Book of Shadows

Took a little time to grow on me, in that I went from a little baby sample, to a 5 mL rollerball, to a 30 mL full bottle over the course of a year or so. Very evocative of spending way too much time in the "stacks". I get mostly old paper, followed closely by very realistic ink, and then a good smattering of leather. If there's incense, my nose doesn't really pick up on it, or maybe it's just hiding in the ink and makes it seem sweeter...who knows? Not I, apparently. Definitely not a crowd pleaser or man eater scent, but I love wearing this while spending a cold winter's day reading a good book. Longevity outperforms some extraits that I have, clocking in a solid 9-10 hours on my skin before fading, and projection is solidly moderate, giving you about a foot long scent bubble past arm's length. Certainly get your bang for your buck in the performance department. I wouldn't call it blind-buy safe, but intriguing enough to at least sample once (or twice), and for me, full bottle worthy.

whooo boy, it smells exactly like how it did two years ago. this is a very recognizable scent to me, if you put a bunch of perfumes in front of me with no label and i’m blindfolded i could pick out book of shadows out from the lineup in a heartbeat. the scent when it’s wafting in the air vs on my skin is very very different! it’s interesting, the sillage has a dusty scent like ascending into a dusty attic or a basement. but the sweet scent of old books and incense comes out on my skin, it’s a chewy scent(?) i can feel it like in my teeth, i know that sounds weird but i can only describe what i’m experiencing as that. it’s similar to the raven! except the raven was cold and this one is kind of warm. this is like the raven’s older and ever-so-slightly more sociable brother. i like it, i feel like it could be really good to layer it further with some spices, like with persian tea room or something. will hold off fs-ing it until i find something i can layer along with it.

I finally found the perfect book/library scent for the @brightflashes collection. I may not wear this often, but I will certainly never want to go without a supply. Silage and Longevity will depend on the concentration levels that one uses. *I am sensitive to vanilla so sampling other "book" fragrances previous to this was frustrating and I may be swayed by the fact that I can actually stand this fragrance without the vanilla*

The ink makes this a very cool blend, fits the cool early fall atmosphere. The incense is a ghost, but i love the leather bits that emerge after the ink dries a bit. Upd, it's very potent, i showed this to a friend (so far everyone loved this), and a cashier all across the cafe began wondering what smells like almonds. Now i smell almonds in this, too - or cyanide.

Opening the bottle, immediately I smell ink. It is such a concept scent that you close your eyes and are transported to an old library where you are scribbling away with a quill on thick parchment. It certainly makes day to day writing tasks much more fun, as I can pretend the day away.

This is one of best ink fragrances I have tried. I have always like the smell of pen in, think a BIC pen, so I wanted to find a fragrance like it. Bruno Fazzolari's Lampblack is a great India ink fragrance. Book of Shadows definitely has that ink smell with leather being the next note that come out. At first my thought was shoe section of a department store. After a while the ink stands out. My wife mentioned it smells like a printing press used by the Washington Post. Interesting scent. Not sure when you could wear it. Winter time at night would be my best guess.

Yeah, there's definitely an unlisted bitter almond/cyanide note here. I don't find it cloying, but fitting, actually. Not sure if I get the old book smell or not. Maybe. The perfume has a hard, bitter edge to it, that smells familiar (like another perfume I've smelled), but I can't place it. Conceptually similar to The Raven, but when worn on one wrist, and The Raven on the other, they don't wear similarly at all. Curious and fascinating. I like, but not love it. I would definitely wear this occasionally.

I've made a habit of collecting "book" themed fragrances and this is perhaps the most realistic "old book" scent I've found so far. Incense (?) notes are rather strong though. Upon initial application, a friend described it as "a hidden and immaculate public restroom within a bookstore." This concept does fade as the perfume sets and it circles back around to being a pleasant, dusty book. I'm not sure about wearability yet, but it is certainly true to description.

It starts out so strong and bitter/mediciney but dries down to a super realistic old book smell. It starts to fade almost immediately when it gets good, and you have to reapply, and the whole process starts over. It’s like chasing that 10 minutes of nice smell :-/ Sailing to Byzantium and Dustsceawung by the same company is what I was expecting this scent to be

To me this smells EXACTLY like the blue scooby doo fruit snack. I get paper and incense too but mostly fruit snack.

my initial sample of this smelled beautiful, exactly like the notes listed. for some reason, the actual bottle of the stuff didn't turn out the same. it's so bitter and metallic that smelling it makes my teeth hurt :(

For some reason, this reminds me of orajel or the tooth numbing anesthetic used by dentists. I'll have to revisit this. Update: Okay, I did a full on trial with this today. You can definitely smell the ink and paper throughout. I don't perceive any incense or smoke, and very little if any leather. It has a very familiar but modern, clean smell... after trying to pinpoint the scent, I realized it smells like an office depot. Not like the dusty old library or ancient scribe's smell that I was hoping for, but definitely a place with ink and parchment nonetheless. I had to bust out the coconut oil to scrub this sucker off. Definitely lasts, and people do notice it after 4-5 hours. If smelling like an office supply store is your thing, this is for you. BONUS: If you remember Ditto copies from school, this smells pretty spot on.

I tried this when I first received it in the mail as part of the Magic & Mystery sample set. I just got Dr Pepper Lip Smackers smell, and I wasn't very enthused. I let it rest for a few months and tried it again. It still smells like Dr Pepper to me, but it definitely smells better now that it's had time to settle. I get some inkiness, something vaguely astringent yet sweet. I'm not sure I would think "book" if it didn't have book in its name. I would have expected it to be more dusty and musty. But I definitely can agree it has an air of magic & mystery.

Smells like a poem from Edgar Allen Poe.