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Just like any art form, drag is a question with no right answer. Proceeds from this scent will be donated to the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

A universal sheer frankincense and bourbon vanilla skin musk that works on every body type. It can be worn alone, or as a base upon which you layer other scents.

This one is light and bright. The frankincense is definitely a sheer variety. This isn't reminiscent of Hope and Fear Set Free at all (and I can't compare it to The Contrast, because I've never sniffed it.) I get more musk than vanilla in the bourbon vanilla-infused skin musk, so while I can tell the vanilla is present, it's not as vanilla-forward on me as some other BPALs with vanilla musk in them. That said, the vanilla does come out more over time, and by the end of the day, it became the most prominent note on my wrists (with the scent in the crooks of my elbows still being stronger on the frankincense and skin musk). But by that point, the scent stays really close to the skin.

I can see why this would be an ideal perfume for layering purposes, and I look forward to trying it with different scents. :)

I'm glad I grabbed a bottle!

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This is a very light, very "clean" scent. I was hoping for a little more in terms of the vanilla skin musk. On me, it's reading more like a pure water note. Water notes usually go awry on me, but this is pretty sheer. I can definitely see what is meant about using this to layer.- I personally don't think I'd wear this on its own that much. But I'm already wearing OLLA Eve today, so I conducted an experiment with layering a bit of DIFE to see how it goes, and it's *definitely* better in that context for me. On top of Eve, DIFE seems to have an amplifying quality, pulling the incense and souk notes to the front of Eve and also adding an edge of some sort.

I'm going to continue doing some experiments but I don't know if this is for me just yet.

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The description for this sums it up nicely. Wet this is frank forward and is a little masculine for me, but on dry down there is light vanilla-y musk (definitey bourbon vanilla, not alcohol related in anyway and also not even remotely foody) with just the faintest overlay of frankincense that tempers it nicely. Not very resinous, not foody. Just right for layering and I cannot wait to experiment with it some. If this sounds like it might work for you, try it because it is very neutral and easy to wear.

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Source: Decant circle!

Preconceptions: I'm on a hunt for an imaginary "Skin Musk" feeling I got from an ooooold decant long ago, for the life of me I can't remember what it was. I just remember putting Skin Musk on my radar.

 

Vial: Unexpectedly herbal?

Skin: I didn't expect this at all. Bright. Almost herbal musk. I'm not familiar with Frankincense (working on understanding that one) so I'm useless there.

Drydown: Much more perfume-esq powdery clean than I anticipated. Not much if any vanilla. Sheer is the key word here. Like a nice cotton sheet laid down, ready for more scent. But the direction it will take isn't a journey I necessary want.

 

Verdict: Bright, light, sheer, clean. Big throw and staying power.

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Wet: An oddly clean skin musk. Not what I expected!

 

Dry: My skin pretty much ate this. :huh?: I legit pressed my nose to where I applied this, and I can smell something vaguely musky and sweet, but that's about it.

I think this would be fine to wear around people who have sensitive noses(or at work, if you work around people), but there's just too little throw for me.

 

I may try to combine this with other scents as recommended, but by itself, I'm pretty "eh" about it.

Edited by donkehpoo

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I can see why this is meant to be a layering scent. It feels unfinished on its own. It's musky and a bit sharper than I wanted it to be. As with most people, I think some age and some experimentation will be good for this one.

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This is clean but not soapy, with the dry frank cutting the sweetness of the vanilla, and I can see where it would be lovely for layering, but I hardly ever layer. I feel like I am still learning the various permutations of all the notes and getting a sense of the blends the way the Lab created them, and layering would just muddy the waters for me. This is a skin scent on me, and I might wear this, like Neutral, in a situation where it was not completely appropriate to be wearing perfume but where I might want subliminally to project an aura of clean-cut, bright, efficient confidence.

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In the bottle this is just a nice clean skin musk, reminding me a bit of Neutral or Reapers Gonna Reap. On my skin the frankincense and vanilla come in, warming it up but it never leaves the your-skin-but-better territory. Surprisingly good throw on me.

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This one is surprisingly disappointing on me. It ends up smelling slightly floral, slightly musky, and ends up smelling like generic brand-name perfume. It's not overwhelming, but lasts for quite a while.

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Did I not review this? On me, this is a very light resinous skin musk.

 

Mr. zee_zee on the other hand loves this. It's his new BAE. It smells like a sophisticated chypre musk. It's amazing.

 

Thereby proving that DRAG IS FOR EVERYONE.

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I don't like Frankincense much. But bourbon vanilla skin musk and the promise that this will magically work on everyone lured me in! Lol.

 

Wet: Imagine the flawless gorgeous skin musk that is Neutral - BUT BETTER. Cleaner, softer, even more "no this is just what I smell like, I swear!". Yessss. I will slather this on before work and NO ONE WILL KNOW and that gives me such weird pleasure.

 

Dry: I adore this. I never really smell any Frank, just the best skin musk in all of history. It's clean, a touch sweet, subtle, perfect. I love it. It's not flashy or anything. It's not even going to catch anyone's attention. But I can wear it to work and feel amazing and not have the scent police come for me, and that is EVERYTHING to me. So happy to have a bottle! (Thank you, Sara! <3 )

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