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Golden amber, vanilla musk, myrrh, cedar, carnation, and red sandalwood.

Mmmm, Inez is dominant on the myrrh, red sandalwood (which seems like a beautiful mix of sandalwood and red musk, hooray!), and carnation on me; it's incredibly rich, warm, and inviting, perfect for fall sweater weather (or the two weeks of winter we get down here in Florida). This is exactly what I imagined Morocco would smell like, but better! It's sophisticated and intoxicating, yet something just about anyone could pull off. I wore this with jeans and a Threadless shirt the other day and felt woefully underdressed because I smelled so regal and looked so... disheveled by comparison. :P

Inez is a bit heavy for hot weather, but it is perfect for chilly, blustery days. If you like Queen Alice, chances are you'll like Inez too. :)

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So I'm clearing out my imps/decants and I tried on Inez....and immediately tought wtf, why did I not buy a bottle of this when I could?!?! Turns out I didn't even review it - I may have accidentally put it with the imps without even trying it!

 

This scent is amazing! It's warm and soft and mature. There's definitely amber and vanilla musk at the front which I adore, but it's also being grounded by the other notes (that stay mostly in the background). I definitely agree that this is similar to Morocco, but it feels little bit more "day" for me. It's a little softer, a little less incense. So so good! If this comes back it's a bottle for sure!

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ITB: Dusky, warm amber, sandalwood, and vanilla musk. It's certainly feminine so far.

 

Wet: There is a bit more depth once applied to the skin as the carnation becomes apparent and the vanilla musk along with the sandalwood become much more assertive.

 

Dry: After 12 hours, the scent is still strong and glorious - rich, golden amber, sandalwood, and creamy vanilla musk. I smell fantastic!

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How did I got this long in life without Inez?! This is the most gorgeous, warm scent I think I have ever tried. It's like snuggling into the softest cashmere blanket on a chilly day.

 

Wet: Amber and vanilla musk. I cant smell any of the other notes while it's wet. This is my favorite stage. If it stayed like this the entire time I'd buy every available bottle and slather myself daily. So sexy.

 

Dry: As it dries it begins to morph. For a little bit it becomes a bit powder-y on me. The vanilla note seems to disappear and is instead replaced by the beautiful and spicy carnation. I get gentle wafts of cedar now and again, but can barely smell it (and cedar is a death note for me!). In this stage it smells like Morocco's little sister. A bit of vanilla, heavy on the amber and spiciness of carnation. <3 <3

 

I think I'm going to need to hunt down another bottle or two!

Edited by Lady_Fire

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when wet, it is a little too sharp and sour smelling (from the amber, cedar, sandalwood) for my taste. During the drydown, the sharpness mellows out and I can smell a little bit of the vanilla. Dry, it is a warm , slightly powdery mix of golden amber and vanilla musk. It is very feminine in a mature, grown up lady-kinda way, and I can see how it would work well on people. not really sure if it suits me, though (sooo not a mature, grown-up lady ;) ).

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Bottle: Warm, round, golden, sort of like caramel musk and amber.

 

Wet: Warmer, rounder, more amber. A little powdery.

 

Dry: Wooden, like an old cross-beam or a much-handled whittled figurine, not woody like a forest. I can just smell the vanilla over it. It softens and smooths and warms over time.

 

Conclusions: This keeps changing for hours. I will need to revisit it.

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This is sharply spicy and bitter when it first goes on. Probably the combination of cedar and carnation. It smells like cinnamon and gingerbread.

As it dries those two notes settle in and Inez gets softer. I can smell the lovely vanilla musk, sandalwood, and rich myrrh. It's warm and nice, but sadly the amber gets turned into baby powder.

 

It feels old, but not in a "weird old lady" sort of way. :P More like an antique ornament in a caravan full of spices and incense.

An unusual mix that reminds me of Morocco, St. Germain and Al Azif, though Inez gets more uniquely woody as time passes.

 

For me the amber gets funky in this blend (the carnation is too sour for it), but I can see why people like it.

Edited by Balame

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Inez, circa 2008

I got this when it first came out because I KNEW it would be amazing--amber, vanilla musk, carnation?? My skin adores those notes. But when it arrived, it was like in my scent blind spot. I could tell something was there when I applied it but just barely--super strange. So I stashed it away and I tried it every couple months, waiting for it to age. And then I went on a brief (aka several years long) BPAL hiatus for some reason and here we are.

 

NOW it smells amaaaaaaazing. I can smell all the notes, but most of all the vanilla musk and amber, which are some of my favorites.

 

It's very well blended. I get the amber most at the base, with a nice middle of the vanilla musk--this makes the amber a little sweeter and smoother. The top note I get after that is the cedar, sandalwood, and myrrh, which makes the two woods smoother. Sandalwood and cedar can go a little sawdust on me, and I don't get that here. The carnation adds just a hint of spiciness to me.

 

This reminds me of Hod, with much less carnation, more vanilla, and top notes of cedar, sandalwood, and myrrh. Love, and I am SO glad I waited.

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On the wand, ambery vanilla musk on the inhale, and then a little lingering myrrh-cedar. Neat.

 

On my skin, this opens prettily as a deeply ambery vanilla musk — it smells sugared. The vanilla musk part reminds me of Solstice Scents’ Manor. In early drydown I start to pick up carnation, adding a little floral spice, and red sandalwood. And then depth-adding myrrh and a hint of cedar.

 

The amber and sugary vanilla musk tie for strongest on me while this is wet, and the sugary vanilla musk (especially the musk) dominates once dried. After drying, the amber and myrrh hang around, and other notes are really just hints.

 

I quite like this amber. I hope it comes back.

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Wet: Wow. That amber is amazing. Seriously. And the vanilla musk...wow. This is the kind of scent you want to smell like every day, forever and ever.

