zmulls

An update from kebechet would be welcome, as a placeholder, but it will constantly change. And as has been said so many times, your chemistry will be the final determinant. For instance, Crowley is praised as a near-perfect "guy" scent, but on me, the lilac comes on too strong. Once you try a number of "guy" scents you will get the sense of which elements work on you and which don't, and you will stop looking for "guy" scents and try to find scents that are anchored in things you like. From there it's a short hop to scouring the Lupers, Weenies and Yules, looking for things that sound like "your kind of thing" and there goes your bank account.

Wherein Scalia channels Lovecraft: raw frankincense and tobacco absolute with Russian leather, blackened champaca, bitter clove, red patchouli, bourbon vanilla and petitgrain. Never been first before. Got my bottle over the weekend and have tried this a few times. My chemistry likes leather *very* much, and I've enjoyed the "burnt" notes in Troll and Rumpelstilzchen, so this sounded like something just up my alley. Keep in mind that I'm a guy, and have that Slavic "hairy and musky" body, so strong masculine scents work on me (and florals and ambers and other "light" tones either disappear or are just Wrong). When I first applied it, there was an extremely unpleasant and sharp note overwhelming the scent. I'm guessing that is the "bitter champaca?" It put me off at first. Of course, these are scents based on the writings of Antonin Scalia, so I wouldn't be surprised if Beth intended the "sharp and unpleasant" effect right out of the bottle. But this sharp note does *not* last. Within five minutes it faded back, and blended better -- much like the sharp pepper note in "Old Demons of the First Class." After another few minutes that sharp note is way in the background, and the vanilla and patchouli seem to linger. But they are not strong -- there's not a lot of throw here. I had to hold my wrist up and huff hard to really get it. Once the dominant notes fade, it's a subtle scent. I'm not getting a strong leather on me, either. But, I did notice that when I woke up the next morning, the scent still lingered on my wrist. So, while there isn't much throw, there is staying power. It's interesting, but doesn't do enough of what I like -- if the lingering scents were stronger this would be something I'd wear more often (though I'd hide in a corner for 5-10 minutes until the initial blast wore off!)

Yeah, that's it for me too. I'm not getting huge hits of patchouli, and it's a much cooler and sweeter scent than I expected. I got four Weenies and this one is the clear winner, I'm surprised how good it is on me.

OK, I love Iago, but there's no smoke in that at all. Djinn is a "hot" scent, a fire scent -- there's lovely smoke in there but not what you're looking for. Smokestack is great and very surprising, based on the description. There's a sweetness to it. I think I'm like your husband -- I don't wear any florals or fruits or herbs (mostly). And incense and amber tend to disappear on me. My body chemistry just doesn't like the pretty stuff much. If your husband likes leather he will love Iago -- there's no smoke but the leather and musk is to die for. That's ultra-masculine. But the *perfect* woodsmoke scent is Rumpelstilzchen. It's woodsmoke and burnt herbs, and it is the first thing I reach for when the weather gets cold. In the summer I wear Voodoo and Troll (and Iago when I go out at night with my leather jacket). In the winter I wear Rumpelstilzchen and sometimes Old Demons of the First Class (dry, peppery and crackly but no smoke). I'd get him Rumpelstilzchen, based on what he's looking for. It's awesome.

"Punches you in the face rose" is just the best description of whip ever! I just got an imp of Whip and couldn't agree more. It's like the flip side of Highwayman, where the leather dominates but the rose peeks through. My own body chemistry just doesn't want florals anywhere. Whip would be horrid (on me), and Highwayman is acceptable at times. Scents like Crowley sound great but when I have tried Crowley the LILAC punches me in the face. Sad fail.

I am so not going to try this scent as it sounds like it has many death notes for me. But I have played Oberon twice (and directed DREAM another time) and know these lines backwards and forwards. I've spoken "Dian's bud" to some interesting Pucks.

Some of the leathers can be very heavy -- Iago, and Black Rider, are dark steamy leathers -- and you sound like you want something a little more unisex. I tend to the heavy leather scents myself. I'd recommend White Rider, of the three Riders. Black is more masculine, Red is interesting (I personally don't like the red scents on me). White is a clean fresh leather and is a little subtler than the others.

