The Great Sword of War

[starrykitten]

Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict.

This feels powerful, energetic, and somehow very red. Masculine but not necessarily in a manly way. It smells like a sweet leather on me and lasts forever. I wear this when I want to feel really determined.

[lightgatherer]

I get a total citrus overload from this. Not only do I get nothing but citrus, I get a citrus smell like from a citrus cleaner or dish soap. The citrus smell is true for hours before it dies down and lets other notes come through as a sweet skin scent.

[dorothy humbird]

I first tried this a few weeks ago and thought it was fantastic; now on re-try, I'm not so sure...

 

In the imp, I smell a lot of citrus; it's almost lemony-citrus more than the mandarin I've smelled in Belle Epoque and Kuang Shi (perhaps the herbals and tea are lending a bite.)

 

On my skin it's still lemon, with a darker element underneath -- the cocoa, I think. These notes are dominating over anything else right now; we'll see what happens...

 

An hour or so later, it's mostly just softened lemon over... cocoa-tonka-tea? Honestly, the only discernible note for me is lemon, everything else blends together into indisctinct powdery-softness. It's nice, but I'm not a huge fan of lemon. I'll hang onto it (largely because the cap's busted anyway) and re-try sometime later; the first time still haunts my memory.

[rockchickie]

Tossed this on my fiance.

 

His thoughts: Good name ( ). Overall didn't like it but nothing stood out.

 

My thoughts: In the bottle the mandarin was very dominant. A bit of coffee too, which was nice. Dry on him, it was mostly tobacco. A cigar, but a nice (expensive) cigar. Refined and mature but a bit too mature for someone in his mid-20s.

[DifferentDances]

It's taken me three different scents with notes compared in my personal spreadsheet to realize that red musk is completely amped by my skin and completely disliked by my nose. I couldn't smell anything BUT the musk. I wish I could --I'd like to know what the cocoa smells like, or the herbs, or the saffron, or....*sigh*

 

Alas, not for me. I'm going to let the imp sit for a bit and see if maybe aging it helps, though I don't have great expectations for it.

[maribouquet]

Wow, I am really digging this! I can't pick out any of the notes, but it (oddly) reminds me of Shub? And the tobacco is light & smells a bit like Ogun.

 

Delish. I just put it on - I hope it dries down and wears well...

Edited April 19, 2007 by maribouquet

[hecate_jones]

Very citrusy, but to me it seems almost more lemony than mandarin. The citrus is very strong in the bottle, with a spiciness to it. Wet... more lemon! Good thing I like lemon. It's very lemon-ginger tea.

After wearing it a while, it takes on sort of a very high quality pipe tobacco smell. With lemon.

Overall, nothing like what I actually expected, but I *love* it. It's a very clean sort of scent, but warm, not the usual crisp/coolness I associate with 'clean' scents. I dunno, maybe it just reminds me of Lemon Pledge or something

[juniperus]

bottle: both darkly foody and musky at the same time

wet: I can pick out the cocoa, tonka, musk, and what gives me the impression of sassafras but is probably the saffron + tea

dry: sweet and spicy and rich and...yum in a very sexy way.

later: sweet and dark, amazing. LOVE it!

[storme]

In the imp: cocoa and mandarin and spices and something dusty-hot.

 

On me, wet: spicy-hot chocolate orange with a sultry hint of musk. I can't decide if this is a nice smell or not.

 

On me, dry: faint, slightly dusty spices and orange cleaning fluids. Ew.

 

Verdict: No, I think not. Apparently today the red musk isn't enough to win me over.

[Extispex]

In the imp, I get cocoa and citrus. On my skin, wet, LEMON! Even the mandarin, which usually loves my skin so much, doesn't make an appearance over all that lemon. I'm pretty sure there's lemongrass in here, which I tend to amp to high heaven.

 

As it dries down, other notes begin to make an appearance, though the lemony scent still dominates. It becomes darker, dryer, more complex, but not enough. I still get no mandarin, the cocoa is just a whisper, and the other notes are barely detectable over all that lemon-pledgy lemon. It doesn't smell like war at all - it smells more like I just dusted the furniture.

 

I really had high hopes for this one, but my skin chemistry is totally to blame for this travesty. Off to the swaps it goes.

[neuilly]

I agree with a lot of people that the dominant note is citrus - but that it comes of as more of a lemon note than a mandarin one. War indeed...lots of notes fighting it out to a very unique and complex ending! All the notes are basically struggling to shine through in this. I can pick out the black tea, cocoa, tonka and some of the herns (which herbs, I have no idea).

