Brown Jenkin

[Gateau]

A small, furry, sharp-toothed scent that will nuzzle you curiously in the black hours before dawn: dusty white sandalwood and orris root, dry coconut husk, creeping musk, and the residue of ceremonial incense.

In the imp--something nutty with a touch of cologne, not very strong.

Wet--warm nutty cologne.

Drydown--the nuttiness is turning into bark or wood, still that cologne musk sharpness. I get wafts of coconut or cocoa butter, but up close there is that woodsy cologne scent that hits my nose sharply.

Dry--this softens and blends into a coconutty warmth. A touch foodie and very cozy. My kids said "vanilla" and they all seemed to like it. Not sure it's really for me but worth testing again in colder months.

[Gael]

I ordered a bottle based on the description as well as the positive reactions posted. It landed today and burrowed right in nicely.

 

It's a dark fellow that you warm to as he calms down. I think he's just defensive to start with, then shows his tame side and coconutty spirit. I'm going to get him a little hat and teach him some pub songs. He's talented.

[invisible iris]

In the Imp, I smell coconut and orris. Freshly applied, it immediately goes to suntan oil and BO. It must be the "creeping musk" that registers as BO..

 

As it dries, a bit of sandalwood & incense come out and tame the suntan oil/BO, but it's too little too late. The musk here is still creepy, kinda weird and maybe a little foul smelling. The coconut and orris seem slimy and slithery, sweet in an unpleasant way, with a tiny hint of rotten sickly. The combination of musky animal odor plus the sweet oily feel of the coconut is genuinely unnerving.

 

Verdict: I'm exaggerating the badness of Brown Jenkin. It really is only slightly off. But the offness is so difficult to articulate and categorize that it distracts me from the overall ok-ness of the scent (DH thinks the smell is fine). In any case, Brown Jenkin is annoyingly uncanny and obviously not for me.

[b00cat]

I tried this on this morning after letting it sit in my overflowing imp box for two years and wow am I so glad it gave it another try! When I tried it fresh from the lab two years ago it was sharp to the point it made the back of my throat burn, but now that it has aged it is just gorgeous. I definitely can detect the orris, coconut husk and a tad bit of incense. Brown and comforting smell, not "foody" coconut and definitely dry. It does remind me of Death Cap (one of my faves) also but without the mushroom and less sweet.

 

I definitely see a bottle purchase of this in my future So glad I kept the imp!

[TastyMischief]

I have an imp of this so I decided to test it. And I'm in loooooooove... OMG this is the perfect coconut: Not too sweet, it conveys the feel and texture of coconut rather than the taste, which is why b00cat finds it not foody, I think. This is a wonderful scent! Cozy, cuddly, nurturing, pretty, soft, warm and (yes) fuzzy.

A security blanket scent for grownups.

This is totally the scent I would pick on days when I wear my cashmere ruana.

[Rho]

Brown Jenkin was one of the first BPALs I was interested in trying, but I haven't gotten around to wearing it until recently. Because I waited awhile to try it, this fragrance was different than I expected.

 

Wet on my skin, I get a white smell from the sandalwood and coconut. Together, they give my throat a chilly, wintery feeling. I really wasn't expecting Brown Jenkin to be the kind of scent that can clear your sinuses.

 

After it's had a chance to dry down and mellow out a bit, the musk envelops the edges of the scent, but nothing ever fills it out completely on my skin. It's like a doorframe, but the door is always open and that white smell is free to blow right in.

 

Even the traces of incense that I catch seem to be hovering in the wind.

 

I feel like I'm smelling a different Brown Jenkin than a lot of other reviewers. I definitely wouldn't describe it as warm or fuzzy, but it's still a nice comforting, quirky fragrance.

[Honey]

Imp: Very dusty and dry. The sweet orris root jumps right at you.

 

Wet: Creamy, dry, floral coconut.

 

Dry: Bit.. medicinal. Orris root doesn't really do it for me I guess. Oh - after a while the orris root disappears and it's mainly sandalwood and creamy unsweet coconut on me. That's how I like it! Will keep that imp!

Edited October 11, 2011 by Honey

[WidgetAlley]

Hmm.

 

Imp: Sweet, dry, thick incense dust, like the ash that's left on the burner, and fuzzy spicy musk. No coconut yet.

 

Wet: Yum! A dry, sweet but not too sweet coconut incense with a hefty dose of brown musk and a really lovely white sandalwood. The orris, which is definitely usually a not-so-great note on me, is okay here, although it does make the whole thing a little bit perfumey.

 

Dry: A pleasantly ashy, gently coconutty scent with a strong backing of gentle brown musk. Pretty, but the combo of sandalwood + coconut + orris on my skin makes it smell a little bit generic. I don't think I need to keep it, but someone else might love it!

