LKS1985
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Easy reach femme musk.
I'm apparently entering my musk era, which started out primarily as a way to learn more about the category itself and to figure out if I could learn to enjoy the category.
Turns out, the answer is absolutely yes, and I believe this particular scent will turn into what I call a "dumb reach" scent. You know, when you want to smell good but can't figure out what you want to wear kinda situation.
This is very much a "your skin but better" scent, which suits it well. I think if it projected more the plum note would be overly screechy. I love a plum note but I have a preference for it to be more on the jammy side whereas this is an almost underripe fruit plum; more skin than fruit.
On me the rose really comes through, and it's mature, but almost... generic? Nondescript? Like it's just there to support the musk and the plum, which I'm ok with.
The suede and cedar are very soft, really just giving everything else somewhere more structured to land.
I feel like if this were a color it would be the palest of mauve. And the texture would be a flannel.
I'm curious what this might layer well with; perhaps just traditional Nivea lotion or a basic Egyptian musk oil? Either way, I definitely will continue to play with it and investigate. It's a lovely scent and I can see why it's so popular.
Turns out, the answer is absolutely yes, and I believe this particular scent will turn into what I call a "dumb reach" scent. You know, when you want to smell good but can't figure out what you want to wear kinda situation.
This is very much a "your skin but better" scent, which suits it well. I think if it projected more the plum note would be overly screechy. I love a plum note but I have a preference for it to be more on the jammy side whereas this is an almost underripe fruit plum; more skin than fruit.
On me the rose really comes through, and it's mature, but almost... generic? Nondescript? Like it's just there to support the musk and the plum, which I'm ok with.
The suede and cedar are very soft, really just giving everything else somewhere more structured to land.
I feel like if this were a color it would be the palest of mauve. And the texture would be a flannel.
I'm curious what this might layer well with; perhaps just traditional Nivea lotion or a basic Egyptian musk oil? Either way, I definitely will continue to play with it and investigate. It's a lovely scent and I can see why it's so popular.
24th Century Incense. More Ender's Game than end game.
Incense/resin is one of my favorite perfume categories overall, and I think it resoundingly has to do with a certain amount of Catholic guilt combined with nostalgia. I'd read so much about how this was the final boss/end game of incense scents, and I suppose it could be if your final boss is more NeoCatholic in the 24th century from Altered Carbon than the gilded, candle-lit Catholicism that's been embedded in my memory.
This scent is not warm. It is not opulent. It is cold, harsh, and almost surgically clean. In and of itself this isn't problematic at all, and I have other scents in my collection that could also be described that way. If I could divorce my personal associations with Catholicism, could even enjoy this scent.
For better or worse though, I'm struggling to enjoy it as an olfactory experience. On the formula side, the coriander is simply too much for me. It's too savory, too strangely salty, and too soapy. Oddly enough I had a nun principal in grade school who called the bathrooms "lavatories", and would often shorten the word to "lavs", and for me this scent is more "bathroom" than it is "church". I'm sure there's a purification connotation that I'm missing here, but alas.
Considering how much I've talked about my associations with Catholicism and the nostalgia I have for it both in scent and also in visualization, this scent just doesn't come off as liturgical. Monastic? Yes. Strangely minimal? Absolutely. I would imagine this is what a monastery that requires a vow of silence smells like, but that's not an experience many of us have to pull nostalgia from.
I'm left feeling that I'm ultimately not smart enough or avant-garde enough or that I just don't have the correct experiences to "get" this scent. However, I actually really like that about it. It's literally meditative for me. It evokes an equal but almost opposite reaction in me akin to the one I had when smelling DEIXIS by Fzotic for the first time, and these two incense/resin scents could not be further from each other on that spectrum.
Ultimately, I think I could add this to my collection because it's caused such a unique reaction in me, and because of its overall notoriety and out of respect for what it. It would be a true "collector's fragrance" for me, in that it's more something to be admired than it is to be worn.
This scent is not warm. It is not opulent. It is cold, harsh, and almost surgically clean. In and of itself this isn't problematic at all, and I have other scents in my collection that could also be described that way. If I could divorce my personal associations with Catholicism, could even enjoy this scent.
