A Kneeling Child Watching a Ghost, Devil, and Puppet Making Mayhem in a Room

[suki]

After: George Du Maurier

A chaotic, clanging scent – shadowy, sweet, and discordant: black licorice and teakwood.

Full disclosure: I got this for my partner, who adores black licorice scents. But while I'm not the 'target audience' in this scenario, why not test it anyway?

In The Bottle: All black licorice, all the time. It's not overpowering, though, which surprised me.

Wet On Skin: The teak is mellowing the licorice a little- smoothing out the edges, as it were. The black licorice is becoming more 'earthy' as a result. For me, this is a blessing, as BL generally sells like NyQuil to me, and this, blissfully, does not.

Dry Down: A rich, smooth, decidedly "masculine" scent, the teak balances the licorice and makes it rich, earthy and even a bit sexy.

In All: Possibly a black licorice scent for those of us that despise the note! At the very least, I will enjoy smelling this on my beloved without fear

[Kat Conover-Karpuk]

I was worried that this would be too simple or sweet-- it's neither. The black licorice is mellow and just a little sweet, and it's really nicely balanced by the teakwood. The licorice really comes off more like red musk than actual black licorice, which may be part of why I like it so much. I've recently found that I'm a fan of woody blends which is the only reason I tried this, and I'm relieved that it's a winner on my skin. I can see using this one a lot.

Edited October 19, 2016 by TijuanaBible

[Casablanca]

I have no prominent licorice blends and want more teakwood around, because I love it, so this one was an easy pick for me.

Kneeling Child's first impression on my skin is black licorice in black musk. Then I pick up the pervasive teakwood, with its sleek, darkly polished wood scent, adding the sophistication that I love. The licorice is sweet, but not overly so, mingled with the teak and this sort of lemon myrtle-vetiver musk. It's a nice thing I like black musk, or I might have been disappointed here. But this is a lovely dark, darkscent for those who are good with these notes.

[VetchVesper]

I love black licorice and have been wanting to get to know teak a little better, so this was a must buy. First impressions, this is my beloved licorice backed with the spicy warmth of teakwood. It's the same licorice in Kabuki, but without the candy sweetness from the cherry. It's beautiful, balanced, and unisex.

 

Dry down - Something about this smells really... familiar. For a long time I couldn't figure out what it was reminding me of, because there just aren't that many licorice scents, but then I realized, it's a dead ringer for Satan Starting From the Touch of Ithuriel's Spear on me. I have no idea why since they don't share any of the same notes, but SSFTIS is one of my favorites, so hey, I'm not complaining. I love this and am very happy with my bottle.

Edited November 1, 2016 by VetchVesper

[Elspethdixon]

Wet/in imp - anise. Just straight-up anise/black licorice

As it starts to dry - anise softens and now it's anise-smoke-a soft/slightly-sweet/slightly 'fuzzy' third thing that I assume must be the teak (the oak and tobacco dominate Antikythera Mechanism on me to much to pick out the teak note in it). The anise gives it an oddly fresh/clean quality despite the smokiness.

Fifteen minutes in: my left wrist is a soft/faint cozy skin scent. My right wrist is anise and polished wood.

Two hours in - both forearms/wrists have become a soft/faint cozy skin scent, though my right wrist still has traces of anise. By three/four hours, only the faintest hint of skin-scent is left, and only if I put my nose right against my wrist.

Not very long-lived, but cozy and pleasant. I'm going to have to investigate licorice further as a note.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Elspethdixon

[lucycat]

In the decant the teak is dominant, though I can smell the licorice underneath. It has a not unpleasant, but slightly sour quality, that when applied, smells briefly like raw dough. Fortunately that phase passes as the oil warms on my skin, and A Kneeling Child…becomes spicy licorice, grounded and strengthened by the teak. I love the scent of licorice—I chose Absinthe as part of my very first imp pack—but it’s such a light and airy scent it often just floats away after a very short time. I hoped that the teak would prevent that from happening in this blend, especially since my skin amps wood notes, and so far that seems to be the case.

[zankoku_zen]

Licorice and teak. If you like licorice, give this a whirl. The oil was super dark brown. Licorice and smooth teak. Dark, spicy, foreboding. Medium throw and wear length.

[joopjoop]

I like this a lot, but then I looooove licorice and anise scents. The teak gives it a nice smoothness and depth, but it is primarily a licorice scent to me.

 

Starts off strong but fades rather quickly. Glad I have a decant, but there are other licorice/anise scents that I think I enjoy more.

 

I do think it would smell amazing on a man - hmmm, must test.

[LizziesLuck]

This really called to me. Sometimes simple blends are the best on my skin, so really excited to try this.

 

 

Wet: Wow. Stunning. I didn't realize how much I like anise until right now. The teak is perfect with it. I think I only have one other scent with anise in it, so I am already thinking how I could easily justify getting a bottle of this...mmm, it's pretty! Squarely unisex. Sweet enough that I feel comfortable in it.

 

Dry: This is lovely and subtle once dry. Something about it seems really right on my skin, but it's hard to describe why. I just really like it. And am debating a bottle.