War

[tajana]

Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks.

Wet: HARSH. I only dabbed a little bit on because this was pungent straight out of the vial. I get the ginger, for sure, but it's crowded with honeysuckle and black pepper and something unpleasant. It smells sharp, and sort of... sour. I think one of those red musks must be going bad on me... most musks are at least OK on me, but a few have gone hideously wrong. I think this is one of them.

Dry: The sour, acrid tone just intensified. As it warmed up on my skin the tiny dot of oil packed a lot of sillage. The waft is weirdly creamy, but in a gross sticky honeysuckle and sweaty musk sort of way. After a bit of time on the skin it's mostly bitter spices, mostly black pepper, dusted over rancid, sour yuckiness.

Overall: A scrubber! To think that something that was on my wishlist for so long turned out to be one of the worst matches with my skin chemistry ever!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

wow, if only i could get a bottle of this without the horrid "black spices" !@$#%!^♥!!!!

[Venneh]

I tried a tester of this, I remember really liking like, we'll see if it holds up on further testing. In the bottle, this seems like if Pepper grew up and got a lot more... mature, shall we say. Getting a combination of the ginger, spices, and the musk. On my skin, it's really, really sharp, and the same ginger/spice/musk combo. Ends up fading quickly, though.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Venneh

[strahlend]

Sniffing from the imp War seemed to have the cold bite of real ginger. I wouldn't say bitter, but I would say it hits a very unusual register - if most scent notes have auditory equivanents it seems to me that this would be some kind of half note. It has some 'high' properties that seem crystaline and golden, but then there's this darker funk right there beside it and the combination is sort of unpleasant. Or a color analogy would be one of those odd in between colors like olive or puce.

On my skin for the first few minutes it stays pretty much the same, which makes me wonder why I put this on in the first place. Oh ya, I read the reviews that said this one changes a lot with skin chemistry. Ok. Well...

About 15 minutes in it suddenly changes to something really amazing. It's warm ginger with the most beautiful darker basenote holding it in place. Now the color analogy shifts to a dark mahogany red with chocolate brown accents. It's deep and rich and spicy... unmistakably ginger but so much more than that. And the great news is that it stays right here for a while. It has become sweet and warm and wonderful. Does remind me of Shub-Niggurath, but Shub is more cookie.

edit - after an hour or so the floral element became more obvious. I wouldn't have guessed that ginger and flowers would smell so good, but the combination is really working for me.

Summary: Beautiful ginger goodness.

Edited April 6, 2010 by strahlend

[Klepz]

In the bottle: Sweet, spicy, surprisingly berry-scented, which might be a sweeter musk and honeysuckle? It could go smoker's-house or feminine on me at this point, I'm not sure which. I think the pepper is the culprit.

 

Wet: Oh my. This is.. berry scented smoker's house. You know, one of those houses with about three decades of cigarette smoke clinging to the yellowed walls, with that berry-scented room deodorizer doing nothing to improve the smell. I'm glad I'm not the only one who got berries out of this, but the berry smell and pepper mix is just gross. At least the throw isn't making me wash it off. Which means I can let it dry

 

Completely dry: This is like.. berry scented room freshener. I still don't like it, but it's a vast improvement from the wet stage. The pepper is no longer noticeable. It's a honeysuckle + berry with the barest hint of ginger to it. A pretty sweet scent with not much spice or backbone to speak of (which I would have expected from War!)

 

Frankly, I find it gross but I love the bottle art, and I love Good Omens, so I might hang on to it and hope it's a spectacular ager. Shub-Niggurath is, and it's another ginger-blend, so here's to hoping.

[Dharklady]

In bottle: Patchouli and spice.

Wet: Clove and cinnamon bark.

Dry: Mostly a dry cinnamon bark with very little else, it does sweeten up as it fades but mostly cinnamon.

Notes: Sadly I didn’t get a lot of complexity, the cinnamon is lovely, much nicer then the one in Bengal, but still far too dominant.

 

[Blupest]

I bought this at an East Coast Will Call a few years ago. There was something intriguing about this blend then but also something very bitterly offputting,so I decided to see which side would win,bought it and tried wearing it. The bitterness was overwhelming and I had to stop wearing it.

 

I checked it last year to see if it still smelled as I remembered..yep,still bitter.

 

I rediscovered the bottle today as I was rotating in my summer scents and putting away last season's oils. I decided to try it again and hey,its now wearable! I even LIKE it!

 

It smells exactly like the interior of an occult shop my mother used to send me to when she needed something for a client but was too lazy to go herself. This well aged bottle of War still has that ominous bitterness,but its more in the background now. Its a dark scent that reminds me of roots,herbs and bark gathered for a sinister purpose. There is something sweet in here ,a survivor of whatever long and bitter battle was fought in that bottle for the past few years.

