GeorgeJr

I've had a frimp of this for months now . No idea why I've never tried it , so today I put some on before leaving for work . And I have to say it grew on me quite well as the day progressed . At first it had what I refer to as the labs classic cologne type of scent . Hard to describe in words , but if you've smelled this , Villain & a few others you probably know to what I refer . They usually have a citrus in there somewhere . Lemon , lime , maybe even sometimes a orange like note happening . However , much like my beloved Villain , Whitechapel has a lovely musk backing up the fruit in a wonderfully menacing way . I mean , it's not a dirty or frighteningly strong kind of note , but you will notice it . The other thing I really liked about this scent was while there is obvious citrus , it's not in your face screaming LEMONSLEMONSLEMONS at you . I have tried the occasional scent that was citrus based & had that happened in the past . So this was quite the pleasant surprise . Very nice indeed & I think when I can afford to go bottle shopping again that Whitechapel will be on my list for sure .

Okay , who knew Death could be so sweet & appealing ? I swear , this is one of the " cleanest " scents I've tried in a really long time . I don't know where the vetiver is in this , cause I'm really not getting it at all . I do get the touch of mint , mixed amongst the white musk , lime & other light , dry notes . Also getting the floral notes quite strongly . It does have a decent throw . Not quite sure how I feel about this one yet , May have to update this review down the road . I think I'm miffed a bit because I was expecting it to be at least slightly darker with things like vetiver & patchouli listed in the notes . Let me get past my missing out on two of my favorite ingredients then we'll see what I think .

So , a good hour or two after first applying this , it turned into a not so sweet , dry & darker scent I was hoping for in the first place . No idea why it's so floral upon first application , but maybe aging will change that .

Odin came as a frimp in one of my first orders . I have been remiss in not reviewing , so here goes . Not really a favorite of mine , but not offensive either . I can & do wear it from time to time , when I want something totally different . When the labs description mentions dry wood / bark , believe it . This is easily one of the " driest " scents I've tried yet . The main things I get from this one are the wood & the herbs . Not much else really . And it smells like nothing else I've tried , period . And it's rather hard to describe . It's a fairly lite kind of scent , not really heavy in any way . But it is strong . Slightly sweet & medicinal as well . I suppose there is a touch of a menthol in there . So , I do like it , but wouldn't wear it very often . Wouldn't mind keeping a imp handy , as having Odin's blessings wouldn't be a bad thing at times .

Oh , this makes me feel like a hot guy . And I'm not really a hot guy , even in my best imaginings . But this sure is the kind of scent to play with my mind . Make me feel better about my self image . It is just so much chocolate blended with a soft leather note that I can hardly stand it . The chocolate is a cocoa kind of scent , not sweet really but very strong . The leather is very much there , but not in a brutal kind of way . Almost like melting butter , that would be what this is if leather & cocoa melted together & were stirred together over a low heat . It's easily one of my top 10 scents & I don't see anything knocking it out anytime soon .

This'll be another " I can't believe I waited this long to review this " kind of review . I think I may wait so long due to enjoying something so much that I get apathetic about it . At least about telling others how I feel . Anyway ... on with the review .

Czernobog is one of my favorites from American Gods as well . Just remember , one day he WILL hit you with his hammer . Czernobog the scent really reminds me a lot of Thanatopsis at first , especially in the bottle . It has the same green , spicy kind of thing going on . Upon application it still makes me think of my favorite Ars Moriendi scent . However , after the spicy fades a bit , the musks come out to play big time . I think the only thing I ever tried with stronger musks would be Brom Bones . And they really stayed with me all day at work . Most days I sweat off the scent I'm wearing fairly quickly . Not so with the musks in this . So , a spicy , foresty kind of beginning , but a very black musk kind of ending . Which is pretty appropriate considering who this is based on .

This is very spicy indeed , heavy on the clove . Not really getting the musk so much . Best description of this I can give is it's a lot like Plunder with a dark under tone . Much of the same spiciness that Plunder has , even some of the same sweetness . But just slightly darker . Not really even noticing the patchouli , but I may be amping up the spices on my skin . I like it , but then again I'm quite a fan of Plunder too . Pretty good throw . Some might go as far to say a strong throw .

