Old Scratch

[grrrlennyl]

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.

at first: i can definitely get the lavender and a hint of patchouli.
on: i'm getting lots of lavender and patchouli.
half an hour later: very nice. the amber and tonka have come out, and there's a woodiness to it, too.
2 hours later: this is beautiful. i mostly smell tonka, amber, and patchouli. lovely.
overall: this is quite a pleasant surprise because i wasn't sure if i would end up liking this. it's so lovely and warm that i'm definitely going to be keeping it.

[feline.by.design]

In the bottle, Old Scratch smelled a lot like Arcana, however after application the two couldn't have been more different. The lavender ran away when it reached my skin, leaving Old Scratch smelling powdery to the point of being chalky, and maintaining that fragrance until the oil eventually faded out. I was quite alarmed. I had expected to enjoy this fragrance, but instead, I think it will be something to be swapped or given away, as it just doesn't suit me.

 

-doreen

[wickedgoddess]

Preconceived notions - tonka, amber, rosewood and patchouli sound awesome, but I fear that the lavender fougere is what ruined Dorian for me.

 

Wet - tonka and lavender perhaps. It's hard to pick out individual notes at this point, but it's a bit sweet and quite pretty.

 

Dry - as it dries it becomes cologney much in the way that Dorian did. It looks like anything containing fougere just isn't going to work for me.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[Eros]

In the imp, very strong, generic type men's cologne. Once on, it quickly goes to a soft, creamy spiciness. Still a bit on the masculine side, but not too much.

Not really me, but nice.

[Diana]

Oooh. Another fougere scent.

 

Fougère

(pronounced 'foo-jer')

Fougere fragrances are one of the most popular men's families. These will often contain Lavender and Oakmoss.

 

The term 'Fougere' is French for 'fern' but fern's don't actually smell like this. The name derives from a now discontinued fragrance by Houbigant called Fougere Royale (Royal Fern) which was the first fougere fragrance.

 

This in the bottle and on the skin immediately reminded me Villian, another fougere. Except this isn't as citrusy. Instead, it starts out with a very gentle lavender. This settles a bit and becomes less prominent. The rosewood warms up after a while and becomes noticable. I unfortunately didn't get much of the other notes (perhaps another time).

 

While I did like this a lot, it didn't seem to last all day like a lot of other scents, and had weak-to-minimal throw. I loves me the throw.

 

It's a nice, subtle scent; this would be amazing on girls who like something light and different, or on boys who want to smell very, very good.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Lavender with something creamy in the background.

Wet on me - Lavender is still the dominant force, but that creamy note is stronger and makes the blend almost coconutty,

Dry on me - The lavender fades very quickly leaving a soft warm sweetened scent that sits just off the skin. This also fades quite quickly.

[mmcfa2]

This is dorian's older more elegant cousin! Dorian went TOO sweet on me, this one stays dryer without being puwdery. Initially is smells of lavender and chocolate, of all things! But shortly thereafter it mellows and rounds out to something more than the sum of it's parts, it is warm, clean, sexy and enveloping without being smothering, definitely a hit!

[olympia301]

 

The opening is 100% lavender, I would have sworn there was nothing else in it. Lavender really assaults your nose in an astringent way when you have too much on. If you can get through that the most amazing thing happens, it develops Beth's "ghost" of a scent riding on the "main" scent. The "ghost" is always heartstoppingly lovely. That is exactly what happens with Old Scratch. After it dries, you will smell tendrils of fabulous sweet perfume weaving their way around your consciousness. Is it the Tonka or rosewood, something else? I don't know but whatever it is, it is what makes Old Scratch a great fragrance for me. Another case of the whole being more magical than the sum of the parts. Old Scratch is a beauty and I highly recommend it for any occasion.

 

The icon is part of a larger woodcut by Albrecht Durer, master draughtsman of the early Western European Renaissance. It is The Devil who is taunting a proud and righteous knight.

[Donnababe]

Despite a lot of rosewood initially, this soon becomes a soothing blend of lavender and tonka. Very nice. Has potential as a big bottle, and will be perfect with Dee's Meadow Sweet soap.

[yeahbutnobut]

Old Scratch

 

In the imp: this reminds me somewhat of L’Occitane’s Lavande Ambree scent. A lavender scent with amber.

Wet on skin: still a lovely sweet amber-lavender scent.

