Lethran

In Bottle: Wow! This is rather intense. The musk and spices are strong and dark, reminding me of wooden travel trunks. The musk is dominant, possibly too strong for me. The peach is gentle, but pervasive. Wet: Less overwhelming on my skin. The peach comes out to gentle the musk a bit, and the spices back down to become a gentler influence. Normally, I can’t support black musk as I tend to amp musks, but as this warms the peach twines around it, transforming and taming it. This is still a heavier scent than is wise with my skin chemistry and sinuses, but I really like it, and I can just carry this without getting a head ache. This is beautifully designed and blended. Dry: Mostly musk with a bit of spice.

In Bottle: Rather more patchouli than I’d hoped. The patchouli and sandalwood face off against black currant and peach, with the soft blue musk tying them together. Wet: Patchouli dominant with sandalwood in support, rather chalky. Musk second, asnd my skin has swallowed most of the fruit. Dry: Mostly patchouli with some musk.

In bottle: I am not familiar with a couple notes, so the following review is approximate. It’s clearly musk dominant with cognac support. I think that may be the tagetes combining with the champaca to make the second strongest impression. The gum arabic is third, with what I’m guessing is davana haunts the background. Wet: Avoid this if you are not an incense fan. The probably tagetes really brings the floral, and while it works well with the still marginally dominant musk and cognac, it’s a little much on me. The gum arabic is strong support, with the davana still lurking in the background. Dry: Reminiscent of nag champa. Absolutely lovely incense blend.

I second

In Bottle: I have no experience of cocobolo, but it’s definitely dominant here. It’s hard to describe and utterly gorgeous. It’s very hardwood, complicated, juicy, and sort of floral. It is as strong and distinct and cedar, but doesn’t smell like cedar. If you like woods, this likely needs to be in your collection, because there is nothing like it. The brass is a beautiful compliment to the wood and I’m betting this is about to become a staple. Wet: If anything, the wood is even more exciting on my skin, with that rich brass support. I’m in love with this. Dry: The wood softens in some absolutely lovely ways as the brass fades out.

In Bottle: Unusual florals (dandelion with something else I think) and greens over an aquatic base. The metal and cement are understated. The “glory of nature” is very like my garden and gives the aquatic note a sharpness that I like. Wet: The green growing things really differentiate and pop on my skin. The floral becomes aquatic support. The hints of metal give it extra edge. The cement is very understated. Dry: Slightly sharp aquatic.

In Bottle: This is delicious and complicated. The beeswax is a pervasive canvas on which the other elements play. The incense is the strongest note, with ink and tears in support. The leather is second strongest with smoke and metal seasoning it. The beeswax is third with soft paper support. Wet: Leather is now strongest with ink as strong support. (I amp leather and do well with ink, so this is a skin chemistry thing and YMMV). The incense and metal are more background on my skin, with the rest mostly being accents. I still really like this, but the in bottle balance was more interesting. Dry: Leather and incense, with ink and a sharp metal edge.

In Bottle: Strong Sandalwood sweetened by benzoin. The ink and favric go really well with the dominant notes and are easily picked out. The marjoram is a delicate bridge tying the other notes together. This is beautifully formulated and well suited to it’s concept. Wet: Smoother on the skin. The ink really comes into it’s own in support of the dominant sandalwood. The benzoin pulls back to dance with the marjoram. The waistcoat is a soft background. Dry: Sandalwood and benzoin, with the ghost of ink.

In Bottle: Leather Dominant with strong wood, fougere, and rosin in second. Sandalwood blurs the line between Leather and sandalwood. Ambergris enriches the rosin. Wool is soft, but easy to detect. Hints of plastic, metal, tape, and dust. The dust supports wool. Wet: Sexy and masculine on the skin. It’s still leather and fougere dominant. The rosin and ambergris are a bit softer and supported by wool and dust. The metal, plastic, and tape are sharper and more distinct, giving an ozone/electrical feel to this. This really does suit Adam. Dry: Mostly leather with some fougere and a touch of resin.

In Bottle: Slightly chalky roots, with a touch of fig and a hint of green. It’s softer than thorns. Wet: Sweeter and mildly figgier the roots are sharper. Dry: Rich juicy fig with a touch of roots.

Lyonesse is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. I thought of Lyonesse, and was also wondering if Banded Sea Snake might count, since it is a Snake Oil blend and an aquatic... Snake Oil has a definite vanilla component and all... I love my Banded Sea Snake, but we should probably warn it's more aftershave than aquatic.

