Ennikar

I bought this after reading the previous reviews as part of a hunt for a good carnation scent (I shall soon run out of my favorite), and this delivers. It's not super complex, but it's definitely carnation, a kinda-sweet-but-not-too-sugared, creamy-but-not-foody, very wearable, unapologetically girly style of carnation. Not aggressive at all, or even too spicy. Wears for a few hours at least.

Tested ~36 hours from the mail. Very weird, in a way I think is good? The previous reviews seem contradictory, but they made sense as soon as I tried it on skin. There's a ginger opening, but like a relatively mild wet ginger straight out of the ground, and the beets smell like the ground during rain. The overall impact is indeed both clean and earthy, spicy but not aggressive. I'm usually very not into soapy stuff, but this works. The blood musk is doing something, I assume, but it's very quiet, I only get it mildly in the drydown. Overall it's, well, interesting -- both pleasant and not something a person should ever smell like. Ended up on my "atmospheric" shelf rather than the "fruity/fresh", "spicy", "pretty/floral", "aggressive", or "masculine" shelves. Late drydown, it's a pleasant, slightly spicy musk. The throw on this is good, and the longevity is pretty extensive, still a few inches of throw after 10 hours.. Other impressions: wet, "that's got some spice on it", a few minutes dry, "there's a little bit of dryer sheets but not in a bad way? And something else balancing it." A couple hours after application, someone noted they wouldn't have called the ginger.

Jammy fir first, second, and third, in line with a Thyme's Christmas candle, and a very slight edge of smoke fourth. The smoke comes out more deep into the drydown, but this one is a conifer bomb and aspects of that stick around all through the wear. The fir is so sweet and, well, jammy that my partner immediately described it as "fruity". It's bright and idealized in a way that most of the lab's "plant" smells usually aren't (or at least the ones I try aren't), but that doesn't mean I'm disappointed - it's, well, happy. Not totally what I expected, but I can see its niche.

When it's first applied, I get not-quite-soapy gardenia and semi-medicinal labdanum. They both stay present and pretty balanced throughout the wear time, but the soapy-and-medicinal vibes calm down pretty quickly in favor of a fresh, tropical gardenia and resinous (not woody or smokey, in my opinion) backing. The balance shifts back and forth with time. This isn't, like, a revolutionary take on these notes, but so long as you like both you'll probably enjoy it. The main drawback for me is just that it's pretty quiet - low throw, middling wear length.

Very "classic BPAL", which is to say, strong, ashy incense, very dark and almost bitter. Tobacco and leather are detectable, but the vanilla and clove don't come out much at all. There's a minty/mentholic note in the bottle and up front that fades quickly. The lingering effect is almost cigarette ash - doesn't smell like cancer in the way straight-up cigs often do, but probably still polarizing. Ultimately not sure how I feel about it, but I'll say that it's a cool interpretation of the name without being completely unpleasant.

2011 version. Dragon's blood isn't a listed note, but my impression is extremely dragon's blood - could be that's part of the blood accord or just the incenses. The floral and herbal notes seem to have died down with age, leaving mostly a warm, cozy, unlit incense style scent (not sure which; personally I still have trouble differentiating frankincense and myrrh). It does feel a little new-age shop. Very unisex, no sweet elements but also not terribly dry or "raspy". Decent throw and longevity. Second opinion: "very green, but not like... a super fresh, plant-y green." (this tester often reads incense as green). It's pleasant, especially for cool weather, but with my personal taste not sure whether I'd grab it over "spicier" masc scents like Mr. Jacquel or Schwarzer Mond.

I love wood, nutty blends, masc blends, and even dirty patch, and have recently allowed myself to admit I like unicorns too, so I tried really hard to like Of The Unicorn. I can smell what others love in it (woody patch, soft ambrette and orris), but for me in the year of our lord 2024, something (I assume the agarwood) has gone funky in a way I find distracting and, well, not good (to be clear, not rancid - just not to my taste). I don't usually have issues with the "fecal"/indolic thing, so it was an unpleasant surprise, and it might just be a me issue because when asked others have said it smells good on me, but I will sadly have to stick with less mystical patchouli blends.

