tartchef

Dark, dry & very strange... 300F opens with a very perfumey note for me, akin to dragon's blood & musk. Once that quiets down, I can see where cfrancesca gets black tea - maybe tea & a leafy patchouli? There's a bit of smoke & spice in here, too, like ground cassia thrown on hot coals. The extended drydown is reminiscent of Lunar Eclipse & Labores Solis, shadowy & dark, bittersweet & otherwordly. I'd venture that if you enjoyed The Cracked Bell, you might like this one...

Normally I'd run far from anything mentioning lily, but I am such a sucker for olive blossom, this had to be tried...

 

It took me a few days to realize what in my office was smelling so heavenly - my decants had arrived, & my Okiyaki had leaked ever so slightly. Even my DH was taken with it...

 

In the vial, there's a definite resemblance to L'Estate bath oil - that same kind of golden floral amber, sweet & glowing. On my skin, a coolness emerges, & I can detect a trace of bergamot that's cutting the thickness ever so slightly, but that sunny sweet floral is still the main attraction.

 

The longer this wears, alas, the more it thins out, until I'm left with little more than a faint bit of snow & perfumed amber. I'll be saving the rest of my decant for a linen spray, I'm thinking - it's a perfect scent for pillows & delicate underthings

Oh Paper Kite. How you break my heart.

 

Actually, no, I take that back, it's not YOU. It's just your white sugar note. The moment you hit my skin it transforms into a bizarre singed plastic scent, turning a gloriously milky coconut & pepper scent into something utterly unwearable

 

ETA: Wait. Waitwaitwait. Given an hour to burn itself off, that miserable plastic char has vanished, & holy heaven

 

This is divine. Lightly sweetened coconut, not too unctuous, barely sweetened, with a nearly imperceptible brush of cream & peppercorns. Angelica is coy, hiding no doubt under the coconut.

 

Edible. Milkysweet, & totally lickable Worth the initial funk, oh yes.

Oh yum I adore Beth's odd, herby blends, & this is no exception. It's green & bittersweet, with a jumble of woodiness & spices. On first wearing I got a fair amount of husky coconut, but that seems to have calmed down after a few days, & I'm left with a really unusual botanical scent. I vaguely reminds me of sweet woodruff, or scented ferns, but with something crunchy & seedy blended in...

 

Decidedly weird, but not at all unwearable - actually, it's quite pleasant, quiet & crisp. I'll be trying this again when it gets too hot to wear anything particularly "perfumey"...

I'm on a licorice kick lately, & Apple kindly sent me Velvet Tiger, one I would not have thought to try. Vetiver & I have a rocky relationship, & I don't tend to be fond of orange/tangerine...

 

Well. Just shows you should take a risk now & then.

 

Vetiver & teak are the standout notes for me, with licorice right behind them - it's a dry, grassy, woody, herbal scent, not too far from Oya on my skin. Once it dries a bit, I get this lovely fuzzy orange halo around my wrists - tangerine & spices, warmed by non-powdery amber, but underscored by deep herby deliciousness. It's a quiet, prowling scent, warm & spicy, but cast in shadows. Decidedly feline, of the large cat variety. It shares a lot of ground with Bakeneko, but is a much quieter, darker scent, without the playfulness of Bakeneko's cherry blossom.

 

Really quite delicious - not one I see wearing often, but this could be magnificent in late summer...

 

ETA: Aw dammit The vetiver got out its stompyboots. And it's the Bad Vetiver, the one that gives me headaches )

Yowza. The Harp's a strong one, & no mistake... I amp amber like no one's business, & it likes to go powdery if left to its own devices. In the vial, The Harp is thick & sweet & heady, strangely alluring, like some sort of honeyed nectar. The instant it touches my skin, though, it's like I've been walloped with a sock full of powder There's a sharp hairspray note here, as well - I got a similar effect from Black Lace & Arrival at the Sabbath.

 

Left to dry, there's not much more to it - faint ambered powder & a funky aerosol note. No woodsiness, no spices... Well phoo

I amp tobacco flower/nicotiana like the dickens, so unfortunately Door ends up quite masculine on my skin - the honey & chamomile hold their own bravely, and on another person, I can see how this would be glorious, sweet & pollen-y. If Against Idleness was too syrupy & cloying for you, definitely try Door...

Unlike most of the above reviewers, I ADORE black pepper, & here it is a star player on my skin, buoyed by a rasp of sandalwood, hot & dry. The honey & rice flower add a heady, sweet layer & the contrast is really interesting...

