orange peel, honey and some faint orange blossom, but way in the background i smell vetiver lurking around. It has a mild burnt-charred quality to it, but nothing off putting. As time goes by, the orange peel and the honey sweetness assert themselves and weave in together with the vetiver, transforming the blend into something almost edible, but not quite. I am tempted to describe this as an orange peel creme brulee, with emphasis on the vetiver burnt aspect/ quality.

[alyelle]

In the imp: Orange peel, orange blossom, and honey; an oddly biscuity khus, and a faint hint of patchouli which is almost drowned out by everything else that's happening.

 

Wet: Patchouli's time to shine! There's still a very weird whiff of shortbread hanging around, slathered in honey and beeswax. Top notes of orange blossom, soft and effervescent, none of the bitterness of the pith and peel.

 

Dry: This doesn't morph at all in the drydown, it just fades in intensity. At this point, I'm keen to research the difference between khus and the various other types of vetiver the lab use (Haitian? Sweet? Just plain vetiver?) because "vetiver" behaves a particular way on my skin - soft, smoky, earthy, generally delicious - and anything I've tried so far with "khus" listed in the description does not at all. (Most of the time, it smells like weed; I have no idea why this one went to biscuits! It's not bad, just a bit odd set against the rest of the notes interacting here.)

 

Life is the standard 6-8 hours, medium throw.

Stars: ★★★★

[LavenderCoffee]

I love this blend so much! Yesterday I wore a mandarin scent and I thought "I don't wear much orange" but I realized that is a lie, bc I am a big sucker for honey sweetened orange.

This is very honey and beeswax forward on me, however, so it's more of an orange touched honey. I am also a big fan of khus and patch, so having those as a cozy backdrop is perfection.