[Juushika]

In the vial: I'd hazard sandalwood, orris, and muskit's a familiar scent but hard to name, brown and organic.

 

On me: Goes on cologney and sweet, and has a frankly unlikable drydown period which takes too much from the coconut and hardly matches the description. When it does dry down, this is a barely sweet, fuzzy brown scentmore orris, sandalwood, and husk than musk, so there's not much of rats or mice here and instead the scent leans a bit vegetative; it's not as powdery as I had expected, but the coconut husk in particular well matches the scent-texture promised in the description. Scent-color is a moderate brown, not too dark or saturated. Throw is moderate.

 

Verdict: I get almost nothing in the way of musk or incense, but I want them thereI think they'd provide welcome balance and darkness to the scent, and lean it back towards animalic instead of vegetative. What I get from Brown Jenkin instead is only okayI like it, but not nearly as much as I want to. I'll hang onto my imp for now and hope that aging brings out those other notes and improves the scent.

[persephonehazard]

I got this from the lovely Almond Blossom, from whom I bought quite a few imps and my first ever 5ml. This was one that I mostly picked up because the description intrigued me, rather than because of anything to do with the notes! [grin] It was randomly selected by my boyfriend as the first tester from the new shinies.

 

There's sandalwood in the imp, though I've got that all mixed up with the "residue of ceremonial incense" and am probably smelling one or the other or both all at once. Not a lot else yet, but that's okay; I like sandalwood.

 

It's instantly different on wet, and I can't quite put my finger on quite how. It could be the orris, as I have no real idea what that smells like. It's actually relatively sweet all of a sudden, which I assume is the coconut — and sure enough, after only about thirty seconds it suddenly morphs into a slightly woody aroma when sniffed close and a good throw of All Coconut All The Time. I slather on some more — I'm a real splasher, me, not in the least bit conservative with my application — and head out shopping.

 

Gradually, over the next few hours, it morphs and changes beautifully. First the coconut softens into something more like the woody husk in the description, then the whole thing suddenly gives way into ceremonial incense. It's gone by the end of the evening, but it's been fascinating to follow.

 

3/5. I like it and it's certainly interesting, but I have a suspicion that it does several things pretty well all of which are done better individually by other things, if you see what I mean.

[Breakfast]

I'm new to BPAL, so I am having a hard time trying to discern the notes in this. In the imp it smells like an almost medicinal acrid sandalwood, but it morphs into something so beautiful! Wet on my skin it smells a bit powdery, but after a few moments the coconut comes out and it becomes such a sweet and lovely cuddly smell. I think I need a bottle of this.

[yakiguri]

Hmm. Rather than a fuzzy scent I get a bone-dry coconut-orris-sandalwood with a light dusting of incense. Maybe the powdered skeleton of a Brown Jenkin used during some nefarious ritual?

It's not bad, but I prefer Ozymandias and Baghdad for my dry scents.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Coconut and orris with an incensey, woody edge.

Wet: Yet another variation on Kathmandu/Sri Lanka/Yggdrasil. This one is coconutty.

Dry: Quite a cologney coconut and orris thing.

[catalyst]

.

Edited July 30, 2014 by catalyst

[mymymai]

ITI: Warm coconut, sultry musk, and sandalwood. It's a gorgeous combination of lightly resinous and sweet.

 

Wet: Still light, dusty, and resinous, although now the ceremonial incense is creeping in, adding something more darkly complex.

 

Dry: Coconut, dried, sandalwood, musk, and lots of rich ceremonial incense. It's a scent of which I'd love to have more.

[Wren12]

In the imp...difficult to pick out s specific scent. It's intriguing and sweet incensey...

 

On wet...ah, here comes the coconut. Very lush, the sandalwood is actually playing nicely with me for once...

 

On dry...meh, the sandalwood is doing its astringent soap thing it does with me. It overwhelms the nice coconut and any whispers of musk I noticed on the drydown, but i amp the heck out of sandalwood, so not surprising.

 

I think it would be wonderful on someone who doesn't amp sandalwood to the high heavens!

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Creamy coconut and crumbly incense (chocolate incense?). Creamy, sweet, dry, and somewhat vegetal.

 

Drydown: Dusty coconut husk. Dry, brittle, and almost leathery. Beneath the husk is smoke and creaminess. There’s something slightly sharp in the background too, the orris no doubt. There's an interesting mix of clean and gritty happening in this one. Earthy, tropical, dry, smokey, and quite smooth.

 

Dry: Toasted coconut, dusty incense, and smooth sandalwood. Subtle and inviting nighttime island vibes. Surprisingly gentle.

