Titus Andronicus

[paperdoll]

Dark musk and black amber with frankincense, red sandalwood, neroli and bergamot.

Initial Sniff: Dark resins and musks as well as sharp citrus. Lethal.

Wearing: The neroli, bergamot and frankincense are very sharp at first, but as this dries they mellow into the deep pool of resionous musk. After about an hour, the sandalwood peeks out. The drydown is almost sunny, which is unexpected. The amber and musk shed their darkness and left warmth behind.

Final Impressions: This is so nice! Truly beautiful.

[OdetteOdile]

Titus Andronicus

Chocolate! (Where did that come from?) Then powder. I can smell the dark musk - sort of like from Hellfire, but here it's warm and sweet and soft. The powder is quite strong and the amber takes on a liquid-y, syrupy note - but never gets unpleasantly sweet.

I'm really liking this. The strong musk makes it a good guy's scent, and the soft powderyness makes it feminine too. (I'm aware that I'm gender-typing here. Ah well.) There was an almost fruity quality to the sweetness. The drydown was soft and fruity with some warm amber under it - a tiny bit spicy.

Judging from the range of responses in the reviews, it seems like this is one of those oils that really changes in response to skin.

I'm astonished at how much I'm liking Beth's masculine scents on me - I almost never like men's cologne, but these oils are a different beast altogether.

[Anarchy99]

Dark musk and black amber with frankincense, red sandalwood, neroli and bergamot.

 

WHen I first put this on it seemed a bit sharp to me. But almost instantly it seemed to mellow to a lovely warm scent. I'm enjoying this very much. It's on my list of must wear again! So far nothing is topping my beloved Fenris Wolf, but this is a very close second!

 

I'm getting quite a bit of frankincese and sandalwood. THis is not a bad thing, just a bit unexpected. I'm currently not getting any of the neroli or bergamot. The bergamot might have been the sharp note I detected in the beginning.

Edited June 15, 2005 by Anarchy99

[scourgeotheseas]

Titus Andronicus - one of my lost reviews!

 

In the bottle: Amber, frankincense, and neroli, I think.

 

On me: Spicy! Heavily incensey. The musk or amber almost immediately turns powdery, and the frankincense is standing out right now. Not getting any hint of bergamot.

 

Drydown: Too masculine and heavy for me. For somebody really into the musky, asmber scents, this is probably quite good.

[nineveh]

I love all the notes in this one, but I can only really smell the musk and amber with a bit of the neroli, so this is like an orange Haunted. Where's the frankincense? Come out, frankincense, you are my favorite!

 

Ah, there it is, barely. It's still not as strong as I'd like, however. I'm thinking about getting some frankincense oil to layer under the blends that I like whose frankincense hides from me.

 

This is slightly more complex than Haunted, and I like it better. Haunted was on my big bottle list, but it just got replaced by Titus, even with the lazy frankincense.

[tempete]

Initially, Titus Andronicus is all about the dark musk, sweetened just a touch by the citrus. Next, the bergamot and perhaps neroli make an appearance, followed by a sandalwood and frankincense stage. An hour or two into the drydown, Titus Andronicus becomes almost purely amber, with tiny hints of the other notes peeking through. This is my favourite part of Titus Andronicus, since I'm such a fiend for amber.

 

I can see where the comparisons to Haunted come in. Titus Andronicus definitely resembles Haunted, but is more complex and is also more masculine on me, especially during the dark musk opening phase. I put Titus Andronicus on one arm, and Haunted on the other, and in the end, I preferred Haunted more because it's more gender neutral, I like the drydown better and it doesn't take so long to get to the amber drydown.

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

Definitely sweet musk and amber. Has a bit of bite to it.

Wet, on Skin:

The musk is combined with the amber, on my skin neroli comes to the forefront and there's a resonant floral tone. Maybe a little bit of sandalwood and other resins are pushing to the forefront.

Drying Down:

Doesn't change much, although the wood notes are more apparent as the fragrance oil sits on the skin.

Over Time/Longterm:

A very masculine, sweet amber and wood, men's fragrance, with a dusky woods base. Smells just like Fragonard's Men's Eau de Toilette in 'Sandalwood.'

Final Verdict?

Just like a French perfume for guys! Not bad, but I'm not the type of guy who can pull off these ubermasculine fragrances. Good to keep an imp for a night when I feel a little predatory.

[Lit Chick]

Gimp from the lab. YAY!

I put this on my husband the other day. While it is unlikely to replace Antony as the favorite, this one is gorgeous. It's very masculine, but there is none of the tang that I associate with most cologne. The citrus is fantastic, and the incense is soft and warm.

