Mars Ultor

[dementia_divine]

MARS ULTOR

Mars the Avenger

Black amber and smoky vanilla with cistus, benzoin, caramelized tobacco, and blackened nutmeg.

For those that are curious: the label art shows his torso. The text covers the lower half of his body.

In the bottle: When this first arrived, I was mostly getting all the blackened things! Now that I have let it settle for a few days, I can say that the tobacco is quite prominent, and though I still get the black amber and blackened nutmeg, the nutmeg is not as prominent in the bottle as it was a few days ago. I can smell more of the benzoin now, the cistus, and a bit of smoky vanilla. This mainly smells like smoky resins to me.

Wet: Benzoin and black amber dominate. I am also getting the rockrose (cistus) and nutmeg. I can smell the tobacco, but it isn't as strong as it was in the bottle. If I inhale really deeply, I can smell the smoky vanilla note, but it is in the background.

After sitting on my skin for a while, the rockrose note has become more prominent, and the smoky vanilla note is helping to sweeten the scent a bit. However, I would still describe this as a smoky resin blend.

Dry: Mostly soft benzoin sweetened by the smoky vanilla and caramelized tobacco.

Verdict: I like this, but I don't love it. That said, I am going to hold onto my bottle, because I think this one will age well.

[Atrous]

This scent is all about the Tobacco and Vanilla.

The other notes seem to be there to deepen, layer, support, and lend complexity to the two stars.

For me, Vanilla usually gets lost in a blend and comes off just adding creaminess.

In Mars Ultor the Vanilla is lush and stands on its own. I can definitely tell there is Vanilla in this and not just a generic creaminess.

The Tobacco is dark and robust. Nutmeg makes the whole thing deliciously spicy. There is a sweetness that runs through both Tobacco and Vanilla. It borders on gourmand but doesn't go foody. There is an underlying resin vibe but doesn't go full on incense.

 

The picture that enters my mind is someone smoking high quality, vanilla flavored pipe tobacco in a dark room.

 

This scent is dark, smokey, vanillic, spicy, resinous. It has a pretty good throw and longevity. I feel it is unisex bordering on masculine.

[strahlend]

The amber is dark and sweet. The vanilla and tobacco give dimension and depth so there's no danger of wandering into powder territory. Eventually it reminds me of a slightly more musky version of Morocco. The proportions of amber to vanilla to tobacco are such that they blend perfectly together and none of the particular elements dominate the blend. Warm, sweet, faintly resinous, with just a little edge to it.

Edited February 27, 2015 by strahlend

[AmyO'Shields]

Oh my goodness.

Dark, sweet amber (i agree with strahlend) with NUTMEG! Yes, this is so wonderful! The tobacco isn't stomping all over everything and smells amazing...seems to intertwine with the benzoin and just wow.

 

ETA: i wanted to note that scents with tobacco in them sometimes make me ill. I was a nasty smoker for 16 years and have not smoked in over 2, and i notice that when i smoked, tobacco smelled like burning rubber on me, whereas now it just smells like nice chewy tobacco...unless it stomps all over everything. The tobacco here is beautiful, on me, and very chill - happy to blend in. :-)

Edited March 2, 2015 by Herb Girl

[zankoku_zen]

Dark, smoky sweet amber, hint of nutmeg and benzoin. I was really hoping for tobacco and vanilla in this. And I ended up amping all of the elements that I hoped would add to the blend, as opposed to well, make it seem like the love child of Dee and Cracked Bell.

 

Dark, smoky, amber.

[unxolve]

Starts off smelling a little like vanilla coke? It has a "fizzy" tinge. I hate to say this is dark musk, and maybe it isn't, but it feels like there's something similar in there to that slightly (not quite) citrus lemon-lime sprite smell. A friend who smelled my wrist said she got "all vanilla".

Drying down, it's more skunky caramel and an intense amber.

