Velvet Dogs Playing Poker

[spiresinthesnow]

Smooth wood, sweet pipe smoke, tonka, and Irish coffee.

First sniff sorta smells like Gluttony with tobacco in it. Miskatonic University comes to mind but, Velvet Dogs isn't as woodsy to me. It mostly reminds me of vanilla pipe tobacco stuffed into an old wooden pipe and Irish cream coffee with an added salty sweetness in there somewhere. Not so much an in your face scent but I happen to really like this one. Mostly it reminds me of my Godfather. I think its worth a bottle.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Lovely rich tonka backed by tobacco and a whiff of coffee

 

Wet on skin: The tonka is very strong--good thing we likes tonka. The coffee is more subdued now, the tobacco is going a tad cigarette-ish and there's a booze note that is going a bit sour.

 

Dry on skin: After about an hour, my skin turns this blend into old cigarettes and cheap whiskey. This is especially sad because the Lab's booze notes usually love me.

 

This is lovely in the imp, just not on my skin. Scent locket time!

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Woods, and caramel coffee. Reminds me a lot of Miskatonic University.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Mm, nice. I would definitely drink this. Caramel coffee all around, and just a little wood. It smells sort of burnt, but very caramelly--that sort of toffee caramel, not really a sugary caramel.

 

Dry, on Skin - The woods come out a little -just a touch- stronger after some time, and the coffee deepens, and the caramel fades a bit. For me, this is just like layering Miskatonic University over Dark Chocolate Pepper-Smoked Caramel from Lupercalia this year. I like it a lot, but if you happen to have either of those two, you probably have this particular fragrance niche filled. A dark, sort of woodsy, smoky coffee--not at all too sweet. Think of Miskatonic University with slightly more wood, darker roast coffee, or Pepper-Smoked Caramel with less pepper and more wood. Very nice, but I'd feel silly buying a bottle when I already have two great examples of this type of scent. I might cave in, though: label art.

[kohaisama]

In the imp: Irish coffee. Pure and straight irish coffee, sweet and a bit acidic.

 

Wet: Sweet tobacco and woodsy.

 

Dry: The tonka has really come out and mingled with the wood. It's really mellow.

 

This is what I would have wanted Misk U to be like without being screaming irish coffee 24/7.

[terrenity]

I got a decant of this because I LOVE coffee, even though Misk U. turned to caramel corn on me, woods are usually horrible on me, and I hate that cigarette smoke smell.

 

...despite all of that, this is actually pretty damn good on me! I believe the Irish coffee here is the same as in Misk U, but the smoke and woods seem to be doing a good job of making it smoky and not caramel corn-y. Phew! The woods are the dominant note on my skin (and they are definitely dark and polished), with the tobacco following in a thankfully non-cigarette sort of way. The coffee just sweetens things up a little bit. It smells like one of those old university libraries, where the chairs are all upholstered and the shelves are all wood. Substitute the tobacco for books, and it's what I wanted Misk U to be!

 

Thinking that this smelled a touch too masculine for my personal tastes, I dabbed some on Giteone, who wears the wood notes in Frederic quite well. Not the case here! This blend went straight to gym socks on him, and hasn't improved much over the drydown.

 

Verdict: Guh. Everytime I smell my hand I have to close my eyes, because this is THAT GOOD. That said, I'm not sure if it's really something I would wear often... while some girls can pull off masculine blends beautifully, I don't think I'm one of them. Buuut... since I'm sure this will age excellently, I might buy a bottle anyway and savor it slowly. Maybe I can get it to behave as a room scent?

 

Similar blends: Misk U, Red Lantern (very similar on my skin)

[milo]

This reminds me a bit of Wood Phoenix, but it is not as sweet in the drydown. Wet, this is very sweet coffee and woods, and dries to a sharp, woodsy masculine scent with maybe a touch of tobacco, but not like Perversion tobacco, which I love, but rather a vague smokiness. Kind of like a dirty ashtray. Overall this blend is a bit too masculine on me, and coffee/woods are usually not notes that work well on me. Off to swaps.

[sprocket21]

As I glanced over this thread, I became very nervous, as there are several mentions of Gluttony and Misk U, and both of those scents are utter fail on me.

 

VDPP isn't nearly as bad as those, thank goodness, but it doesn't really work for me either. I can smell the wood and tobacco, and then there's a huge layer of baby powder on top of that. I'm not sure I would have liked the scent had it not gone powdery on me - I mostly tried it because there was a lot of anticipation that it would be similar to Pinched, and who wouldn't want to try such a famous and sought-after scent?

