Highwayman

[auburnette]

Stand and deliver! Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather.

Highwayman

In the bottle: Urgh. Um...it reminds me of vomit. The sort of vomit where you've drunk loads of rum and then thrown up.

Wet, on skin: Now a nice blend of spices emerging. Morphs quite a bit in this stage, but I can still smell a bite which reminds me of stale spirits. The leather is coming through.

Dry, on skin: Sharp, and there's definitely cinnamon here which I can sense making an appearance. Starting to show some potential. So spicy and very fresh. Something very compelling about it in the back of my nose, almost a 'clean' scent, or an 'afterscent' after you take your nose away and you can still smell it. Definitely would work as a masculine scent. There's an unfortunate hint of a particular brand of insect repellent, though, which I am hoping is going to go away as it settles down. It's lovely and fresh though.

Actually I think I really like this, but only for particular (and limited) circumstances. Walking or running in the woods after it's just rained...cold and clear. It makes me feel bold and wild/adventurous. Or perhaps for skiing. It might also work well in a post-exercise shower gel, if I could figure out how to make such a thing. I like the cold, clear feeling I get from it. I'll keep it until I find something in the same vein which suits me better to replace it.

[Suu4LC]

Ughhh Vetiver...vetiver is my doom note. I have never found a vetiver blend that I like. Something about it just...ugh. I have to try everything though...

 

Ughh, yeah, all I smell in this is the vetiver. Sooo strong and vetivery >_< The only other thing I can notice in here is a hint of leather, but *sigh* this is just not for me. If you really like vetiver and leather, definitely check this out.

[cymbeline]

Smell alike: Bourbon? Smoky Whisky?

 

Color impression: Peat greenish brown

 

On me: Rough leather! This fragrance is so far the closest to its name: it’s really a deep, muddy scent, a bit overwhelming first then warm and self-assumed. It reminds me old inns/farms and their cozy atmospheres with fireplaces, hunting dogs and the lingering smell a good alcohol on your special someone’s lips.

 

Wearing: A big no no for me. But, even if I prefer flirty man scents, I would probably not say no if my beloved would like to wear this one!

[MCS4096]

In the imp: Gardenia! Grounded with the vetiver and leather.. This gives the gardenia a dirty/sweaty vibe. The cinnamon is ever so slight. Unisex at this point.. we'll see if that lasts.

 

Wet: The rose and leather are coming out. Actually, I think I can distinguish all the flowers.

 

Dry: Pretty much same as wet. Not as dirty as in the imp, in fact more feminine on me now I think.. although the vetiver does give it a little cologne edge. I think this is pretty nice! I'll have to give it the slather test, but on my skin this is straight strong florals, dirtied up ever so slightly. No cinnamon that I can tell. A surprise hit.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, gardenia and leather --- which really just means wet wool and leather. This is the scent of a dashing young man, off doing horribly debauched things, like holding up people and wenching.

 

Oh, but he's so dashing...

[rayvn1]

Hello vetiver! Vetiver really dominates this blend for me, but not in a bad way. Instead it's really kinda sexy and I would love to "accidentally" splash some on the husband It's dark and evocative - really captures my romance book mental picture.

[masquedbunny]

In the imp: overpowering acrid smell--like decaying plants in soil. Not clean.

 

Wet on skin (as I was not careful in opening the imp, the scent ended up on me whether I wanted it or not): still smells like the gardening section at Home Depot--floral and mulch-like.

 

I didn't let it go to dry-down, which, upon further reflection was cowardly. I'm new at this; forgive me. But the initial reaction of "mulch" drove me to the sink before it had a chance to set in.

 

I'll return to it later for a second try (as I'm starting to wonder if my unfavorable reaction is because too much of it got on me), but my first impression is that it's not the scent for me.

 

[Edit:

 

OK, I tried again, and let it go to the dry stage. I'm definitely catching the "leather" note more this time around, and I think what my nose interpreted as "soil" when wet goes to "leather" when dry. In fact, the "leather" is mostly overpowering everything else, though there's still green under there. I think I'd like this scent on the man-friend, but my second impression backs up at least part of my first impression--that this is not the scent for me.

Edited January 23, 2009 by MasquedRabbit

[Bluestocking]

I want to preface this by saying that I'm not an indiscriminate vetiver-hater, and I've liked other blends that have included it.

