Blood onmy hands

Something about the oud, mahogany and rum comes together to smell like I spilled cough syrup over a dark, polished, wooden table. I can't shake that cough syrup impression, and it ruins St. Clare for me. After a half hour, the cough syrup fades a bit (but doesn't ever fade enough) and the tobacco incense is dominating the scent. It reminds me of cigarette smoke; so it's a bit sharper and more harsh than I like my tobacco notes to be. The vanilla does sweeten it a little, though, and the wood does smell golden and lightly spiced. With a splash of boozy, medicinal, weirdly fruity cough syrup. Cigarette smoke, perfumey vanilla, dark and golden and spicy wood, and boozy cough syrup. Too sharp for me, and then the cough syrup...

I love patchouli, and I've tried so many amazing patchouli fragrances in the 15+ years that I've been collecting fragrances. I wasn't sure that I was going to need a bottle of this, but I do. Such a good, rich, heavy patchouli with nuances of pine needle, forest floor and sap. Agarwood/oud is hit or miss on me, but I love the slightly smoky, rich, dry woodiness in this. The orris is barely there for me, adding a hint of sweetness to the natural chewy sweetness that patchouli can sometimes have. I was worried about the orris turning powdery, but I'm not getting powder from this at all. It's hard to explain different types of patchouli, but this one is a love for me. Forest floor, golden sweetness, black earth and gold, sweet tones, with a dark woodiness to it... just... mmmm. I'm definitely keeping my bottle, and it's going to be hard to resist buying a backup bottle or two.

I like this a lot more than I thought I would. White sandalwood almost always turns to baby powder and pomegranate to powdery sweet tarts candies on me. This is still a powdery sandalwood, but it smells deeper and darker than usual, maybe thanks to the black currant. There's something almost rich and caramelized to the wood part, and the black currant gives it a dark berry gleam and sweetness. The pomegranate takes over after about an hour and I like it less, because the pom is sour, tart and sharp, and things turn a little smoky. I agree with TijuanaBible in that the pom stage reminds me of 7 Word Story: Lust, but that comes in the drydown for me rather than the start. An interesting, fruity sandalwood, but probably not a keeper for me.

Fruity, soft lavender with peony's sweet, fresh, pink spring floral tones dancing around it. The white musk and vanilla mallow give it a sparkly, airy quality on my skin, without really smelling too much like sweet vanilla or marshmallows. De Vos is mainly floral on my skin, not noticeably vanilla-y or foodie. After two hours, I'm left with a nondescript spring floral scent and powdery lavender.

Thick, creamy, pink vanilla rose with a powdery edge that's like powdered sugar, not baby powder. The bergamot and rosehip add a tart, lemony sharpness that I don't love, but that part settles down a bit in the drydown. I was worried about the jasmine, but can't really pick it out in this blend. Sweet, lemony, vanilla-y rose. Fresh, but very sweet on my skin.

Starts off as powdery, cool, clean flowers over a subtle, clean men's cologne smell and dry wood. This is also strangely almost minty smelling on my skin. Orpheus doesn't really smell anything like what I was expecting. It's watery and clean cologne, but with dry wood, and a hint of smoky incense and creamy, powdery blossoms in the drydown. Light, subtle, clean, both warm and cool, and hard to pick out the individual notes... Dry, warm wood with a bit of smoke, but also a clean edge to it... cologne-like, but powdery.

I'm confused by this scent. It's tons of sharp cinnamon and buttery, sweet cinnamon on my skin, with an undertone of dry, woody, sharp amber (that turns slightly powdery in the drydown) and ashy vetiver. The wine and fruit is nowhere to be found for me.

Starts off as misty, true, non-sour evergreen, which surprised me, because 'pitch' is usually tons of woodsmoke on my skin. A King Pursued is like pine boughs covered with the last bits of melting snow and dripping, sweet pine sap. The drydown warms up as the pine falls to the background and the amber and oak come forward. It turns just a little powdery on me, but not to full on baby powder; it feels very warm and snuggy, like a toasted, vanilla-ish amber with only a hint of gentle powder. Warm amber and golden, creamy woods with a hint of misty pine. Pretty and soft. Kind of reminds me of Golden Priapus with more amber and a more subtle pine.

The pine/evergreen to this is bright and sour, where I was hoping for a sweeter, more sappy evergreen note. I thought this might be like Golden Priapus (which has juniper and white pine in it), but this is definitely a lot sharper than Golden Priapus, and I feel like I want something to soften it. As it dries down, I'm getting the sour, red berry that other reviewers have mentioned, and it's reminding me of red currant. I like Golden Priapus more for an evergreen and Elf more for a foresty berry scent. White Juniper SN is more sharp and sour smelling to me than real life juniper.

I tracked down a bottle of this after realizing that it has a bird on the label, and I'm glad that I did. The rum and earthy tobacco reminds me of the rum & patchouli-leather in Ian, which I also love, but Brown Thrasher is sweeter and even more heavy on the rum. It comes off as a sweet vanilla-almond booziness. Silky, sweet, caramelized and gourmand. I keep thinking that I smell vanilla frosted cinnamon buns in the drydown as well. The brown musk adds a snuggly warmth and the tobacco a sweet, dark earthy edge, but it's still primarily a foodie smelling fragrance. Lasts all day and has good throw on me. Warm, comforting and sweet.

The reviews for this are so varied, I wonder if there are batch variations, or if it's just a confusing fragrance in general. On me, this smells like sour orange, sweet strawberry, fizzy grapefruit, sharp salt and something metallic and off... dries down to smoky red musk with a bowl of dry, dusty cinnamon and orange peel potpourri, and just a hint of something more fizzy and effervescent. Also has an undertone of dry soapiness. It's like it can't decide if it wants to be fruity or floral, light or dark, sweet or sour, dry or bright... It's a messed up, orange sweet tarts + fruit punch and hints of cinnamon and musk on my skin.