 

Dried and on one of my wrists, I can FINALLY smell a smidge of tobacco and smoke, and that smell is pretty dreamy- on my other wrist, there's no tobacco or smoke whatsoever. Auuuuuugh with the smoke, it's so, so good y'all.

But overall, not sure what to think about it. I love amber, I love dark, but when I'm not picking up on the tobacco (on my other wrist...why do my wrists have different chemistry?) this may be a little TOO intense and skunky for me.

[DevilsCandyCane]

When I first tried it this morning, it was acrid burning tyres, blehh... It's had all day to warm up, so here goes attempt number 2...

 

Freshly applied...hmm...acrid tyres. Whiff of burning rubber. Bit of fairly pleasant cologne in the background.

 

Drying, the acrid tyre stench is fading, but it's still very dirty. It's hard to say exactly *what* it smells like, I'm unfamiliar with cistus and benzoin, but there's none of the vanilla, amber, nutmeg or tobacco that I wanted. It's just dirty racetrack with something a bit citrus-cologney. It definitely is getting cleaner as it dries, but sadly that just means edging towards a cheap sort of toilet cleaning product

 

Usually I really like smoky things, but the only smoke I get from this is acrid, 'someone's put something plastic in the oven', and all the sweeter notes are just...not there, at all.

 

Yuck. Will be getting rid of this bottle!

[Haltija]

Give me all the blends with tobacco

 

This is such a good tobacco based blend. In the opening it's all nutmeg and amber but the amber doesn't go to powder and the nutmeg doesn't take over everything, the spices are actually subtle. I agree with a reviewer above about it having a sort of "fizzy" thing happening. It happens on me but not until the initial wet stage fades and I don't know what it could be because I don't really know how to distinguish cistus or benzoin in fragrances yet. When it has dried oh does it get lovely. The nutmeg is still very present and the amber has faded away but the caramelized tobacco and the vanilla come out and I am just enveloped in a cloud of tobacco heaven. Not pipe tobacco but a more rugged, chewy tobacco. I am loving this!

 

The only negative thing I can say is that it fades rather quickly. So I will have to take this with me when I go out and about so I can re apply.

[themeaningofV]

Clean, slightly sharp/soapy vanilla deepened by tobacco and nutmeg. Light and sweet. This tends to fade quickly, so it's one for slathering or applying to clothes.

[Teaotter]

The amber in this reminds me very much of Leo (the 2007 one) and a little bit of my beloved Hay Moon -- both of which are winners on my skin.

 

Sweet amber with a hint of spiciness that could be cinnamon or pepper (probably the nutmeg) somewhere in the distance, with vanilla smoothing the whole thing out. The tobacco is probably giving it that warm feeling (my usual response to well-blended tobacco notes), but it doesn't stand out separately.

 

Honestly, this perfume smells like one thing, all the notes are so well blended. I was worried that the nutmeg would stomp all over everything, or that the cistus would be too floral. But this is just utterly beautiful and perfectly in balance.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: It's amber-dominant, but a dark, smoky amber - thanks, tobacco! The vanilla is also there to sweeten the deal with maaaaaybe the faintest whiff of florals in the background. Ironically, this is simultaneously both the most complex (note-wise) and the most simple (scent-wise) of the Odes to Mars I've tried so far.

 

Wet: Alas, that wonderful warm smoky sweetness is gone, leaving something much more cologne-y and "clean"-smelling in its place. The tobacco is still there, but now more directly masculine than unisex, as it was ITI. The benzoin and/or vanilla sneak back in over time, but they always hang around in the background instead of coming forward.

 

Dry: A tobacco-amber scent, but nothing like as sultry as that might sound. It's definitely more clean, even soapy. This is what I imagine to be the cologne of the teacher you had a vague crush on in high school, or maybe a youth pastor (not that I've ever had a pastor, youth or otherwise, but this is what I imagine one would smell like). Somebody you would trust with your kids, but is still reasonably attractive.

