Trachelophorus Giraffe v3

[DangerInRed]

Trachelophorus Giraffe v3 is a bit of an enigma to me. It was described to me as hard to pin down, having a green quality but also a warm sweetness. I definitely get both of those things here. Normally I am not a fan of scents that have any kind of "green" in the description, but this is actually pretty awesome. You can smell the green-ness, and also something that is kind of earthy and woodsy, and a sweet component that is reminiscent of Ecstasy of Infatuation to me. This is a very interesting blend, for sure!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL bought on LiveJournal.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I was attracted to Trachelophorus Giraffe from the get-go just because of the name, plus I love strange bugs, so I had to try this no matter what it smelled like. But it sounds good to me. I like green scents. Not sure what type of green to expect, but I'm expecting to like this.

 

First sniff:

 

What a weird scent. Definitely sweet (not in a candy sort of way, more like nectar of some sort) and green (a bit like fresh-cut grass, a bit like the way tree leaves taste (if that makes sense to anyone but me). It almost has a hint of sweet fruitiness like peach juice to it, too, but that could be the mysterious sweet note playing tricks with me.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Whoa, bitter! This goes from sweet and green to pungently bitter with a soapy cleanness to it, which I don't like.

 

I'm thinking that there's a very good chance that this either has dandelion in it or something very similar (which would make more sense since I don't think dandelions would really go with a scent named after a weevil from Madagascar). I'm assuming that because the same thing (sudden, overwhelming bitterness in a green scent) happens when I put on One to Tie, Two to Win. It seems to be a skin chemistry thing and it usually goes away.

 

Dry down:

 

Just like One to Tie, Trachelophorus Giraffe (I love the name, so fun to say) calms down after a little while, so it's definitely a skin chemistry thing. In the end, I get a really unique sweet green scent. It's not as sweet as in the bottle, but it's pretty close. It makes me think of sweetgrass more than nectar at this point. It's a fairly soft scent, too, once it dries.

 

The bottom line:

 

Honestly, I'm not sure what's in this, but it's one of the most unique BPAL scents I've tried. All I know, coming out of testing this is that:

 

(1) It's a sweet, green scent that's not quite like any other BPAL blend I can think of.

 

(2) There's something in here that my skin chemistry reacts to the way it does the dandelion in One to Tie, Two to Win, but the time for the Evil Bitterness of Doom to disappear is much shorter in Trachelophorus, so I can (thankfully) wear it on my skin instead of relegating it to a locket.

 

(3) I love the name and the inspiration for this one (who wouldn't love a freaky looking weevil with a giraffe neck?) and for that reason alone I'm glad I ended up with a bottle.

 

I wasn't sure this was going to work when I smelled it out of the bottle, and I really didn't think it was going to work during the wet stage, but the drydown is actually really nice.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh Giraffe.... you are an odd one. You smell like green planty material (is that you sweet grass?), and then as you dry you morph into what smells to me like anise candies. In fact, at this point you're a kissing cousin to Sugar Plum Fairy - except its not plum, it's anise/licore instead.

 

Not that I dislike it, since I do like SPF. On the other hand, after about an hour, you have disappeared into my skin. Oh, ever elusive giraffe!

[ellebelle]

Okay, I get ....

 

(1) Greenness - I agree, that it is reminiscent of dandelion, but I don't think it is dandelion. Some kind of bitter, sappy green. This is awesome because I love dandelion. Maybe it's some kind of leaf? According to wikipedia, this beetle lays a single egg in the roll of a particular leaf.

 

(2) Wet Stone - I get a hint of the scent of wet stone, a la Dungeon Crawl, in the wet stage. Dungeon Crawl is all wet stone, and this scent contains within it that smell, but mixed with other things. This is awesome because I kept trying to layer Dungeon Crawl with other things and couldn't find a combination I liked. This is Dungeon Crawl + ___________________. I suspect that the description would mention something about earth, since this is a beetle.

 

(3) Sweetness - I think the Sugar Plum Fairy comparison is good. As it dries, a very sweet, fruity/floral scent makes itself known. I would suspect sugar cane + some kind of fruit that is common in Madagascar.

 

I do not think there is any anise in here. I hate anise with the fiery hot passion of 10,000 burning suns. I don't like to taste it, and I don't like to smell it. I don't get that scent from this perfume.

 

Overall, this is really different and I like it very much!

Edited August 24, 2011 by Ellebelle