Dead Man's Hand

[shelldoo]

To celebrate the opening of the Black Phoenix Trading Post, we are offering this rugged, visceral dark cowboy scent. Now widely considered a portent of doom, the Dead Man's Hand is a term used in five-card poker when you have “aces over eights” or “aces backed with eights” -- the hand allegedly held by Wild Bill Hickock when he was gunned down from behind by Jack McCall in Saloon No. 10, Deadwood. According to the saloon's proprietor, Hickock was holding all black cards, aces and eights, and it is believed that he was about to draw at the time of his murder. Our Dead Man's Hand is the quintessential western scent: dusty rawhide and oiled leather.

this one stayed true from the vial, wet, and dry. it is indeed leather, pure leather on me it smelled just like a wilson's leather store.

[pekeana]

Hello, leather!

 

Dead Man's Hand is a leather jacket, warm and smelling like a good man.

[Rheliwen]

Oh my! This is so beautiful!!!

 

I'll compare it to de Sade ~~

 

de Sade is like an upscale, polished black leather jacket.

 

Dead Man's Hand is soft, brown suede fresh from the dusty plains. I like this even more than de Sade and so does the boy. The only problem is: who's box is it going to reside in??

[Macha]

Woah nelly!

 

Leather!

 

Yes, yes, you say, you KNOW that. Says so right in the description, but...wow...that's some serious leather, with no messing around with any namby pamby extras. It's so pure I think I'm mentally reclassifying this as a leather 'single note' rather than a perfume blend.

 

I don't think I could wear this as a normal perfume (although one of my male friends gave a wink and a nod and said: "oh, you could wear it to a certain kind of party") but I think I'll keep as an accent, or for costume work.

 

It IS cowboy in a bottle, that's for sure.

[ipb]

this is a dusty suede leather with a freshness to it that i didn't expect. i likes it!

[Northernminx]

There is a certain dusty, soft worn leather smell from a tack room, just a touch sweet and salty with sweat... it's the same scent when you press your nose into a man's neck when he's wearing a beat up leather bomber jacket.

 

 

This is that scent bottled. Like it?

 

I cannot decide if I need to keep this or give it to Jake but I think I need to go find another bottle. Now. Because my nose is attached to my wrist and I refuse to move it.

 

Wow.

[scourgeotheseas]

Dead Man's Hand

 

This is what I thought De Sade was going to smell like. Pure leather jacket in a bottle! I second all the reviews in front of me - it's like walking into a leather store. Unbelievable.

 

Can't decide if I actually want to wear it, though.

[Serenity]

Wow. Dry leather is right. This is amazing. I sort of wish I had ordered more than one bottle.

 

This will be the blend my husband wears to get me in the mood for some kinky play.

 

It smells just like walking into a Cowboy Boot Store.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Woah!! That's some leather, baby. Harsh raw leather,

 

Wearing: This stays very true to the bottle. This is timeless brown cowboy leather - boots, saddles and the like. There really is an oiliness to the scent as well. Crazy. It lasts forever.

 

Final Impressions: Wow. This absolutely embodies the concept of Dead Man's Hand and is truly a work of art. Can I wear it? Maybe. Will my man wear it? Despite my pleading, no.

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle: Oh wow! Leather! This automatically brought me back to when my mother and I were living in North Hollywood and she frequently bought tanned leather and Sharpies from this one leather store to make these beautiful bracelets. This is the exact way I remember those bracelets smelling--leather and the magic marker smell of Sharpies.

 

Wearing: The only way this has changed is that it has blended in so very well with my skin. It smells of oiled leather now rather than the more suede smell it had in the bottle. As a comparison to De Sade...this is everything I wanted it to be. On me De Sade smelled more of a musky men's cologne with a hint of leather (which was great for what it was), but this! This is the single-note leather that I've been looking for.

 

Overall: I live in Oklahoma now. As a native Californian I kind of dreaded buying something cowboy themed, but I couldn't pass up a new leather scent. While this does embody the cowboy thing perfectly, it's more of an Old West, romanticized cowboy scent rather than the boring, cocky range boys I know personally. I love this!

