strick9

I really almost wrote this one off. I got it as a frimp, and thought i would love it based on the description. I'm not into any of these scents in and of themselves, but love the idea of them all together. The imp itself smells super medicinal to me, but in a good way. Like an herbal tincture. or an unsweet sloe gin. A bit like Ricola cough drops, which i honestly love. Wet and during the dry-down? Ugh. man. I don't like this at all. It's super astringent and I dont get any of the grape or opium at all. Someone mentioned tea tree, and thats almost all i get, except super bitter. I smelled my wrist for a solid 20 minutes and this was what i got and i was much sad And then, magic happened. The sweetness came alive. I don't get any distinct florals per se... Maybe like the decay of lillies and roses, but not their actual presence. There's all sorts of wood going on, both green and brown, as well as forest floor. Maybe oakmoss. Lichen. Definitely something that's piney, and it almost reminds me of copal. and then the grapes and opium. Man, that grapevine and opium smoke on top of the forest floor? Spot on. This is incredible. The uniqueness of this scent is what spurred me to write this review- I've never smelled anything quite like it, though i do apparently enjoy the Lab's red wine note quite a bit. I think you could wear this year-round depending on the event, but definitely on the daily for fall and winter. I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

Fresh out of the mailbox from the reopening of the Haute Macabre store in Oct 2017. In the bottle: This is blended so nicely that it's hard for me to pick out individual notes without extensive smelling. I do, however, get the resins and the red patchouli. There's a hint of spiciness from the green cardamom pod, and this is one of the main reasons i was drawn to this scent in the first place. Black coconut is there in the background. It's really lovely in the bottle. Wet: The resins start high, grounded by musk making an appearance- not a ton of patchouli here, but there's definite earthiness. Dry: The coconut really comes out once it starts to dry, but it's not foody/sweet coconut. It's what I imagine coconut dried over an open fire would smell like. The golden musk rounds this out, and I really have to search for the cardamom pod, but it's certainly there. I honestly don't know the difference between sumatran red patchouli and the others- I don't pick up much of the patchouli earthiness/funkiness that i normally associate, but there is a certain note that mimics that a touch. I do wish there were more of it though! Overall, I'm very happy to have a bottle of this, and I really think it will age beautifully.

Fresh out of the mailbox from the Haute Macabre restock! So excited. In the bottle: lots of almond sweetness up front backed by worn-in leather and some patchouli. It's very heavy on the almond, which honestly I like. Slight hints of the bourbon vanilla as well. I think the oak leaf is mixing with the leather and making the leather old, rather than new. I really like how this smells in the bottle, but was hoping for more patchouli. Wet: its super sweet right now with almond and bourbon vanilla. slight peeks of everything else. The almond starts to mellow about 5 minutes after application, and this 13-year aged black patchouli starts to come forward. On me, it's lighter than i would have imagined, and has almost a floral nature to it. Man, its super beautiful. Once it's dry, the almond has truly just become a top-note; what i can imagine is oak leaf and patchouli constitute the middle (the oak leaf makes this smell a bit like a cloudy damp fall day/evening. This isn't aquatic though- its more like wet leaves) and the leather/bourbon vanilla make this just downright sexy. Some might consider this a bit masculine because of the leather and oak leaf, but i think this scent is a truly super-sexy unisex fragrance. I can't wait to wear this for a full day to get a feel for it- right now it's going in my favorites row.

In the bottle: I get a lot of cedar, sage, and tobacco. Tiny bit of vetiver tinge on the end. Wet: there's a lot of sage, cedar, and some savory notes, probably coming from the combo along with the ambergris base. It smells like Djed at first, which I love in theory but in application doesnt quite work on its own. I hope this gets better. Dry: It got better. Tons better. Everything here is beautifully in balance, except for the rockrose, which only peeks thru as a semi-floral sweetness. The tobacco is sweet and chewy, the ambergris anchoring, and the amber really comes through. The sage, cedar, and vetiver play nicely together and lend a slightly piquant edge to this. Thus far, this is a definite contender for my favorite out of this group. Man, is it good.

In the bottle- the cassia, cinnamon, amber, and frankincense are strong in this one. To me it smells warm and welcoming, yet mysterious. it has a hazy quality to it that i really like. Wet: The cassia/cinnamon, frankincense/myrrh mix is super strong and i want to roll around in this. The haziness isnt quite here but i hope it comes back! Dry-down: this just gets better and better! The cinnamon and cassia are still sharp, but the smoke is definitely back. the balsam lents a slight helping of green in the background to help this out, and it smells like it would be the incense used during a super sensual or fall ritual gathering. I love this. I wore this yesterday as well, and it stuck around for a long time and has great throw. I think this will age beautifully as well!

In the bottle: There's a lot of patchouli going on in the bottle at first, but its tempered by super green bergamot and ti leaf. slight bit of leather, and a touch of resinous base from the oudh. its lovely, really! wet: super herby with not as much patchouli. something soapy is going on and i dont know if i hate it, but i definitely don't love it right now. There's a roundness/creamyness here that i hope develops and overcomes the soapy aspect. I'm not getting anything particularly smoked about this. dry: There's the smoke! It kind-of smells like pu'erh tea, smokey and kind-of fermented a bit. the patchouli is there but super in the background. The sharp soapy smell has relaxed quite a bit, and it's being tempered by a great resinous base, some wood and the saffron. I really, really enjoy this and i think it will make a lovely spring/summer fragrance. It's raining in Chicago right now, and i feel like the scent is totally appropriate for the weather despite not being aquatic at all.