 

 

Dry: This scent!!!! I never bothered to try it because of the cedar and the myrrh, I thought they would take over the vanilla and amber and make me sad. I was wrong. This is all about vanilla musk and amber. It's sweet, a little bit powdery (in that amazing way that The Moon Reflected in Every Rice Paddy is slightly powdery) and absolutely divine. Thank goodness the Act of the Carnaval that Inez is from should be re-released soon, because I need ALL the Inez!

 

ETA: This has gown to be one of my favourite scents! So when it was re-released, I had to grab a bottle of the 2017 as well. Now to see how they compare!

 

Wet: Hmm. This smells..different. It smells gourmand. I almost get some spice? And some kind of pastry not? I think my nose (or skin!) is broken. In the bottle it's mostly that rich amber that I adore so much. Where is the musk though?? I am really hoping this is just an age thing. Right now this isn't the same scent at all. :(

 

 

Dry: OK, it has settled into the amber scent I know and love, but the musk is not as strong. I am hoping age will solve that! I have a bottle and a bit of the old version to go through before this will get used anyway, so I will put it in the "cellar" till then!

Edited by LizziesLuck

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2017 Version

 

In Imp: Vanilla musk and amber, with a breath of carnation. Rich and decadent.

Wet: Earthier and somehow...foodier than I expected? It shares several notes with my much-beloved Morocco but is a thicker, denser scent. I get mostly amber and super sweet vanilla, with a cakey quality.
Dry: More than anything this reminds me of some of the lab's spiced cake scents. More Christmassy than sexy, but still very pleasant.

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On my skin this smells like sweet musk and incense. It's very heavy on the amber and it's quite a dry, powdery scent. It's also quite sweet, with the sweet amber mingling with vanilla.

 

This was a blind bottle purchase from the lab, so I'll let it age a bit before re-testing. At the moment I don't see myself reaching for this often, there's just too much amber and it isn't really "me".

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Aw nutters. This smelled quite promising at first, buttery vanilla, something vaguely caramely, and sandalwood. Then the amber started to peek through. Then..... baby powder and nothing but. Alas.

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I have an original bottle, most likely purchased quite early on after it's release, although I can't remember the year. It has aged so beautifully!

 

From the moment I apply it to my skin, I am surrounded by a warm and comforting scent. It somewhat like walking into a familiar house.

 

I get a smoky, musky, buttery, warm vanilla wood. The smokiness would be the edge of the myrrh and perhaps sandalwood, but not in a tobacco smoky way, more like a wafting of true incense smoke. The wood is probably the beautiful base notes of cedar and that gorgeous sandalwood. The amber increases the warmth of the blend and rounds it out to be just divine. It has aged so well and I want to reach for it constantly. Inez is an absolute favourite <3

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The ladies of the grindhouse can do no wrong in my estimation, at least the ones I have tried, but Inez may be my favorite. Wet she is all amber, warm, buttery amber, and I can smell the vanilla as well, then the other notes come into play, but they are all the best-behaved, mellowest, sexiest incarnations of those notes. Cedar and red sandalwood can go to pencil shavings on me, but here they gorgeously ground the scent. There is just a hint of spicy carnation floating around the amber-musk-woods. No honey or sugar here, so she's not trying too hard, just natural sweetness, letting the beauty of these notes shine through, and I love it. No throw and average wear length on me, but rich and warm -- work-appropriate but secretly a sexpot. So the question remains: why don't I have a big bottle of this one yet? I keep getting distracted by the shiny and new...

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In imp - Warm, almost candy-sweet vanilla-cedar.


Wet/freshly applied - Creamy, almost musky haze of vanilla-cedar/wood. The cedar is more of a creamy warmth than any distinctive cedar scent. This is amazing! A glorious your-skin-but-better scent.


Five-ten minutes in - A soft haze of sheer, creamy vanilla-myrrh-wood, cozy and delicious (it's the soft, powdery kind of myrrh rather than the gritty, resinous kind). I need to death-match this with Small Brown Cat.


One hour in - Inez is a non-morpher. Still creamy, warm vanilla-cedar, so well blended that I can't pick out the separate notes.


Late drydown - goddamn glorious. Best Grindhouse lady ever, hands-down. Like the late drydown of Tombstone with it's glowing vanilla-cedar only better. Earlier in the drydown I could get a hint of spiced incense (the myrrh + cinnamon-clove-y carnation) when I put my nose right to the skin of my wrist. Now it's just a soft, powdery, vanilliac cedar-myrrh.

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I'm in love. 😍 Inez is kind of like a cross between two of my favorite scents, Morocco (carnation, red sandalwood, vanilla) and Vasilissa (amber, myrrh). It doesn't have Morocco's throw or long-lasting-ness (as far as I can tell so far, anyway), but I think it will make for a lovely skin-scent.

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This is the 08 version. I found this to be a very dark, sultry, resinous musk with woods that don't go to pencil shavings at all! The woods add to the overall dry feeling to the blend. Feyofthefellwood was right, it is similar to Morocco. I like Inez much better, something would always go slightly off with Morocco. Just gorgeous dark woods. I do get the carnation, but it is very well blended in and read a bit like a soft spicey floral. Something in this has an ancient/antique vibe, the myrhh and sandalwood I think. She has aged beautifully (might be a vampire). It's very late night, sultry, grown up, and sexy.

 

If you enjoy Morocco, Antikythera Mechanism, Eve, or even Rose Cross consider trying Inez. One of my favorites from the Carnival and the Lab. ❤️

 

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Wow this is one elegant lady! Sultry warm, spicy, carnation loveliness in the same vein as Morocco but definitely has her own style. The vanilla, musk, and cedar make the difference.

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