The Fall of Anarchy

[doomsday_disco]

Shattered amber tears, smoked saffron, burnt sugar, myrrh, brown leather, peru balsam, vetiver, and ash.

 

 

Joseph Mallord William Turner
 

[sudenmorsian]

Once again, I did not expect to love this but here I am wondering how beautiful and impressive this is. 

 

In the vial and wet on skin this is mostly soft, brown leather, smoked saffron and ash, and there's a hint of something almost evergreenish (peru balsam) that's lightening things up a bit. During drydown sweeter notes emerges and while the most beautiful leather is still on front and it's still quite smoky scent, there's definitely sweetness from amber, myrrh and tiny bit of burnt sugar. 

 

This is masculine leaning scent but I love it both on my skin and on my partner's. It's unique and I don't have anything like it, and I'm going to get a full bottle. 

[leptonpyr]

I was initially a little put off by how strong the leather note was on me when first applied, but this blend has really grown on me. There's a lot of leather at first, yes, but it settles down before too long into something really beautifully complex. The leather is the predominant note throughout, but underneath there's something like burnt caramel, something golden that's both honey- and hay-like. There's just a trace of something pine-like and resinous, and even more faintly there's something soft and a little powdery coming from the amber. I kept trying to pick out the myrrh but couldn't pinpoint it; there's too much going on in this blend that's smoky and dark. After a few hours of wear, it reminded me a bit of woodsmoke, but with a thrum of something more complex underneath, resins, just a touch of burnt sweetness that feels very surprising each time I notice it. If The Fall of Anarchy were a person, it would be someone who puts on a big show of bravado as a kind of smoke-and-mirrors act to distract from the depth of their inner life, who makes it easy to overlook their intricate complexities if you aren't paying close enough attention.

 

I think this is due to come down this month, so I know I don't have a ton of time to decide, but I'm sort of tempted by a bottle: I would LOVE to see how this ages, something tells me it will only get more beautiful and its nuances more pronounced.

Edited January 13 by leptonpyr

[OxfordComma]

I'm an absolute fiend for Turner, his art just does something for me, so since the notes also sounded innocuous enough, I had to grab this. It starts off very.... Gun? Like a well kept antique gun. A scent I grew up with, so quite a bit of unexpected nostalgia. I might have to return to this and re-review it when it's not so unexpectedly lever-actiony, but as is, if you wanted to smell like a slightly rugged gunslinger or a noir detective, this one's for you. 

 

Re-Review: ok, still smells gun-adjacent but I can parse out the notes a bit better if I sniff point blank. Brown leather, ash and a subtle sweet edge from the burnt sugar, which smells like maybe turbinado or something similar to me. Smoky without being too heavy. Curious to see how this wears as the weather starts to warm, I could see this being a neat summer scent in cooler climes. Another Ars Anni that really nails the vibe of the painting!

Edited Saturday at 05:58 PM by OxfordComma