In the bottle: I'm surprised by how wine-like this is. it smells like lambrusco. little hints of ash and incense, but not much. Wet: whoa- this reminds me a lot of Penumbra (which i just got and like quite a bit once dry). It's real juicy and grape-y, and super sweet. The bourbon vanilla peeks out a touch. Dry-down: now this- this i really really like, and as others have mentioned, you can seriously find every note that the description lists. It's wonderfully ashy and incense-y; I love the amber and benzoin. The wine/grape notes just float on top (despite being a "heavy red wine" note). I'm SUPER glad i got a whole bottle of this, and I think it will age beautifully. I'll definitely be wearing it long before it can age, though!

In the bottle- Animalic, Musky, inky. Super strong, wet pachouli. That castoreum is strong, though i will say it mellowed significantly. Last week it was almost all I could smell. Wet-The castoreum is amped, and i smell a bit like a horse barn. This is a note that i love in beer, but not so much in perfume. The oudh and frankincense are definitely present. I'm honestly not familiar with champaca flower, so I can't say if that's around or not. This is funky right now. It's not good or bad. Last week when i tried this it distinctly reminded me of a botanica here in Chicago. Lots of sacred woods, oils, dust, incense, resins. This place sold castoreum and civet accord, so that animalic smell was pretty pervasive. It's a fond memory, and i love how that botanica smells. I just don't know that i want to smell like that. I'm sure it will change. 30 minutes in-I like this more and more. I looked up champaca flower, and this note has become far more prominent. The castoreum and musk have faded into the background and are now just a super solid base. The pachouli has gone from earthy and wet to drier and dustier, and the red amber is relaxing in the middle. If the amber could wear a leather jacket, that's where the leather is. Its not super intense. I always apply to both my wrist and inner elbow, since scents work differently in those places on me. There's far more leather and far less champaca flower on my inner elbow. Right now, I'm into this, and I'm really surprised to say this considering how much I didn't like it last week. If i were to hedge my bets, i would guess this will age marvelously, and I'll report back once Ive worn this for a few hours. Edit- Ok, so a day. 2-3 hours in, and the scent is almost completely incense. It's surprisingly floral incense, but not in an obnoxious way. It's dusty and now smells like my favorite witch shop as opposed to my favorite botanica. Again, i think this will be quite great once it ages. It needs some time, but I think it will seriously fill out in adulthood.

In the bottle: Frankincense, Aztec Copal, a touch of saffron. It's pretty bright, but not astringent. Sometimes resins can lean pine-y; this does not. It's nice! Wet/Dry down: Saffron comes out to play a bit, but we're still mainly dominated by frankincense. It's rich though, and not as pointy. Something powdery starts to happen; sandalwood? I normally don't like powdery notes but this leans more smokey. A touch of sweetness is starting to happen. 10 minutes in: There's the tobacco I've been looking for, lingering in the middle. More woody bases are coming out (more sandalwood, cedar? Palo santo, is that you?), and they support the top notes of the frankincense and saffron really nicely. This scent isn't as heavy as I'd anticipated, but I love it nonetheless. 3 hours later- we are still definitely around, and i catch whiffs of my wrists at the keyboard as I'm typing, and it smells like my grandfathers tobacco pipe box. There's still lovely frankincense top notes, but those wet pipe tobacco notes are really starting to shine. Date, vanilla, brown sugar, prune. even a touch of bay. TL;DR- I'm in love with this scent and will more than likely grab a second bottle. In my mind, this is what seances in dark mahogany-paneled drawing rooms would smell like. Specifically, the woman conducting them.

Totally my first review, and definitely on a scent I wasn't sure about purchasing but was excited to try nonetheless. So excited, I couldn't wait and put this on right out of the mailbox. Firstly, I love sage. I smudge my house almost daily, which was the main attraction to this scent. Secondly, I used to live in Arizona, and reading the description of this scent on the website took me right back to late fall/early winter in the desert. In the bottle: Very much sandalwood and sweetgrass with a hint of something akin to wet slate. The "wet slate-ness" reminds me of some German/Alsacian white wines, surprisingly At this point I'm hoping the sandalwood wont go wonky on me like it has a tendency to do. Wet/dry down: Like others have said, whoa man cumin! I absolutely love cumin though so at this point in the game it's not bothersome. Also FWIW, the cumin is most prominent when i stick my nose right in it. When I'm further away, the sage starts to peek out. There's dustiness from the sandalwood and the tiniest bit of sweet from the sweetgrass. Like if you were IN a desert, it would be the kind of sweetness that comes along with finding shade or water. about 10-15 minutes in, the cumin is definitely still there, but not nearly as prominent. I've applied this to both my wrist and inner arm, and the application on my inner arm is far more sage-like and dusty earth-like than the application on my wrist. I LOVE the way this smells when I'm not all up on my wrist with my nose. At this point in the game, its a super lovely, savory scent. It's definitely evocative of desert landscape, and IMO, very unisex. I'm hoping for the sweetgrass and sage notes to develop a bit more as I wear it, so I'll update once i've worn it further. Edit: 2 hours later and the sage and sweetgrass are really pulling through for me. The cumin is still present, but not nearly as sharp as before. There's a nice roundness to this scent whereas before the cumin was leaning on astringent. If I pull further back from sniffing, there's almost a dried/toasted coconut element here. I'm really digging Djed, and I'll definitely be playing with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Another edit: I layered this over Snake Oil for a night out, and it was a win. For me, Djed needed something to help ground the height of the cumin note, and Snake Oil did this. I think this would also be super lovely over O. Djed is definitely a "cowboy on the open range-stagecoach driver getting dusty" scent. I prefer the cowboy coming into the bar and sitting down for a drink, which is what the Snake Oil made it into.