Uncommented scents No. 31
Death Metal must hurt. It is hard. It is loud. It follows its own musical laws, which I do not want to elaborate on in detail. It is an extreme variant of Heavy Metal.
Why do we listen to such music? Perhaps because we have heard everything, tried everything, endured and tested everything. The world of music is not so far removed from the world of scents. Why do we keep searching for new fragrances? I often read: because I and we are in search of the Holy Grail. I am not sure. For me, that may be true, but not always, actually even less and less. In reality, it is often the other way around. We are oversaturated. A luxury problem? Not necessarily. Rather oversaturated with scent components that we have smelled far too often, in deodorants, in scented supermarkets and department stores, in perfume-laden cosmetic products. Who can still endure the same old thing?
If we follow this thesis of oversaturation, the question quickly arises: what follows from it: an end or a beginning?
The end of the collecting passion for some of us. A forced pause, a breather, before one may wish to turn back to the world of scents.
Or:
The beginning of the collecting passion for some of us. In my case, it has led to a deeper dive into the world of unusual fragrances. Some may consider this to be tasteless, unnecessary, and decadent. I can live with that accusation. Quite well, actually. At some point, there will be an unbearable scent; a scent on the thin line between highly interesting and unsuitable for any public setting. Then I will have to decide whether it still fascinates or repulses me. But there is still a bit of time until then.
I had already come across Kerosene many months ago, but did not pay much attention to the brand. It was only my journey from Comme des Garcons to Roxana to Aesop; from Soivohle to Aftelier to CB I Hate Perfume and Lush that brought me back to Kerosene. In the search for unusual, bold concepts, I found the Kerosene scents consistently positive as I studied the fragrance pyramid, read about the scents in American blogs, and of course on Parfumo - and checked recommendations (Ralle: Thanks!). However, at a distance, the consistently low average rating initially holds one back. But we know that this is often more a question of personal approach, personal sympathy for a particular scent concept, - but does not tell anything about the actual quality of the scents.
For this reason, I finally ordered a fragrance box with ten samples (thus from all the scents of the brand that are currently available) directly from Kerosene in America. An expensive pleasure. But one that was worth it. Very much so.
While other Parfumos I appreciate apparently cannot make much of the scents, I currently see not a single one that I would rate below 80%. Whether that will remain the case will show in the coming weeks, as I plan to subject the scents to a more detailed analysis, wear them multiple times, and examine their effect on me.
Certainly, they are not another step into the extreme: there is the inexpensive, comparatively easily available LUSH Breath Of God of another caliber, perhaps also Comme des Garcons Sugi or Guerrilla 1, as well as all scents from CB I Hate Perfume.
But that is not a disappointment.
Above all, Wood Haven has captivated me. For me, the scent stands out a bit more qualitatively from the other Kerosene scents.
While the very first moments of the top note just after application are initially a crescendo of many, perhaps too many notes, after a while a clear concept emerges: grapefruit and juniper - the acidity of the fruit and the sharp and bitter spice of the plant, the berry. I cannot isolate the bergamot any more than the woody notes (perhaps as a foundation), the sharpness of the pepper can be sensed, hardly identified, the lemon gets lost in the grapefruit, as does the ginger and the vetiver. What remains is again and for a long time the grapefruit and the juniper with a hint of woodiness, but also a soft base (amber, vanilla, perhaps musk I suspect in a subtle dose).
What does the scent do to me - to you? Well, first of all, it gives us a decidedly new, somewhat unusual olfactory experience. Different, rather balanced in composition, far removed from other scent concepts, yet not as bold, loud, or rough as it may sound. Rather the metal ballad, not the death metal.
However, with the bottle, we are back to hard music for hard people: all bottles show a character of hardness - with a metal plate embossed with the name of the scent, while the brand has currently changed the bottle design once again. Unfortunately, I can only rely on the image on the website. The two owners (on the right) could add more details. All in all, the aesthetic concept seems to me to be great and fully appropriate for the scent.
The longevity and sillage are good; in particular, I do not estimate the longevity as high as noted in the average rating, but I would like to test the whole thing again with a spray bottle before I make a decision.
As long as there are scents like this, as long as there are brands like Kerosene, LUSH, Comme des Garcons, CB I Hate Perfume, Aftelier, Roxana, Soivohle, and Aesop, I have not yet reached the end of the journey.
For those who want to get the right music for it: I recommend as listening examples Insomnium, At The Gates, In Flames, and Amon Amarth. That may be enough for a start. The rest is taken care of by this scent.
Grapefruit
Ginger
Lemon
Bergamot
Gaiac wood
Vetiver
Black pepper
Pink pepper
Cedar
Juniper leaf
Mlleghoul
BertolucciK
Tombbb
Schalkerin
Midnights
Gandix
Bastian
Chizza
Mefunx
Yatagan
