Ranger v5

[Invidiana]

For this review, first I'm going to let Aragorn do the talking:

 

 

So yeah, I think he said it. This is dead sexy.

 

There is definite leather here, but it isn't that De Sade leather that screams MAN from 50 feet away. This is a smooth, supple, rich leather that is reminiscent of ranger gear a la Aragorn but also unisex and wearable. The leather is backed by deep resins that balance it out perfectly with a hint of sweetness, though do note that my skin tends to amp the sweet aspect of resins. There must be some black amber here; it's very well blended so I'm guessing there are many resins involved. There is also a backdrop wood which I'm taking to be black cedar because all other types of BPAL cedar amp to infinity on me. It can't posibly be the cedar in Sacrifice because that took over everything else. I think there is also a dark musk that adds to the sexy vibe anda bit of earth to add to the overall feel of a rugged ranger. There is also a smokiness about it that could be a smoke note or a quality of certain ingredients; either way, it finishes it off perfectly. It's actually what I was hoping Sacrifice to be. In a nutshell, it smells like Aragorn or what I'd smell like after a romp in the hay with Aragorn. Oh yes.

Edited March 28, 2011 by Invidiana

[cfrancesca]

This one was kind of confusing to me. It somewhat reminds me of a stronger, darker and more masculine Andreiphontês (without the tonka), it could be they share the same black sandalwood note and possibly other notes. I also get something a little peppery in here, and a slightly creamy, nutty scent emerges as it dries, maybe hay and a soft grassy scent, but definitely not fresh green grass. It settled into earthy scent of dark, dusty, smokey, blackened woods with a tinge of vetiver, some hay and maybe a touch of benzoin? I was expecting to get leather from this proto but it's not coming up on my skin.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL swapped for on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Everything about this one sounds wonderful. I'm a big fan of masculine, woodsy, resinous scents and I like leather, vetiver and essentially every other note listed in the previous reviews. I'm going to be very disappointed if this one doesn't work for me, although maybe I should be happy since it wasn't easy to track down a bottle to begin with and I'll need more if I love it.

 

First sniff:

 

Intense, astringent pine, maybe some juniper. It reminds me of Loup Garou, which isn't a good thing for me in spite of my love of woodsy scents. I used to really like Loup Garou, but my nose has decided that it's not a fan of sharp pine anymore.

 

I get the impression that there are more things going on in here, but the pine and juniper are almost completely overwhelming to the point where I can't pick out anything else.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Getting better. Once Ranger hits my skin, I start to get some resins (hard to say what they are, but it has a distinct resinous vibe to it...more church than headshop), a bit of sweetness (could be vanilla, tonka or benzoin) and the lightest touch of leather.

 

I still get distinct pine and juniper, but they're nowhere near as strong as in the bottle and they've stepped back to where I can smell the other notes.

 

Dry down:

 

Yum! The astringent evil has disappeared! Now I've got a complex unisex sort of scent that's really nice. I'm getting woods (think forest, not lumber), resins, slightly creamy sweetness (it's vanillic smelling, but I'm not convinced it's actually vanilla...I'm thinking it's more likely that it's benzoin) and an extremely light touch of leather. Maybe some musk (the kind that sticks close to the skin, although it doesn't seem to actually be skin musk).

 

It's not as intensely masculine as you might expect, although it's on the masculine end of the gender neutral spectrum. Very smooth and well-blended.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like the drydown on this. Luckily, the pine/juniper stage doesn't last long, because it would probably keep me from wearing Ranger very often if it lingered. I think this is definitely a candidate for inclusion in my favorites box.

 

ETA: Skin chemistry is evidently going to play a big part in how this one smells. I say that because, even on me, it smells different when I apply it in different spots.

 

The back of my hands result in a lot of benzoin and less woods, my forearms give me a super strong peppery note (which could be actual pepper, but I think it's more likely to be some type of wood since I got the same note from Vespers atmo spray) and pine and my wrists give me something in between the two (no pepper, but fairly strong woods and light benzoin).

 

Skin chemistry is a funny thing!

Edited April 21, 2011 by Penance

[zankoku_zen]

Ranger v5 is aptly named. It sort of disappears on my skin on the drydown. On wet, I get hints of leather, resin and some black amber. And perhaps patchouli, which explains all the dirt.

 

And then, it just sort of .... fades on me.

 

Damnit.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this smells like intensely sour pine and reminds me of cat pee

On my skin, it's chemical-y, sour pine that reminds me of pine scented floor cleaner.

As it dries down, the pine-like notes sweeten and go slightly smoky, but then the scent disappears entirely within fifteen minutes... not a good experience, overall.

[kattharia]

Sweet smoky frankincense, not as smoky or heavy as St. John's Eve, but still pretty much Frankincense.