Ginsberg is God

I love this so much. It manages to be both fresh and cozy at the same time, with a mix of notes that I never thought I would like so much. The first blast is strong on tomato leaf, fruity fig, and resins. It is warm, yet green and aromatic - the tomato leaf is herbal but balanced nicely with the elemi and amber-like notes and a touch of fig. After the first few minutes, the scent begins to cool with the wormwood, which make it feel like a autumn woodsy dark potion, especially as the woods, black pepper and leather kick in. The tomato leaf is still there, but the scent has gone from an aromatic to a green woodsy chypre by ten minutes in. Elemi - wormwood - woods being the dominant notes with a touch still of tomato leaf, although it warms as time progresses and the wormwood/artemisia calms down. I would consider it unisex, but not all women would be into this. I love it on cashmere. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Donna Karan "Black Cashmere", which is also dark, aromatic, and woodsy with some pepper (although this is notably less spicy and more cool in tone due to elemi being stronger here than the amber in BC). I also get incense and a bit of smoke, without it detracting from the overall freshness of the scent. That is to say: it's fresh enough for spring, but cozy enough for fall and winter. It's just my cup of tea, really. The website says: "This unisex fragrance is inspired by Allen Ginsberg, the tousled headed poet surrounded by books and papers - the scent of green leaves and spring drifting in through the open windows." I dig it. It's green, outdoorsy, smoky -- but experienced through an open window, crisp green air wafting into a warm log cabin with a roaring fire. This is sexy and addictive. Too bad it's discontinued. Why are they always discontinuing good unisex woodsy aromatics? Not all girls want to wear fruity flowers every day.

The potions master is dressed in black, and silently trudges into the forest in search of ingredients. The scent of dried herbs and bitter potions cling to his robes. A spicy, resinous freshness lingers in his wake as he crunches through dried leaves and pine needles fallen on the forest floor. Hearing a noise, he turns, and meets your gaze with smoldering eyes. I bought this on a whim, and out of curiosity due to the somewhat strange juxtaposition of notes (all favorites of mine). I wouldn't have tried it if it wasn't on sale, but I'm glad I did. On my skin, it's primarily a sort of frankincense, elemi, "green", resinous sort of scent, with a smoky undertone. Initially there's a somehow both dry and green, bitter note (there's the wormwood), which lingers in the background. There's also an almost "fizzy" sort of feeling on first spray, which doesn't last. It becomes more smoky as it progresses. Longevity is ok (maybe 4-6 hours), but I can get a whiff days later on clothing. I'm a woman, but I prefer unisex scents and I love this. It does lean slightly more masculine, and it's definitely not for everyone. I love outdoorsy, smoky, green, herbal, and dry resinous scents--some favorites are l'Encre Noire and le Labo Santal. I'm clearly a fan of Severus Snape, and I could absolutely see him wearing this.

This is a nice perfume. For the first few minutes, it's heavily focused on elemi, which is related to frankincense, mixed with some smoky woody notes. I find elemi to be consistently more tangy and somehow more green than frankincense. So the tomato leaf is really perfect in this blend. It intensifies the green-ness and keeps the whole fragrance bright. But there is also a resin in the base that is sweet, might be a touch of benzoin. Something also seems a little powdery and floral, pushing this fragrance into feeling truly like a proper perfume versus just wearing church incense on your skin. The longer it's on my skin, the more I enjoy it. It's like straight-up church incense that has somehow been softened and femmed up a bit. Avignon for women. Very different from most incense perfumes I have tried. I might need to seriously consider buying a bottle.

Sampled this yesterday at a John Lewis store. The opening is very incense-heavy, with some resin and wood notes peeking through. It really smells like a church, which feels appropriate considering the name of the fragrance. After about an hour and a half, the frankincense dies down, and the smell becomes somewhat softer and warmer with the woody notes becoming more prominent. Unfortunately, it did not last an impressively long time on my skin, as I could no longer smell it five hours later, yet I could still smell a different Bella Freud scent which I sampled on my other arm. This may just be a fluke though, and I will aim to test out it's longevity the next time I come across it, as it is really rather lovely.

Tried this both fresh and woody scent at Liberty London, a few weeks ago. It was longlasting - stayed on my arm all day ! If it will stay around in the market til my large collection has become handy, I will be delighted to buy it despite it's heavy pricetag. Interesting perfume and lovely bottle !