 

Alas, Mr Oakmoss STOMPYBOOTS ruins the party, like the guy with too much cologne who INSISTS ON TALKING OVER EVERYONE & TURNING ON THE FOOTBALL MATCH THAT NO ONE WANTS TO WATCH Sometimes, oakmoss plays nicely for me, but here, it's distinctly man-fume, sharp & invasive & vaguely industrial.

 

Maddening. Much like the aforementioned party, I know there's something awesome happening in the background - I keep getting faint whiffs of honey & pepper - but Oakmoss just keeps turning up the telly.

Vetiver & I have a rocky relationship, tonka can be a total bully, & until recently, I wasn't a huge fan of coconut. So why am I trying this?

 

I was bracing for a smoky but Fuwu nearly disappears on my skin - it's very strange, almost a negative-space scent, a bit bitter & ashen, with a hint of husky coconut & a rasp of dry sandalwood. It's vaguely earthy, I'm reminded of Badger, but Fuwu is far more gentle.

 

I can't shake this black-hole-on-my-wrist feel - Fuwu is hiding deep, deep down in a charcoal-black tunnel, & I can catch vague whiffs of coconut & wood incense & drifting up to the surface, but it's mixed with the char & stone of the hole.

 

Just bizarre Vaguely sinister, quietly unsettling, but I can't stop sniffing it...

 

ETA: A few hours later, Fuwu has gently shifted to a very dry, ashy incense with a trace of sweetness. I'm tempted to say that if Snake Charmer didn't work for you, try Fuwu - it's missing the Snake oil sweetness & stickiness that make SC almost unwearable for me...

Hooray! Someone else who appreciates the medicinal scents!

 

Kathmandu is gorgeous - vaguely bandage-y, with a sweet mentholated note. Aged it is even better - I have a bottle of Old Kathmandu that is my baby It's so comforting - I wear it when I can't get warm, or when I'm feeling poorly...

 

Sri Lanka is another favorite - the myrrh & gum mastic really stand out when it's fresh, & the dry woods give it a pleasant sharpness.

 

The Wrestler, from Sakuracon this year, has a similar feel - brown & menthol-y, but with more honey & a bit of tartness.

 

Pontia, from last year's Lupercalias, is lavender & bergamot, & the combination reminds me of a delicious infused honey cough mixture.

 

The Norn's Farmhouse has all kinds of great herbs in it, & the horehound gives it that nice medicinal sweetness.

 

Also seconding Against Idleness & Litha '09 for herby, honeyed goodness.

I adore osmanthus, & was delighted to try this... It starts as a wonderful blend of Manners Among Men & Women & Tamamo-no-mae, with a snap of citrus & lavender...

 

Wet, the citrus element is a bit overwhelming, a bit needly & egged on by the juniper. Given a few minutes to warm up, though, & that sharpness fades, making way for a big slosh of rice wine It's delicately perfumed by the leafy mint & lovely, almost peach-y osmanthus. The cedar & benzoin are adding just a bit of fullness, & the herbs are lurking in the middle, slowly taking over.

 

The end result is a fast-changing scent, going from citrus to heady rice wine to an interesting muddle of menthol-y herbs underscored by cedar & sweet benzoin. Not as promising now as it was in the early stages, but worth hanging onto to see if the individual elements meld a bit, & if the rice wine ages as beautifully as it has in Manners...

Mmmmmmmmnyomnyomnyom

 

I adore Beth's white honey note - it's gorgeous in The Oblation, & I was so excited to try it in a completely different setting...

 

The Wrestler is that gorgeous clean honey note, almost whipped or crystallised, front & center, underscored by smokey, cedary woods & resins & a delicious snap of black pepper. It's almost chewy, like a lump of tree gum stuck in your molars... There's a medicinal edge that calls to mind Kathmandu - that same mentholated bark-iness. It almost reminds me of aged balsamic vinegar.

 

As it settles, the honey melts into the woods, letting the dryness of the sandalwood come forward. The tobacco is really shining at this stage, rich & brown & sticky - it's the same almost caramelised tobacco note I get from A'arab Zaroq, but here the balsams & gums keep it from getting quite as sweet & edible.

 

Oh heavens yes. Not the kind of thing to wear every day, but a deliciously complex scent that I will savor on cold wet days...

I requested this on a whim, & once it arrived I set it aside, distracted by other smellies... I feel silly now - to think something this lovely was staring at me for weeks!

 

Normally lemon verbena amps to high heaven on me, but in Gold Phoenix it is remarkably balanced & very true to the real thing - I think the angelica is giving a boost to the green sweetness. The heliotrope & ambers are quite subdued, adding just a bit of silkiness that echoes the frankincense. The end scent is clean & sweet & bright, like the true sunlight of a late spring day. Lovely, & just the thing to lift me out of the winter blahs...