Dry: this is gorgeous! Strong lavender sweetened by amber and tonka and possibly some rose wood. I don’t get very much patchouli here though, but this is a delightful scent none the less. And it really does, to me, remind me of that Occitane scent. I can’t get over how lovely this smells.

After a while: the lavender seems to stick around here-which is unusual. I think it’s anchored by the amber and tonka-which are gorgeous in this.

Verdict: this was a very nice surprise. This is one of my new lavender loves-and it reminds me very much of something by L’Occitane. A gentle yet potent lavender mingled by sweet amber and tonka notes, this is a delicious combination! I can’t smell much patchouli-it’s more of a bare hint, a slight undercurrent under the rest of the scent. But even so, this is a very pleasant scent which I may get more of.

[herbhealer]

I so wanted to love this. It is interesting in the bottle. On my skin, it dried into something herby with a top note of sweaty, groping panting man that didn't seem to go away. I don't have a DH or DB to try this on so I can't tell you if the sweaty-man note is better on an actual man, sweaty or not. I didn't have any luck with another Victorian-style fougere, Villain, either, although it is fresher and doesn't have that sweaty note.

[Duck Mountain]

Disclaimer: I'm kinda tired. May resort to senseless babbling.

 

At first sniff, it's dark, deep, and bitter--I still can't pick out notes well, but suffice to say that it didn't smell like something I'd want on me. I gave it a shot anyway.

 

In the first half an hour or so, it remains pretty similar to the impression I get from the bottle, losing its edge and rounding out, in a way. Not great, but not terrible.

 

After about an hour: Errr, I'm pretty sure I haven't been working out. Or running around. Or moving. Yet, there's this smell that vaguely threatens to become icky stagnant sweat. I don't know how it's managing to do it, but it's somewhere between that, and plain ol' spicy goodness. This worries me.

 

After about an hour and five minutes: The unsubtle overtones of 'eau de sweaty manly man' seem to have faded. ...Kinda. Not sure if I'll keep this, but it certainly was interesting. I may let it age for a short while before making a final decision.

[SeaMonkey]

In the vial, its chocolately lavender and tonka. I'm excited.

 

On my skin, it starts to smell really girly, which is bizarre.

 

Then, all the chocolately lavender and tonka goes away and my wrists screams ROSEWOOD

 

Damn my body and its love for amplifying rose.

 

I'm keeping the imp just for sniffing.

[lookingglass]

DH and I should have loved this...no reason why we shouldn't: amber, patchouli, TONKA, a kick of lavender. There is just something about the combination and our chemistry...that is the perfuming mystery. Scents react with eachother and on the wearer, and all your favorites together in one blend may not work...

 

That is the way it went with Scratch. The lavendar was piercing, the amber soured on the drydown, and the patchouli was dirty.

 

I hope that it will be magic on you...

[Celogrl]

This is lovely, deep, and very Christmas-y. I love the inspired blending of lavender, the tonka is gorgeous, and the patchouli gives it a nice grounding. This would not be for every day for me, but I'll pull this imp out many times in the next few weeks! I'm definitely glad I ordered this.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Lavender and tonka...where have I come across that combination before? Ah, that's right, in Wilde. I critisized Wilde as being 'too commercial' a perfume, not unique enough to my tastes. Old Scratch may have improved on that greatly, for my initial impressions at least are not ones of 'oh, I've certainly smelled this in a department store.' This is very well blended; I can't pick out any of the notes at all, save the lavender, which seems to have a strong earth base to stand on.

On me: Rather watery, thin lavender. It's a dapper scent indeed, the scent of a laughing man who smiles instantly at your joke but would be equally amused by your tragic demise. On me it is also very faint and fades quickly away.

[donsixgun]

I thought I was going to love this, but it turns out that I dont. On me, its Lavender soap. After a while, the patchouli adds a bit of spiciness to it, but not enough to make it better.

 

Shame. I hope my sweetie likes it though, cause it's going to her.

[girlmadasbirds]

very strong lavendar at first, but on drydown it mellows out and something sweet moves to the front. it's ok so far. i'll keep it around.

[couscous]

I swapped with duckmountain for this one- thank you, sweet one!!!

