Allegory of Winter

[achildoftime]

Abraham Blowmaert

Soft brown leather and glowing embers of amber tinged with blood orange and crimson musk, and flecks of night-black coal dust.

I'm not great with picking out these notes. They swirl together into an almost earthy scent in the bottle.

Wet, it's much brighter. I get some juicy blood orange wrapped in brown leather. I don't know if I'd call it soft, though. It smells like a more rugged outdoor jacket. I also get something prickling in my nose like vetiver does, but it isn't the same. Maybe the coal dust?

Dry, the leather has softened and the other notes have blended into each other really neatly. Whatever was prickling my nose mellowed out and dovetailed with the orange. I'm not experienced enough to pick out amber, but the whole scent has a richness and I'm thinking that the amber is what's stitching all of these elements together. I quite like it and I think it would be a pretty solid unisex scent.

[Deliciousness]

In the bottle: Whoa! Strong earthy elements with a strong background of something akin to smoked vetiver.

 

Wet on skin: Holy smoking vetiver Batman!

 

Dry Down: Thankfully, the earthy, slightly smokey vetiver calms itself down enough for the blood orange to emerge and lighten up the party. I think the amber helps to soften and meld the somewhat contrasting scents in to a cohesive, unifying blend. As this wears, the crimson musk starts to peek thru a bit - it's not strong, but lends a lovely counter point to the orange.

 

All in all, I'm surprised by this blend. In the bottle I was quite wary about trying this as it was quite strong vetiver and dirt. But on the skin, this blooms into something quite elegant. It's a peculiar scent that has many different aspects during it's dry down stage - where it starts earthy then becomes bright citrus - then the amber wraps itself around these two components, and after a bit - then the musk starts to come forward. The blend itself doesn't have a ton of throw - but I also didn't put a lot on my skin. I'm really liking this one - looking forward to wearing it again.

[Haltija]

Without the blood orange, this would of been a perfect scent for me.

 

I love orange and I love my smoky scents. But together, they don't work on me at all. The tartness of the orange mixed with the smoke from the vetiver left a very awful combination on me.

[Blood onmy hands]

Soft brown leather and crimson musk made me think this was going to work on me, but the glowing embers and coal dust translate into a sharp, smoky, acrid sort of fragrance. I don't get anything like red musk or leather, which are usually quite strong, but a tart, slightly sour orange joins the ash and woodsmoke in the drydown. After an hour, the smoke is settling down and it smells a lot like fireplace ashes and baby powdery amber on my skin. Not working on me at all.

[Casablanca]

I got to sample this as one of my friend’s decants last night.

 

On the wand, there isn’t much that’s distinct for me – I just get a soft blend of orange-warmed black dust.

 

On my skin, Allegory opens with blood orange, scarce hints of brown leather and black dust, and an unlisted vetiver.

 

At the start of drydown, I start to smell musk, like a blood orange musk – though now and then I get a hint of red musk mingling in. It's as though they were made together, becoming a red-orange spectrum of musk that’s far more attractive to me than the lab’s red musk alone. After this dries, though, the orange fades and this gets closer to regular red musk on my skin. It also becomes far more sooty, the coal amping on me as it did in Le Père Fouettard. It doesn’t work on me.

 

On my friend, this one really bloomed. Anything with leather and/or red musk in it just rounds out wonderfully on her, and she could scarcely tear herself away from huffing this and Krampus all night.

[theshapeshifter]

Caveat: I do have a bit of a cold, so I will have to retest this when I'm healthier. However, it's a hit so far!

 

Initially I got a whiff of something like vetiver, but it disappeared almost right away, as did the orange (citrus is usually pretty fleeting on my skin). I'm mostly getting a warm, powdery amber backed with dusty leather and just a hint of musk very much in the background - the combo is almost evoking sandalwood.

 

 

ETA: A later test, now that it's sat for about a month and I no longer have that cold. Not getting anything like vetiver this time, and the citrus stuck around longer. It's reminding me a bit of Red Devil, or a favourite 'spiced orange' incense, except with some leather mixed in. It didn't knock my socks off the first time, but I love it now!

Edited February 17, 2017 by theshapeshifter

[Dark Alice]

Wet: I almost didn't try it. The coal dust choked me up a bit. Dry: coal covered leather chair. I get no other notes. No blood orange, no crimson musk....I am so glad I got a decant instead of a bottle. This is off to a new home!

[LizziesLuck]

Terrified of the blood orange spoiling this....

 

Wet: Orange, yes, but not going powdery yet. I get hints of what smells a lot like vetiver, but is maybe the coal dust? Much different than the coal dust in Le Pere Fouettard. The amber is nice. Overall it's kind of muddied though, notes are hard to identify and pick out.

 

Dry: Orange, but not powdered bathroom cleaner, which is extremely impressive. I really struggle to find orange that works on my skin, and this does. Sadly, the only other note I can pick out is the amber, making this very simple. Nice, but not amazing. I wish I got some of the musk or leather. I'll let it sit for a bit and try it again. So far not having a ton of luck with the Yules!

[milo]

I'm not a fan of fruits with red musk, and this is what this smells like, though red musk isn't listed. Both separate or fine, but it's something about the combination that just turns my stomach. So, I dodged a bullet here, even though the notes sounded that they may work together. This kind of reminds me of Marianne, so if you like her, I'm sure you'd like this one.

[zankoku_zen]

Brown leather, blood orange and a touch of dusty amber. This one reminds me alot to a Future Primitive Soap lotion I'm wearing which is Rook and Raven. And I think tis the combination of brown leather + orange. More orange than I expected. Good throw and wear length. I would be curious to see this on a guy.

[LiberAmoris]

I bought Allegory of Winter for my husband and it's very nice on him. The leather, amber, blood orange, and crimson musk are all nicely balanced when first applied, but the crimson musk and leather come forward as it dries. The coal dust is (I think) the dark, slightly gritty, dusty note that weaves itself through the others, giving the brightness of the blood orange a sooty dimness. Another one that I'll borrow from time to time.

[SophieCedar]

Allegory of winter showcases a perfect marriage of iffy notes & definite wins, resulting in higher confidence that I don't need to ban all scents including iffies. 2 iffy notes - crimson musk, coal. 3 wins - brown leather, amber, and blood orange.

 

The wet phase is lovely. A burst of blood orange and amber, glowing red by the inclusion of crimson musk.

Drydown smells like an old armchair. Warm, comforting, leathery, cozy, and a bit musty. Crimson musk and coal go a bit mealy but lets just contain my anxiety about them, shall we? Overall, a positive exposure therapy experience.

Edited March 7, 2017 by SophieCedar

[Lucchesa]

I was excited to try Allegory of Winter in a swap. Wet on my skin, it was orange and vetiver -- I reread the ingredients and decided the coal dust must be mainly composed of black, smoky vetiver. Fortunately, I like smoky vetiver, because I got a lot of it in this scent. As it dried down, the leather and red musk came out to play with the vetiver, but what do you know? The vetiver was bullying the red musk rather than the other way around. Funny, red musk has worked for me as often as not lately.

 

I honestly did not get a lot of amber in this scent for the first two or three hours; it was really citrus, leather and vetiver on me, though I'm sure the amber was there as a warming base. It lasts a long time, manages to be both sexy and cozy, and the late drydown is really beautiful; the vetiver dies away and leaves a sunset of orange, leather, amber and red musk. I'm delighted I got to try this -- it's unusual and very satisfying. And it would be gorgeous on a guy if I had one who would wear scent.

 

ETA the visual:

Edited September 19, 2018 by Lucchesa