IrinaSpalko

My first encounter with Slowdive was on paper, and it did not do very well on paper alone. The heavy sweetness of the opening and the dry down was sickening, it smelled like the concentration of some honey wheat cereal (Similar to Commodity Velvet+). I felt smothered and my head ached. However, knowing this one is a cult classic, and that paper is not always a reliable judge, I continued.

For the skin test, the opening was still a bit disagreeable to me, with the strange cereal scent. This could be the scent of the alcohol clashing with the actual aroma, but who cares, it fades quickly. The dry down mellows into delicious pure honey! And, on myself at least, a mild honey at that. On my second wearing I went beast mode and wore it during a workout, I wanted to know what my skin would do to it at maximum capacity. And, it was lovely experience. The scent did not become annoying nor reduced to anything disgusting. It simply faded into a baby shampoo-like skin scent.

In summary, Slowdive is honey, a cosmetic honey such like Johnson's Baby Shampoo. I enjoy that it is cosmetic and (thankfully!) NOT the animalic "butthole" or "throat sneeze" honey that actual organic honey smells like. To me there are no other notes detectable in this one besides the strange sugared wheat-like aroma during the opening.

Because this one is so linear Slowdive warrants experiments with layering. In fact, I plan to keep this one in my arsenal for that purpose. I fathom that any compatible scent would become a honey version of itself when combined with Slowdive as a base. So far I have layered it with Shalimar Eau de Parfum, and the resulting effect was amazing.

Here is the isolated element that will make people in the same room with you feel a little bit nauseous. The last remaining vapor of a cheap fresh air bathroom spray. The heaviness of something that is trying to be nothing. This is everything I don't like about a perfume with all of the interesting parts removed. The signal to freshly wash ones clothing and take a shower.

Blue Sugar Man came into my life when getting a sample from an indie perfumer who had made her own impression of it. What she created was zingy and delicious, a sugary sweet aniseed, and similar to the smell of Pinalin glass and surface cleaner. My obsession with her creation led me to purchase a vintage tester bottle of the original Blue Sugar Man, and later from another seller, a small vintage sample dabber of it. The tester bottle was a clear liquid that smelled faintly of cake batter and vanilla with a tinge of aniseed. I thought perhaps it had been diluted or was mislabled, so I returned this to the seller. It was a huge shock when I opened the small official sample of Blue Sugar Man to find it smelled EXACTLY the same as what was in that testing bottle! The sample juice had a deeper yellow color but scent wise it was the same faded cake batter tinged with aniseed. When I conducted a 24 blind card sample test with other random scents in my collection it was disqualified for "smelling like nothing". I believe this stuff is truly dead and gone. Only the people who knew it when it was currently marketed will be able to judge if my indie friend's delicious creation is accurate. I write this review to advise anyone not to waste money like I did on vintage bottles of it, it seems whatever magic might have been in the original has long expired.

Don't let the salty "hairspray" opening fool you. New Musk by Jeffrey Dame first smells like walking into a 1980's beauty salon complete with clouds of hairspray & acrylic nails being done -THEN- just like your time spent in a salon, it transforms you. The dry down becomes the sweetest, cleanest plum floral skin scent I own. It is so very clean and well blended without being a distraction to myself or anyone else. An essence of elegant no-nonsence. It makes me feel like a stable, normal, grown adult woman who is easily getting all of her work done. I was impressed so much that I purchased a bottle for an aunt as a Christmas present. The full bottles are HUGE (3oz/88ml) so I really trusted how good it was for her to take it in without any prior knowledge of this fragrance or house. She is an elegant, cultured and busy woman. This would make a great scent for a teacher, an instructor or a manager. I have also ordered the hair oil for myself. This is one of those gems that will be on my shelf as long as Jeffrey Dame keeps producing it.

Purchased with the "Exhaust Sampler" decant set from Surrender to Chance, featuring perfumes with smoke and engine related scents. On my skin, it smells like candied ginger, hibiscus flower, and the type of artificially sweetened iced tea made with orange powder. On paper, it smells exactly like eggnog! (And hours later the paper still smells like that). At first, I love Clutch, and fantasize about purchasing more or giving to friends. I take a walk outside on a crisp day while wearing it, and liked it. But now I decide to take Clutch on a ride and wear it to a gym workout. As my skin heats up, the sweetness evaporates and the ginger note overpowers everything else. Smelling it becomes tiresome and I can taste it in the back of my throat. The spicy, bitter end of the ginger still remains on my skin after rinsing off in the shower. I do not get any leather, rubber, or car from Clutch. If I were to guess what this is without knowing it's name, I'd say something like "Ginger Iced Tea" by Pacifica (not a real perfume by them, something I feel like Pacifica might make). I used up the rest of the decant testing it again on paper only, in a 23 card test. It ranked at the absolute bottom.