 

I am an insane lavender fan, even before bpal but ESPECIALLY now that I've smelled Beth's. I'll try anything with this note in it, and that's why I wanted to try Old Scratch. I had Paris and Nanshe, though (insert enthusiastic love for Paris and Nanshe here), so I was able to put him off in favor of others for a while. I'm so happy that I traded for him, because who knows how much longer I would have waited.

 

In the bottle, and on the skin, I get lavender and patchouli, too. This is very headshop, which is a compliment in my book but may be kiss of death for others. It's also quite masculine, and I'd say it's one of the most wearable lavenders for a man.

 

As it wears on the skin, the patchouli acts as a supporter for the green, and the lavender combines to give it a very diabolical herb feel. Sadly, I don't get the tonka or the rosewood, but that's okay, since the main players in this are so lovely I don't need much of anything else.

 

It smells a bit more like a potion or tincture (what i imagine them as) than a perfume, but it's very dark, very elegant, very sort of Dandy-esque, and very fitting for Old Scratch. I love it, and it's so 180 degrees away from my current lavender favorites that it will be a welcome addition to my scent rotation.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Definite Guy Scent. Herbal lavender, lurking patchouli and just overall guy-ness. Sinfully attractive.

 

Wearing: Ooh, it’s a guy scent, yes, but it’s one I can get away with wearing. The tonka amps beautifully on my skin and the end result is a wonderfully warm sweet lavender. This is very happy stuff.

[quikslvr]

Very much a fougere at first. Lavender and perhaps a white musk (though that may be the tonka or amber talking) evident first, though the rosewood's there if you really get close. The lavender settles quickly, and the resinous tonka and amber emerge. Sophisticated, mature (one might even say "old"), and certainly reminiscent of a traditional masculine scent, though one of the feminine bent could easily wear this, as long as she doesn't mind remarks like "are you wearing cologne?"

 

Yes, you can call me crazy here, but to me, it's got a stage that reminds me of Perversion--it's got that same light tobacco thing going on. It then goes into a darker stage, almost all dark tonka and the depths of amber, deepened by patchouli (though I can't smell the patchouli as its own note--which is good, in my book). That's a very masculine stage, and it wears very close to the skin there--you'd have to be really close to catch it (though I suppose it might throw better if slathered--I didn't, in this case). Every once in a while I catch a whiff that really smells like "old man" to me, though, which is a problem. That's probably because that particular whiff reminds me of something my grandfather used to wear, though.

 

I rather like most of its stages, except perhaps the overly lavender one, and those occasional odd whiffs. I'm not entirely sure I'll wear it a lot, but I still think it's neat.

 

In brief: soft, subtle strength.

[Hawke]

Somehow, when ordering an imp of this, I missed the lavender note. It must have been in my excitement to get my hands on a new scent.

 

Unfortunately, there's no missing it on my skin. In the vial, I got spices and something that I thought would work for me. I didn't really smell the floral note until, you guessed it, it touched my skin and went chemistry crazy.

 

The good part is that it's very faint, so it's not *terrible* on me, but it absolutely doesn't work. Old Scratch, far from being diabolical or spicy at all, is powdery lavender on me. Too bad.

[Fefferbella]

In the vial this is SHARP and medicinal... I'm almost wary of trying it.

 

Wow does this open up and morph into something GORGEOUS.

 

Patchouli, and lavender take center stage, with a hint of vanilla sweetness...

 

 

I love this blend.

[Nadirah]

If I didnt know what the ingredients listed were, I'd have to guess Lavender, booze, vetivert and a tiny bit of leather. I was a bit surprised to see that there was no booze listed as an ingredient. This is a very Masculine scent on me. Its reminds me of a darker version of Vicomte de Valmonte. I really like the Vicomte but do not care too much for old scratch, which when I look at the ingredients I really SHOULD love this! (I may need to reevaluate my favorite notes... again!) But then again, sometimes you never know how they will blend till you wear it! On a scale of 1-5 I'd give this a 3. Not unwearable, but just not something I'd wear with the other choices I have. (did that make sense? I hope so)

[desu]

In the bottle: The lavender and patchouli just hook me by the nose and pull me in on first sniff. Very masculine!

 

On my skin: Both lavender and patchouli are vying for control. Rosewood sticks to the background, and I can just detect the amber trying to mellow things out. I can see myself wearing this; this isn't as overpoweringly masculine like Saint-Germain and Casanova were for me. Commanding without being overbearing, spicy without making my nose itch.