Avenger

[Imbrium]

AVENGER
A fashionable and fiery journalist who adopts the Grendel persona to avenge the death of her only child and is consumed by the dark identity.

Plush vanilla bourbon and rum accord with pink pepper, patchouli, clove, pikaki, golden amber, caraway, tuberose, and jacarandá-da-bahia.

Oh, Avenger. Just look at your list of ingredients: vanilla, cloves, amber, patchouli, tuberose, woods--it sounds as though we were made to be together. How could things have turned so wrong, so quickly?

In the bottle, I smelled jasmine (thanks, pikaki). I realize that jasmine is something of a death note for many; perhaps that should have warned me, but I'd actually never had jasmine turn evil on my skin before so, stupidly, I forged ahead.

On my skin, the jasmine stayed prominent, but instead of being tempered by the other notes, they began to appear but added up to a really unappealing combination; my husband termed it "rotting cloves." It stayed that was as it dried, too, with the jasmine never calming down, and I actually gave up after a while on the idea that it was going to dry into something lovely and went and washed it off. I'm sure Avenger is a really nice scent, all of those hidden, gorgeous notes prominent and harmonious with the right skin chemistry. Unfortunately, that skin chemistry is very demonstrably not mine.

[Balame]

In the Bottle: Avenger is... special. I really thought I was going to hate it considering there are so many death notes for me in this (pepper, clove, pikaki, strong florals) but it turned out to be a different story. Initially you get a whiff of violently sweet pepper and clove, which is a little headache inducing.

 

Wet: And in the early stages it's not much better. Avenger is pissed. A once beautiful woman that's let go of her humanity and all that might have been sweet and good is now twisted. You just want to get out of her damn way. "Fiery" is right. This is spicy yet a little cloying, a crazy mix-up that seems chaotic.

 

Dry: Then something amazing happens. The rage is spent, and what's left is an absolutely gorgeous blend of gentle rum, delicately present fruity tuberose, and soft rosewood (jacarandá da bahia is Bahia rosewood). Note that it's rosewood, not rose. Very softly boozy sweet (not at all candy) fruit against a solid woodsy backdrop. Also left with just a hint of the spice from earlier.

 

Overall: Once Avenger lets go of its initial frustration and relaxes, you can start to see and appreciate its true beauty - which is really quite stunning. An unusual blend that makes me think of someone who lives in a tropical mansion. Values their privacy, is a little harsh to those they don't know, but once they warm up they match their surroundings: vibrant, exotic, and lovely.

[angelicruin]

Yikes, this scent is a bit nauseating for me. Pink pepper is definitely the strongest note right after application. After a few minutes, I can also smell the patchouli, clove, and rum notes. In the end, I had to wash this one off my skin. This combination of notes is not for me.

[yakiguri]

Avenger was the main one I feared out of the Grendel bunch, as caraway has ruined many a scent for me. Indeed, on first application I get nothing but the dank mustiness I've come to expect from caraway blends, and was ready to write it off as another failure.

 

However I forgot to wash it off, and after testing, sniffing, and reviewing other blends I realized there was an interesting spicy vanilla coming from somewhere on my arm--Avenger. Once the initial wet dog phase is gone Avenger has bloomed into a fiery ball of vanilla, rum, cloves, and pepper. Patchouli keeps this conflagration from getting out of control, and the jacaranda/Brazilian rosewood and tuberose add a discordant sweetness to an otherwise blazing blend. I'll have to grab a bottle of this sometime.

 

Of course, anime nerd I am, I can't help but think of a tsundere--someone violent (tsuntsun) with a sweet side (deredere), or the reverse, someone sweet with a berserk button provoking them to violence.

[countessmouse]

I came sooooo close to washing this one off immediately after application. The pikaki and tuberose misbehaved in a spectacular fashion - to the point I was almost nauseated. The urge was resisted, however, and I've been rewarded with a spicy little floral with just a hint of vanilla. As long as I can live through the initial blast of unpleasantness, I think this one is a keeper.

 

The low key vanilla is perplexing - I usually amp the hell out of it.

[stellamaris]

Zomg heaven. this one starts off sharp to me, but then ends smooth with rich vanilla spice at the end. Beautiful, perfect, getting a bottle ASAP.

 

Edit : Have my big bottle, and this has turned out to be one of my top ten. Amazing. Spicy, warm, lively, wonderful.