 

But yeah, powdery woody tobacco = not for me.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. TONKA galore with a tiny bit of foody-sweet coffee and a strongly woody undertone. I'm not getting any pipe smoke. Much sweeter and less complex than expected.

 

Wet: Spicier, somehow 'fresher', and less grossly buttery in that way tonka often is. I don't really get any coffee, specifically, but this does remind me a bit of Irish cream liqueur. A smoky edge, now, though I wouldn't have pegged pipe smoke.

 

Dry: Dries almost instantly. it's still very sweet and very woody, in a slightly dry, almost dusty way. Actually the wood may be amping, and this makes it feel somewhat unisex to me, despite the cloying sweetness.

 

Later: The Irish cream has definitely overtaken the tonka in terms of 'dominating sweet note'. I get some coffee now, very reminiscent of the note in Eggnog Latte. The wood seems well balanced by these notes at this point.

 

Summary: Dusty/dry, rich wood (maybe mahogany?) with Irish cream liqueur - as in ENL, the sweet coffee goes stale on my skin, and the tonka never fully loses its butteriness. Not a fan, as predicted. Good throw & longevity.

[LizzyLies]

In the bottle, that definitely smells like coffee and what I'm presuming to be the smoke. Once it begins to dry down on my skin, it's very faint, sweet tobacco smoke, faint wood, and coffee. Yep, coffee is definitely the predominant note radiating off of my skin--not in a bad way, but that's definitely coffee. I'm not loving it, but I'm not hating it either; I think I'll have to let it age for a while before making up my mind about it. It reminds me a lot of Eggnog Latte minus the eggnog part and it seems to stick pretty close to my skin.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Decant: total irish coffee with wood undertones

Wet on Me: Coffee, wood and tonka now

Drying down: total pipes smoke now with a touch of sweetness from the irish coffee and wood.

Dry:wow…smells like vetiver in here. It took over everything and amped bad.

 

[copagirl]

This one has that definite Irish Coffee, boozy, creamy coffee smell, but that is all I smell. I was hoping for more sweet tobacco, less boozy coffee. Oh well, can't win 'em all...

[Spork]

Unfortunately not the coffee note I was hoping for, it's mostly wood to begin with, a very faint whiff of coffee that fades down and gets sweet. But! after drying down for about 40 minutes or so, it turns into the best pipe tobacco smoke ever! Love it! Will have to keep looking for that elusive coffee scent I want, but definitely glad I got a bottle of this

[rayvn1]

Wood polish and caramel latte. Foody, but atmospheric too. Pretty light throw. I remember when I first got this decant a few months ago it just about bowled me over with Misk U notes, but it's really settled down into a very wearable scent. Not for me, ultimately, but nice!

[Schmoozy]

 

 

Velvet dogs playing poker is sweetened coffee spilt over polished wood with smoke. I adore how it smells, but this one is the same as chocolate oils. My hubby hates the smell of it. Maybe a little to foody for my liking this is going to make an excellent room spray, and will smell fabulous in the oil burner. Plus it is making me extremely hungry!

[Seismogenic]

I know that I like coffee and wood notes, I know that I like tonka, and I know that I like tobacco as a note in and of itself. Those were reasons enough to test this, and the murmurings that it could be similar to the infamous Pinched (which I have never sniffed, mind you) were also intriguing. Plus, it is a goofy rendition of a goofy painting! What's not to love there?

 

In the imp: Slightly boozy vanilla coffee.

 

Wet on skin: Coffee, now much less boozy, a bit of smoke, and some wood.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's still coffee, wood, and smoke, though smoke seems like it's starting to win in terms of whether it or coffee is more prominent. It is very definitely tobacco smoke, not woodsmoke or bonfire. At one hour in, the coffee has disappeared, but the booze poured into that coffee remains, as does a very distinct cigar smoke note. Not really getting much wood anymore, either.

 

Five hours later: Faint cigar smoke.

 

Overall: This is another one of those blends that's dead on to the picture it's trying to paint. Ok, so maybe there isn't dog breath or shedding residue, but the environment of wooden poker table, booze, and cigars is really conveyed here. That said, I really don't want to smell like a boozy cigar smoker. I realize I like tobacco itself as a note, but not the smoke that comes off of it. I was also sad that the coffee and wood notes disappeared sooner rather than later. No reason to upgrade my decant here.

[aislingeach]

This one was the first bottle I got, off of someone on LJ. I sprung for it because my band in high school was called Dogs Playing Poker and I thought it would be kinda neat to have a DPP scent. Luckily, it's fabulous on me.

