Two Monsters

[Kittyflop]

Oakmoss, vetiver, black musk, champaca flower, leather, patchouli, ginger, Japanese pittosporum, ambergris and white pepper.

Wow, this is *nothing* like what i expected. Reading through the previous reviews, too, I almost feel like I got something different. These were my mpressions during the first hour of wearing Two Monsters:

Gender-neutral
Sophisticate
Clear sweetness developing
Strong
Vetiver? (Yep!)
Some kind of floral?
Long-lasting, good throw.
The sweetness is almost cloying, but not overpowering.
Ooh, there's the leather.

This is very clear and sweet after a few hours. Not flowery-sweet, but... hard to explain. I know I've got the vetiver, and maybe a bit of patchouli, but it's not earthy or incensey at all on my skin. The leather does appear after a while, and gets stronger - leather and sweet. Yum.

Edited a month or so later: Today, different day, different time of month - this is allllll leather and vetiver and champaca. I almost don't recognize my own review of it. A morpher. Either this changes with my chemistry, or changes over time, or both - but I still love it. Edited September 20, 2006 by Kittyflop

[euterpe414]

In the first minutes of wearing this, I smell gingery leather, with a touch of incense. This is for some reason overpoweringly masculine on me, which is odd 'cause I love many scents that have a more masculine edge to them. This blends seems to get more incensy as times goes by. I am for some reason not getting too much vetiver from this, which is sad cause I love vetiver.

 

For some reason I feel to dominated by this scent, if that makes sense. I would absolutely love this on a guy, but my bf hates to wear scents, so alas I have no use for my decant!

[Meg]

In the bottle: Oakmoss and possibly a bit of patchouli.

 

Wet: Oakmoss and pepper over patchouli.

 

Drydown: Vetiver takes over and fights for dominance with oakmoss. I get a hint of leather, and possibly champaca, a slightly plasticky smell. And then suddenly ambergris pops up and makes everything lovely, soft and smooth, and oakmoss peeps out from under it. I don't pick up the spices, but people tell me it's spicy, so I guess that's from the ginger and pepper.

 

Overall: It's a weird blend, and a stunningly accurate portrayal of Bosch's painting... white and waxy and spicy and dark, all at the same time. The oakmoss on me invariably smells sickly sweet, but it's tamed by the ambergris and champaca. I'm quite baffled by this, I don't really like it (and it doesn't give out any leather) but I'm fascinated by it.

[abberlaine]

Smells like Luperci's mud splashed with robust cowboy cologne. Totally not what I was expecting. Okay, but not my thing.

[BrightRedScream]

Decant from SevenSins.

 

This was a scent that I was curious about..it has somethings in it that I love - others that I loathe, so we'll see how it goes.

 

In the imp: Spicy leather...that black musk rides the spices and the leather..making this a little darker and more intense.

 

Wet on the skin: Um...it smells like the inside of a new car to me...with leather seats..and someone has been smoking in it. I don't know WHY it reminds me of this..but it brought me back to when my dad got a new car..and within minutes that smell was tainted because he started smoking in it. Ew.

 

Dry down: It just smells like leather. Leather, spice, and patchouli.

 

I can't stand this.

It's seriously making me sick.

Edited August 20, 2006 by BrightRedScream

[Bagfish]

I can't work out the notes in Two Monsters. I can smell leather, but the other notes just blur into a very masculine after-shave smell. This is possibly the vetiver.

 

I didn't smell any champaca flower which is the reason I wanted to try this as I loved it in Khajuraho. I think the oil this most reminded me of was Geek, which I wasn't a fan of either.

 

Oh well, it could have been so good, but Two Monsters and I is not to be....

 

Off to swaps

[Athena's Owl]

This is the scent I was most anticipating in my salon decant set.

 

imp: the first note is the leather, and it's the most clearly leather note i've smelled in a bpal. just underneath that, the tiniest hint of vetiver. alongside it, a rich, rich amber and flowers combination.

 

wet, on skin: now the peppery ginger is foremost. and that must be the champaca flower. i expected this to be very Man! but i vow that they'll pry this imp out of my cold, dead fingers first. I've still got that leather feeling. and a citrus scent, but not what i'm used to from citrus - that must be the pittosporum. the sweetness that I associate with musk, as well. I can't detect the patchouli - i'm not sure I even knows what it smells like.

 

in 20 minutes: ambergris! I actually couldn't stop sniffing my wrist while waiting the 20 minutes. now I have this beautiful ambergris and champaca thing, and they blend so smoothly and seamlessly it's hard to distinguish them. leather is there, and again the tiniest bit of vetiver. the pepper, ginger, and citrus has stepped back.