 

EDIT: After about a year and a half...woo, now this is what I was looking for! Woozy, boozy smokiness - caramelized tobacco is the most dominant note, but the amber and dark, smoky vanilla round it out beautifully. But at the same time, I get the impression of sticky-sweet resins, melting in the sun, like going for a hike in the Sierra Nevadas in the summer. Mad, bad, and dangerous to know, but soooooooo good. Aging takes this one from mediocre to outstanding!

Edited July 28, 2016 by Lunasariel

[cuervosueno]

I love a lot of the notes in this: tobacco, amber, especially nutmeg, benzoin, so I wanted to try it. I'm usually actually not a fan of BPAL tobacco (I really did NOT like French Tobacco sn), so I decided to go with a decant just in case.

 

I do get a similar tobacco to the tobacco sn, which is not to my taste. there was something almost cologne like about it (rather than the straight humidor scent I like in a tobacco note), and I do get that scent in this when it is wet. In fact, wet, I just went....what? It smelled almost fruity/floral, probably from the cistus, which I had to look up, and when I realized it was rockrose I thought that might be what I'm getting--something slightly floral. I also got vanilla and a carmelized scent but no nutmeg, which is sad, because it is an all time favorite of mine. No benzoin either, which I also love. Anyway, I was unimpressed overall: it was a nice cologne like scent, and yes, I agree with Lunasariel, almost clean/soapy (it never went soapy on me, but verged on it).

Fine: one less bottle I need.

 

But then about an hour later, I thought what is that lovely scent? It was not Mars Alator, though I like that even more than this. No, it was this! It had changed! I like it much more now. Now it is a lovely vanilla-esque amber, with something caramel in there. Overall, it turned to a rather sophisticated semi-sweet scent, with perhaps a hint of tobacco. It is lovely.

[tziporra]

NOM. This is very much root beer (from the nutmeg) and leather and vanilla after the fashion of Tombstone and The Bow and Crown of Conquest, but I like it better than either of them (well, my bottle of Tombstone was absconded with by a friend, so I can't compare side by side, but I think I like it better. Anyway, I have this and I don't have that, so that's a plus).

 

It has a moment of terrifying leather amp in the drydown but then it was all well behaved spiced carmelized vanilla soda with a nice floral depth added in for good measure to make it slightly less manly than Tombstone. 100% in for a bottle.

[theseagrows]

at first, this amber has a bit of a zing to it, taking on an almost citrussy quality. it's a bit sharp, bordering on soapy. maybe that's the cistus? i definitely get a strong benzoin component as well. after the perfume settles on my skin a but more the tobacco and vanilla become more apparent and tone down the sharpness of this scent, thankfully. i like this one, but i think i am amping the benzoin too much so it's a like more than a love.

 

ETA: i tried this again, 2 days later and now i absolutely love it. this time it's just a beautiful amber-vanilla with that lovely carmelized tobacco and just a hint of nutmeg. it's so sexy/comforting and would be perfect during the cold winter months, and now i am considering a bottle. file under experiments in skin chemistry, i guess.

Edited March 24, 2015 by theseagrows

[Balame]

Not what I was expecting, but certainly not bad either. As others have said this starts out in a surprising way. It smells like an almost alcoholic nutmeg to me. Deep and sweet, but also dry and airy. Brighter than I imagined. There’s a soapiness and a little bit of a fruity/citrus vibe from the cistus. During this stage I don’t hate it, but it smells a bit generic and/or cleaner-ish.

 

However, as it dries it becomes quite the charmer. The amber and tobacco suddenly show up and darken the blend, giving it a sweet, incense-y and throbbing base. Yet the cistus remains and now an amazing vanilla helps overlay it with that same cool and airy feeling. The cistus also becomes less fruity and simply rounds out the amber.