 

In the imp: O HAI VETIVER. Seriously, smack-you-in-the-face, eye-watering, bullying vetiver. And, um... I guess the rest is burly, masculine and herbal, with a whiff of leather in the background. But whoa, the vetiver is a powerful, funky thing here. I'm anxious to see how this one evolves, because this is the first one I've smelled where I'm actually afraid to apply it.

On, wet: Still a ton of smoky, stanky vetiver—it's smothering most of the other components for me. The leather's stronger, and I occasionally gets hints of the flowers, but it's more like the whisper of a legend of jasmine, if you know what I mean. I'd love to smell the listed floral notes (they're some of my faves), but they just aren't getting through that wall of vetiver.

On, dry: Mercifully, my patience has been rewarded: the vetiver has died down a bit, and now everything is sort-of coming into balance. There's quite a bit of saddle leather, which is masculine but not hit-you-over-the-head strong, and now I'm also getting tiny whiffs of the jasmine and gardenia, with just a small touch of really earthy cinnamon.

Later: Believe it or not, this is actually fading quite a bit after only a few hours of wear. It is if not nice, at least tolerable now, and extremely macho. Plenty of leather and the vetiver (thankfully subdued) hold the gardenia and jasmine back from ever having anything but a brief cameo in the scent. Instead, the florals soften the hard edge of the brutal vetiver just enough to keep it from completely splitting your head open like an axe.

Overall: I had high hopes for this one based on the description, but that aggressive, overbearing vetiver isn't something I'm eager to experience again. I respect somebody who can make this one work, but it's just not my thing at all. I've felt that most blends could go either way, gender-wise, but this is 100% man to me—rugged, hairy and unwashed.

 

 

[Smokeybromage]

Eww! I could not bear to put this on my skin to test, as when I smelled the imp it made me feel really nauseous. When I smoked,I used to throw my cigarette butts into a bucket,which would get rained in. To me,Highwayman smells like the stench that emerged from that bucket when I used to empty it,only worse! I didn't get any of the rose,gardenia,jasmine or leathery scents, just ashtray. Maybe thats the vetiver: if so, I'll avoid it like the plague in future.

[inkaddict]

In the imp: spicy floral with leather. Yum!

 

Wet: this is strong, but oh so good! Gardenia, jasmin and leather are dominant, but there's something dark spicyng it up: vetiver? If so I'm really glad it doesn't hate my skin, I've been eyeing Saturnalia for a while but the vetiver scared me off. I love heady florals and this is right up my alley.

 

Dry: it's atarting to mellow and sweeten a bit: faint whiffs of rose, the cinnamon comes out and the flowers back down a bit. It's still lovely -yummy, sexy, spicy leather- with good throw and staying power, which on my skin is almost a miracle.

To my nose it's a warm, clean scent, with a strong personality. I keep getting the image of a dominatrix every time I catch a waft of Highwayman

 

I don't know if I'll go for a big bottle, the imp will probably last me a long time, but this is definitely a keeper.

[catatonic1242]

In the imp: Very strong, lots of vetiver. It's a very masculine smell, but not as intimidating as, say, The Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork.

 

On, wet: Still lots of vetiver, but the leather is apparent. I'm not smelling the jasmine, rose or cinnamon at all.

 

On, dry: This turns into baby powder on me. I think it's probably the rose, which I never smelled in the imp or while it was drying, but now that it's been on for a while, there's nothing left but powder. Kind of disappointing for me.

[teamilk]

I'm sort of sad about this scent. In an imp (of unknown age, unfortunately) it was a beautiful, complex scent. Leather and jasmine and rose was what I got. It was gorgeous and amazing and I loved to sleep in it. I purchased a full bottle because I wanted to experience that gorgeousness over and over!

 

First reaction to it in the bottle? Offensive and sharp. I thought, hey, I should wear it. Maybe it's just too strong in the bottle. First reaction on the skin? Oh my god. I wouldn't want to get into a knife fight with this perfume. Offensive and I wanted to wash it off immediately. It later settled into something that reminds me of a carpet powder I used to have. Nothing special. Sigh. I want my imp back.

 

It's continuing to change and shift, so we'll see. Hopefully I'll be able to report that it went back into that earlier gorgeousness I experienced!

Edited February 22, 2009 by teamilk

[asciident]

Wet: Leather soap. Ew.