 

 

8 out of 10 bones

 

 

Edited March 21, 2022 by BoneBone24
(updated to include more recent impressions)

[Quillifer]

I was frimped with this by the Lab ages ago but for some weird reason haven't reviewed it before now.

 

Anyway, in the imp I find it rather dusty, unpromising, but with a hint of coconut.

 

Wet, it's sweet coconut but the dry warm type, not wet cool. I find this to be an autumn/winter scent - particularly autumn.

 

As it dries, all the notes come out, beautifully blended.

 

It's a scent that never draws compliments (though no complaints either!) - but that I wear for myself. It reminds me of old books and quiet corners far more effectively than any scent I've tried specifically designed to evoke those things. An introverted, quirky but not way-out scent. Not too girly but not stridently assertively iconoclastic, for moments when I want to be alone with my thoughts or getting on with my things in peace.

 

5/5 for me.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Quillifer

[damonkitty]

So confused about this one . I am not a fan of sandalwood, but for some reason I hold on to my imps of this scent. The dry down does something good on the skin. I get a vanilla resiny scent that makes me keep sniffing my arm. I want to hate this one so I can just decide for once I can live without a bottle. I have a few imps I will work on first. Overall this one is a keeper. I do get the pencil shavings thing on the skin, but I love the warm vanilla resin part too much to part with this one

[elinox]

*Note: I applied this after I’d tried Manhattan earlier in the day yesterday. Since that had faded, I washed it off and decided to review another imp.

 

First Sniff: Something dark brown and furry. I think I can detect a tiny hint of cocoa in the background!

 

Initial Wet Application: Dusty with some warmth to round this out. It smells similar to the plywood note I get from imps with ‘dust’ or ‘wood’ in their description, although this isn’t quite the same and so it’s more enjoyable.

 

Beginning Dry Down (first 15 minutes) & Dry: As it completed its dry down, this was dry cocoa powder and something fuzzy. It makes me think of soft animal fur, but with a perfume twist instead of actually being fur.

 

My Reaction: I had hoped this would be a bit darker, but its more perfumy than I would have thought and hoped for. This didn’t change from initial wet to dry down, which was nice. After reading the description I can pick out the coconut, which I think is keeping this warm and gentle smelling. Not sure if I like this enough to keep it, but its definitely evokes images of fuzzy little creatures.

 

Rating: 2.5

[Jangzonrice]

Warm, cozy scent with the dry coconut (I love the dry coconut scent much more than juicy fresh coconut that is overwhelming) blooming on warm skin. The musk and orris ground the coconut and keep it from being foodie. The sandalwood is not strong enough to turn it into cologne. Love this, got it as an imp and will buy a full vial soon.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Wow, this is really interesting! Notes are exactly as described - it's soft, dusty & woodsy, but it has a slightly creepy feel to it!

Wet on skin: Mostly dry, dusty sandalwood. There's a hint of all the other notes & they do add a little something intriguing to it, but it's mainly just sandalwood on me.

Dry on skin: This has faded a lot! Sandalwood is still the main note, but there's just enough of the others now to keep it interesting!

After a few hours: Even more faded now. Sandalwood is still the main note & it's the only one I can really pick out, but it's not the only note.

Verdict: "Soft, dusty & woodsy" still feels like the best way to describe this. It doesn't sound like something I'd normally go for, but I really like this one & can definitely see myself wearing it!

[Atrous]

This is a very dry, soft scent. Sandalwood and Coconut are dominant. Coconut usually goes creamy/tropical/foodie on me but not this coconut. This one is really dry. Same with the Sandalwood. I get incense but the kind where you walk into a room hours after the incense burned out and you can still smell it in the air. There are also hints of Orris that make this blend powdery. I'm not getting any musk but there are brown, fuzzy underpinnings that perhaps can be attributed to the musk.

I absolutely love Jenkin. Its the most beautiful dry/powdery scent I own.

[ModderRhu]

this is indeed a dry coconut scent. the best version of coconut, IMO. almost a little scorched and toasty smelling. the musk and incense play very well together and smooth out the coconut. don't really detect much orris, so if that's a death note for you, don't worry too much about it. the sandalwood doesn't really smell like the white version to me, which I love but sometimes can make me sneeze. it smells dirty, salty and a little tea-like.

 

this smells like a mix of Tiki King (dry coconut), Al Azif (incense), Aureus (sandalwood) and Comforting Plush Companion (musk) without the fruit.

 

in other words, everything good and not bad at all

[ziggystardust13]

This is one of my favorite scents! I rarely wear it, but I get my hubby to wear it all the time. It is my nuzzle scent. It's warm and inviting, creamy and perfectly sweet, incensey and woody - total perfection.

Edited January 22, 2015 by ziggystardust13