 

It lasts quite a long time on skin and has considerable throw.

[Teaotter]

I bought this for the ginger and spices, but sadly, they aren't coming out.

 

Wet: candy-like sweetness, with an undertone of butter.

 

Dry: Berry candy. There are some warm spices under there if I put my nose to my wrist and sniff hard, but they're drowned out by the berries.

[gypsyjolie]

I don't get any patchouli or cinnamon or infernal spices - just headache-inducing HONEYSUCKLE and sharp ginger.

When dry, I get some red musk under the HONEYSUCKLE, but not enough to save this blend for me.

Edited August 13, 2010 by gypsyjolie

[blu°]

Ew... I do not like this. Freshly applied, it's so harsh, it made me cough. There's something intensely weird and dissonant about the spices, musks and the honeysuckle. Sweet and sticky, yet harshly firey-spicey with a strong red throw. Something smells like menthol in there, too. Maybe the ginger? And I think there must be cassia, because hardly any other spice is so overwhelming.

 

Not for me. Glad, I got to try it, though.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I feel like the honeysuckle is confusing this blend. It doesn't seem the notes are playing well together on my skin. There's definitely an olfactory war going on...is it supposed to be sweet or musky or spicy? They aren't blending well but fighting.

 

The first note I smell is a very dry ginger, then honeysuckle. I also smell pepper and faint red musk, but something is turning sour and I'm going to have to wash this one off.

[ltrittipoe]

This is love, love on my skin. Fresh ginger mixed with honeysuckle, blended with spices and creaminess. I don't get the black pepper, yay! I do get the "sharp" comparisons, but to my nose that is the sharpness of freshly grated ginger, and mixes well with the creamy undertone.

 

I can see the comparison to Pepper, all grown up - there is the same feel to War. But War is a strong uncompromising scent, definitely red, warm and sweet. Pepper is much more pink.

 

This perfectly suits the character, to me. A gorgeous woman, that brings war, topples governements, and men lust after and are frightened of at the same time.

 

This has become one of my top ten, really top five - and absolutely hoard-worthy.

[Lorna Brigid]

It took me forever and a day of testing this to make up my mind what I thought!

There is something about War I really really love like I knew I would before I ever tried it; I love the red musks and the ginger.

Yet there is something in it that smells kind of.... waxy?

That one note (I"m not sure what it is) keeps me from all out loving War like I want to.

But overall I love her.

Haven't made up my mind about a full bottle. We'll see.

Oddly, when I tested it again for the third or fourth time, I was sick, and found the scent to be comforting!

[Vega]

Sniffed: Red musk soaked in glowing patchouli, perhaps sweetened by honeysuckle.

 

On skin: I can pick out most of the notes! Full-bodied red musk and glowing patchouli are the most prominent notes, there's a touch of honeysuckle and ginger (not its usual nippy self though), and I can't really identify the spices. A non-morpher that remains consistent over time, although the patchouli fades behind the red musk as it wears off. A good showcase of red musk's versatility, although no other red musk blend that I've tried quite smells like it. Colour impression is crimson with a throbbing, glowing heart.

War is smooth, clear, full-bodied and vibrant, unisex tending towards feminine. It's not at all what I'd imagine a picture of warfare to resemble, not even a heroic, romanticized version, but I suppose it's more evocative of the Good Omens character. (Haven't read the book, for the record.)

 

Verdict: War is a strong representative of the red musk family, while having its own distinct character. I like it a lot, but I keep bypassing it for other, more loved red musk blends, so I don't think it'll stay.

[84trillion]

This is similar to Saw-Scaled Viper in a way - it's the same kind of spiciness - but it's more feminine. I love it. 9/10!

[revinn]

Oh man. This is sexy.

 

Slightly spicy, slightly sweetened red musk. So much red musk! I'm not usually a fan of spicy scents, but this manages to walk the line between musky, sweet and spicy, and it WORKS. I don't get black spices or ginger, per se, more of a non-descript smokiness.

 

It is completely evocative of the character it's based on. It smells like a gorgeous, untouchable woman, perspiring lightly, with the scent of lingering smoke on her skin. Just beautiful!

 

Makes me feel like a badass, love it!

[JazzieCazzie]

I have had this on my "I need to try this one of these days" lists for awhile but since it was undecantable I had to wait until I could find someone willing to sell a decant. Which was last month. Thinking this may be an aged imp but not sure if it was from a decant circle to start with or the seller decanted it from a more recent bottle.