 

Something of a play in opposites. Sweetly smoky but not cloying. Makes me think of a succubus/incubus or an attractive someone giving you beckoning glances from the shadowed corner of a bar. Enticing, seductive, but also comfortable. I like it despite the weird wet stage. I’ve never smelled tobacco thinned out in such a pleasing way before. Give it time to settle since it’s a morpher.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Balame

[Lethran]

In bottle: I fear I do not like cistus as it turns out. Add it to benzoin and amber and it’s rather vaguely floral shampoo. The caramelized tobacco and blackened nutmeg give it a dangerous, slightly burned feel. I can tell this will not work, so no skin test.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Mostly the black amber, I think. with a hint of bitterness.

 

Wet on skin: This has an almost floral quality to it. A very dark floral. So apparently, that's the cistus's (rockrose) turn to shine? Except in this case, it's rockrose wearing a black veil.

 

Dried down: As it sits on my skin, a slight sweetness starts to appear. It's VERY slight, though. But it does mellow the floral into something a little bit softer.

 

Throw: Not really much on me.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* I like this, but I'm not sure if I like it enough. I'm also beginning to feel the slight stirrings of a headache, and I'm not sure if it's perfume or food related. I'll hang on to the decant for awhile and give it another try.

[LiberAmoris]

Mars Ultor is a smoky, ambered floral on me, with a hint of nutmeg and tobacco. On my husband, it smells like dark amber and vanilla and tobacco, in almost equal proportions. I agree that this will age well!

[fiddlehead]

I figured this would a good choice because I love The Antikythera Mechanism. The vanilla and tobacco combo is perfect and is the most obvious at first. As the other notes come out it changes into something even better than AM on me. Smoky, warm, complicated vanilla. It's very gender neutral on me and I can't wait to try it on my husband. We may need another bottle of this. It's bound to get even more gorgeous over time.

[milo]

This is like a more 'red' and unisex version of Haloes. Not the same notes, but I'm getting wood, vanilla, a touch of spice, and tobacco. Quite lovely, but I have Haloes and don't need anything else like it.

[alyelle]

In the imp: vanilla, amber, and what I assume is benzoin. I'm not overly familiar with that note as a component but this reminds me a lot of Arana.

 

Wet: VERY Arana! Vanilla and benzoin dominate, and I get hints of tobacco or nutmeg. No cistus whatsoever.

 

Dry: like so many of this year's Lupers, this one doesn't morph a lot on me. It does, however, have a better lifespan than some! It dries down to a lovely soft vanilla, with a lessened benzoin overtone.

 

 

Life is around six hours, throw is medium tapering to light in the final stages. I wish I'd had the chance to get a full bottle of this, because it filled the Arana shaped hole in my life so well; sadly, by the time I got around to ordering the decants I wanted, it was out of stock. Straight onto the wishlist.

 

Stars: ★★★★

[Roogna]

soapy citrus

that is all

well..I may be forcing some vanilla with my imagination right before the soapy citrus takes over

it's real light and stays close to the skin

[grnwoodtree]

This is a sexy, sweaty, earthy scent with a faint sweetness. It makes me think of sweaty bodies after sex.

 

There is something in it that reminds me of Sara Pezzini, however, the listed notes don't match. I am amping the amber and tobacco, and probably the benzoin too, which is giving it a slight acrid quality.

 

It doesn't morph, and I like it, but it's not something I would wear. I would like to smell it on my husband...now to try to get him to try it.

[Ishtar]

I wasn't totally in love with Mars Ultor when I first got it, but the notes looked like they could have excellent aging potential, so I decided to let it sit for a few months before trying it again. That certainly did the trick. The initial soapiness has completely disappeared, and Mars Ultor has mellowed into a rather unisex, wonderfully well-blended scent. It is sophisticated yet fresh, and very easy to wear. The dark amber is beautiful in this, and melds very well with the warm woodsiness of the cistus. Definitely a keeper!

[BeyondBad1313]

Amber, vanilla, and nutmeg in one scent. It is like a holy grail. I have been on a desperate hunt for this scent since it was frimped to me. It is sexy slinky vanilla and amber, and the nutmeg makes the blend a bit spicy. The benzoin also makes an appearance here. This blend has potential to be up on my faves. I can't wear it much till I track down more.