In bottle: Fairly subtle. It has a softly aquatic feel, with a sexy musky mix of green things. It really does suit it’s concept. The musk, mosses, and what I suspect to be water lettuce, blend beautifully with each other and the hint of rocks. The water hyacinth gives a floral kiss without intruding on the prevailing green impression. This is lovely in a water colour landscape sort of way and androgynous. Wet: It remains subtle and well blended on the skin, though the elements pop more as if the details have just come into focus. It remains musk and moss dominant, but the nexus of rocks, water lettuce, and hyacinth are doing some unusual things together now that they are standing out from the background a little more. It hasn’t much through and it creates an atmosphere rather than trying to draw attention to itself. If you are looking for something subtle that evokes a place and a mood, this should be about right. It’s a lovely little scent poem meditating on a marshy landscape. Dry: Mostly moss and musk with a touch of floral.

DARK CHOCOLATE WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO, PINK PEPPERCORN, THYME, AND COMFREY In bottle: Sweet dark chocolate dominant. Comfrey turns out to go beautifully with chocolate. The sun dried tomato gives a soft, unexpected tang to the chocolate. The pepper gives it a hint of edge. Thyme is extremely understated. Really, this seems to be about giving more support and complexity to the chocolate than showing off the other notes. Wet: The comfrey is stronger on the skin, almost coequal with the rich dark chocolate. It’s a lovely effect. The peppercorn and thyme separate out a little, but play well with the dominant scents. The thyme brings a little more of the tomato out as it emerges, making it a touch more savory on the skin than in the bottle. The result is quite lovely and unusual. I love the way the sweet and savory work together, and can only marvel at the cleverness of the brain who thought to combine these scents, not usually associated. Dry: The dark chocolate fades to a ghost haunting the comfrey. The thyme fades back to just present, and I can’t find the tomato at all. Comfrey turns out to make a nice enough scent by itself, but this is not as exciting as it was wet.

In bottle: Leather Dominant, with the mandrake adding a hint of corruption. The sandalwood is pervasive, but very well blended with the leather. The clove, cardamom, and galangal are understated, lending an air of travel to far off places without screaming spice. Wet: Sweeter and much spicier on my skin. If the bottle scent was a baritone, this would be a particularly rich tenor. The spices really come out on my skin in their own right, sailing over that slightly disreputable leather as if to distract from it’s darker depths. In the bottle, it bellowed its masculinity; on my skin, it wears lighter and more subtly masculine in its sexuality. Here, the sandalwood is a bridge between the leather and the spices, blending with both and keeping them thematically linked. This is sexy and a little dangerous. Warning, I am getting a very mild skin reaction, so this might not be good for people with sensitive skin. Dry: The slightly mandrake corrupted leather with a wicked hint of spice.

In Bottle: I am assuming the immortelle listed is Xeranthemum, which is a flower I’ve seen, but can’t recall the scent of, so there will be some guessing in this review. The blend is mildly lavender dominant, with the lavender complicated by what I’m guessing is the immortelle. If so it’s a delicate floral that goes well with the lavender. The benzoin also supports the lavender. The ambergris accord functions here much the way vanilla often does, buy smoothing scent transitions and tying things together. It is pervasive, but unobtrusive because of how well it works with everything here. It softens the lavender’s edges. It turns up the sexy on the fur. It helps the thyme kiss the lavender. The carrot seed is understated and enriches the thyme more than stands on its own. This is pretty androgynous to my nose. Wet: Not as much throw as I’d hoped. I do like the way the immortelle comes out on my skin, and it’s slightly spicy, dusty sort of feel. It remains delicate, but somehow really changes the way the lavender feels, transforming it in ways I’m having trouble to describe. The androgynous florals sweep up the ambergris and fur like a little whirlwind, drawing them into the complexity of the dominant faction where the benzoin already resides. The thyme and carrot seed fade into the lavender, complicating it further, still detectable, but more as part of the whole, than as parts. I do like this, even if it occasionally forms brief accidental accords for redwood and playdough to my nose. Dry: I actually kind of like the way this goes redwood adjacent on the dry down. It’s like if redwood were a floral and an androgynous after shave, which I know makes no sense to brains that aren’t mine, but it’s sexy and I really want to lick it. Again, I suspect none of this is helpful, but I’m calling it a win.

Review: This is very purple and not what I expected at all. This is strongly lupine and bleeding heart dominant. I am not that good at picking out which flower scent is which, so let’s just call the dominant faction purple flowers. The green elements come out once the initial shock of the purple wears off. These give the stronger purple factions some grounding. The moss and fir work well together and form a nice setting for the purples. I honestly don’t know what fireweed smells like and there’s enough confusion here with those purples, that I don’t feel confident as to what is the fireweed and what is part of something else. It may be the bridge scent between purple and green, but again, I’m not sure. The beeswax burns off fairly quickly, being soft and delicate generally, but mostly supports the purples when it’s there. The stone also breaks down quickly, but supports the green. The ash is an understated darkness lurking around the edges. I haven’t done well with the ash note in other blends, but here it gives the right touch of haunting darkness without overwhelming the blend. This is a rich, decadent mid-Spring floral. I can think of no other blend to compare it to.