At this age, the clove and patchouli seem to have basically smoothed out in favor of salt, kelp, and juniper. I don't think that's bad - it seems like they wouldn't mesh very well if the clove was prominent. What remains is somewhere between a realistic cold ocean and, well, soap in the vein of Irish Spring. Maybe it's the name, but I do feel a sense of power and drama in it. I might keep it if it were a bit louder, but it's pretty low throw and I don't think I'd reach for it much.

The "honeyed" part of the labdanum is very literal; when this first goes on I thought it was straight up honey, orange blossom/jasmine, and a touch of rose. The incense smoke comes out more as it dries down, but the floral components stick around too. They're not really fresh, humid florals, especially as it dries they become more like components of the incense. Second opinion: "Floral. More than one flower? Then one of them is rose. It's nice... a little generic, though, I think." I do quite like it, but I'm trying to decide whether or not it's distinct enough from Pleasure Abundant (orange blossom, sweet amber, red honey, pink peppercorn, and frankincense smoke) from Roe v. Wade to justify keeping both.

The lavender is a big note in the opening, and it's very nice for a minute, but soon the whole composition goes in the direction of "fancy soap" - this is a common problem for me with a number of notes (especially lavender), and I probably should have foreseen it since several of the other notes here (woodmoss, bergamot) are also popular in "soap" scents. It doesn't come across as particularly floral; the second opinion I solicited was "generic non-floral perfume, a little masculine". Overall, a little woody, a little herbal, but also... soap.

I do not like to eat olives, but I do often like various sorts of leaves and/or branches. I've never smelled an olive grove, so I can't speak to accuracy, but this is a very pleasant warm-breeze sort of green. If I whiff hard off my wrist, some... clean? dimensions come out, which could also be "salty". I feel like I'm just repeating the previous review, but it's largely accurate to my experience - even the part where it seems a little masculine of neutral.

Reboot. Horseradish and vetiver in the bottle and wet. The drydown shifts, though - the horseradish comes across almost like a strong pepper note, the vetiver smooths out with the patchouli and myrrh, and the bergamot/orange blossom become more noticeable. Final impression is like a peppery patch with some citrus-floral stuff going on, which is distinctive but more pleasant than one might think The Harpy would be. Reasonably good throw.

One day out of the mail (I'll update this review if rest changes it drastically). This one was a risky buy for me; I'm not big on fruit scents but do occasionally find a blackberry that sparks joy. In the bottle and wet: cherry hard candy. It smells like cherry, not any other fruit, but there is something artificial about it at this stage. The leather starts to raise its head soon, and in this stage there is some "darkness" to it - the cherry is still sweet, but the leather gives it a deeper base. Later, the resins and blackberry dimensions start to come out more and some combination of those things gives the impression of smoke. Again, the rose fits in well and I can find it if I look, but this is a fruit scent with some leathery and resin-y dimensions and definitely not a rosey one.

One day out of the mail: ~Secret aquatic~, clean but not soapy I assume this effect is from the cypress and fougere. Very light and "misty", without strong throw. The tobacco and sandalwood aren't easily detectable; I can find the rose if I look for it and it fits in well, but without the notes I wouldn't describe it as a rose fragrance. For those who like comparisons, this reminds me strongly of Cycling for Pleasure from the 2021 Shungas (which was an aquatic that also included cypress, oakmoss, carnation, and vetiver). I destashed that one because it eventually became too soapy, which this one doesn't seem to be, so if it gets stronger with rest I might keep it. I'll update this review if it changes drastically with rest.

I've had this bottle for years now but still have difficulty describing it. "Silken" seems right, though; there's very little sharp here and all of the notes blend together. There's red musk, but I wouldn't necessarily identify it as a "red musk blend" - I get the pine first, a little smokey, but it doesn't register as a "smoke" note. Leather is iffy on me, but here it's like an additional dimension to the scent rather than a note on its own. The green tea is here as well, and the "smoldering" thing makes it register as like... a smoked tea? Black pepper is MIA (but I like pepper, so maybe it's just not as strong as I'd like, and the overall impression of the scent is consistent with pepper). Fits in the woods + red musk section, near Fenris Wolf, but with pine-y and smokey dimensions and a touch of sophistication from the tea.