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Pumpkin Spice Antikythera Mechanism

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Antikythera Mechanism is one of my absolute favorite BPAL scents, so much so that I've had the same aged bottle circa 2010, or something. That bottle has turned every so slightly, so I saw this morphed version and thought.... "Hm. That combo could either ruin or make even MORE delicious, this scent I already love. Let's give it a try... I need a new bottle, anyway..." 

 

Joyfully, I am happy to report the addition of pumpkin spice has made Antikythera Mechanism even MORE gorgeous, which I didn't even think was possible. 

 

All the lovely sweet teak and oakiness of AM is right up front upon first application, but then an absolutely buttery, gorgeous YUMMY glowing pumpkin emerges, accompanied by spice, smoky vanilla, and a vanilla cavendish-style pipe tobacco. HOLY CRAP this is good, and for me, totally sensual, which is somewhat problematic that I now smell like a dude I might like to make out with, LOL.

 

I will be hoarding every last drop of this bottle, I am that in love. Damn if that pumpkin spice just DOES make everything good even better.... 

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In the bottle: Pumpkin and pumpkin spice over teak and oak, followed by tobacco. 

 

On my skin: 

 

Wet, it's pure concentrated pumpkin spice flavoring for a minute, almost as if there were a sweetened pumpkin spice flavor syrup for coffee. As it dries, I get a tingly sensation on my arm (not too uncommon on me, but no known notes in AK cause this on me, so I'm guessing it's something in the pumpkin spice portion of the blend), and tobacco is very much the dominant note. It's over woods and smoked vanilla, but the pumpkin spice portion of the scent is not detectable to my nose. 

 

Hours later, and that's still what I get on my skin -- lots of tobacco, a little smoke, no pumpkin spice. I'll have to see how aging likes this one.  

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So to be fair i don't like Antikythera. It's very bitter. This however pumpkin sounded like it would fix it. Wellll. It didn't. I have never encountered poop musk before but this was my lucky day. In the bottle and on my skin vile and nasty. 5 seconds in poop musk. So be warey of this one.

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Smoky tobacco, vanilla pumpkin and a whiff of woods. I get a ton of smoke from this one. Like somehow the pumpkin managed to set the AM on fire, and there's a ton of smoke leftover, and woods. Medium throw and wear length.

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OG Antikythera has had something unpleasant and jarring in it for me since the beginning, something that persists over time even as my tastes develop. But the Pumpkin Spice version came in a decant set, so I'm here to bravely try it!
 
The note that is unpleasant in OG is nicely subdued in PS. There's a lovely hit of spices upon application, along with a lot of cedar. As it dries down, Antikythera comes out more and more, and it gets less and less pleasing to my nose. However, it continues to remain sweeter and gentler than the original, which is definitely a plus to me.
 
Lovers of Antikythera will probably find this a good fall twist on their beloved. The pumpkin spices (I don't smell much pumpkin itself) blend nicely with the base and fade gradually over the first hour. I won't be upgrading to a bottle (no surprise there), but I might just keep the decant.

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At a party a couple years ago, I learned that an ex I hadn't seen in 12 or 13 years had passed away a few years before from lung cancer.

 

I was wearing the wonderful Antikythera Mechanism HG and, especially with its tobacco note, I began to associate it with that news. I had to resell the bottle.

 

I decided to give this a try. For a good while, it's wonderful: autumn-spiced oak, teak, and sultry vanilla. Some of my favorite things. It needed a minute to warm up on the skin, but then I was huffing it a lot.

 

A bit later, the tobacco came out strong, and the old association came back. So I'll pass, but I know others will love this. 😍

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Date December 23.2019


In the bottle, it smells like a mild Antikythera Mechanism with a bit of the herbal pumpkin spice  just like the PS Snake Oil.


On skin wet: Immediately on the skin I get that rich PS scent, like in the pumpkin bars at the bakery. This is really gourmand and delicious smelling. As it dries, the deep vanilla from the Anti-Mech comes out reminding me of the frosting on the pumpkin bars.


Dry 30+ mins: everything has mellowed out. The pumpkin, tobacco, vanilla and wood notes have all blended together beautifully. This is a masculine pumpkin spice. I'm really liking this one so far.  


Worn 3+ hours: The scent has stayed true to the tobacco & vanilla sweet, herbal pumpkin spice with a shadow of teak wood. This one didn't really morph on me and I love that it stayed true to form.


Final thoughts: fans of masculine pumpkin scents, fans of Pumpkin Spice Snake Oil and fans of Antikythera Mechanism should give this scent a try.

Edited by InaraRedCloak

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I LOVE Antikytera Mechanism, so knew I was being risky with a flanker. Why mess with perfection? However, I thought spice would go well with the classic vanilla, tobacco and wood. It does and happily I get no pumpkin (ack! a vegtable in my perfume?!) others mentioned. The spice is not overpowering. 

 

This definitely needs to age, as it is not as smooth as the original.

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I'm a fan of Antikythera Mechanism, but the pumpkin spice version went strangely awry on me.  Maybe the smoke note from Hearth (or, worse, Smokestack) was used to smoke the vanilla.  The end result was a harshness I wasn't expecting from a panoply of reliable notes.  Sad face. 

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