By Tom
I'm blaming March at the Posse for forcing me to brave the, er, lush smell of my local Lush store to try this. She wrote that it moved her to tears, and not in a chopping onions sort of way.
I've never been to Bangkok so I can't comment about the authenticity of it all, but I can write that I really liked it. The opening is lush (if you'll pardon the expression) incense with leather and a touch of funk that March daintily refers to as "humanity"; a sort of smoky leathery spiciness that I swear had a touch of curry and cumin. Later a hint of mint pops in, as if God decided that a piece of Doublemint would hit the spot.
At this stage it becomes almost exactly what I wanted Etat Libre Tom of Finland scent to be, though I am sure that was not anywhere in the brief for the scent. Even the melony powder note that comes in at the end worked for me: it had a total sense memory of the talc barbers would use after you got a haircut. If the smoke were a little more Marlboro Red than Mahathat Temple it would read totally Breath of Brad. As it is I'm not sure that it's Breath of God as it is, but it's really pleasant breath, and if Bandit or Tom of Finland or about 3 others I could think of are out of your reach geographically or price-wise then this would be a fine substitute.
30ML for $39.95, which these days is like stealing. At Lush stores, where I sampled.
I was smitten beyond, that something this good could be in a store like this, not saying I don't like Lush, love their shampoos, and soaps, but this thing rocks with the best of the east, except for Amouage, a total incense BOMB on the opening, it them morphs into a masterfully balanced woody oriental, never gets gaudy, or cheap, instant must have, but 1oz??? but, nevertheless, darn good juice.
ReplyDeleteI'm absolutely smitten with this, too, though I find it an extraordinarily odd fragrance. It's weirdness is what I love about it. :-) That and the autumnal melancholy of its dry down.
ReplyDeleteI love this one and can't say why - it is evocative of so many different things. I reminds me of the way my Mom's bathroom smelled when she had pine tar soap and Dr. Bronner's in there. I can't ever stop huffing myself when I wear it. I got the little tube, which is a slightly weaker concentration than the 30 ml, which I want to compare sometime.
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