India Ink

[Lethran]

To celebrate the CBLDF's event and celebrate our love of comics, we created an India Ink single note: a lot inky, a little papery, a little resinous, and strangely wearable.

 

In bottle: This is the ultimate book and ink scent. It smells strongly of fresh printed book. Ink is by far the strongest. I’d put resins as second as it dances in and out of conjunction with elements of the ink accord. The paper is soft, but pervasive, the canvass on which the ink and reason can show off their stuff. It’s like putting your nose in a fresh off the press book and huffing. Wet: Different elements of the ink and resin combination come out. It still smells most like ink; the paper is still a soft pervasive background; and the resins still dance in and out. It is now more pine and possibly patchouli that it was in the bottle. There’s a real industrial steampunky feel. The ink accord is rather close to the grease note in some of the other lab blends. The warmer it gets, the more mixed wood shavings the thing gets as the paper accord components start mixing with the ink accord components as they break down. This is very attractive to my nose and strongly masculine. This is not a delicate scent the way many other bookish scents are. It’s got an abundance of character and likely isn’t to everyone’s taste. Dry: Spicy incense and wood, mostly.

[Magycmyste]

Ok, I'm not exactly expecting this to morph on my skin, but I'm doing the full write-up anyway, just in case. Also, I can't remember having ever actually smelled India Ink, so I'm not entirely sure how this matches up.

 

In the bottle: Smells a little tarry, or like pine pitch.

 

Wet on skin: Same but with a squeeze of fresh lemon added to it.

 

Dried down: Lemony-woodsy. Like, a hardwood table with lemon oil rubbed into it.

 

Throw: This has a little bit of throw to it, but not a whole lot.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* This is a very masculine scent, and, as of now, not really one of my favorites. I may hang onto it, though, to try again, or just for the concept.

[StevenBoatman]

This is....this my sketchbook!

 

I have a sketchbook (well, several) and I usually have one with me at all times. I sketch in both pen and pencil, and this is the smell of some of my older, more filled in books! It's graphite, and ink, and paper, and loveliness. It's a comforting and familiar scent.

 

Now I have to track down a bottle....

[Alaeidrel]

Strong, fresh ink and so much pepper I actually curled my lip up when I sniffed. I'm glad I only ended up with a tester of this... it's super strong. I can't imagine wearing it, although the concept is interesting.

[Monster]

Wow, this is spot on. On first application, it's a sharp, chemical-like inky note. After only a few moments, the paper start to come through giving me the impression of multiple black and white copies being spat out of a photocopier. I've never smelled india ink before, but I'm guessing it smells like copy toner. There's also something about this that reminds me of wood polish. In the final dry down the ink dissipates leaving behind sappy resin. There must be a ton of olibanum in this, it smells very similar to the single note when it's dry.

 

Incredibly bizarre!

[porcelina]

india ink is sooo beautiful and i feel so happy to have a bottle of it but also SO greedy because i still want more. it's a beautiful, crisp, papery scent with a spill of pitch black ink. it's peppery, dry and surprisingly complex. i don't think it would be to everyone's tastes but i just love it! there is a dry woods/resin character that really appeals to me. it is more layered and complex than you'd expect a single note to be and i agree that it really is very wearable.

[MischiefofRats]

This scent startled a laugh right out of me. In the bottle, I didn't think much of it, but the second I put it on my skin, I just cracked up. I'll be honest--I couldn't even remember what India ink actually smelled like. I used it a ton in college, but before I bought this I even went and sniffed the bottle I had in my art supply bin and didn't get much out of it. But putting this on... This is exactly what India ink smells like. It came right back, because this is dead on. I had an instant flashback to college, sitting hunched over a worktable at ten PM in the studio building by myself, listening to weird music and jamming along to get things finished for deadlines. Totally cool experience for me, that this scent did that. As for the perfume itself, I don't get the printer toner vibe others mentioned, nor do I get a peppery hit. It's just.... Ink. India ink, a solid hit of paper, and on my skin since I amp it in any blend, just a itsy breath of sweetness. Shockingly wearable, and I am super glad I went out on a limb and got this bottle. It won't get a ton of wear, but it will get worn. I really like it. Beautiful work from Beth, as usual.

Edited December 20, 2016 by MischiefofRats