Edited October 6, 2011 by stellamaris

[midnight_aeval]

This is a dead ringer for what my aunt smells like... unfortunately, the floral vanilla perfume she wears is masked by cigarette smoke. Maybe it's the mixture of cloves, patchouli and rum? I don't know, but I just don't think I could wear this one

[Dark Alice]

From wet to drydown: Overwhelmingly sweet nauseating tuberose and pikaki. This just provides the surety that pikake as a flower is a death note b/c my skin amps it and it overwhelms everything.

[milo]

In the imp, very promising. The bourbon vanilla and rum stand out. On, a different story. The pink pepper makes itself known, not a note that I like or works on me very well. This smells high-pitched, spicy and sour. This is NOT going well. Off to swaps.

 

eta: I must say that a couple of hours in, this is much better. Not so sour any more, very little floral and now a muted patch. I like this, but not enough to suffer through two hours of the first bit.

Edited September 18, 2011 by milo

[surlygurl]

Oh dear. This was supposed to be really good, with all those lovely notes. But when I first sniffed it, my reaction was "Eeewwww! Sweaty balls!!" Luckily, it got a little better on my skin. The vanilla was pretty, but the rum was dirty (and not in a good way). There was a bit of sour, and something sharp. I was hoping for florals/ vanilla/ rum, but no such luck.

 

After a couple of hours it finally turned into what I had hoped - gently spiced vanilla with a sharp kick. Then it promptly faded. Harumph.

[ljaylh]

Mmm.. I'm loving this one! On my skin, it has a similar feel/tone to Spanked.. slightly spicy, soft and dusky, warm and snuggly.

 

I almost didn't bother trying this one, because I was worried about the floral notes (the tuberose and pikaki, especially) - but I'm happy to report that I don't really notice the florals in here at all. What I do get is a lovely soft vanilla (not sweet) with a rum tinge, a gorgeous earthiness from the patchouli, and a slight spicy kick from the pepper, clove and caraway.. but it's not SPICY as such, it just has a hint of brown spices. Golden amber is fast becoming a favourite note for me - it doesn't go as uber-powdery as some other ambers on me - and in Avenger it lends just a hint of golden softness that's really lovely.

 

So although I was expecting this to be a bit more kick-ass with that pepper/patchouli/clove combo, I'm not at all disappointed.. this is working really nicely on me! If you enjoy dusky, semi-spicy blends then I would definitely recommend giving this one a try

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this is like creamy, slightly bubblegummy lotus and Juicy Fruit gum smell. I can pick out a bit of the pink pepper, which always smells odd to me (like Juicy Fruit gum, for some reason) and perfumey tuberose.

 

On my skin, it's the same, but with a bit of baby powder from the amber. I thought that it would be okay for the first few minutes, and then it goes intensely sharp and perfumey-floral on me in the drydown. The tuberose amps up like mad and the whole thing starts to smell like chemical hair spray on me. Blech. Vanilla, patchouli, and clove are nowhere to be found

[astarinel]

I like the bottle scent for this -- bright sweet floral notes with a slight nose-tickling underlay of spices.

 

Wet on my skin, it was also pretty nice, with the vanilla and amber coming out a little and the florals starting to fade.

 

However, after about 10 minutes, clove takes over, beats the crap out of all the other notes, and leaves merely a vague musty clovey-ness on my skin. Kind of disappointing, but I've long realized that clove is a troublesome note for my skin, and this blend is unfortunately no exception.

 

I really liked the wet scent, however, so someone with different skin chemistry who is looking for the spicy-heady floral kind of scent would likely be pleased with this one.

[zankoku_zen]

Avenger starts out as a spicy floral, with hints of pikaki, tuberose and pink pepper and dries down to a warm, spice vanilla rum blend with a hint of floral. On the drydown I get the vanilla and rum with hints of pepper, clove and patchouli.

 

Dark, womanly, deadly. I actually quite like it.

Edited September 26, 2011 by zankoku_zen

[Gateau]

Decant--fruity woodiness

 

Wet--strong sour jasmine. This pikake is going all wrong on me, as is the tuberose.

 

Dry--the sour flowers combine with too-strong clove and rum. No vanilla. It's all just very strong and bitingly harsh and sour. Frownie.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I'm beginning to think that patchouli may be a note of death on my skin, so I don't think that this will work on me, but we'll see.

 

Wet: Oof. Dirty patchouli. That's all I get from this.

 

Dry down: Still dirty patchouli.

 

Dry: Dirty patchouli.

 

Thoughts: Argh! Not only is the patchouli here the dirty kind, but it lasted for HOURS on my skin. Even three scrubbing sessions couldn't entirely get the scent off my skin.

