Abelard

[Seajewel]

Coconut husk and pearwood with frankincense and carnation petals.

[katharina]

This has rested almost a week. Fresh on I strangely smell violets? It weirdly reminds me of the powdery violet candies. Coconut can often be overwhelming, but I barely smell it here. In fact, none of the notes seem to particularly standout. I suspect it's the frankincense causing the powdery, violet-like wafts I am getting, but otherwise, nothing distinctly stands out. There is a subtle sweetness present, possibly from the pearwood. It doesn't strike me as a fruit smell, but a light, woody sweetness. Carnation only makes herself known during the drydown, and she's not the spicy girl I know and love. Rather, she's softer and understated.

 

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this perfume. Pearwood was the only note I am unfamiliar with, but none of the other notes are behaving in their typical ways. It's not bad, just a tad disconcerting. Overall, on me, this is a slightly sweet, powdery wood.

 

I wore this alone, as I wanted to get a sense of it before wearing it with Heloise. Since they are meant to be worn together, I will try it that and see what changes. Not sure this one is a keeper.

[LavenderCoffee]

Abelard really does smell like a charming haunted clown puppet - stranger than the sum of his scent notes. It's almost like he lived with a puppeteer that smoked cigars 100 years ago, even though he no longer smells like any kind of tobacco. There is an overall dusty old wood type of effect, although there is also a bit of sweetness that I suspect is coconut husk with frankincense, and something sortof sharp that might be pearwood. It's maddening and wonderful to try to pick out the notes in this unfamiliar context.

 

I am also testing Heloise and A&H together. Together, they smell happier and less haunted, more like a pair of well-loved old puppets you might keep in a drawer. The sourness of Heloise and the stale dusty aspect of Abelard are tempered when they are combined. It's not quite like putting the lime with the coconut, but they clearly belong together.

 

Edited to clarify the A&H combined scent - it's kinda cozy. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by LavenderCoffee

[samanare]

Floral, fruity wood scent. I smell what I assume is the pearwood the most, wood with a distinct pear edge to it, the most. I can just pick out the coconut husk, which is very woodsy here and adds to the pearwood. I don't get carnation specifically, but there is noticeable floral component to this scent. I don't get frankincense at all, maybe it's hiding behind the carnation. Overall, it melds together in a floral, pear-y, wood scent. I'm reminded of a really nice wood polish, or what wood polish wish it smelled like.

[zankoku_zen]

Pear, coconut husk, which turns into a spicy musky incense. Medium throw and wear length.

[ghoulnextdoor]

Fresh…cold…produce? I’m not a farmer, but I just imagine pulling up the last of a harvest before the frost hits. Or maybe harvesting your cold-weather vegetables, your cabbages, and leafy greens and carrots and such. And then you immediately juice them and drink them down with a scant teaspoon of honey. There’s something so fresh and vegetal-sweet about this, with the tiniest bit of ozone-y plasticity as well, like veggies stored in a plastic bin.  Like you carved a disconcertingly jaunty little face into a crooked carrot with a plastic spork.

[MonBon]

What a fool I was to underestimate this scraggly, clown puppet. I really love this delightfully deranged scent! It's reminiscent of Blood Milk's BOOKS, a familiar dust-laden blend, with a plethora of Halloweirdness to go along. A touch of candle wax, a sooty poof of vanillin, a charming dust musk, a scrap of metal, flickers of paint smudged on his face, piles and piles of books. Is Abelard an intellectual? Why does he smell so bookish? Perhaps he's been writing to Heloise on parchment, in between his knife throwing sessions. The frankincense is neither sharp, piney or lemony, it adds a soft and crumbly element. TIL Coconut husk does not smell like coconut meat, but there is a vegetal aspect to the opening. The carnation here is not spicy/opulent and pearwood is new to me. Strangely a very comforting blend, I'm happy I have this little weirdo in my collection! Throw: low, longevity ~6 hours 

Edited June 13, 2023 by MonBon

[Little Bird]

I will never pass on a weird puppet scent, no matter what the notes are.  My dad used to tell elaborate stories with creepy puppets and dark twists and that's something that I grew up with and adored.  He was killed when I was 12-years-old and I hold on to those tender memories. 
I'm late on a lot of my reviews because I've been in the middle of moving and my 'Weenies in particular just got packed up into storage and are now making their way back out to haunt the new house.  At least they are well aged and settled now.

I love Abelard and Heloise because they both rest on a base of wood and creepiness.  Bpal really picked out notes that you smell and think, "Yep.  Haunted puppets."  Abelard is a bit creepier to me (in a good way!) because it has this dry, slightly sweet, odd wood note (but not powdery or dusty, just.. old wooden puppet) and a chilled note that makes you think of a ghost passing you in the hallway of an old yet well loved and well kept house.  The chill is almost a little plasticy, a little cucumber-y, with the tiniest hint of lime fizz, and a little vanilla-y, and I'm pretty sure I've smelled it in one of bpal's odd single notes (Crumpled Wrapping Paper?).  The hint of sweet vanilla, I think, must be the coconut, but this doesn't read as beachy or tropical to me.  The carnation and frankincense are nondescript, but give off wafts of warm incense smoke in the drydown.  The overall effect for me is haunted, but in a good way.  Old wood sprinkled with magic, cold vanilla, and wafts from a burning incense stick.

Heloise starts off much darker and more blunt and straightforward to me.  It has a cologne-like quality and I feel like I've smelled fragrances like it before.  Dark men's cologne musk, masculine spices, and dry, dark woods.  I felt like it wasn't terribly unique for the first half hour, but then I wind up liking this a lot more as the traditional masculine cologne settles down and the wood and sweet incense smoke gain strength with the spices smelling a little like bay rum + black pepper in the background.  I usually don't enjoy wood notes, but I like the woods in both of these fragrances.  My brother is a carpenter and Heloise smells like all of his woodworking projects over the years and heading into lumberyards, plus spice, dark incense, and cologne-y musk.

[Cali]

I was a little hestitant to even try this from the description alone (but intrigued still), and this is surprisingly pretty. LavenderCoffee honestly described it better than i ever could. 

'Ol Abelard... A true haunted gentleman doll's scent. It brings the image to my mind of one of those old goosebumps books with a ventriloquist doll in an attic. But Abelard is definitively kinder about things.