Origins Of The Collector

Madness. The state of having a serious mental illness. Theia Mania. Prophetic madness, or frenzy of the Oracle of Delphi and priestesses of Dodona - the gift of Apollo. Telestic or ritual madness, a way of release for those in need - the gift of Dionysus. Poetic madness, or inspiration - the gift of the Muses (Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania, Calliope). Erotic madness, the madness of lovers - the gift of Aphrodite and Eros. Take it from Socrates: "And as the Corybantian revellers when they dance are not in their right mind; like Bacchic maidens who draw coffee, caramel, and patchouli from the rivers when they are under the influence of Dionysus; these olfactory poets bring us songs from honeyed fountains, culling them out of gardens and dells of the Muses; they, like the bees, winging their way from coffee, to caramel, to vanilla, to raspy patchouli, to mystical incense; but not until they are inspired and are out of their senses, and their brain is no longer with them..." So, too, we are powerless—the origins of a collector.

This fragrance is an absolute delight. The fragrance is named London and if I had to choose a scent that captured ‘London’ this would be it. I can imagine this would be the perfect scent for evenings. The scent is sophisticated, elegant and mysterious. I think it would suit males a little better due to the notes (olibanum and coffee) but the patchouli and caramel do add a certain warmth making it good unisex fragrance. The fragrance is perhaps more similar to Killian’s intoxicated than black phantom in my view and perhaps if they were both mixed then you’d get London!

Opens with a slightly confused flourish before settling down into a pleasingly steady blend dominated by coffee, in the sense of dark, ground beans rather than anything wet. This rests over deep, clean patchouli, a hint of incense, and some caramel and amber gluing everything together. This is elegant stuff, neither gunky-sweet not acrid. It could stand to be a little stronger, perhaps; it stays close to the skin after an hour or so unless sprayed over cream. Doesn’t smell much like London, but that’s not necessarily to its detriment. Very nice, absolutely worth a go.

This is a bitter dark earthy espresso with some smoky burnt caramel sweetness. Almost smells like espresso beans being roasted to me. Not like a coffee drink in a cup. Definitely a cold weather fragrance. Being that I grew up in Washington state (coffee runs in my veins haha), I weirdly love it and find it comforting. I would love to smell this on a man! I’m still tempted to buy a bottle. I got the discovery set and this one is my favorite.

I received a sample from Scent split. I immediately get a sweet incense, musky, amber vibe reminds me of attending mass at Church during my elementary school days. I visualized a cold, crisp fall evening stroll holding a cup of coffee. The coffee note is not too prominent to me. Definitely a unisex masculine leaning scent but I just love it.