 

This was a frimp from that lab which I would never have pick out by myself but it's very intriguing. I can't really decide if it's for me though. Into the box to be tested again!! I highly recommend everyone trying this though as it's so indescribable and nothing like anyone could possibly imagine (except Beth, of course).

[KikuPeach]

Frimp with the bottle of Aziraphale!

 

Imp: Spicy graham cracker, with a cup of mandarin orange-heavy fruit cocktail in light syrup beside it. Something else: Paint-y? Clay-ey? I have my doubts about this one.

 

Wet: Much the same, but all that paintiness is out and in comes a light dusting of cocoa. All fruit and grahams.

 

Dry: Cinnamon Teddy grahams!

 

This smells dry and slightly spicy, with little wafts of fruit wandering by now and again. Fades gracefully into a graham-y smell (what is the smell of 'graham' whatever that note is, it's here. I spent most of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix sniffing my wrist, while having nasty thoughts about Sirius, Snape, and the Weasley twins. Mmmm. Double your lanky, British, redhead fun. </pervy>

 

I don't know if the scent is helping, but it certainly isn't hurting the libido. A very sexy smell, but where La Petite Mort is wet, sexy skin, this one is dry, sexy skin. Like reclining in a large pavilion in the North African desert, bookended* by English wizards . . .

 

*Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

[melrose]

In imp, and on, wet: Nuts. Specifically, peanuts.

 

Near drydown: Lemon cleaning product and it's screaming to be noticed.

 

Far drydown: It settled into something spicy, incensy, with herbs wafting in and out. I really can't pick out any individual notes. I love this stage, but don't know if I can get past the first 2 stages to order a bottle.

[Medici]

In the imp: ZOMG. *swoons* Saffron dominates, heavy on the musk and a bit of that old nutty tonka come out strongly at first whiff. It's rather orange-smelling and musty, lightly spiced too.

 

Wet: I smell gingerbread! Baking things and spices, with a sharp bite below that (I think that is the saffron in combination with the mandarin. There's a little citrus zing in there that makes it overall quite pleasant.) It's very warm, and surprisingly yummy.

 

Verdict: I foresee a bottle of this coming to me for the cold months. Yeeeees.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: something citrusy, yes, more like lemon than mandarin, but it's *dark*. And, yes, that graham cracker note people keep talking about. How funny! I'll tell you what, it's damn good though.

 

Wet on me: WHOA! This is just insane! Citrus and spicy baked goods and...and...and manly sexiness! But oh crap, now the lemon is starting to get stronger...let's wait this out.

 

After 5 minutes: Shit. Lemon and sweat. This was so promising too. It might yet change and become lovely...only been a few minutes... (Strangely enough, when I go back and sniff the imp again, it smells like paint. WTF?)

 

Drydown: lemon still. The spicy biscuit scent is back, but they smell like really stale biscuits. I guess the musk is to blame for that.

 

Where's my lovely Great Sword of War gone?

 

ETA: After a good, long while -- say an hour -- the citrus and the musk finally chill out and this is a rather nice spicy, sexy scent. Tobacco and cocoa finally peek out and smell comforting -- this would be quite nice for winter. Still, the hellish drydown is not worth it, so I'll be swapping this one.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Shollin
Removed Lab description --Shollin

[taramarie]

On me, The Great Sword of War is lemon with a hint of cocoa and a whiff of tobacco over herbs. It's light and neutral. I like this one a lot and I definitely want a bottle.

[Lethran]

So. Reread the title. Go on. Bet you are imagining something reasonably butch. This scent is hard to characterize. It reminds me a little of red Swedish licorice pipes, only citrusy and with more bite. It's interesting to sniff, sure enough, but I'm finding it confusing on my skin. They are not kidding about the mandarin. It is by far the dominant scent, but the rest makes and interesting combination. I can't tell how I feel about this one and will need to put it in the resample pile. It is reminding me a little of snake Oil, so maybe it's very dependent on ephemera of body chemistry. It certainly pulls a chameleon routine when on the skin.

[hkhm]

imp: musky, lemony cocoa. very pungent and nice.

 

wet: citronella musk. it's a very different scent than i was expecting but still pretty nice. i keep getting little hints of the saffron but as i try to sniff harder to pick it up it seems to fade back.