 

IN THE IMP: Headshop headshop headshop. I know that the "smells like a headshop" term is used liberally on here but this is the most headshoppy scent I've ever tried. Not that that's a bad thing.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: Super-de-duper headshop. I'm not sure if it's the patchouli, which many tend to associate with headshops but which I usually equate with nursery school paste (also not a bad thing, by the way). There is also something very deeply fruity here, a quality which 9 times out of 10 would be a dealbreaker for me but which works in this case. I love ginger, but I'm not getting my usual ginger read here, rather ginger as it morphs and blends with other notes.

 

DRYDOWN: A very sweet and slightly candy-like floral headshop. I actually really love this. I think it needs to be worn in small doses but I love it.

 

OVERALL: This is unusual and unique and strong. It reminds me a lot of one of the Sephiroths in its combination of spicy fruity floral but I can't recall which one. I wouldn't buy a big bottle of it because it's just a little too strong, but I will absolutely use up this imp.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.

[Jangzonrice]

i was sooooo disappointed with this bc I love ginger, but I think one of the red musks makes it really bad for me. wet: wet dirty dog musk... dry: slightly sweeter dirty dog musk with the hint of something going sour and rancid in the background. thank god I didn't put this on and actually go out bc it is horrible on me! I'm not getting any of the sweeter notes or the ginger, just dirty unwashed sour BO! now I have to figure out what to do with the rest of this...

[woodenmango]

Wow this quite the morpher on me.

 

In the bottle: spicey musky and sweet

 

wet: woah headshop incense, must be the patch

 

Dry:....coconut?! and peppery ginger but there is totally a coconut vibe to me. Maybe it is the honeysuckle? so strange I think I like it though.

[stellamaris]

Wow War smells amazing. Sweet, gingery, lovely. I smell a patchouli underneath. I think this one needs to sit, or my nose could be off because it's so soft, however lasts through getting wet and a couple of hours still as strong as when I put it on. Will retest and report back. So far though I love it.

I really do NOT smell the honeysuckle yet, it's all warm and spicey.

Edited July 26, 2015 by stellamaris

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Oh gosh, there is something in there that just hates me! It's crazy strong and peppery and spicy with this weird note that I've never experienced before. It's truly awful. "Black spices" maybe? Because I love all the other listed notes and have never ad any of them go "wonky" on me.

 

 

 

Dry: Unfortunately this does not work for me at all. It's quite peppery and bitter. I get none of the listed notes that so appealed to me (Ginger, Patchouli, Honeysuckle and Musk are all things I like). I'm pretty sure the black spices, whatever they are, have ruined this for me. While it's not something I would ever wear, I can appreciate this for what it is. It's very appropriate for the name War, that's for sure!

[VetchVesper]

Ok. So here's what I smell - red musk, ginger with a bit of bite, LOTS of honeysuckle, and a hint of black pepper. I like patchouli but don't really get it from this blend.

 

Now what it smells like?? REALLY sexy Hawaiian Punch. I swear, that's what I get. I'm like'n it!

 

ETA: I wish this scent got more love. I really do like it, and it has that red, luscious wetness to it that some of the Shungas have had in recent years. This is a great, summery red musk for me, and I get compliments every time I wear it. 

Edited August 5, 2021 by VetchVesper

[sarandipitee]

While wet, War smells like spciy ginger cookies and some mild patch. So far, there is no red musk but I amp that note like whoa so it's bound to appear shortly.

 

Dry down - still ginger cookies but now we got some honeysuckle mingling with the patch. The red musk is still being shy.

 

After 30 min the red musk shows and it becomes a mostly sweet musk with faint honey suckle and ginger. The patch fades away but it's alright. I like it but it's not wowza on me. I'll keep the decant though.

[dramedy65]

Testing an old bottle, sorting gifts I've gotten. I enjoy testing it and THEN reading the notes.

 

Wet: Well, that's inTENSE. Spicy, musky, and something else. I really need to look up notes before I smell things hah.

 

Dry, 10 min: No. no no no. I smell like a hippy smoker's cough. Oh god.

 

Dry, 2 hrs: Time to write a review and write this off. DEFINITELY not my scent.

 

Looks at notes: PATCHOULI. and musks. Musks go one of 2 ways on me - sexy or sour. These went sour and the patchouli killed it dead.

 

Swap/sales pile ~

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Red musk, ginger, black pepper, patchouli, and some creaminess that must be due to the honeysuckle.

 

Wet: When freshly applied, this is strong on the ginger, black pepper, and spices, but the red musk quickly asserts itself so that it’s red musk like whoa, infused with some ginger and spices, with the creaminess from the honeysuckle. As it begins to dry, the patchouli note emerges.

 

Dry: Super strong red musk, with some ginger, pepper, and patchouli, and a hint of creamy honeysuckle lingering behind it, but mostly I AM RED MUSK, HEAR ME ROAR.

 

Verdict: This is just too much red musk for me.

Edited June 11, 2018 by dementia_divine