I Wonder if I've Been Changed in the Night

[MCS4096]

Cement, sewer moss, black patchouli, myrrh, violet leaf, green tea leaf, and immortelle.

This sounds like it would be dank and musty, but it is definitely not! Upon application I get a lot of almost-grassy green tea and slightly floral violet leaf at the forefront, with a well blended base of powdery myrrh, subtle moss, and very understated patchouli. I'm not familiar enough with immortelle to distinguish it here, but there is a bit of almost flowery sweetness that I think must be it, as I can't really attribute it to another note. The "cement" is the Lab's cologney stone note; it starts faint but as this dries down it becomes more prominent.. about equal with the violet leaf and green tea. I'd call this one earthy-fresh. Bruised Violet Compound (Crushed violets, red currant, patchouli root, and Spanish moss) springs to mind as a very similar scent... that combination of earthy sweetness, a little bit of earthy cologne, and a base of earthy greenery.

[annemathematics]

this one surprised me.

 

I thought with the listing of sewer moss it would be wet and filthy and murky. with the resins and cement listed, I thought it would be deep and rich. I was expecting something dark and demented but what actually emerged when I put this on my skin was a thoroughly clean and respectable cologne. completely decent, upstanding.

 

I wanted a fairy tale sewer rat but instead this reminds me of what one would wear to the office in an old bbc show (comedy or drama, this would go either way and on male or female, but definitely in a fitted grey suit). very modest and restrained.

[zankoku_zen]

This one ended a little odd on me. It was dark patchouli, moss, and a touch of greenery.

[milo]

Errgh, well I guess with cement and sewer in the description, it's probably not going to be a pleasant scent experience. This one is harsh and stinky. On the positive note, I don't smell poop.

[Llanval]

I was gifted a full imp of this by rivetted and it is so so different from what the notes would lead you to believe.  I saw sewer moss and cement and assumed this would be dark and a little dank and a little gritty.  BUT that is not the case here. To my nose, this is light, sweet, refreshing and oddly dusted with a hint of sparkling powder - almost like freshly unwrapped ramune candy, but if you chucked it down a really fab smelling sewer grate, lol. It also has a consistent, deeper base that push/pulls between the sparkling powdered sweetness and the deeper, darker notes. I know there's patchouli in here but it's playing cuddle-up with the violets and moss so well it's not immediately distinguishable.

 

This reminds me, very strongly, of Clinique's Aromatics Elixir, but the vintage scent from the 70's/80's, not the newer reformulations.  My Mum has a very very old bottle of this scent that she usually only brings out in the depths of winter.  So. This is a wonderful scent, complex and surprisingly resinous and rich, and much more than the description hints at. BUT it gets the kiss of death because I smell like my mother. 😭

 

annemathematics review is also spot on.  This is a vintage scent totally suitable for the office, and from an office culture decade that has long since vanished. Vintage vintage vintage, but in the best way. Classically understated and elegant. Gender neutral too, as far as I'm concerned.

 

......I was also hoping for a "fairytale sewer rat" vibe, lmfaooo!