Smoky amber incense and a clove studded orange pomander. I always like the way that orange plays with amber/resin notes, giving them a warm, lit-from-within, glowing embers sort of feel. Turns slightly powdery on me in the drydown, a little spicier, and a bit less smoky. I love resins, so I really enjoy the Phoenix anniversary scents.

Smooth, golden, resinous, slightly woody frankincense and a hint of warm cinnamon sugar. Reminds me of Cathedral with a little bit of spice or Faustus with less spice, lol. Soft and fades quickly on me, but that might be because of its age.

Soft, powdery woods, wildflower honey and a surprisingly well behaved cinnamon/cassia. I smell more of the woody, spicy cinnamon bark in the drydown, but it's a light, powdery, clean sort of scent on me overall. I'm not getting the jasmine feel that others have mentioned, but it does have a floral edge to the honey. Doesn't last long on me, in spite of its heavier notes.

I can pick out all of the listed notes in this, but they're all very soft, subtle and well blended (maybe that has come with age, since this is three years old now). I like the lab's fig note, because it smells woody and softly chocolatey, and I can pick it out in this blend, with the woody qualities enhanced even more by the cedar and sandalwood. The sweet orange adds a warm glow to the scent. The benzoin and galbanum add in a resinous incense smoke. And the bitter almond, sugared date and golden honey offer up an exotic, but dangerous (almost poisonous) smelling gourmand in the drydown. I'm glad that the almond doesn't smell like cherry here. Baruch's Phoenix is a bunch of exotic desserts set out on a wooden buffet table with incense burning in the background. Gourmand, woody, incense. Exotic, warm, glowing and lovely. I like this a lot.

Savory herbs, sharp and herbal lemongrass, burnt chocolate and a dry, gritty patchouli. Smells like I randomly threw together a bunch of aromatherapy notes, and is strangely medicinal. Lemony, herbal, medicinal, and weirdly dirty smelling on my skin... I like the foodie and sweet Thirteens, and this doesn't fall into that category for me.

I'm not getting the white chocolate at all. This is a strange mix of sour, yellowy jasmine, cheap fruit flavored candy (the pomegranate going to powdery sweet tarts candies and the strawberry smelling like strawberry bubblegum), and a whiff of peppermint and basil in the drydown. The green, herbal basil and sharp peppermint really throw me off. Sweet fruity-floral with weird herbs and minty toothpaste thrown in...

The sweet pear and honeyed apple smell like a sickly-sweet, fruity mush on my skin (like fruit that's bruised, overripe and soft). The ambrette adds a sharp, clean, musky tone in the drydown, and the over the top fruity sweetness + musk reminds me of Bath & Body Works in a bad, overwhelming way.

I get tons of smoky vetiver from this for about the first hour, and it makes me smell like I've been sitting too close to a campfire all evening. Woody, ashy, black smoke. After that first hour, the smoke starts calming down and I love the spiciness from the carnation, a bit of creamy sweetness from the vanilla, and the earthy, golden sweetness of the tobacco. I never smell any of the lavender, but I'm okay with that, because lavender is an iffy note on my skin. Smoky, spicy, and earthy with a deep, rich thread of sweetness. I like this one a lot.

White lilies gilded by sparkling grey amber, Oman frankincense, pink pepper, raw white clove, and white musk. Perfumey, soapy white floral with golden, powdery amber-frankincense and a glassy, cool quality to it. My skin usually amps up spices, but I can't really pick out the pepper or clove in this. Too much muskiness for me, and it veers too much into powdery and soapy territory for my tastes.

I should love this, because I love every single note in it so much, but the lab's dragon's blood can sometimes take on a strange, sickly-sweet, floral tone, and that's what I'm getting here. No vanilla or coconut at all. Only a hint of creamy orange blossom/neroli. Strangely floral and a bit peppery, and goes a tad soapy on me in the drydown, before fading quickly (I could barely smell this after a half hour).

I expected the red musk to overpower everything else, but the peach is actually managing to hold its own. It's reminding me of the peach wine in Aglaea, syrupy sweet and silky, mixed with the fruity, red wine tone of the red musk. Mmmmm. In the drydown, the dark earthiness of the patchouli and vetiver creep in, and I really love this scent. I love the dark red musk scents with gourmand edges (like Midnight Kiss). This smells dangerous and sexy, like some dark thing luring you in with a poisonous sweetness. <3

Creamy peach blossom (not sweet and vanilla-y, but creamy the way some florals just smell white and soft, if that makes sense), clean and delicately fruity-sweet. As it dries down, the sweet rose and powdery musk settle in. This is more clean and floral than gourmand on me, but it isn't soapy at all, and the natural sweetness of the peach blossom and rose come through nicely. I wish that I got more of the vanilla from it, but it's still pretty.

Smoky black leather with a very baby powdery drydown thanks to the sandalwood and amber. The peach adds just a hint of sweetness. I think this is too powdery to be a keeper for me, even though I really enjoy the leather and peach. Gourmand leather (or gourmand patchouli or gourmand + any dark note is always so sexy).

Strawberry and peach mingle together and smell pretty natural here, all fuzzy peaches and strawberry with a hint of green vine and leaf still stuck to it. It gets sweeter in the drydown, like strawberries sprinkled with sugar. The sandalwood and benzoin add a warm, golden, powdery scent that gets stronger over time. It does kind of remind me of powdery, sweet, scented doll heads, but I oddly kind of like that smell.