Harper

[Casablanca]

Pale bergamot, labdanum, white incense, vanilla-tinged musk, Burmese oudh and tea rose.

Not remembering any notes for Harper, I got a luscious, sexy wood musk -- I was thinking rosewood and teak, but see instead rose and oudh -- and a little lazy, subdued vanilla. The labdanum and incense are also out in the ring. I love the way the incense blends into the wood here, almost as though it's part of the wood grain.

 

I don't pick up bergamot at any point, so seeing that one in the notes list was a surprise. I should forget what's in an ordered fragrance more often, because this was fun.

 

I like this and look forward to its old age... if it lasts that long.

[zankoku_zen]

Pink roses, vanilla musk, and bergamot. This one is mainly a pink rose blend on me. I think the oudh amps up the tea rose. Good throw and wear length.

[Blood onmy hands]

When I first put this on, I thought that it smelled like Monster Bait: Underpants and was ready to sign on and buy all the bottles. The rich vanilla cream and smooth woods opening is so familiar. This quickly shifts to more of a pencil shavings wood and rosewood with hint of warm vanilla and pink rose, though. Much more woody and with an obvious rose scent.

15 minutes in, I'm left with a faint, perfume/musky rose and dry wood with a hint of salty vanilla cream. Wish it were stronger and had more vanilla. Becomes very dry and dusty wood with sour rose and disappears before it's even made one hour on me.

 

Starts off promising, dries down not so great, and then quickly disappears.

[galahad]

In the Vial:

Oudh and vanilla with a touch of rose

On the Skin:

Vanilla and oudh to start which jar against each other but the fight settles down pretty quickly to leave a vague woody incense softly backed by vanilla. I am loving the white incense note.

On the Drydown:

Very little lasting power. 10 minutes in and it's barely a whisper of sweet musk

[whisperstilled]

Gut reaction? This reminds me strongly of a face cream I remember my grandmother using. Sweet roses and vanilla, with the oudh and white incense lending a strange background note. The labdanum gives it a slightly medicinal quality. Too sweet and rosy for me, unfortunately.

[theseagrows]

this starts off with something woody and kind of nutty? not sure what that is. quickly it softens and turns to incense and rose with some bergamot for good measure. at this point, it's a little bit sharp, but not too bad. then it gets deeper from the labdanum. after about 10 minutes i get a smooth oude and a the vanilla musk. it dries down to a vanilla-oudh with rose and incense. so pretty. i honestly wish i had an incense that smelled like this! in the end it's a vanilla-rose with oudh, very pretty.

Edited September 4, 2017 by theseagrows

[Cassandra Dudum]

Wet: A nutty scent (like almond milk) with a creamy rose background

 

Dry: Smells like earl grey (probably the bergamot!) with a dash of vanilla almond milk and some tea roses. I do not get any incense or labdanum. This scent is borderline foody on my skin because the vanilla is quite sweet! It is a tea rose version of A Little More Tea without the cookies.

 

It is a pretty scent but I do not think it is bottle worthy as it fades after 20 minutes. I think this will age nicely though.

Edited September 5, 2017 by VioletVorpal

[lizardskin]

The first time I tested Harper I was deeply hungover and trapped on a long car ride, so maybe not the best of life choices. It smelled overwhelmingly of incense, to the point that I had to wash it off. I tried it again a few days ago and got a much nicer mix of notes--it starts off with a brief, woody oudh followed by a nice mix of vanilla musk and rose. I didn't notice much bergamot or labdanum, but I'm not really sure what labdanum smells like so I may just have missed it.

The incense builds slowly, but after a few hours it was mostly incense and nothing else. It wasn't as overwhelming as before, but it wasn't doing much for me. I gave it to my brother to sniff and he told me it smelled like old church ladies, so there's that too.

 

I think I'm going to have to pass this one on. If you like rose + incense combos, though, Harper is worth a try!

[Vaporeon]

I get mostly sweet and salty vanilla-musk with a hint of rose and wood. The longevity is much better now than when I first got it and I like it much more.

This almost reminds me a lot of a lighter inez with rose instead of carnation

Edited March 13, 2018 by Vaporeon

[claudia6913]

I received my bottles on Saturday (today is Tuesday) so they've had appropriate time to sit and come to a more normal temp. Harper is gorgeous and sexy and everything I wanted it to be and more. I am consistently blown away by the CD scents and this is no exception. The throw is decent, I can smell it as I type this. It's luxuriant, woody, lazy, and almost cozy. It's an odd mix of sexy - if sexy were a soft warm blanket you wrapped around yourself.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: Tea rose-infused resins and incense, with just a hint of bergamot and vanilla musk. I hope I end up getting some vanilla musk on my skin, as rose + resin combos aren’t usually my jam.

 

Wet: The resins and tea rose mingle and are the strongest aspect of the scent on me. The oudh in this is pretty strong, and so is the somewhat sour labdanum and tea rose. If I inhale really deeply, I get some bergamot, but it is not a main player. And I can smell some musk, but no vanilla at the moment. Woe.

 

Dry: Super incense-y oudh and a light tea rose. The oudh in this is very strong on me, it’s almost like a red patchouli oudh? There’s just a hint of the vanilla-tinged musk far in the background, with the tinged part of the vanilla descriptor being the keyword.

 

Verdict: There is just not enough sweetness here for me. I really hoped I’d get more vanilla musk from this, and the oudh in this isn’t a kind I particularly enjoy (is this the kind in Half-Elf?). It was nice to be able to try it, though.