In bottle: I am not familiar with mugwort or mayweed. This is very intense a hard to describe. It is either mugwort dominant with strong mayweed support or vica versa. I can separate the scents, but I have no idea which is which. Either way, the thyme is also in support, though more modest. I am really struggling to describe the green, bitter, yet strangely rich fragrance in my hand. Underneath the greenery lies a dark still, watery canvass, likely with undertow or worse things lurking to grab the ankle. Wet: I was worried this might be too intense on my skin, and it sits right on the border between intriguing and too much. I rather wish the strongest of the plants switched places with the thyme for intensity. With a little wear, the waters rise and soften the plants. It is very, very marshy banks of a deep dark pool. Dry: No, just no. The dominant plant is too much after the rest has burnt away.

In bottle: This is unusual. The anise sings when combined with ginger and amber, turned particularly heady when you add in poppy as well. The cubeb (a kind of pepper) and scorpion pepper give this sting. The cedar is understated and ties things together. The effect is dangerous and spicy. Wet: Lemon drops? Apparently my skin is really fickle today. Given time, the ginger, poppy, and peppers fight their way free of the accidental accord and the anise follows a bit after. It’s a little vase and lady’s profile for me, flipping back and forth as my focus shifts between the proper elements and the accidental tart citrus. It does eventually settle into an anise dominant scent with amber, ginger, cedar, and poppy support in order of strongest to weakest. The peppers are less distinct but still giving the whole thing an interesting edge. Dry: Anise dominant with ginger and amber support, kissed by peppers.

In bottle: This is beautifully well designed. The blackened blood, stone, and musk go together beautifully. The charred blood is dominant, but the musk and stone give very well-designed support. Wet: Surprisingly sweet and vaguely… orange? I think I’m misparsing the blackened blood, turning some tangy element of the accord into something it isn’t. You really need to love blackened blood to where this because of the throw and dominence. The musk is second, the stone a very weak third. Dry: I think I love feral grey musk. This is deliciously sexy now.

In bottle: It’s exactly as one would expect from the description: sharp evergreen needles and blood strongest with a hint of iron and warm musky fur accord. I love it in the bottle and I have hopes of what it will do on skin. Wet: It’s weird on my skin. The dominant brown furry musk and its blood support curdle and snarl. Seriously, this smells like a snarl sounds. The Ironwood needles form a softer background, though given time they strengthen and the fur gentles a little. I am loving the ironwood needles, but the fur is unnerving me. Dry: It has a sharp animal smell that makes me think I need a good wash, likely my skin continuing to amp the musk when moist of the rest has fallen away.

In bottle: Teeth gratingly minty snow with rich opoponax support. The oak and spruce form a woody faction that goes well with the snow. The myrrh and ambergris dance with the opoponax. The snow is too intense for me in the bottle, but the blend is intriguing.

In bottle: Very patchouli, with the musk edging it towards sexy. The ginger supports the patchouli and musk well. The basil, alder, and mistletoe give it a green, woody/herbal feel. The Internet tells me cistus is a flower. I’m guessing it’s the delicate vaguely floral not softening the edges of this. Wet: Softer on the skin. It remains patchouli dominant, but less emphatically so. The musk is still sexy support. The ginger pops more on the skin, as does the cistus of all things. It is still delicate, but stands out more from the background, much as the Alder leaf does. The Basil and mistletoe remain understated, with the mistletoe the stronger oif the two. To be honest, my skin is eating this. There is very little throw and the whole fragrance is dim and muddy compared to how vibrant it is in the bottle. I’m going to have to blame my skin. Dry: Really pretty green musk mostly.

In bottle: I love the way the soil, blood, and ocean scents commingle. There is a hint of something chalky I assume stands in for bone. There is a hint of something sharp, I’m going to call venom. There is something meaty and blood adjacent, that I’m assuming is gore and/or sinew. I was having a hard time imagining what this would smell like, but now that it is under my nose, I can’t imagine this smelling another way. It’s a perfect fit for its concept. Wet: I can’t remember which is death cap and which is Devil’s Claw at this remove. I’m thinking it’s Devil’s Claw this smells like, with a whole lot of smoke. I am thinking the bone turned into Devil’s Claw and the gore into smoke, but don’t quote me. I can still pick out the thing I’m calling venom, stronger now. About five minutes after application, the Devil’s Claw calms down and I can parse it as bone and blood, sort of. As the smoke fades I get soil. This is nothing like it was in the imp, though and my skin chemistry is turning sense into non-sense. I do like when it enters the smoky soil with some blood phase, but this doesn’t work on me for the majority of its phases. Dry: Sweaty sneakers and bandaids. I’m willing to bet that’s just me.

In bottle: Very minty snow with lemon and a kiss of sugar. The mint and lemon give it bite, but there is sweetness and a surprising softness underneath. Given the tength and type of mint, no skin test.

Diversions in the Chashitsu is my favorite of this year's Tea scented Luper.