Certainly not what I expected Titus to smell like (especially after the Julie Taymor interpretation) - but a keeper.

[eisoj5]

This might sound weird, but the only thing I could really think of when I put this on was "Minty and brooding". It's too masculine for me to really enjoy it, too, and "brooding" isn't at all what I want to project for camp today, so I washed it off not long after. It's very nice, just not for me.

[shelldoo]

in the vial: musk, bergamont, neroli in that order

 

wet:sweet candy like scent almost too "fruity" and sweet, bubble gum type scent

 

dry: it softens, and isn't as in your face, it is still very sweet, it must be the bergamont and neroli combo, it rings a bit citrus, the musk is trying to ground the scent but the sweetness is just too much for it to handle. i am not getting teh frankencense or amber. this is sweet and light and fresh smelling

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is 'fizzy' frankincense (I think the fizziness is down to the black amber, but I could be wrong). It's dark and syrup-y in texture, the sort of scent that when it catch a waft of it, it pulls you in. As it dries the neroli and bergamot become more apparent, making the blend lighter and almost playful. Its final dry down on me is darker again. It's deeply, darky, spicy and very sexy. It smells like you wish your mans skin smelt like and yet it's still wearable on me.

[quinnbee]

Amrita sent me an imp of this, and all I can say is Thank you thank you thank you! I really can't describe it, but every single time I smell this on my husband I just go all rwrr! It's just very...changeable...and I love all its facets.

Edited August 4, 2005 by quinnbee

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab threw this into my order as a freebie. this is a very black scent. very dark.

on: masculine. i can't really pick any notes out. i don't think i'll like this.

1 hour later: this smells like baby on me. like baby powder and other baby accouterments. it's making me a little nauseous.

2 hours later: sharp and soapy to the max.

2.5 hours later: this has toned down and is a bit sweet, but i still don't like it.

overall: this oil is, clearly, not a friend to me.

[cupide430]

Titus Andronicus

 

Soft and slightly spicy. As it dries it is mostly powdery sandalwood with a deeper edge to it that I think is the bergamot coming out. This isn't changing much and really just staying as mainly sandalwood on me.

[olympia301]

Heavy Black Musk that seems to stay wet for ever. Wonderful stuff this. Very masculine and overwhelming but in the best possible way. Beth made me love Black Musk and this is one of the reasons why. There are other components in here, I could not tell you what they are because they are so well assimilated into the entire thing.

 

I think this is one more blend which is too masculine for me, I would feel like I was dressing up as a man if I wore this as a scent. It is fabulous for a young man, I think it's too youthful for any guy over 30 (how's that for an arbitrary bit of sexism and ageism). Well, that's the objective opinion, matey. You could break that rule if you are a cowboy, as someone else noted above; but your average businessman in a real expensive Stetson strutting around a swanky Jackson Hole spa-hotel with his Platinum Card burning a hole in his pants, sorry you won't be able to pull this one off. Titus takes a bit of reality to work, if you don't have it...don't wear it.

 

The icon is a painting by E. Munch called Madonna. I chose it because her hands are obliterated like the hands of Titus' daughter in the play Titus Andronicus.

Edited August 20, 2005 by olympia301

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Simultaneously green and sharp, and yet also sweet and warm.

 

On me:

Oh, I had high hopes for Titus Andronicus. It sounded like it was right up my alley - with two of my favorite notes even (sandalwood and bergamot together!). But, quite unfortunately, this is immediately a soft, powdery scent. And nothing but. On me, there is no depth, no hint at the notes mentioned, just sweet powder. I think it's probably the amber, since I've noticed that the few blends I've tried that went powdery on me, almost always contained amber.

 

Final note:

I'm sad about this one not working out. I tried it not once, not twice, not even thrice, but FOUR times. All spread out throughout the month, in case it had to do with my hormones. Sadly, it came out the same each and every time. If your body is prone to turning amber into powder (as I understand it, quite a few of us have this problem) you might want to order this as an imp first to give it a test and be certain

[Miss Lynx]

This one was quite different than I expected. On me, it wasn't masculine at all... not even slightly. It was initially quite sweet and perfumey, very feminine but not in a "girly" way. I think my skin amped the neroli to a pretty fair degree, and dark musk also tends to be sweeter on me than on most people, I think.

 

As it dried down, the perfuminess (which thankfully was not as intense or long-lasting as in several other scents I've tried lately) diminished and some nice layers of complexity began to come out, including an undertone that was very reminiscent of Haunted. Eventually, after an hour or so, the Haunted-ish scent was all I could smell on my wrists, though some of the rest of the scent lingered in the crooks of my arms. I often find scents dry down a bit differently in the two places.

