Old Scratch

[sunlitgarden]

Old Nick, the Devil himself, as seen through the eyes of Victorian New England. A jaunty, dapper scent, deceptively genteel: a lavender fougere with tonka, amber, rosewood and a whiff of diabolical patchouli.

I'm not entirely sure where this imp came from. I think it was a frimp from the Lab.

In the imp: Astringent lavender, some wood, and I can smell the patchouli in there but it isn't too dominating. Something is back-of-the-throat bitter.

On my skin, it smells a bit rosy (though I know rosewood isn't the same as rose). Has kind of an airy ethereal quality to it. Out of all the odd things, it pulled a scent memory of the cafe near the Space Mountain area in Disneyland which I visited in second grade. This isn't the first time this has happened. Disney does pump atmospheric scents around and I think Disney must have had some "futuristic" or "spacey" scent in the background here, because I have no idea why I would think of that so readily otherwise when I smell this type of blend.

The lavender comes out more as it starts to dry, and the lavender + wood + amber smells kind of "ethereal yet grounded" to me, and almost reminds me of a Phoenix Steamworks blend.

The patchouli is not too strong in this blend. I think it's just helping to provide a warm, earthy base to the scent. I don't mind it when it's like this.

I'm not getting much tonka here, at least not the same tonka used in the Rum-Soaked French Tonka SN, but there is a sweetness to the scent that it might be providing. The base notes are blended together pretty well.

I wouldn't associate the scent with traditional "devil" or "Satan" imagery, but if he's trying to be charming, he's doing a pretty good job!

Edited October 1, 2015 by sunlitgarden

[LexieBlom]

Old Scratch imp, inspired by dfotw

 

Wet/Bottle - Lavender, lavender and more lavender. I was hoping for some more tonka and patchouli.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Lavender with a touch of tonka, quite soft and a bit powdery.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - Tonka with a touch of lavender. Very powdery and dry, however.

 

Not terrible, but not really for me.

[freyasfae]

When wet, this one went almost (but not quite) lemon pledge on me, but then as it dried down it started to go more general perfumy scent. This has a lot of notes that tend to not like me so it's surprising this doesn't end up being terrible on me, but it also doesn't end up being anything special either. To the swap box!

[VetchVesper]

Lots of lavender at first. Dapper, but in a more mature way than Wilde. There's a boozy undercurrent to the lavender, I'm guessing that's the tonka, but the wood and amber notes start to make more of an appearance in the dry down. By the end, this is a nicely balanced blend of powdery warm wood and herbal lavender, and it's very nice. This is masculine in an understated way, but I feel comfortable wearing it too.

[LizziesLuck]

All lavender on me, which I am totally OK with. I wear it for bedtime a lot, and use it in my diffuser as well.

[Cassandra Dudum]

I love Old Scratch! On my skin it is a mix of Dorian and TKO which is a lovely combination! It is a lot like The Serpentine. If you liked The Serpentine or never got a chance to try The Serpentine, I'd recommend Old Scratch. The tonka balances the lavender well. The lavender isn't astringent. It is quite elegant and smooth on my skin.

Edited August 17, 2017 by VioletVorpal

[freyasfae]

I received this as a frimp from a recent BPAL order. This one surprised me! I applied it first, then looked up the description. It is all around very well blended, so I had trouble identifying different notes. I actually would not have guessed lavender right away because it is very subtle (or maybe just subtle for me - I love me some potent lavendar!) But now makes sense in terms of the description of a genteel fougere, though not getting much in terms of the deceptiveness of it because it is so smooth and well-blended.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Amber, lavender fougere, and rosewood.

 

Wet: Lots of lavender fougere and amber. The lavender in the fougere is a sharp, herbal lavender. After a few minutes, I can smell the rosewood and the patchouli.

 

Dry: The lavender has calmed down, and the amber reigns, followed by the rosewood. After a few hours, it's all amber backed by the rosewood.

 

Verdict: I was hoping for more lavender fougere, but this is predominantly an amber scent on me, and the lavender within the fougere was sharper than I was expecting. The scent is nice, and I'm glad that I got a chance to try it, but I don't think a bottle will be in my future.

[Cali]

At first sniff this is not the type of scent I would wear, but upon having it on my skin for a bit, there's definately some redeemably qualities in there. At first my mind went to 'ghost house' heady, dusty and dark, but it's gotten a bit more complex in the span of a couple of minutes. There's a softer patchouli (comparable to the one in The laughter of Loki) I get as base, with the other notes complimenting it well - sweet, but not too - and the others giving this a masculine and warm touch. The lavender being the most appearant sweet note in here, slightly comparable to TKO's.

Dry on me, this is what Alan McMichael should've smelled like! Someone with a warm character to feel at ease with.