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. This soothes my soul in the most base, elemental way. In the vial, it's a hair masculine, but that quickly evens out & I am bathed in a glorious haze of stemmy lavender & faintly sweet, white resins. There's a brush of something vaguely lemony, too. This is not a cuddly, cosy scent - it's a curative balm, the sort of scent you'd rub on when feeling stuck & sluggish. It brings to mind fluttering silver wings.

 

Delightful! Just the thing for this Gemini...

 

I am in everlasting loooove with the original Hod, and just about squeed myself when the re-release was announced

 

Obviously, the res version is going to be a different animal entirely at this stage, but I am confident this will age into perfection. Right now, it's a bit thin compared to my memory of the Lab-fresh original, with a bit more spice & Morocco-esque musk & less of the thick cream. But the honey & carnation are deep & beautiful, and I suspect given a few months, Hod Res will begin to resemble the glory of the original. ETA: And hopefully will last a bit longer - barely an hour on my skin & Hod Res has faded dramatically... hrm

 

Thank you again, Beth, for bringing back such a coveted scent

Gorgeous. Akin to Tamamo-no-mae, but with silky vanilla cream adding a decadent richness... Wears beautifully as a perfume oil, too

Yow, that's metallic at first! I can feel it in my mouth... thin sheets of tin & brass, with a lovely citrus note (yuzu? tangerine? not the usual lemon/orange...). There's a whiff of fabric softener, and for a moment I'm reminded of Wensleydale. The metals fade a bit, & I'm left with the effervescent ginger note that Zankoku_zen is loving, clean laundry & something warm & sweet. I'd swear it was huckleberry with a drop of incense

 

I wasn't sure about Old Man Ackerman at first, but now I'm thinking this will need to be retested in warmer weather... it's a lovely spring sort of scent, minus the typical florals & grass...

Wow, this one's all grass & dandelions on my skin.... there's a faint smear of oil & metal, like engine parts scattered in the yard on a spring day. An odd but pleasant hybrid of Blade of Grass & Mechanical Phoenix...

This was a gamble, but oh heavens, it's delicious! Deep bitter tea & dried leaves with a dusting of frost, and a faint sweet vegetal note that must be red bell peppers. The musks are indeed shimmering - white, crystalline, maybe a drop of green... The overall effect is watery & cool, but with a bracing bitter edge that I love...

Yow. This is... this is really interesting! I totally get the cold fresh melon at first, but then a bitter spiciness emerges, giving me this lovely hot/cool scent. It's a touch "festive potpourri" at times, but I think given some time to relax, this will end up a lovely deep non-foody spice & patchouli blend...

Mm, this had potential... The cocoa translates to snappy, fruity dark chocolate - like the Terry's chocolate oranges I used to get in my stocking. The tobacco absolute is gorgeous & leafy & sticky, but there's that damn black musk The longer I wear this, the sweeter it gets, and not in a tasty-yum way, either.

 

Hey, verbena! But with something lovely & bitter underneath, something very mouthwatering... to me this is a lemon verbena spin on The Tree of Knowledge, or perhaps Tabella - a cacophony of fruits & herbs & resins. I'm getting lots of myrtle, of all things, thick & herbaceous... This is one I want to keep sniffing & sniffing, just to see what else I can find in there...

I really should learn. Citrus + geranium + tartchef = FAIL. Bitter & pithy with an unpleasantly medicinal edge.

 

That said, I am tempted to try it as a room scent...

 

ETA: Met up with Wwindy over the weekend & ended up re-trying this... She's right - once the initial solvent-y bitterness burns off, it's Thai curry! Still not a winner on my skin, but I am glad I have another imp to play with - it really is a galvanizing, uplifting scent, cutting through the post-DST fog & helping me focus. Maybe a temple balm of sorts...

 

And it's making me want curried tofu for lunch

Sugared pine! I'm not much for pine/evergreen scents on my skin, as a rule, but this is nice & clear & sweet. As it dries, I get a bit more of the sticky, spicy sap, & a brush of yellow pollen. Pretty

Oh. Oh yes. There's that lovely, quiet snow & amber from The Darkling Thrush - cool, watery-sweet, and very still. But instead of deep purple violets, I'm getting just a brush of spicy, leafy mums - it's a much lighter mum note than in, say Death of Autumn or Mum Moon, more akin to Flowering Chrysanthemums. Just perfect.