 

in 1 hour: leather and champaca. it's sweet and rich without the "floral" cues. ambergris is still there, and it's soft and pretty. I can't smell vetiver at all, but that's all right, really. it's beautiful and soft, but I'd bury my nose in a man's throat if he was wearing it, too.

 

I definitely want a bottle of this.

[m13]

I'm bummed -- I was hoping for the luxe incensey headshop smell that some reviewers got, but on me Two Monsters is a well-done and upscale version of Drakkar Noir, a men's cologne. I'm cringing a bit as I write this because I don't want it to seem like a slam against the blend, which is lovely . It's just that on me Two Monsters is very definitely a guy's scent, nothing neutral about it.

 

It's nice, it truly is, but 'tis way too butch for me (and I'm not a girly girl, I love dark incense blends and don't do florals or the sweeter foody stuff).

 

I'm debating aging it to see if it morphs and becomes something a bit more murky and mysterious, but in the meantime if I see a post from someone in search of a bottle I'll probably pass it along to a loving new home.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of vetiver.

on: there are some nice, green notes in the background now, but i still mostly smell vetiver.

1 hour later: vetiver and something sweet.

2.5 hours later: earthy, with lots of vetiver.

overall: vetiver managed to ruin another scent for me.

[hologhost]

Patchouli and...and...I don't know quite what. I smell myrrh and what must be champaca flower. As it drys down I get the teensiest hint of something civet-y. I can't smell the pepper, but I can feel it making my nose tingle.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Patchouli

 

On Skin: The patchouli and vetiver jump out without any caution. They knock me over, not good since these are two of my least favorite notes ever. But, I love Beth’s blends so I’m going to give this scent a chance. The champaca flower and the musk give a very dark smoky feel… kind of scary and forboding. The leather gives a masculine edge, and the white pepper really gives it bite. The oakmoss also darkens it, but in a nice soft way… like a padding to protect me from the sharp notes. The ginger sweetens it a bit, but also gives a nice spice. Very interesting… To me this is a mysterious masculine scent, and not for me at all. But I have to admit after it settles on my skin, I do warm up to it a bit more and wouldn’t mind smelling it on my husband. Strong throw and long wearlength.

[kuanyin]

Two Monsters is delicious.

 

Reading through the notes when this blend was released was like a raunchy encounter with a soft kid-leather paddle.

 

Leather? Oh yes

Patchouli? Harder...

Vetiver? *moan*

Ambergris? Right there baby

Ginger? Oh god...

Oakmoss? Huunnngghhhh

 

Bottle. No question.

 

Thank you for writing my review for me!

[edenssixthday]

Two Monsters - I put this on, wrinkled my nose and before I realized what was happening, I caught myself saying out loud, “That just stinks!” It’s a truly foul blend on my skin and smells like a combination of ambergris (the one part I like), leather, poo and nail polish remover. As the blend dries down, the leather and the nail polish remover get stronger, the ambergris warms up and smells sweet and musky, and I’m smelling a swirl of several other notes that I can’t identify. I feel like this would be such a warm and gorgeous scent if it weren’t for the traces of poo and nail polish remover that just won’t go away. I’m very frustrated because I feel like this is a scent that should work on me, but it doesn’t. I am not going to give up, however. I’ll try it at a different time of month and see if my hormones are making it go wonky right now, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll give it a go in a scent locket. If I could just avoid that poo and polish remover scent, the leather, ambergris, oakmoss and vetiver would be the dominant notes and truly an outstanding combination.

[minilux]

I've had my bottle of Two Monsters for at least a month now and the first time I tried it I was afraid it was going to be a heartbreaker, because it was raging oakmoss and little to nothing else. Now, a month or so later, it's gorgeous and I'm betting it is going to get even better with age. Love it!

Edited September 4, 2006 by minilux

[maijasu]

I love ginger, ambergris, and pepper, and can deal with most of the notes in this one, but I think it's the vetiver that's ruining it for me. It's very sharp and masculine, and just not "me."

[supremegoddessofall]

Spicy leather that's heavy on the ginger with medium patchouli. Mama like!

[mornatasare]

Oh. Oh yes. This is perfect. It's incredibly well-blended in the bottle, a musky, earthy smell with a bit of punch to it (the ginger, I think), but on the skin--oh my. As it dries, the leather, patchouli, and champaca do a little battle for dominance, each one coming about in different waves. Within an hour or so, it's settled into musky, leathery, nag-champa-esque goodness. The oakmoss, ambergris, and vetiver ground it into the most exquisite thing I can imagine. Can I please sweat this smell?