 

And that final phase of it was relatively long-lasting -- I can still smell it, albeit faintly, nearly 6-8 hours later, and that's very rare for me. Even after several hand washings and washing some dishes!

 

I don't think it's going to be a top favourite, because, ironically, it's a bit too sweet and floral for my tastes, particularly in the early stages. But I do like it, and will undoubtedly use up the imp, and who knows, maybe by then it will have grown on me enough to want more. I do like Haunted a lot, and this is like a more complex version of it.

 

I guess my freaky skin chemistry gave Titus a sex change...

 

Grade: B to B+

[carolinachiquita]

This is one of the rare scents that smell on my skin the same as it smells in the bottle! It is a musky, boozy, sweet fruity smell on me, it is a really warm fragrance - I think I like it but I'm not sure!

 

4 hours later - yes I like this one! It is gorgeous - its sweet without being sickly and just yummy!

[Ankhet]

Titus Andronicus:

In the bottle: Hm. This one does smell more masculine, of musk. But also...red in a faint way.

Wet: Oh, goodness! It's woody, and dark, and I really want to smell this on my boyfriend! Mmmm this almost reminds me of my grandfather's chair, where it smelled like his aftershave and cigars.

Drydown: This actually seems like something I'd wear myself, depending on the weather and my mood. Days like today, icky rainy grey ones, I would SO want to wear this!

ETA: It's going powdery, NO! I can still smell the sandalwood through the powder, but.. but.. POWDER, no! ...Er.. okay. Now the powder's receding, but just there in the background. I think I'll have to wear this as a normal perfume to really evaluate it.

Conclusion: keep. test more to see if 5 ml is necessary. Also test on boyfriend. *grin*

Update: It just goes powdery on me. However, I need to test it on my man, and I can still put it into an oil burner or tealight. Keep imp.

[Dark Angel]

I really like this, on both myself and my husband!

 

On me, it is mostly a sweet, spicy musk. I like musk, so this is a very good thing. It may be a tiny bit masculine, but it is also very sweet, so I feel I can pull it off. Even if I can't, I like it so much I'm going to wear it anyway!

 

On my husband, there is a similar sweet musk, but on him, the bergamot must come out much more, because it smells more, well, masculine. I want to say it smells 'clean,' but not in a soapy way, more a sexy clean skin sort of way. Just a confident, very masculine, very sexxxxy scent on him.

 

Definately a winner, for both of us!!

[Orodemniades]

Haunted, with a twist! This stayed consistent on me and is just fantastic, a true unisex scent.

 

Fab!

 

Oro

[Blood onmy hands]

The first words out of my mouth when I applied this were, "Oh crap." It was pure perfumey musk. That cheap hairspray smell. Thankfully, it quickly morphs.

 

The neroli and bergamot are dominant, making this a zesty citrus scent on my skin. Also sort of reminds me of the fruity sweetness of gummi bears.

 

Then it gets darker in the drydown. It smells like a rich, spicy men's cologne with a squeeze of citrus over it. The sharp citrus mellows out into a more powdery sweet scent.

 

I like this one a lot after it has sat on my skin for about ten minutes. It's the kind of fragrance that drives me crazy on a guy, but that I would also enjoy wearing myself. Very spicy and sexy in the drydown.

[tansil]

This is like heavy sweet spices. I can smell the bergamot at the beginning which is great because it's my favorite note. Now let's see if we can keep the neroli in line.

 

Just like with Torture King there's something that's doing a bit of… *bright* right on the inhale. And it's nice for the first dry-down.

 

Fifteen minutes later: The amber just sent this to baby-powder. *sigh* And it's completely gone in an hour.

 

Oh well, I'll keep hunting for the perfect bergamot scent.

[sarahj]

Titus Andronicus

 

in vial: bergamot

 

wet: orange-flavored baby aspirin

 

dry: a nice, unisex blend of musk, amber, frankincense, and sandalwood...fades after 4 hours

 

verdict: I don't need a big bottle, but will definitely use the imp...maybe I'll let my husband try it

[magdalene]

in the bottle: oooh, bergamot.

 

wet on skin: this is precisely how my father smelled to me, when I was a very young girl and he was my entire world. He would come to my mother's house on Friday evening, right after work, with his muddied work boots and Marlboros in the front of pocket of his t-shirt. Swing me up into his arms and I would wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his shoulder, astonishingly happy, because my daddy was finally there to get me.

 

dry: I'm not getting any vanilla or anything even remotely resembling Snake Oil, as some other people have mentioned in their reviews. This is a warm and masculine musky amber, tempered with bergamot.