Life, the Sculptor, Moulds Unceasingly

[zankoku_zen]

Not a scent of clay, but of creation: white sandalwood, tulsi, and Mitti attar.

[ellocentipede]

I was really looking forward to trying this one, and it does not disappoint. It’s a beautiful, interesting, and unique blend. It does smell like potter’s clay to my nose, but potter’s clay that’s being worked by someone who smells amazing and who works in the most beautifully curated studio. The sandalwood is dry and fragrant, and I get maybe a tiny snap of green that may be the tulsi. This would be a great blend for meditation and frazzled nerves. With time the sandalwood takes over and there are no complaints here—it’s so gorgeous and smooth. 

[Casablanca]

For me, this was a meditative and fairly simple blend. It reminded me of a meditation chamber, a place of serenity -- very similar in mood to Challenge of the Ascetic from this year's Lupers.

 

White sandalwood was the main note, with some mingling of a faint herbal nature behind it. I kept thinking I also smelled palo santo, though none is listed.

 

[Minh Scent]

I like mitti attar up straight, so was pleased this is the dominant note for a good while until it fades to  sandal (my most favorite note). The tulsi was stronger than expected, but it is fresh and harmonizes with the mitti. These are three "Indian" notes to me and their combination works well. As Ellocentipede and Casablanca mentioned, it indeed is meditative and calming.

[artisjok]

Life, the Sculptor smells like a thick matte white earthen clay, dotted with the tangy sprouts of tulsi green, like a desert scene after a quick rain shower. The tulsi gives a spark of energy to the contemplative sandalwood and tactile Mitti attar. I can see how one might sense it as Palo Santo, with the almost anise smell of basil.
 

I see a pottery studio witth open windows facing a sparse, and inspiring, landscape. If I didn’t have a specific scent already dedicated to my yoga practice, this would be a perfect choice. Maybe it could be my creative art scent? Or maybe I just want an excuse to buy a bottle...
 

I feel like this is related to Lorraine Cross, or Death Cap. Definitely similar to a scent I own, yet very unique with the tulsi note. 
Lovely! 
 

Update: Silly me, it reminds me of the White Sandalwood, Bourbon Vanilla, & Sage trio!

Edited November 7, 2020 by artisjok

[Lucchesa]

I admit I misread the description, because I was hoping for the scent of clay.  Mitti and tulsi are new notes to me, and I was curious to try them, but they are not reacting well to my skin.  At first they are astringent, then merely sharp, and they overpower the sandalwood.  I think this would be a lovely atmo, but it's not working on me as a perfume.

[HerbGirl]

I was really happy to see this perfume oil and it is truly beautiful. The tulsi was very prominent at first but now I can barely sense it. It just gives the very white pottery type scent a green lift. The first time I smelled mitti attar was in 2004 and I will never forget it. This is a beautiful scent but I'm not picking up much, if any, mitti attar. The white sandalwood isn't as sharp as it usually is on me and I bet the mitti attar is helping to smooth it out. This was the perfume I was most looking forward to and it doesn't disappoint. Lovely, and truly unique.

Edited November 17, 2020 by HerbGirl

[feyofthefellwood]

This is clarifying and soothing. I wasn't sure if if was digging the tulsi at first, but the scent as a whole has really grown on me. This smells green and herbal when wet, but it dries down to this sort of dusty earth smell that I really like. It makes me miss the desert. I'll have to try more things with mitti attar in the future. 

[doomsday_disco]

I am not familiar with tulsi and mitti attar, but the notes had me intrigued, so I'm glad I got a chance to try this after all!

 

This starts off what I believe is mostly the mitti and tulsi on me -- it does have a clay type of scent to it (not that I would be a good judge of that, not being someone that works with it), and the tulsi just adds a cool, green, herbal touch to the scent. It gets drier over time as the white sandalwood becomes more pronounced and eventually comes the dominant note on me.

 

It's smooth and meditative, and something I'm glad I got to experience, but I know I wouldn't reach for this because it ends up being too heavy on the white sandalwood for me. But I would definitely be interested in trying more scents with tulsi or mitti paired with other notes if they pop up in the future.  

[zankoku_zen]

Tulsi and attar. This smells vaguely Indian/Pakistani, and I think its the tulsi. It smells very gender neutral and soft. Medium throw and wear length.

[groovyrooby]

Wowee I had a sense my skin amps licoricey smells but this definitely seals it. Tested twice from a decant - once just before bed, again several weeks later, early in the day.