For better or worse though, I'm struggling to enjoy it as an olfactory experience. On the formula side, the coriander is simply too much for me. It's too savory, too strangely salty, and too soapy. Oddly enough I had a nun principal in grade school who called the bathrooms "lavatories", and would often shorten the word to "lavs", and for me this scent is more "bathroom" than it is "church". I'm sure there's a purification connotation that I'm missing here, but alas.
Considering how much I've talked about my associations with Catholicism and the nostalgia I have for it both in scent and also in visualization, this scent just doesn't come off as liturgical. Monastic? Yes. Strangely minimal? Absolutely. I would imagine this is what a monastery that requires a vow of silence smells like, but that's not an experience many of us have to pull nostalgia from.
I'm left feeling that I'm ultimately not smart enough or avant-garde enough or that I just don't have the correct experiences to "get" this scent. However, I actually really like that about it. It's literally meditative for me. It evokes an equal but almost opposite reaction in me akin to the one I had when smelling DEIXIS by Fzotic for the first time, and these two incense/resin scents could not be further from each other on that spectrum.
Ultimately, I think I could add this to my collection because it's caused such a unique reaction in me, and because of its overall notoriety and out of respect for what it. It would be a true "collector's fragrance" for me, in that it's more something to be admired than it is to be worn.
The idea of cinnamon, but misses the mark.
I paid $20 for a 4oz bottle so I'm not horribly upset. This is like, the idea of cinnamon, but it really just kind of smells like a general spice. Like a soapy allspice. It doesn't last more than 30 minutes.
I bought it as a layering scent but I'll probably end up using it as a room spray or something. It's not unpleasant but it's just really not great.
I bought it as a layering scent but I'll probably end up using it as a room spray or something. It's not unpleasant but it's just really not great.
A soothing balm for a difficult season
Like the others that have reviewed, I followed Bruno's process in creating DEIXIS. I really enjoy his process and how he came to perfumery, and he really sees it as an artistic practice. He's very transparent in his work, which is also refreshing. I'm a fan of his work in general, and have gone through several samples and have several on my full bottle list.
Anyway, finding out that DEIXIS was going to be an Amber fragrance, I was immediately on board. Ambers are my favorite category, and how Bruno described what he was creating sounded like an easy addition to my collection. I missed the first drop, but ended up grabbing a travel spray on the second drop. Had I known how wonderful DEIXIS is, I'd have fought harder for a full size.
The scent is my favorite category of amber/incense, in that it's relatively heavy on the liturgical side of things. Despite all of the negatives of growing up Catholic, they really do know how to work with incense, and it's a scent profile that I'll forever love. This was a relief to me, as DEIXIS was described as an amber gourmand; while there are gourmand facets, it's never overwhelmingly sweet. As the scent dries down, the sweetness calms down even further; I can't help but continue to fall even harder.
The vanilla, sandalwood, and gourmand notes balance out what could be too bright of a frankincense note without snuffing out the light it brings. It's a soft, hazy frankincense rather than a sharp, pointed one.
On me, the labdanum comes out lovely, lending a slightly leathery, dry cola-like facet to the mix. There's a dusty, hazy element like I said before, from the sandalwood; it gives an ever so slight woody backdrop, akin to very well-worn church pews and church carpet from the 90s. This is a specific scent memory for me, so I won't go too far into it.
Further into the dry down, there's a papier d'armanie feel from the styrax. The movement/progression of different resins and their uses in different spaces feels so clever.
DEIXIS may just be in the running to dethrone my favorite amber, Amber Absolute by Tom Ford. They share similarities, but they are unique enough that both are lovely to have if you're a fan of amber.
Personally, i'd gone through a very similar situation to Bruno in caring for and ultimately handling the death of a father figure, and even writing about this situation while wearing this scent is making me emotional. It's a universal yet incredibly personal experience, and I think there's something about wearing DEIXIS that captures that as well.
Overall, DEIXIS feels like having a kind friend put their hand on yours when you're really going through it. It's like the friend who tells you that your feelings of sadness, overwhelm, and frustration are all necessary and valid, while telling you to remember that nothing bad lasts forever.
