Deus ex Machina

This is what Doc's Workshop on Fraggle Rock smells like: a cluttered yet cozy mess of half finished inventions and spare parts. The scent is mostly amber with hints of motor oil and tarnished metal flickering at the edges, which only add to its warmth. Those notes fade away gradually into a sweet, powdery amber, like lantern light. Deus Ex Machina is a "complete" perfume compared to Industrial Sabotage, which has a similar list of notes, but I considered that one more of a novelty because it smelled like overheated kitchen appliances and not much else. Both are included in the Curious Oddities sample set, which I'm working my way through. So far this one is my favorite!

A metallic kind of cozy. You're three years old and hanging in the shop with your grandpa before dinner. It's a summer night, and he has the garage doors open. You can hear crickets chirping, and the cows in the pasture across the way mooing. Coyotes in the distance. He's changing the oil in his old pickup. Hank Williams Sr is on the radio, and you're both quietly humming along. Your grandma calls you both in for supper, and he scoops you up to take you inside for a hot meal. I like this much more than Industrial Sabotage; it smells strange in the bottle but warms up a lot on skin. It's surprisingly gentle and subtle. The more I wear it, the more I like it.

Maybe I'm weird, but to me, this smells neither metallic nor feminine. This smells like a barbershop; an old one, with vinyl seats, warm radiators, and old-fashioned aftershave. I have yet to wear much of it, but I imagine it will seem rather masculine. It's a nice scent, but not a particularly "industrial" one.

It isn't harsh as one might think based on the notes or description, in fact it is a very gentle amber, not too sweet, in a tin package. I find it absolutely pleasunt, and leaning slightly to feminine.

I got this in the Curious Oddities sample pack, and I tried it the day after Industrial Sabotage for closer comparison. This one has more metal, maybe because of the grey amber, to me. It’s nice, with an edge. Dried down to mostly amber.