 

In the bottle, it's very boozy Irish coffee with a touch of woodiness. On my skin, it's mostly worn woods and tonka. The pipe smoke and coffee are quite faint, lending gentle support and complexity. More than anything, VDPP makes me think of the opening scene in The Golden Compass: a venerable faculty club, all comfortable, academic opulence, with a little bit of intrigue and danger.

[caffinatedangel]

I got in a circle for the entire set of velvets, and its been quite a treat.

 

The velvet dogs looked to be one of my favorites from the notes. I adored Miskatonic U. (even though it turned into solid toffee, I still like to eat my wrist) so the irish coffee was a win. And I am absolutely in love with Tonka. So I was biased from the start. I also was lucky enough to get the bottle for this, and not just a decant. Woot!

 

It didn't get quite so dry on me. Tonka is a winner for me, everytime I use it the rest of the notes end up vanishing and I'm left with that spicey vanilla the next morning to wake up with. I'm in love.

 

At first the scent is sweet, buttery, and delicious. Then as it wears, it does get a little "dusty", but not baby-powdery to me. I'm rather sensitive to notes that do that (I hate jasmine, can't stand actual baby powder, and I dont even like snake oil because of a cloying effect). This is more of a smokey dust. Which, well, that would be the cigars, eh?

 

At this point in wearing it I become aware that it's true to its name, but its getting a little manly for me. The dryness is dry, not dusty, and sort of reminds me of cracked leather (but not leather notes at all, just that sort of dryness. lol) and I suddenly want to slather it on my man. However, on him, tonka does not sit the same o_o.

 

I love the scent though. Its a warm one, and true to its name. It didn't do anything odd on me, and like always, Tonka was there in bed with me the next morning. With a little leftover cig. smoke as well.

[izile]

I just want to huff this bottle.

 

In the bottle it's like my favorite coffee house, sweet and slightly alcoholic coffee.

 

On me, it's horrid, it turns into pure evil. It smells like cheap cigarette ash and wood cleaner.

 

However, I bought it for a gift for a guy friend of mine. And on him, it smells just like it's supposed to. *droooools*

Edited July 9, 2009 by izile

[Leopard403]

This is a straight-up foody blend to me: Mostly caramel, with a small touch of bitter coffee in the background. Weird.

[Argentwolf]

This...smells so familiar. And delicious. I think...I think it might be reminding me of that one magical time when I was wearing Fearful Pleasure, and it had that woody sarsparilla smell with just a hint of vanilla beans and other stuff...so hey, if cigars, coffee, and Irish creme is what makes it smell like that, FINE! There is definitely a smooth, woody tone pervading the sweetness throughout. As one reviewer noted, it does smell more like the mess left in the room afterward, as opposed to the actual doggy poker party itself...but that's fine by me. I think I need a bottle now...

[doodlehum]

The reviewer's SO who said it smelled like old ladies drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes?

Yup, that's what I get off this......and I like it. Lots. Yup, I smell like badass grannies and I love it.

[Gin]

Is it so wrong that I want to smell like coffee? Then why am I twarted at every turn? Velvet Dogs Playing Poker is not the dreamy coffee scent I envisioned. Instead, it's wood and pipe smoke. Good, but not what I wanted.

[aquazoo]

Salty coffee. Curry powder. It fades back a bit, but still has that salty tang to it.

 

[Diva Urd]

Vial: A cigar and a dark mocha.

On: Smoke and booze with a bit of coffee in the background. Feels very dark and has the same astringent edge I taste in coffee. I'm not sure I approve just yet. Smells a bit like a bouillon cube upon drying... *scratches head* The husband claims it smells like diaper, but his schnozz is notoriously broken. Nevertheless, I'm leaning towards swapping at this point.

Later: Primarily unlit tobacco. I don't think this is my kind of scent at all. Swap.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Unnerving, strong sweet coffee and a hint of woods.

 

Wet: The wet phase is kind of gross. Amped, sweet coffee to the exclusion of all other scents. It smells like finals week.

 

Dry: The dry phase comes quickly and is gorgeous. The woods and tobacco mingle together to create a grounding, borderline dusty scent and the coffee is reigned in beautifully. This is a weekend sort of scent. Nothing I would wear to the office but perfect for a day like today where I am snowed in. Definitely a cold weather scent.

 

Throw: Strong as hell. Use a dab hand with this one.

 

Overall: I love this. It's everything I wanted Misk U to be and it wasn't. If you want a drier, more reserved coffee sort of scent definitely try Velvet Dogs.