Anyway, finding out that DEIXIS was going to be an Amber fragrance, I was immediately on board. Ambers are my favorite category, and how Bruno described what he was creating sounded like an easy addition to my collection. I missed the first drop, but ended up grabbing a travel spray on the second drop. Had I known how wonderful DEIXIS is, I'd have fought harder for a full size.
The scent is my favorite category of amber/incense, in that it's relatively heavy on the liturgical side of things. Despite all of the negatives of growing up Catholic, they really do know how to work with incense, and it's a scent profile that I'll forever love. This was a relief to me, as DEIXIS was described as an amber gourmand; while there are gourmand facets, it's never overwhelmingly sweet. As the scent dries down, the sweetness calms down even further; I can't help but continue to fall even harder.
The vanilla, sandalwood, and gourmand notes balance out what could be too bright of a frankincense note without snuffing out the light it brings. It's a soft, hazy frankincense rather than a sharp, pointed one.
On me, the labdanum comes out lovely, lending a slightly leathery, dry cola-like facet to the mix. There's a dusty, hazy element like I said before, from the sandalwood; it gives an ever so slight woody backdrop, akin to very well-worn church pews and church carpet from the 90s. This is a specific scent memory for me, so I won't go too far into it.
Further into the dry down, there's a papier d'armanie feel from the styrax. The movement/progression of different resins and their uses in different spaces feels so clever.
DEIXIS may just be in the running to dethrone my favorite amber, Amber Absolute by Tom Ford. They share similarities, but they are unique enough that both are lovely to have if you're a fan of amber.
Personally, i'd gone through a very similar situation to Bruno in caring for and ultimately handling the death of a father figure, and even writing about this situation while wearing this scent is making me emotional. It's a universal yet incredibly personal experience, and I think there's something about wearing DEIXIS that captures that as well.
Overall, DEIXIS feels like having a kind friend put their hand on yours when you're really going through it. It's like the friend who tells you that your feelings of sadness, overwhelm, and frustration are all necessary and valid, while telling you to remember that nothing bad lasts forever.
A sexy, smoldering, unisex rose.
I don't think of myself as a "rose" person. It's not a note I seek out, but when I really love a rose perfume, I really do love it.
The ones I really love in my collection i would identify as quite unisex. Think Rose 31, Voodoo Lily, and Trash Queen. Big rose notes but with herbaceousness, incense, and patchouli, respectively, to "balance" the rose.
To me, Dark Imagination fits into this small collection of rose-focused scents perfectly. The rose is very dominant through the entire wear, but it shifts as it dries down. Starting both powdery and jammy, and morphing into something a bit drier but still voluptuous. There's a scent memory in here for me; Yardley rose bath melts?
As this dries down, the plum and saffron become more apparent, as does the cedarwood and smoke. The birch tar and leather is incredibly judicious here and they both lend a smoldering embers/campfire kindling vibe to the wear. There's another scent memory here too- Morocco in Disney's Epcot theme park in the 90s. Bodily, leathery, lightly animalic, sweaty. Subtle but present. Grounding, human, and a little messy.
It's gorgeous.
I just picked up travel sizes of Lola at Coat Check and Baise Moi on the Dance Floor, and I should append my order to include this. This kitschy, fun house has really struck something fantastic with their scents, and I'm continually impressed.
The ones I really love in my collection i would identify as quite unisex. Think Rose 31, Voodoo Lily, and Trash Queen. Big rose notes but with herbaceousness, incense, and patchouli, respectively, to "balance" the rose.
To me, Dark Imagination fits into this small collection of rose-focused scents perfectly. The rose is very dominant through the entire wear, but it shifts as it dries down. Starting both powdery and jammy, and morphing into something a bit drier but still voluptuous. There's a scent memory in here for me; Yardley rose bath melts?
As this dries down, the plum and saffron become more apparent, as does the cedarwood and smoke. The birch tar and leather is incredibly judicious here and they both lend a smoldering embers/campfire kindling vibe to the wear. There's another scent memory here too- Morocco in Disney's Epcot theme park in the 90s. Bodily, leathery, lightly animalic, sweaty. Subtle but present. Grounding, human, and a little messy.
It's gorgeous.
I just picked up travel sizes of Lola at Coat Check and Baise Moi on the Dance Floor, and I should append my order to include this. This kitschy, fun house has really struck something fantastic with their scents, and I'm continually impressed.
