Alias

[annemathematics]

The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he answered with a sidelong glance.

"No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always awkward doing business with an alias."

A masquerade, a scent to camouflage: tonka bean and vanilla with red patchouli, Spanish king mandarin, white sandalwood, black pepper, and rose geranium.

From the sniff in the imp to fresh on the skin, this is a rose geranium cologne. A complex and nuanced rose geranium cologne.
As it dries, rg sits back in her throne and I get more of the patch and especially the sandalwood coming forward. There's a veil of tonka floating in after about an hour. The citrus and the spice don't stand out but add brightness and a bit of warmth.

 

I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of rose geranium on my skin. I like the essential oil only for short bursts and in small doses and I tend to amp it. That said, I find Alias lovely and strangely cozy, especially as it dries down. I get the image of a classy gentleman in a warm tavern. Looking forward to layering with this, and seeing how it ages.

[oakandloam]

In the imp, all I could smell was sickly sweet fruit. My very first thought was lychee before I saw the mandarin note.

 

The moment it gets on my skin something magical happens though. Tonka and patchouli jump up, tempering that fruity sweetness. I not familiar with rose geranium, but I think it must be that wonderful spicy floral. I'm definitely getting the pepper, but this is really fruity and floral, much more than I was expecting.

 

I can't stop huffing as it dries. It feels like every breath I take I'm noticing something unexpectedly new and wonderful. As it dries the floral notes definitely take a back seat to all the resin, but it keeps popping unexpected combinations of all the notes on me. The only note I haven't really seen specifically is the vanilla, but I think it's part of the overall sweetness. The blend is perfect and I think it would work on both a man and a woman. The throw is not extreme, but this scent is more on the sultry side of things than an everyday wear to work scent.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Peppery geranium! Which is sort of funny, as I had just been complaining I had never been able to pick out geranium in a scent, my skin had previously swallowed it. This is really interesting! The combo of the floral/spice notes are giving this a carnation-like feel. There's a sweetness there too, but overall this is so well blended I am having a hard time picking out notes. Pretty unisex so far - I like fairly feminine scents, but I don't feel as if I couldn't wear this. Actually, I am really digging this, and if it doesn't morph much as it dries, I think it'll be a real win. So different from anything else I have in my collection!

 

Dry: This sweetens a bit more as it dries, and the sandalwood comes out and lends it some woodiness, but it remains mostly peppery geranium, and I really like it. This is a warm, woody, spicy floral and I am really happy I blind bottled this (not a single one of the decants I got of all of the rest of the Blue Carbuncles worked on me, I got lucky with this! )

[zankoku_zen]

Tonka, rose geranium, sandalwood and RED PATCHOULI. For me, this is a red sandalwood blend - with tinges of tonka and rose geranium. It actually smells vaguely Shunga-esque to me. Spicy floral with the red patchouli (which smells like that single note released a few years ago).

 

If you're looking for a new patchouli blend to cuddle, try this one out. It's got that spicy Oriental floral bloom on it, but dries down to a rich, smooth patchouli/sandalwood mix.

[Lucchesa]

Rose geranium definitely dominates in this blend on my skin; my aunt had a huge rose geranium plant and this reminds me of her house. But it is spicy enough that it doesn't scream feminine floral, and I'm finally getting a BPAL pepper scent that my skin doesn't just eliminate. The other notes support the rose geranium beautifully, though as usual my skin chemistry damps down the mandarin. Vanilla sometimes ruins things for me but if I sense it at all it is only as a shy supporting note. This is lovely and warm without a lot of throw on me, so I could easily wear it to work.