Crépuscule Des Âmes

Been testing this one more thoroughly for a couple of days now. I'm really getting into the brand, loving the white collection a whole lot. I originally thought it would be lighter, softer perhaps more feminine scents but not quite. They seem muskier, perhaps slightly subdued but definitely still with a presence and Atelier Des Ors's sophistication, yet you don't need a degree in chemistry to understand them. I chose this one as my first review of the brand because it's the one that seems to be a little divisive, and I can think of a few reasons right off the bat. Let's get the hyraceum debacle out of the way. Sure, hyraceum is quite a powerful musk. It's punchy, urinous with obvious sexual connotations. Here however, it's there and does bring a playfulness but I don't at all smell anything offensive. It's especially present in the opening for me, but it's really only dirty if you really bring your mind there, in my opinion. Otherwise, all I get is aromatic, almost barbershop-y sage with a citrusy zing. What surprised me is how much it morphs on my skin. For those who don't know, musk is activated by your skin, its heat and how basic/acidic your skin is. On my side, I've been told an acidic skin that "runs hot" is especially good for the deeper "blacker" musks and I believe it, as I've found musky fragrances work very well on me. So while at first spray it's musky and citrusy, on me it quickly morphs. The pimento and cardamom take center stage with a bit of an animalic incense tinge (perhaps the hyraceum helps this?). I honestly am not familiar with hyssop but from the description, it might contribute to this aromatic, spicy middle. The base after an hour or so is powdery and musky and slightly earthy (patchouli?), but it's not a soft, clean laundry musk. It's more masculine, once again perhaps helped by hyraceum. I love the changing of this fragrance in 3 seamless yet discernable phases. All in all, to me this is a barbershop fragrance but done differently, with a muskier and more aromatic vibe. I really love it, it lasts for a good while too, 7-8 hours on me or more if it's warmer, with a 2 hours or so of decent projection then gets closer to skin. The projection is not massive but that's the point, otherwise it'd be overwhelming. The trail I've been told is manly and sexy. What more to ask? If you like barbershop fragrances and want something different, try this one. I suggest a decant however, it's not going to be for everyone.

Crepuscule des Ames is a very interesting fragrance. While it is considered mostly a masculine scent and is often compared with shaving cream, I find it totally unisex. For me, the most noticeable notes are clary sage, mandarin and cardamom. So I get mainly a strong herbal, aromatic and fresh scent with sweet citrusy undertones and spices: cardamom and pimento. I get other things, that could be the notes I am not familiar at all with like hysop and hyrax. There’s something unique in here that I haven’t smelled before so I think it could be a combination of those two notes. What I can’t smell is the patchouli and the incense that is supposed to be in the dry down. But the overall smell is really nice and addictive. This is a different type of aromatic fragrance than what I have or smelled so far. I think it’s unique and I wouldn’t mind getting a full, stunning, bottle of Crespuscules des Ames in my collection. Atelier des Ors bottles and packaging is spectacular with real gold flakes floating through the juice. Unique again. Season wise, I think it’s mostly suited for spring and fall wear. It might be too much for the summer. It’s quite an intense scent. Edit spring 2024: got myself a bottle on a 40% discount. Over the moon!

I blind bought this one for a great price and I'm glad I did. This is my first fb from the brand and I didn't really like the look of the bottle. But now that I see it in person, it's really beautiful. The gold flakes, the starburst pattern on the back, a seahorse on the heavy white metal lid, it's a really captivating and very heavy bottle. The fragrance is also great. As others said, the opening 30-ish minutes does smell like shave foam. Then it starts warming up into spicy honey, amber, and hyrax. This is NOT that animalic. Vintage Kouros is waaay more pissy and challenging than this. This is a breeze to wear. It has a vintage throwback feeling. A masculine, mature, and confident gentleman through and through. It's compared to Opium PH but I prefer this one as removes the florals for spices and hyraceum Classy, classic, decent performance, decent quality ingredients, artistic bottle, a winner on every level for me. ⚜️ Scent 8.4/10 Performance 6.5/10

I bought a sample of this based on the Luckyscent description, and by now I should probably know better than to think my perception will match their writers' BUT alas! It’s not often the case. Gosh can they sell me on an idea though! Now that’s not to say I don’t enjoy this, because it’s actually really lovely, it just leans far too masculine for me to pull off. I think this would smell DIVINE on a man though, especially in cooler weather. It has that cozy, pull-you-in-closer vibe. Comes across as both slightly fresh but also warm and inviting. In that duality I think they actually did an amazing job of capturing its essence in the descriptions that mention dusk/twilight. Really gorgeous but not for me to wear!

Ahh yes. This is magnificent. A modern spicy department store victory cup of orange pop soda flickers by, it's wake suddenly complicated by a stunning yet tame hyrax woven among pillows upon pillows of one of those captivating and captive peppery wood molecules ISO-lated from patchouli.