I've had my bottle of Fenris Wolf for almost a full year now . No idea why it's taken me this long to write up a review , as I wear it a couple times a month , easily . Although after putting it on today , I think it may be a good thing I waited . See , I have always had a affinity for all things Loki . And seeing as how the Wolf is one of Loki's kin , I had to make it one of my original order .

When I first got it , I honestly wasn't as impressed as I hoped I would be . It was nice , but quite frankly I found it to be sweeter then I would have liked . But , today I am not getting so much sweetness as before . Today I am getting a much darker , smokiness from it I have never noticed . Is it from aging ? I can't say for sure . I am very much getting the musk ( love my musks ) , more so than before . And the wood , while sweet in it's rosewood kind of way , is much more layered with a background smell of a drier , harsher wood . I'm really digging it today , more so then ever before . Now to see if I get any comments at work today ...

Funny , on my skin I am amping the more fruit like aspects of this . I do still like it , as unlike some of the more foody / fruit laden scents I've tried from the lab , this is very dark & creamy indeed . I suppose that's the leather helping keep the base of this grounded . I do like this quite a bit , enough that I would consider a back up bottle . Something I don't do on a regular basis .

Oddly ( I say that because after looking through this thread , I don't see many others with this problem ) , the one thing I get the play doh smell from is anything with Snake Oil in it . Now , I haven't tried plain SO , but I do have several of the snake pit & all but Death Adder have that play doh moment . There was also some other scent I have that has SO in it ( I'm drawing a blank here ) that had the same thing going on , so I'm pretty sure that the SO is the culprit .

No mention of Wood phoenix yet ? It is extremely woody indeed . I shall be watching this thread too , as I do love the wood notes .

So far , this is easily my favorite grind house lady . Just a superb blend of clove & smoky goodness . Really hits all the darker notes I love , patchouli , tea , pepper . It's a really lovely scent if you are into spicy but not sweet things . And I think I can safely say it's unisex too . This is making me want to either start baking or run to the bakery

I'll agree with most folks here & say that in the bottle there is quite the menthol thing going on . It's a sweet , slightly herbal menthol . But it is quite off putting if you don't like that kind of thing . I on the other hand grew up using Vicks all the time . And I very much like the smell of Tiger Balm as well , so this is not a problem for me . And after a while , say a hour or so , the menthol pretty much is gone . Leaving a green , herbal sweetness that is quite nice . Once the menthol is gone , the throw is pretty much non existent . Really need to hold my hand directly under my nose to get anything at all . So that I do like it , but it's not something I'd want to wear very often . I tend to go through phases of putting the scents I love into my second tier for a while & running out the lesser loved bottles to see how I feel about them . This will be one of those , but I do like it quite a bit for what it is .

Toad, from the Wind in the Willows series, actually has motor oil as a listed note. Ditto Mechanical Phoenix, from last year's Anniversary series. Toad and MP reviews both call them as very cologne-y and not terribly oil-y, though. My own bottle of Mechanical Phoenix agrees with that. Black Ice, another limited edition from a while back, has an 'asphalt' note and a touch of vetiver that might be worth trying.

 

As for some General Catalog blends, I did a quick search for "motor oil" in reviews and came up with Czernobog, Malediction, and Highwayman as likely burly-man options.

 

Troll doesn't smell of motor oil, but it IS burly and badass and grimy and smells slightly of charred things. He might dig that.

I can back up the Lobster here & say that Malediction is very dark & oil like . Toad may list it in it's notes , & I can say I do notice the note that is mentioned when I wear it , but it isn't the main one coming through . And do give Troll a try , or it'll find you & rough you up

You might want to try a imp of Gauko . While it's not exactly lite , it isn't very sweet either . Yet it is quite floral . Here's the Lab's description .

Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum.

I honestly don't get the sandalwood so much , but there is something dark under the floral there . It's one of the few florals I've tried that I think I can wear .

I do love this scent . For those of you who have tried the new Rumpelstilzchen scent & found the smoke to be too strong , this may be the blend for you . This is all sweet , dark smoke . It really is a kind of boozy , smoky scent that is just marvelous . There is virtually no difference in this from the bottle to on my skin . It's a fairly strong scent with a strong waft to it . Not a fast fader either . Really nice & I hope it makes a return sometime in the future again .

In the bottle I get mainly the saffron & citrus , with something very dark lurking behind them .