 

I need more bottles. I need oh so many bottles.

[argylexsoul]

I was expecting to absolutely love this blend, it has all the notes I like (minus leather), and the art is awesome! but... it's got a little fruityness to it. that and leather = yuck. but still, i sorta like it... i really do love the other parts of it, and i wish this smelled like geek. it's not that i really dislike this, it's that i don't think i'd wear it often. i think it does represent the painting well, but in a different way than i would have expected. sort of like somebody said before, this reminds me of the inside of a new car with leather seats and one of those little cans of nasty fruity car deodorizer stuff. i don't think this one's for me.

[Voleuse]

Oooh. I had high hopes for this one--I'm actually very fond of vetiver and leather together--and this scent didn't disappoint me. The leather and vetiver are the dominant notes to my nose, along with a sprinkling of the pepper. As the scent dries, I'm better able to detect the musk, and a hint of something greener, sweeter. It's a very earthy and masculine scent.

 

Over time, the blend warms and sweetens--not a lot, but enough to temper the faint bitterness of the other notes. The leather and vetiver mellow, though the pepper stays prominent. Overall, this scent is smoky and sexy and clean. I love it.

[indicolite]

What can I say? I can't list notes, but I can say this: They are dark but very comforting, friendly, protective monsters.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: ginger and smoky leather.

 

Wet: something very sweet is stomping on all of the other lovely notes.

 

Dry: mild patchouli with a hint of smoke and leather. I love this scent, but I wonder if it is too masculine for me to wear out of the house.

[forspecial_plate]

Well, apparently my skin likes to BROADCAST CHAMPACA FLOWER. Two Monsters was the Salon scent I was MOST looking forward to....and don't get me wrong, I do love it! However as soon as it touches my skin, I get the exact same champaca flower that's in Dr. John Seward....with none of the tantalizing spicey grittiness (in Two Monsters) that I can smell in the vial. So really this ends up smelling very much like J. Seward on my skin....which would explain why I barely smelled any of the other notes in J. Seward either!

 

So I have mixed feelings about Two Monsters. I'm holding onto it in hopes that aging or a scent locket will help bring out some of the other notes. But, to be honest, I do love that champaca note....even though it's bullying everything else into submission! *cries* I really want to smell more of every other note in this.

[cuervosueno]

There are a lot of notes I really like in this, so I finally was able to get ahold of a decant. I sniffed it: ah leather. Something dark. Something fruity. Not for me.

 

I tried to pass it off a leather-loving friend, but she said it was too sweet.

 

A couple of weeks later I try it again: wow! This is really nice. My skin amps leather like crazy, so I have to be cautious with it. Though I always like Beth's leather notes, some of them just overwhelm, like Iago and Loviatar. Then there are ones I adore like Quincey Morris (and unexpected favorite of mine) and Coyote. This is like that, a sweet slightly fruity leather.

 

I couldn't remember what was in it when I tried to get another friend to try it, so I told him leather and pomegranite, and it does kind of smell like that on me.

 

Imagine my surprise when I read the notes. I can, however, pick out the champaca blossom now--that is what gives it that sweetness (champaca is also a favorite of mine). I smell a bit of patchouli, but the vetiver doesn't overwhelm any other scents though it no doubt contributes to the darkness of the scent (I love vetiver too, but it is a bit commanding at times). I don't really smell the ambergris or the ginger.

 

And where IS that fruity note coming from?

 

Anyway, I like this a lot, and its tempting to get a bottle....but I'll use up the imp first and see.

[emzebel]

I get a lot of Beth's sweet patchouli out of this one, which is a good good thing to me. I would definitely put this in the same scent family as Hellion, Mme. Moriarty, Mum Moon - the spicy, rich, sweet sultry blends. It is a very red scent to me, which is not quite what I was expecting given the artwork, but it is definitely how my mind starts to fill in the colors here when I look at this piece.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I think I have a nose for ambergris, because no matter what else is in a blend, I smell it the most. However, I also pick up on the leather, vetiver, and, of course, the oakmoss.

 

Wet: Oakmoss and ambergris. This gives it almost an aquatic quality while it is wet. Right after the initial blast, I can detect the leather and a mix of the vetiver and black musk, with more vetiver. The leather is a very clean one and reminds me the most of Les Infortunes de la Vertu.

 

Drydown and wear: This smells like Infortunes with ambergris in place of the orange blossom note. The ambergris (and vetiver, I believe) give this a cologne coolness, and I say this scent is gender netural leaning toward masculine.