 

dry: this mellowed out into a lemon zest chocolate sort of scent. i do not normally like chocolate or cocoa scents but this is awesome.

[Chrissyrocks]

Hurrah! My first review!

 

In the bottle: Rich chocolate-orange cake. Behind it, just a faint swirl of spicy-floral cologne. Eatable, but is it wearable?

 

Wet: The mandarin separates itself from the edible, cakey scent to become tangy and slightly sharp. Saffron emerges. It is still a rich scent, but seems to be very wearable. The longer I wear it, the more I amp the saffron, which is good.

 

Dry: Gorgeous, rich, soft-spicy saffron and chocolate-orange scent. A definite wrist-sniffer! I’m sure this would be very sexy on a man as well.

 

A little later: The chocolate-orange has faded, leaving a soft, warm, luxuriant spicy smell similar to that left by Bastet after a while. It’s what I call the ‘cat in the sun’ smell, and I love it.

 

This scent makes me feel: Commanding and opulent.

 

I'm itching to review something else now, but this scent lasts ages and I don't have the heart to wash it off!

[CYT0SINE]

Last year, three of my friends and I led a committee and were each given the title of one of the four horsemen. How appropriate that I got this as a frimp in my first order, since I was War. Anyway, on to the review!

 

I didn't know what was in this when I first sniffed it from the bottle, and I was surprised by the intensity of the citrus note. That mandarin is strong! I get a general sweet spiciness surrounding it, and I almost swear I smelled ginger, but I'm pretty sure that's just citrus + herbs confusing my inexperienced nose.

 

Once on me, I took a whiff and thought, "Terry's Chocolate Orange!" and immediately started salivating. Lordy, this stuff is delicious. Sharp, spicy and sweet, and dusted with chocolate. With my nose slightly away from the skin, it's warm orange spice. I love it!

 

It calms down after a while and stays at that soft, round, warm orange spice stage, which is quite fine by me. Come these long winter months, I think this will be a great comfort scent.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: candied orange

 

On Wet: mandarin, tonka, spice, hint of cocoa, tea

 

On Dry: tea, mandarin, tonka, cocoa, musk, hint of spiciness

 

Final Impression: smooth, sweet, but balanced by the brightness that the mandarin brings and the heat from the spice

 

Rating (on a scale from 1-5): 4

[zankoku_zen]

This is an herbal red musk. Oddly enough it makes me think of pizza.

 

I'm not sure that 'Great Pizza of Musk' is as attractive a name as 'Great Sword of War'.

 

Definitely not martial in my mind. Instead it's more like 'hey guys, who ordered the herb pizza?' kinda vibe for me.

[mistri]

This is one of my favourite scents at the moment. I'm not usually a fan of citrussy perfumes, but in this the mandarin is grounded by the cocoa. It's deep and earthy on my skin rather than sharp and metallic (which is what citrus usually does to me).

 

My only concern is having to tell people that I'm wearing 'The Great Sword of War' as a perfume!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Chocolate and light, fizzy citrus.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very odd combination. I definitely get cocoa… slightly sweet and not really creamy but more like powdered cocoa, and I also get some light fresh citrus tea. The tonka blends in and gives this a warm creaminess, which doesn’t quite blend in. This blend is very busy and everything seems to be fighting for dominance as opposed to blending together.

 

After a little while: The chocolately feel has backed off, and this is now a very sweet citrus tea and tonka scent with a bit of an earthy base from the cocoa and tobacco leaf. The saffron adds a slightly warm, gentle lick of spice.

 

Overall Impressions: This is much sweeter on me than I was expecting. It’s an interesting blend for sure, and must be quite the morpher when tried by different people. The mandarin, tonka, and cocoa combination is very unusual, but kind of interesting. I wouldn’t wear this, but it’s definitely been an experience trying it.

[voodoocatwoman]

I do believe that the Great Sword of War is going to be in my top 10. What an inviting fragrance this is.

 

In the imp: Musk and tonka. OK, so far so good.

 

Wet: Smells very foody- I couldn't put my finger on it at first, just kept thinking it was something very familiar. Then it hits: Chocolate orange. Godiva has several pieces of dark chocolate with orange cream. How did they manage to bottle it?

 

Dry: The chocolate fades and orange, musk and something else that I can't identify. But the overall combination is warm yet commanding. I feel like I could accomplish most anything.

 

*le sigh* another one to be ordered by the case...