[tsarina]

This smells just like the real thing. It smells exactly like saddle leather to me. The only thing missing is the horse. I like it, because it isn't overpowering. It's warm, worn leather that's been well taken care of and used often. Absolutely beautiful.

[Caitfish]

Yep. It's leather. That's not very helpful, is it?

 

Well, let me add that I think that it is VERY easy to wear DMH, when mixed with something else! It's kind of like Bliss in that respect. While many people adore chocolate, it's kinda difficult to wear JUST chocolate - although people certainly do. Where I believe Bliss shines is in addition to other scents. It's like the "black" of scents - everything goes with black, everything goes with chocolate (with some exceptions).

 

So - do the same with DMH. If you don't know when to wear it, think of something that would be awesome with just a little leather added. My first discovery to this effect is Santa Muerte. It's an ideal combination. The leather really pulls the rose down a notch and makes it more desert-y. It's also beautiful with Corazon, Hell's Belle, Eclipse, Scherezade and Perversion so far.

 

SO, that's my review. Dead man's hand is so cool, and even if you aren't a cowboy (or a wannabe) it can be worn!

[Lady_Ell]

I am so glad I bought this for Mr. L. He wears DeSade and Severin pretty much exclusively, and they smell terrific on him. Dead Man's Hand is like the brown, dusty, worn, casual leather compared to DeSade's black, fancier, newer leather and Severin's pale and delicate leather. Even though they are all leather, they all smell very different.

 

Dead Man's Hand is for when you feel a little manlier/grungier than DeSade's stern austerity or Severin's foppishness. Very sexy.

[Finny]

Oiled, broken in leather. It is the leather scent of a broken in jacket, soft and buttery. There is also a raw leather note, the rawhide?

 

It is a very mascluline scent. It is cowboy scent.

Edited April 12, 2005 by Finny

[Penance]

First sniff:

 

Whoa, is that strong! This smells damn near identical to the inside of an Indian trading post/general store we had in my hometown when I was growing up...more specifically, it smells exactly like my beloved mocassins from there that I wore until the soles were completely worn through. I love the smell of leather and this is a real nostalgia type of scent, but somehow I don't think it's "me."

 

Wet on skin:

 

More rawhide than leather and, again, it brings back lots of good memories, but it's not something that I want to smell like for reasons that I can't quite figure out. I normally like leather scents, but I think Dead Man's Hand is a little too intense for me. I never thought I'd say something was too strong for me, but there's a first time for everything.

 

Dry down:

 

I swear, it's like Beth bottled the scent of that store. It's uncanny and it really evokes good scent memories, but I just can't see myself wearing this. It's definitely got appeal, it's just not working for me as a perfume, unfortunately.

 

The bottom line:

 

This is dead on accurate and unbelieveably realistic, but it's just not me, so I'm going to get rid of one of my bottles and give the other one another chance before I make a final decision.

[Eoywin]

Very strong leather smell. It reminds of a shop at ren fest that sells leather hair clips and leather roses.

 

It stays with that leather smell and is strong for quite a while.

[bookfaery]

This is very much a leather scent. It makes me think of the cowboys of the Old West and how they probably smelled coming off a trail ride.

 

In fact what was really funny with this scent was that I was wearing it when I ran across a truck with the following bumper sticker: "Save a horse, ride a cowboy"

This scent is probably what got a lot of women in trouble with cowboys.

 

In the bottle and wet this is pure leather, but after drydown you get the dust coming out. Which is a very nice addition and doesn't subtract from the leather scent one bit.

[harlequin]

Definitely just like walking into the leather store (Wilson's Leather or whereever) and going to stand in the section of suede jackets. It doesn't turn straight to bubblegum on me like the other leather scents I've tried, but it does seem to get a bit sweeter as time goes on. It's... interesting.

 

On the boy, it's definitely all rugged and manly. like a cowboy walkin through a red clay desert.....