 

Verdict: To the sales box with thee!

[brilliantcat]

Avenger is absolutely terrifying for about the first 10 minutes. The pikaki does something awful that smells just like cat pee. I am just at the point of washing it off when it morphs into the most insanely gorgeous spicy sweet fruity-floral. So glad I gave it a little while to warm up! I can deal with a few minutes of weirdness for hours of amazingness. Deep, dark, spicy, sweet, and altogether beautiful!

[orata]

Wet: this is one of the worst BPALs I've ever smelled. The "rotting cloves" description upthread seems apt--there's something about the combination of the musty patchouli, pungent cloves and pepper, indolic white flowers, and weirdly savory caraway that makes me almost nauseous--it smells like corpses or something. Sharp, stinky, awful. It improves as it dries, getting more rummy and less rotten, sort of like Perversion with cloves, so if you like Perversion and clove, it might turn into something you would enjoy. But it still smells kind of like diapers overall.

[mymymai]

ITB: It strikes me as slightly masculine on first sniff from the bourbon vanilla, I think. There's also a note that's a bit disquieting underneath the bourbon vanilla, but I'm not sure what it is yet.

 

Wet: Ah, it's it pikaki that I'm not responding well too, which is a top note on my skin. I remember it from the sampaguita single note that came out a couple of months ago. Under that, I can pick up the pink pepper, some tuberose, and the bourbon. Overall, it's a bit too strongly white floral for me.

 

Dry: It's pikaki (jasmine) and faint amber,but the jasmine completely overpowers anything else. Sadly, in the swap pile this one goes.

[missnix]

I'm glad I read the reviews of this before trying Avenger out, because they're all dead on.

 

In the bottle, Avenger smells interesting and beautiful. It's almost like a ploy to lure you into a false sense of security, because the instant you apply her; watch out. The florals were all I could smell at first; angry, piercing notes that have that sour/stinky sweet smell I associate with bad jasmine. But if you can outlast her temper tantrum, Avenger is eventually subdued back into a semblance of that beautiful smell from the bottle; warm, spicy, woodsy vanilla. Given how many good perfumes there are (from start to finish) I didn't previously believe that anyone should put up with a horrible wet stage for the sake of a gorgeous drydown. Well, Avenger has converted me because she is so worth the wait.

[bulletslc]

In the bottle this was a sharp sour floral.

 

On Wet the pepper, the pikaki and tuberose come out and kick you in the nose.

 

Dry down, this is a spicy floral with something warm and sweet (amber? Vanilla?)tying the whole scent together.This is like exotic flowers in a garden next to a spice bazaar under a warm tropical sun.

 

Not something I'd usually wear but glad i got the bottle for when i feel like being exotic, feminine and dangerous.

[LizziesLuck]

Wow, this is pretty. Not what I expected. A very sweet floral. It's my understanding that pikaki is a type of jasmine, and while I do get hints of Jasmine, it's not instant horror on my skin like it usually is.

 

This is so interesting. It's a bit spicy as well, and almost fruity. I love the hints of pink pepper I'm getting. I do wish I could pick out the vanilla more though.

 

It reminds me a bit of Mi-Go Brain Canister. I really like it, but I'm not sure I need a bottle. I can't see actually wearing it very often. I'm very glad to have tried it though.

[roseus]

In the bottle: I think something about the rum is making me think of cocoa.

 

Wet: heady florals, rum, and spices all clamoring for attention. Still getting a cocoa vibe.

 

Dry: this settles down considerably. It's hard to discern individual notes but there is certainly a smooth warm base of plush vanilla and amber, with rum. The spices meld with this really well and just give the scent a 'heated' feel, which is fantastic. I worried the clove and rum combo if too strong would give me holiday associations. This reminds me of sultry summer heat. The florals are gorgeuos here, and I definitely pick up waxy tuberose and the pikaki. Gives it a subtle summer tropics vibe.

[VetchVesper]

When I first put this on I get an odd melange of notes - something that smells like agarwood, I'm guessing the jacarandá-da-bahia, and a dark jasmine. It's discordant, but still sort of intriguing. Musky wood against floral. Then Avenger changes dramatically, becoming an almost sugary fruity floral on my skin. Tuberose and pikaki mixed with a boozy sweetness. If I smell the scent directly, I can still smell a bit of the musky wood, but mostly it's tropical floral. I really like this, and it's very different from the other lab florals I've smelled. It makes me think of a decadent pineapple drink. I wonder how it compares to the labs tiki scents, which I never got to sample.