Cassandra Dudum

I am a patchouli fan and I tend to buy bpal that has patchouli in it. I usually tend to go for the more "sweetened" patchouli scents like Silkybat, Incipient Madness, and Lady in Black atmo spray. But Sumatran Red Patchouli is a very different patchouli smell to me since it is a single note. It is earthy but not "dirty". The earth is more of a woodsy smell. It is more of a dry, warm, woodsy, relaxing patchouli. Very meditative and comforting. The initial hour on my skin is very woodsy and has very strong throw. After about three hours of wear, it is a more close to the skin scent. On my skin after 3 hours it has morphed to be a sweetened patchouli scent. The slight sweetness reminds me of Lady in Black. The longer I wear it, the softer and sweeter it gets. Both stages (woody and sweet) of Sumatran Red Patchouli are gorgeous.

Whoa this scent is perfect for Fall nights. If you are not a fan of fire smoke, this is not a scent for you. However, I love the smell of smoke from a fireplace so I was very curious about this scent. It is a comforting smell to me. I get major nostalgia being a child and building a fire when the house would be cold at night. In bottle: Very strong, worn leather. It definitely smells like an old leather book cover. It does not have a fresh chemical leather smell. Wet on skin: The smoke overtakes the leather. It smells like a fire that has paper being thrown into it. I smell the ink from the pages. Dry: Gorgeous balance. It is like sitting in an old velvet chair with an old leather bound book by a grand fireplace. The leather is soft. The paper is worn and has a slight sweet vanilla smell. The fire smoke is very light and airy now; like wisps of smoke from a dwindling fire. This scent I would wear at home in the evenings while I read a book, write, or watch a movie (like Crimson Peak). It is definitely an atmospheric perfume, and it makes my imagination run wild. Oh this would be a fabulous atmosphere spray. I definitely recommend this perfume to anyone who loves books and fire smoke!

It has now been well over a month since I originally bought Crucifixion. At first, it smelled like red wine or berries to me. Now that it has sat and aged on my shelf I finally get the frankincense and rose smell when I sniff the bottle. I was hoping for more clove when I bought this perfume. The orris is not noticeable to me. I have many other frankincense blends and I have not tried frankincense and rose together in a blend before. The rose is definitely a dark dried rose. Maybe even attar of rose because I think of the rose note in GC Lilith when I smell Crucifixion. The rose is more powerful than the frankincense in the bottle. It has been awhile since I've tried GC Lilith but Crucifixion is reminding me of it. I will have to compare them side by side.