Askew

Edited review coming soon that is far more positive. There's a slightly bitter/metallic chemical in here that I used to be really sensitive to and it was seriously *grating* to my nose. It's still present but my sensitivity has faded and it's now really wonderfully balanced and a very intriguing scent. I want to do it proper justice with a good review, but my old sample is now empty and so I'm awaiting new samples in the mail now. ***Original review below*** I get the mimosa briefly in the opening - it's nice and smooth and joins with a (at the time) sweet grapefruit. This quickly warms up as cardamom joins the fray and the grapefruit begins to show its sulfurous side. There is an iron-like note here, too, and I get a blood-like accord in the heart. The odd thing is there's still a cool menthol sheen here - the coldness of revenge that fuels the smoldering heart. Dry cedar, sharp ginger and cardamom, and the metal shavings/iron note persist into the dry down and make this spiky and rough. Askew sends a clear message - "Do NOT cross my path!" It's artistically interesting, but unless I was angry all the time - or a true misanthrope - I'd never use more than a couple of milliliters. I'm considering a small decant though. There are days when this is the perfect scent.

I agree with alfarom's second take on this gem. It is an amazing piece of modern perfumery art. What I get from it are citruses, some fruits, woods, cardamon and ginger. I can find here some kind of masculine woody fougere skeleton. And yes - it has something in common with Fierce but it is not evident. Lovely fragrance, hidden gem. Great sillage and longevity. It definitely needs time and more than a few fair wearings to be really recognized. It smells literally like nothing else on the market. A perfect signature scent.

a killer on my skin - reminds me on leather gloves by HERMES - well done mr laudamil.... need to smell banana leafs - dont they also smell cis-3-hexenol like??

I get a lot of smooth, spicy citrus and leather upfront. As others have mentioned, this opening is reminiscent of some mass-market masculine leather fragrances. The intriguing development - the part that initially sold me on the full bottle - is about 10 minutes, in, when birch tar, ginger and cardamom send the whole thing up in smoke and ashes, revealing a structure that's almost gourmand in its sweetness, pungency and burnt notes. The perfumer's concept - a cycle of destruction and creation, the force of human emotions - is evident in the structure of this perfume. However, I don't think it makes the leap from concept to a wearable scent. I loved this from the sample, but after purchasing a full bottle, I almost never find myself wearing it. Ultimately, the smoky birch tar and the screechy synthetics become grating and unpleasant over time. It's great conceptually, but not for daily wear.

I've got a sample from someone years ago. It smelled absolutely stunning. Probably still one of my favorite smells, and I own at least 100 perfumes, and tried several times more. 2 mini-puffs were enough to drawn out rooms, lasting easily for an entire day. Garnered compliments from people I would never expect. A perfect 10/10 fragrance. Fast forward 1-2 years later, and I finally decided to spend the money on it. Ordered a bottle and... received a big fat disappointment. Smelled somewhat sharp, boring and unpleasant. Non-existing projection and longevity with 30+ sprays. Kept it for ~2 years hoping it will macerate. Didn't change so I just sold it. There are probably batch variations just like with Aventus and I definitely don't recommend you buying it because of that.

Starting is really annoying. All the arrogant commercial synth bases of a post-gym machoman jump out at me... I also have a memory of a twenty-year-old Just Cavalli Uomo... There is an interesting work above but which fails to mask those usual bases. I appreciate the mimosa, the grapefruit, and the cardamom but the tons of ginger, leather and more are always there heavy and... askew!

While I like Askew and enjoy wearing it, I don't find it particularly complex or hard to "get." Askew is more or less a soft leather fragrance with a sweet combination of grapefruit, ginger, and cardamom. It has something of a "been there, smelled that" designer quality to it, although it is very nice and well put together. On my skin, Askew doesn't go on too easily, as I catch something that smells like raw fish (specifically, sushi...salmon or tuna) during the opening 5 minutes, mixed with a very chemical grapefruit and a sort of metallic accord. But this doesn't last long--it certainly doesn't seem like the intention of the fragrance--and once it's assembled itself, Askew becomes a pleasant combination of citrus and leather, made slightly spicy through the addition of ginger and cardamom. An unobtrusive, woody vetiver makes itself present in the base. For comparison's sake, Askew smells somewhat similar to the latter stage of L'Humaniste (when you're past the whole gin 'n tonic aspect) and Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche (minus the creamy vanilla). Askew has very good longevity and its projection is somewhat reserved (though it has a nice, diffusive sillage). Humiecki & Graef presents interesting themes and stories with each of their fragrances. Askew is meant to portray a furious, destructive energy which destroys in order to rebuild anew. While I don't relate the scent itself to its intended concept, I take it with a grain of salt and enjoy Askew for what it is--a pleasant leather and citrus fragrance for men which is both modern and accessible. Thumbs up and worth sampling to see what it does for you.

I've been trying to warm up to Askew quite a few times but, noway. As a friend says "it smells like something CK would come up with if they ever decided to do an exclusive line". It has an overall generic citrusy-spicy vibe that really puts me off but at the same time the typical "artistic/weird" aspect you would expect from H&G turns here to be just "weird"...Like trying to iron ginger and grapefruit. Rating: 5.5/10 Update 2013. As with many others H&G, it takes quite some time for them to click. Several of their fragrances are sick and solid twists on mainstream-ish themes. They initially strike either as extremely weird or extremely mainstream but in the end they are neither and both of them at the same time. Together with CGD, Humiecki & Graef is probably the most valid example of avant-garde applied to perfumery. In this context, Askew is a twisted mash up between the clean-dirty citruses/spices juxtaposition of, say, Declaration and the synth aromatic-woody bone structure of A&F Fierce. All done with incredible mastery and artistry. A masterpiece in its genre. Rating: 8/10

This never fully convinced me, having gone back to it a few times over the years - particularly under the aspect that this companies goods are communicated as being daring, pushing and whatnot - maybe the naked human staged in Askew's PR image is simply a metaphor for the emperors new clothes, in this case namely being a solidly executed - but not much else - interpretation of a mid 2000's citrus / leather note. Think of something like the older, less cumin versions of Eau d'Hermes, the grapefruit vetiver of Sel du Vétiver and as Buysblind observed, the citric accord less the vanilla of Polge's Allure Homme Blanche Edition. So all respectable coordinates describing the field in which Askew sits in - and nicely put together, but not very askew at all or to expect anything extravagant.

It opens with citrus and ginger followed by sort of an abstract leather accord. The overall feel of this composition screams ''synthetic'', and one could think leather and ginger (or citrus for that matter) don't mix that well, but here it's done so well, that I find it absolutely works. It eventually becomes a nu-leather scent with the citruses (mostly ginger) and slight woods in the background. I find this scent very pleasing. The overall structure may seem simple or ''designer-ish'', but the execution here is great. Could be a signature scent due to its high versatility. Performance is good and even though it doesn't scream, it does stick to the skin for a long time. Could be unisex but I'd say veers more to masculine territory. To me the definition of an ''underrated gem''. 9/10

Getting a bit irritated that people remove my "reminds me of" entries. Well, let me put it here then. Ciel Man from Amouage. Askew is similar to Ciel Man. Bit sweeter, though.

Ginger and Leather delicately twisted together