All the "burning" smells do very well on a cold winter day. My go-to scent is Rumpelstilzchen, for the same reason, but Smokestack is a nice change of pace. I don't do a lot of doubling up, but unlike Rumpelstilzchen (which has a very complex collection of scents), I think Smokestack would pair well with some other scents -- it would be a nice 'extra' note of smokiness. Salmon is nice, but smoked salmon is better. (I don't think Beth makes a salmon scent, though)

ladymeag and I often like the same things so it's a surprise to see us on such opposite poles. I am trying Unstern Sinistre Disastro this morning and so far it's really lovely. On me, anyway. I'm a huge fan of Iago (which has black musk and vetiver) and my favorite "lost" scent is the discontinued The Music of Erich Zahn. And I realized pretty quickly that Sinistre reminds me a *lot* of Erich Zahn The Music of Erich Zahn: ajowan, vetiver, black musk, opoponax, mimosa, and tamarind. Unstern! Sinistre Disastro!: Indigo musk, opoponax, champaca, guiac wood, Haitian vetiver, and lemon peel. So both have musk (black/indigo), vetiver and opoponax. Both have a citrus note (tamarind vs lemon peel). So I wasn't wrong about the similiarity. I need to try it again to pay more attention to the morphing and to the length of time, but for me (a guy who doesn't take well to floral/herbal/sweet scents) it is hitting the right notes.

I cannot seem to wear a single floral note. Not one. Wonderful blends are ruined by an amp up of a floral, which clashes with my chemistry. Crowley is bad on me due to the lilac. And incense does the baby powder or disappearing act. Just doesn't register. So all those lovely light and airy scents are wasted on me. It's easy for me to bypass most of an update now. But on the flip side, most people shy away from vetiver, but it's one of the things that settles in nicely on my skin. So there's some justice.

I've always thought Glukuprikos smells like a freshly scrubbed naked man.....

Well I'm a vetiver lover, in most cases, but this was a little too extreme for me. I think saying that the vetiver was dirty and unapologetic was right on the money (and "dirty and unapologetic" can be quite arousing under the right circumstances). My skin tends to dislike fruits and florals. Florals are always repellent on me, and fruits are iffy. (The melon in Ogun is a fruit that plays nicely on my skin, for instance). But the pomegranate doesn't come through for me. When the vetiver wore off, it left behind baby powder. So, on me (a guy with a little extra swarthiness, chemically), I got nasty vetiver and not much else, with a sad aftersmell. I'm afraid this one will be an unloved one for me.

I love two scents that are very "green" but not in the sense of wood and forest smells, specifically. Both are a little masculine. Van Van is very green, but it does contain vetiver (which is a death note for many women). Van Van is one of the Conjure Bag oils, based on traditional voodoo. One is supposed to use Van Van for purification. I like to wear it the next morning when I've had a particularly debauched evening. Troll is very heady, and has scents in it you wouldn't expect to like. The burnt spices and "troll musk" and general greenery -- it has a hothouse kind of feel. I wear Troll a lot during Spring and Summer -- it just doesn't smell right in the Fall and Winter when nothing is blooming.

Two scents that I like very much that are "woodsy" are Godfather Death and Old Demons of the First Class. Old Demons doesn't have any wood in it, actually, but it is perfect for a crisp winter day -- the Siberian musk and the pepper are really wonderful. It's a great guy scent. Godfather Death is a very dry and crisp scent -- I pick up fennel and wood from it. It's another good winter scent for me, though there's not a hint of sweetness so I use it sparingly. I quite like your screen name. I hope there aren't too many bombs dropping in your neighborhood.

Snake OIl wasn't doing it for me, even though the Indian scents should have worked. I switched to Ogun, as the melon seems to be OK with Ganesh. That's also the scent I wear to yoga. I tried one night being really radical and wearing Voodoo, but it was one of the worst performances I've given in a long time......saving my Voodoo for summer and spring when I'm feeling more mischeivous.....