 

This smells very bittersweet on me. Almost like Good n Plenty candies, but much more on the bitter side. Guessing that's the tulsi? I'm getting the bitter basil lemon, but very little sweet. I get the clay smell, too. Mineral and earthy, but it just lends more heft to the bitterness. Every once in awhile I get a waft of the hypersweet I would expect from tulsi, based on my experience drinking it in tea. But mostly bitter and dry. Sharp and austere.

I should say, the first time I tried this just before sleep, I had some righteously wicked and, frankly, kinda trippy visions while fading out. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that coming from a fragrance. Didn't hate it.
 

UPDATE: I ended up upgrading to a full bottle of this. I love it for my yoga practice and other times in need of soothing and focus. I also have since discovered Tushnamatay, which I love and have on my full size GC shortlist, and just realized that, in addition to orange blossom, this has very Life, the Sculptor licoricey sweetness! Love it. Masquerade is similar, too, on that note.

Edited April 19, 2021 by groovyrooby
similar GC

[indie0385]

I had to look up Tulsi and Mitti Attar because I'm not familiar with either of those. This smells like an ancient temple to me or something a holy man would burn in a ceremony at twilight in the desert (at least that's what I picture when I sniff this).

 

A really lovely, meditative blend

[liebchen]

this is the first oil i’ve tried out of the parcel i received today, and it surely still has mailbox shock though they’ve all been sitting inside for 10 hours. it’s so far not quite what i was expecting, especially in the bottle. it didn’t click until a few minutes into drydown, but what it smelt like for the first bit and also in the bottle, is...super fresh frosted pfeffernüsse. this is a really lovely potent scent memory related to my childhood! (and despite the association, definitely not gourmand.) it’s got that aforementioned mildly licoricey tinge; the sweetness i can correlate to the airy crunchy powder sugar glaze; and there’s the comfy sensation of biting into a soft little mound of a spice cookie, which really does have a meditative edge. as it’s dried down now, it is prominently white sandalwood—reminiscent of white rider, as anticipated. if it stays like this forever, i’ll be pleased, but i have a feeling it’s going to age incredibly. curious to see if/when/how the mitti and tulsi might make themselves more distinguishable.

Edited January 9, 2021 by liebchen

[Rayleigh]

Holy Basil, Batman!

 

I could really stop at the pun and let that stand as my review, but there genuinely is much more going on here. The sandalwood is dry and meditative. The mitti attar is so serenely earthy. The tulsi, though, is easily the strongest note on my skin. It's not unpleasant, but it's not working for me. If this were a room scent, I would adore it. But the tulsi gives it this vegetal sweetness that I find distracting from the solemn beauty of the mitti attar/sandalwood. I have liked tulsi/basil in other blends, but it isn't my favorite in this company. I'll certainly use my decant, and I suspect this is one of those blends I may eventually be sorry I didn't bottle when I had the chance.

 

Now on the lookout for more blends that showcase mitti attar...

[Seajewel]

I'm obsessed with the 2020 Liliths and have slowly been ordering more with every order I place. This was in my last batch. I love this. It's a subtly sweet scent with something almost minty in the mix. It's meditative. It almost reminds me of the dough note in Waiting that I love so much, but without being foody. I keep coming back to it again and again. 

[fairybites]

Sandalwood and a clay-like note with a touch of spice. It's a little bit sweet too, but it's mostly wood on my skin. It's earthy but not dirty if that makes sense. I'll admit that I am not familiar with tulsi and Mitti attar notes, so I can't accurately review them. However, I am curious to try more with those notes because this blend is really nicer than I expected it to be.

 

I can't see myself wearing this a lot because I prefer foodie/gourmands, but I'm glad to have this because it's unlike anything else in my collection. This would have made a nice atmospheric spray!

[tinyvulture]

Mitti attar, from what I Googled, is like sandalwood but also baked earth. Hmm  This scent reminds me of Cathedral -- church incense/resin.  I get little hints of tulsi (basil) here and there.  I’m not sure I’d need a whole bottle, but it’s very pretty.

[a_bear]

This scent makes me think of morning at a fancy resort in the desert with a picture-perfect succulent garden (it's funny to me how some scents just smell like the notes, and others conjure weirdly specific scenes). It's dry, but still green, with a hint of dew or something. After a couple hours the tulsi becomes more prominent - it's simultaneously a very sweet and kind of bitter herbal smell that I'm not crazy about (it's like sweet basil's funkier sibling). I preferred it when the sandalwood was reining it in.

[Ennikar]

Rich, more earthy than woody at first but the sandalwood does take over a bit in the drydown (unsurprising, as it's a base note). I don't get much of the greenness/tulsi beyond it maybe lightening things up for the first hour or so. It's very pretty and just nice; I agree with some of the above reviews that describe it as a meditative scent. Decent throw.