[Aurelius]

Yup, leather. It stupidly surprised me. I nearly snorted the bottle and was like "my god, who stuck leather in there?!...Oh, yeah, uh, Dead Man's Hand. Duh." Hee!

 

This stays the same from the bottle to my skin, and it lasts without being overpowering. I do love the smell of leather, but I'm not sure I want to smell like it. But I just had to try it!

[wickedgoddess]

Leather, or rather, suede. I feel like I am smelling a saddle. It's dead-on accurate, and much nicer than I would expect, kind of a fun scent. I feel like a cowboy! I don't think I would ever wear this though.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best) 2.

[kimchi]

Dead Man's Hand is amazing. I have never smelled a better leather oil. Beth is a genius!

 

This oil smells like expensive suede- warm & dusty. It reminds me of the leather section in a western store. This is what I want a cute cowboy to smell like! I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

To quote bookfaery...

"This scent is probably what got a lot of women in trouble with cowboys." Too true!

 

This is everything I wanted DeSade to be but wasn't. I don't find it to be too masculine for a woman to wear and I think it will mix well with other oils. I plan on mixing it with straight vanilla oil to see what that's like. I find it sweetens up on me with time and a good vanilla may be the right partner for this. Maybe a touch of wood like cedar. I need to go play with my oils now!

 

ADDED: Two hours after I applied it- still going strong. One of my kitties, Chainsaw, can't stop smelling my wrists. He normally winces when he catches a wiff of oils but he seems to like it. It must really smell like leather for him to act this way- he rips off and eats the leather tails from his toy fur mice the moment he gets them.

Edited April 18, 2005 by kimchi

[purely_cosmetic]

Pook got a couple of bottles of this so sure she was that she would love it...

 

In the bottle it smells EXACTLY like.....new shoes.

 

 

It's not a bad smell, in fact , it INCREDIBLE the way it smells exactly like real suede and leather.

 

If you want to know what this smells like without buying some, ask to try on some new suede and leather boots at your nearest good quality shoe store. And smell the shoes!

 

Its nice, but I dont want to smell of shoes!

Edited April 18, 2005 by purely_cosmetic

[joseybird]

Like everyone else has said--suede and leather oil!!

 

Even more amazingly, when this hit my skin, I began to detect a slightly "dirty" note, like sawdust and dirty...a cowboy just come back from a hot day's work...but really really not for me

 

But then the scent mellows, and the dirty note dissapears, and its nice and mellow and comforting

 

Both stages would smell gorgeous on a guy I doubt I'll wear this often, but I'm keeping it on principle

[miss apple]

Dead Man's Hand:

 

As everyone has said, this is pure leather and it reminds me of the Wilson's store that used to be in the mall. There's a rougher element underneath though which gives it more of a rawhide scent than a black leather jacket scent. I would sum this up as dirty and interesting.

[theshapeshifter]

Dead Man's Hand was probably the scent I was looking forward to the most in my latest batch, and it has not disappointed!

 

In the bottle: Pure, liquid leather. How does Beth do it?

 

Initial application: Unlike some other oils that start out strong and mellow down on me, DMH was mildest when I first applied (so word to the wise, don't overdo it!). But uncanny what a perfect leather/suede smell it is, and a very SPECIFIC kind of leather... as others have said, this is quite a raw, fresh, natural leather, not one that's been tamed and made into something fancy. I'm envisioning saddles, baseball mitts, and the fringed suede jackets that were popular with the goth-hippie kids when I was a teenager.

 

Drydown: Stays absolutely true, and gains in warmth and strength as it warms up on my skin. There's a bit of an outdoorsy note developing, but not dust (as other people have gotten from it), but more of a dry grassy scent, almost reminiscent of the mown-grass smell of green tea leaves.

 

This seems absolutely gender-neutral to me - it's not leather-as-faked-by-men's-perfumers, it's LEATHER. I imagine it wouldn't be for a really girly-girl, but it's certainly for me!

 

I love this. Love it, love it, love it.