 

First on: Still leathery soap on my skin.

 

Dry: Never changed, yuck.

[Twitch]

This one works terribly on me. From the bottle to the skin all the way through the drying process, it smells like a bad thrift shop. Old, dirty leather shoes, with the unwashed socks still in them, lightly urinated on and then left to sit in a box for a few years. I'm sure this can't be how it smells for everyone, but for me, it is unwearable. It's a shame, because I feel like if it smelled like old leather shoes in the right way, it would be quite nice, but this one just barely misses the mark and gets swallowed in a pit of ugliness.

Edited March 20, 2009 by Twitch

[Usagi]

Imp:rose, wood, cologne; tangy

wet: dry and woody. I'm getting rubbing alcohol also.

dry:It's either rubbing alcohol or scented nailpolish remover--rose-scented nailpolish remover.

 

Well, it started out nice. My skin chemistry just does not seem to agree with the Highwayman.

[magikalbrownies]

maybe its my strong dislike of gardenia and rose but this one -- just doesnt work on me.

 

it gives me an instant headache.

[sirensea]

In the imp: I wanted so badly to like this one. But as soon as I smelled it, I thought... dog food. It smelled like dog food. And a tool store. I have to say, I was a bit disheartened. Vetiver and I do not get along.

 

On my skin: Now that it's been about an hour and a half since I put it on, it's nowhere near as potent as it was before. I can smell the rose and the leather. To put it frankly, it smells like cheap sex in a motel bed. Now, considering that I bought this one solely because it reminded me of a certain stubbly Winchester man, I can't say that's an entirely bad scent to wear. But there's very little romance and a whole lot of testosterone in this.

Edited April 9, 2009 by sirensea

[awesomeoverlord]

Geez...vetiver...I know there's other stuff in there somewhere, but I just can't get past the vetiver. Not for me.

[Aingeal]

This is one of those scents that make me wish I was straight, just so I could have a man to slather this on when it fails on me. Rose ruins yet another blend--one that would have been yummy otherwise. It's like an evil Romeo and Juliet, the bad boy who hides in the rich girl's gardens to whisper to her about pirate ships and adventure and excitement, far away from mauve boudoirs and too-tight tea corsets.

 

And then the rose amps, and it smells like I rolled around in my mum's smelling salts.

[Allumina]

I luuurve this one!

Veviter with a hint of florals, maybe a hint of leather. Not getting any cinnamon. Warm but not sweet. Very gentlemanly. I feel dashing in it.

[catattack]

Imp: Bitter woods.

Wet: Leather, smoke

Drydown: The leather and smokey vetiver overpowers everything. I don't smell any of the flowers or the cinammon. After a couple hours, the cinnamon made an appearance, and the other dominant notes have melded together and is very nice now.

Overall: Great throw. I don't think I'll wear this very often. It's very masculine. Might try this on the DH.

[tragedy]

Vetiver amps so bad on me that I almost got rid of this one... but gave it to hubby who is a little more cool skinned than I am. On him its tame, I can smell woods and leather and yes, vetiver but it stays subdued and smells all rough-manly-sexy on him.

On me??? vetiver extreme.

[voodoocatwoman]

This was a frimp from the delightful scarletgenesis... thank you!!

 

I wanted to try this because it contains 2 of my favorite scents- gardenia and jasmine. I'm still waiting for them to show their faces. Highwayman is industrial strength vetiver and leather.

 

On drydown, it's losing some of the smokiness and picking up a bit of sweetness, but it's not the strong heady white floral fragrance I was hoping for.

 

I do find that the jasmine and gardenia are getting a bit stronger as the vetiver continues to fade.

 

I need to try this again...

[sarajane]

I love gardenia.

 

I love leather.

 

I love jasmine.

 

WHY DOES VETIVER ALWAYS RUIN MY FUN??

[tinyvulture]

i know this is supposed to be vetiver and florals, but i swear my imp smells like vetiver and cigarette smoke! as a former smoker who still enjoys the aroma of secondhand smoke at times, that is not a bad thing, although it does make me think twice about wearing this oil out of the house!

 

there’s also a faint whiff of leather in the background, but the vetiver is the main event here (that happens to me often with vetiver scents, my skin must amp it). i think this will smell good on my husband. i’m not picking up any floral notes. it seems like a really dark, sexy masculine blend.