The Bow & Crown of Conquest

[Lambent]

Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather.

 

A newfound GC love!

 

The Bow & Crown of Conquest reminds me of one of my favorite perfumes--Endymion from Penhaligon's. They don't smell exactly alike, but they do share some of the same notes like lavender, sage, and leather. My skin tends to amp cedar and I have conflicted feelings about that. But the cedar in this played well with the other notes creating that intimate closeness I feel when wearing the aforementioned Endymion. It's not overly spicy, floral, gourmand, woody, fruity, or saccharine. It has a masculine sort of sweetness and is a scent that is difficult to describe as being any one thing. Balanced, comforting, strangely sensual, and I could still smell it on me after the 6-hour mark. Massive win.

[Casablanca]

This one is the exact lovely blend I expected from the notes list.

First impressions: cedar, vanilla, sage, carnation. The second sniff is strong leather. The third is strong lavender. Then back to vanilla... They blend together at times, and take turns at other times.

The spicy edge to the carnation works well with the vanilla cedar. Sometimes, in the wet phase, it's almost enough to make me think "woody-floral Snake Oil."

This is fairly close to the skin on me when wet, and is more so once dry. I get cedar-vanilla-carnation when dried, with a touch of leather. The lavender and sage are mostly gone, but ghosts remain. This is probably one I'd reapply a few times during the day to freshen it. A treat.

[alyelle]

A frimp of unknown age, but not more than 18 months.

 

Imp: vanilla (which I originally took for myrrh earlier this week, damn sinus) and leather, with hints of soap, sage and lavender.

 

Wet: carnation, in its soapy, floral glory :/ But happily, an increasingly dominant combination of vanilla-lavender-leather, with a subtle astringent note of sage if you really sniff for it.

 

Dry: this belongs firmly to the group I refer to as 'new boyfriend scents'. It tends towards masculine, just, and feels comfortable. The vanilla and leather continue to dominate on me, as they always do; by the end of the day, they face to a clean soap smell, but the good sort - just pure, unblemished, freshly dried skin, with the vaguest hint of butter-frosting and garden herbs playing about the edges.

 

With a life of 8-10 hours and a pretty decent throw, this is definitely something I'd consider rebuying. Pleasantly surprised!

 

Stars: ★★★★

[lizardskin]

This has a very nice warm, slightly spicy smell. It almost reminds me of Christmas cookies, although I wouldn't necessarily call it a foodie scent--the spiciness of what I assume is the cedar/sage mixed with the vanilla just reminds me of baking spices. I'm not sure if I just don't know what carnation smells like (likely) or if I just can't pick it out, but I mostly get a warm base of vanilla/leather topped by the sharper cedar/sage. I couldn't pick out lavender at all, although it may just have been a short-lived part of the initial application.

It's long lasting without being overpowering. I think this would make a nice winter scent because of the warmth, but it's not so strong that it's too much for summer.

EDIT: I've retested this a few times, and now I just get a really weird pencil shavings-headed towards band aid smell, the same problem I had with Jareth I have no idea what weird skin chemistry thing is causing this, but it's bumming me out.

Edited January 6, 2017 by lizardskin

[Convallaria]

On me, it's pretty much straightforward leather and vanilla, almost boozy at the opening. The leather is dominant for the most part - very sharp-smelling, unrefined. Vanilla takes over in latter stages of drydown. I think it could pass as unisex, despite the sweetness.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Convallaria

[roseus]

In the imp: sweet, rich vanilla and leather

 

Wet: warm sage and leather, a little sweet

 

Dry: pretty much the same but with a little lavender

 

Overall: I really like this, it's a beautiful cozy sweet leather, but I just don't know how often I'd actually reach for it. I'll keep the imp for now however!

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: While I can identify all of the notes, none of them seem to be jumping out at more more than the others. Sometimes the leather, sage, and carnation seem to leap out to me more, but overall, it's a really well-blended leather scent with some sweetness.

 

Wet: The leather and carnation stand out to me the most, but I'm not surprised, since I tend to amp those notes. I am also getting the sage and cedar, but neither are making this too herbal or wood-y. They just add to the warmth of the scent. Then the lavender pops up, but it's like the dry lavender from a sachet. As the scent sits on my skin and begins to dry, it starts to get muskier and sweeter.

 

Dry: UNF. Cozy, warm leather, sweetened by the vanilla and warmed by the spiced carnation, sage, and cedar, with that white musk and lavender taking this into cologne territory (although the scent is unisex). It's in the same family as Jareth and Knight in Shiny Armor, but it's sweeter than either of those.

 

Verdict: I had tried this a few years ago, really enjoyed it, and yet somehow neglected to review it. So this is my proper review. I love this, and I think a bottle may be in my future. This will pair wonderfully with my beloved Mikado Saloon HG.

[cyborgutena]

I get a herbacious background (which I like) but with sickly sweet over the top. I think the musk/vanilla is responsible for the sickliness, and it's a kind of sweetness that I don't handle very well.

 

Unfortunately, I ended up having to scrub this off when I tried to wear it because the sweetness was making me feel nauseous. Even dry, the sweetness did not go down.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Cedar, leather, and vanilla. A little bit sweet.

 

Dry: This is some type of miracle; my skin tends to amp cedar like no one's business, going as far as to turn a scent into Cedar Single Note. Somehow... the cedar in this blend has disappeared. I'm really, really happy about it.

 

What I'm left with is vanilla, leather, and just a hint of sage.

 

I think a lot of people would be crazy about this if they got the same dry-down as me; but... it's not really my thing.