Ceaselessly By My Side the Demon Stirs

[doomsday_disco]

Smoked tonka bean, vetiver root, white patchouli, oolong tea, hazy, muted brown amber, and vanilla husk.

 

 

Odilon Redon
 

[gentle-twig]

Just a short review for this one — it’s not really for me but I can see it being for many other people. This is a skin scent that gives a matte, slightly sweet and buttery, taupe impression. In turns it is spicy, smoky, powdery. I was hoping for a distinctive oolong tea note, and while I can hunt for a kind of milk oolong nuance, it’s really a small part of a very unified blend. If you are looking for a subtle, versatile “signature scent” type fragrance and have tastes that veer toward sweet, powdery, creamy, ambers with subtle smoke and spice you will enjoy this. Even I enjoy it but I don’t find it inspiring. I will say I hate tonka typically and am totally fine with this blend. Huh! 

[doomsday_disco]

The smoked tonka bean is one of the main players on me, along with the patchouli and tea notes, and they each get their moments in the spotlight as the star of the show. This tea note is not a typical tea note from the Lab -- it actually strongly reminds me of the black tea note that Nocturne Alchemy uses, which has some spice to it in addition to a tannic quality. The tonka just has a touch of smoke to it and isn't overly smoky. Sometimes it reminds me of the Lab's bourbon vanilla note, which reads as a sheer, non-gourmand vanilla to me, but maybe that's the vanilla husk at play along with it. The vetiver in this emerges after the scent has been dry for a few hours, but it's a pretty tame variety -- no BBQ-esque vetiver here! I mainly feel like it is grassy with just a touch of smoke. It lurks behind the patchouli, content with its background role. The demon in the painting must be somewhat cuddly, as this is a pretty cozy, brown scent with no rough edges (since the patchouli and vetiver in this are not abrasive varieties of those notes). If I had to compare this to previous creations from the Lab, I would say it has some similarities to A Breton Sorceress (with the tonka, patchouli, spice, and vanilla), and Impressions of the Floating World (which features vanilla, patchouli, and a bit of smoke from its honey note).

 

This is a little too dry for me, without the sweetness I was hoping for from the vanilla husk, but if you're looking for a scent that's strong on the tonka, patchouli, and tea, give this one a whirl.

Edited Wednesday at 04:39 PM by doomsday_disco

[puellacaerulea]

This is one of those blends that goes through significant morphing. In the decant and first applied, I almost wondered if I got a mislabeled decant because I couldn't pick up any amber, tonka, or vanilla -- just sharp, rooty, murky patchouli and vetiver. As it dries down, the patch and vetiver settle down and the warmer notes start to come out. My overall impression is a warm brown scent, but with a faint background sharpness from the vetiver and tea that keeps it from being as cozy as other Lab amber/tonka/vanilla blends.