Once applied , the citrus opens things up with a bang . This is much lighter then I expected it to be from the bottle . It's a very level scent , not too dark or lite . The citrus , while slightly in the fore front , is not simply covering up all the other notes . Rather , they are complimenting it quite nicely . I really don't get the tea or cocoa in this . I do think I am getting the herbs in the back ground , helping to keep things balanced . I do love the labs use of herbs for just such occasions . I do think from this & some other attempts with citrus , that I may amp it somewhat . Not to the extent I do rose or honey ( which are so bad I just avoid them all together ) . What I'm saying is the mandarin may not be as strong on others . As it stands on me , I think this will be a great scent for me once the weather warms up again . It's making me think of tropical climes with this crazy orange thing going on

I'm very happy with Wood Phoenix . In the bottle the scent is quite powerful , dare I say overpowering ? But once on the skin , it levels out nicely . I think the walnut is what boosts it so in the bottle & when first applied it's right there doing it's thing . But that only lasts maybe a minute . About 5 minutes later , this is a lovely blend , woody but not overpoweringly so . The other notes ( the fig , florals & I'd say the bamboo mainly . Not so much the clove ) really go well together & no one note is powering out the others . It's quite unisex to the point of being almost too sweet for me . But I think I can still pull it off . Just have to watch the amount applied .

Some of you will know what I mean, but this smells like Pennsic. On Merchants row, near the Perfumed Dragon during Midnight madness.

 

Smoke and resins and light musk. Nifty!

Ha ! Good call on the Pennsic smell . Very much so , in fact .

Now my call on the Rumpel-meister . In the bottle it is much more green smelling & not so smoky at all . But as soon as it is on my skin it is all fire & ash for sure . Just amazingly smoky , in a really good , sexy way . It actually reminds me of some of the rauchbiers that I've drank in the past as well . Especially Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier . That stuff was like drinking a bonfire that someone had thrown bacon into

As far as Rumpelstilzchen goes , I'm very glad it's a GC scent . I can see needing another bottle quickly , as the GF liked it quite a bit as well .

Add me to the list of big lemon from this one . If not lemon , then some citrus along those lines for sure . Not orange or grapefruit . I suppose lime may be a possibility , but I still lean lemon . There is a slight , underlying darkness here . A bit sweet as well .

This is nice to have as a imp , to use from time to time when I'm in the mood for something totally different then my usual choices . But I can't see getting a bottle .

 

Upon further review . So I went to work , feeling like a large lemony kind of thing . But after about a hour , the lemon faded to a hardly noticeable background scent . What I did get the rest of the day was what smelled a lot like Shub ! I swear , it was the same spicy , ginger type of scent that I can only assume is the incense note in the blend . I may have to rethink my " no bottle of this " comment from earlier .

From a imp I ordered months ago . I really need to review more of those ...

So anyway , I'll follow the hippy theme espoused by others before me . I'll also admit to really liking the Coiled Serpent . It is serious patchouli , but there also is a bit of a fir or mild pine in there somewhere too . It's a fairly strong blend . Lot's o' waft I'm trying to say if the patchouli thing isn't for you , you may wish to avoid this . I on the other hand will take any that the rest of you don't want . And don't let the smell of it in the bottle throw you off , it does mellow out some on the skin . But it is still quite strong . Very green / fresh smelling .

Those are hilarious , I love the Bah Humbug goblins

From the Halloweenies I prefer Pumpkins 2 & 4 .

Well , I love Death Adder a whole lot . And I like both of the others . So I guess that'll be a bottle for me before it's gone again

Check the Excolo catagory for male gods that embody positivity - quite by accident, that's how I found Shango, my personal favourite for all-purpose confidence, charm, swagger and situations of an ass-kicking and name-taking nature. You could do the same with Illyria, and quite possibly hunt down some scents from other catagories with similar powerful attitudes.

 

Ogun and Baron Samedi are also favourites of mine, but I think it's important to choose scents that resonate with the person's personal tastes and feelings when going for moods - one works for one person, might not work for another, more so than when just going for 'a nice smell'.

Excellent post !

Just a quick question about a scent that has returned for a brief time . I see all the excitement about Snake Charmer , & can't help but wonder if it would work for a guy as well . I don't think I'll get a chance to sniff it before it goes away , so I figured I'd ask here in hopes of getting some opinions . I'd hate to miss out on something that so many feel is so special , but if it's too feminine I won't feel bad at all .