Adam

[sarandipitee]

Adam, our suicidally romantic scoundrel. His scent is a palette of somber colors, melancholy memories, and lupine, savage beauty: black leather, pale sandalwood, ambergris accord, and the memory of a long-lost Victorian fougère.His internal life seems to be reflected in his lair, so his perfume also possesses the scent of the wood of his guitars, the rosin from his violin bow, the musty wool of neglected Oriental carpets, the plastic, metal, and magnetic tape of his reel-to-reel, the dust that permeates everything.

 

like this way more than I thought I would. There are very few leather blends that actually work on me - usually it’s single note leather or headache inducing. Thankfully Adam is the softest, sweetest leather I’ve ever tried. The plastic is a bit much at first, but as this dries, the resin peeks through as does a hint of the fougere.

I do like it, but it’s not something I’d wear often. I’m going to age it for a while to see what happens before I decide to pass it on.

[Poenari]

I ordered my bottle of Adam back when the OLLAs first went live, during the Great Forum Crash of '14. I posted my review on a FB page that no longer exists, and forgot to post one here after the forums returned months later. So this overdue review is for my OG Adam.

 

I am always leery of leather scents, as I don't care for it on my skin. But I couldn't *not* order a bottle of Adam to go along with my Eve. Unfortunately, it was almost a single note chemical leather on me, and I knew I would never wear it. I swapped it away a few months later and never even considered replacing it. There are plenty of scents that I love, so no reason to feel bad that I have an occasional miss.

[Lucchesa]

Spoilered for a sad and probably heretical admission:

 

I haven't actually seen the movie.

 

I only bought a decant of Adam. This was a mistake.

Adam is eau d'intellectuel chaud. Gentle, inviting, drop-dead sexy, but in a cerebral way, not a primal way, if that makes any sense. Soft leather you want to bury your face into. A hint of cologne applied hours earlier. That wonderful rosin note that has me thinking I need at least a decant of The Mountebank. Sandalwood, ambergris, dusty wool, they all float around the edges of this scent. I'm not getting any obviously plastic notes, which I'm grateful for. Perfectly unisex, perfectly beautiful. Brilliant.

[doomsday_disco]

2018 release.

 

I actually did try the original release of Adam back in 2014, but I apparently never reviewed it. I gave the decant to my brother, because he wanted it. I am now retrying it since I’ve grown to appreciate some leather blends since that time.

 

In the decant: Lots of black leather backed by some ambergris, a pale sandalwood, and fougere.

 

Wet: Fortunately, the leather was a lot stronger in the vial than it is on my skin. I still get some leather, and now, some dust, but I’m also getting lots of ambergris and more of the pale sandalwood than I did in the decant. Or perhaps I spoke too soon. The black leather note has gotten stronger as it sits on my skin.

 

Dry: The leather ends up calming down after some time, and I end up with a soft, black leather (like a well-worn leather jacket) and cozy ambergris, with some fougere and sandalwood, and a bit of dust, but I also get something sharp from this. I’m not sure if it is the plastic, metal, the magnetic tape, or a combination of these things, but the sharp not threatens to give me a headache. Alas! I think it’s the metal, though.

 

Verdict: I enjoyed Adam more than I did back when I tried him in 2014, but unfortunately, there’s a sharp note present in the dry phase that is going to give me a headache if I continue sniffing it. So Adam is still not for me, but I am glad I got to give him another try.

[mandragora369]

2018 release

 

Adam is a strange scent. It starts as strong leather with woody notes. As it dries on my skin, it almost smells kind a like musk beneath the leather.

Dry it's just leather with wood notes. Not really a scent for me.

[gamermouse]

This smells like chilling with a bad boy from the 90s who rides a motorcycle while wearing a leather jacket to peddle his mixed tapes. If someone could bottle the essence of Uncle Jesse from Full House I guess this would be it.

 

I like it. The dust and plastic is a minor note that emerges every so often, the leather most prevalent. 

[witchytwitchygirl]

Adam...... mmmmm mm mmm.... what can I say about Adam that hasn’t been said? It is certainly...unique. Chemically and dusty in the bottle, It’s evocative of an old living room, the furniture still covered in plastic. Smell it a little longer and you might be reminded of drying off after spending a day in the pool, chlorine on skin. At first, I was not brave enough to approach Adam directly. It wasn’t unpleasant, but something about it gave me a slight headache and a vague feeling of nostalgic unease. But on my skin, it completely blooms. The fougere and sandalwood come out to mingle with a warm, worn, SEXY leather, and I can’t stop smelling myself. It lasts at least a day on me. This is an addictive scent that you are forced to get to know in order to love, like a hot but emotionally unavailable guy. I can’t get enough of Adam now, and apparently, he can’t get enough of me either!

[windbourne]

Leather and ambergris -- like the leather in Peter Quint or Kvothe or Hatta, soft and worn, but sweeter & more complex than any of those -- gently laced with dust, wood, wool, and chemicals. It doesn't sound that pleasant, but for me, it is. It goes on leathery, but it backs way, way off fairly quickly, until it's more like the memory of wearing a leather jacket, not necessarily a classic moto, but a leather blazer that might have been in a closet for a long time. The ambergris is surprisingly present early on, along with the magnetic tape scent, and a slightly earthy note. I suspect there's a bit of costus in this for the wooly note. It's not a very strong scent, nor does it have powerful throw, but it smells so nice up close. As is usual on me, the late drydown is dominated by wispy ambergris. Good stuff, great interpretation of the character. 

[wordortwo]

Oh, how I wanted to love this one. I love this movie and wanted an Adam to my Eve. However, I had an experience quite the polar opposite to that described by @windbourne. To me, Adam smells like aggressively strong, glossy, black leather, and that is all I can smell. There is something chewy-musky-sweet that rises to create a choking, syrup-sweet leather scent. If I sniff hard and up close, something cool and creamy reveals itself, but the leather won't quit. Everything else is lost on me, and it is so strong I can't wear it long enough to get to the dry down.

 

I suspect this is an excellent match for someone who loves leather perfumes. If that is you, I recommend trying this.

[SophieCedar]

This is something I tried right when it came out and dismissed, threw in an imp pile and left. Then..? Years Later..? I just kept *thinking* about it, imp lost..only the imprinted memory of the scent... year after year. It would pop into my brain about once a month. So? After 8 years of this, I said "that's it. buying a damn bottle." 

 

It's just as I remember. And I love it. Warm buttery black leather, rosin, analog fuzz, dust, musty carpets. Something pervasively warm and home but not home.  I realize why I'm so fond of it now- memories of record shops, vintage stores and home recording studios when I was younger. 90s-early 2000s.

[vthesiren]

This is one of my favorite BPAL blends ever. Smells like a well-loved coat rack in a music store full of vintage instruments. It does have a sexy edge, but to me, it's comforting - it's a scent I wanna sink myself into and wrap around myself like a good blanket. Love, love, love.