Neandertal Them

Thank our perfume gods we have someone like Euan McCall out there. I adore and laud his bravery, even when it doesn’t work out. I would rather smell something brave that isn’t good, in my opinion, over something that is ok and safe. Push my buttons, Euan! BDSM is not my thing, but I’m perfectly ok with you knocking me around a bit! Neandertal has proven to be a very nice fit for McCall; they seem to have the same MO. McCall’s composition Dark for the brand is another that won me over at first sniff, electrifying me with its violence and terror. There is no violence or terror in Them, but it sure does get close. Them has a context of xenophobia, the fear or disdain of something foreign/different. The title and the way the perfume smells gives me an image of someone pointing a finger at a group of “thems”, the look of distrust, fear, and disapproval on the protagonist’s face. How does McCall capture emotion, particularly the unsavory ones, so well...?! The first trick to this in Them is to, one, ignore the pyramid. You are not going to predict what Them smells like by reading the pyramid. McCall loves his synthetics, and he is not afraid to let them smell synthetic, but he also doesn’t keep them barren and incomplete, yet this doesn’t mean that you will be able to precisely pull the pyramid notes. The opening is a gaseous onslaught of salty ozonics and sea-foliage greens (kelp, apparently), and incredibly musky, bitter, straight-extract oils wrung from carrot seeds, grapefruit skins, and lavender leaves. My eyes went wide and I coughed when I first smelled it! But there is another player here: orris, and it is arguably the star of this perfume. It is so parched, silvery and metallic, hard and coarse, that it is nearly fear inducing. The olfactory and emotional equivalent of sucking on an old coin or a piece of old dinnerware in that it is alarming and foreign - you shouldn’t be doing this, this is not normal. None of the “notes” of the pyramid are readily identifiable in the opening, save for the orris, but are rather alien-like - completely unidentifiable yet alive and trying to kick you in the teeth. Things calm down in the transition to the heart layer, but that is relative. I don’t mean to suggest the heart is calm. We see a fully metallic neroli and green-silvery hinoki pairing with a highly indolic magnolia. There is nothing fruity, creamy, or soft white floral here from the neroli or magnolia, it is all sharp metallic edges and indoles. It is the same with the hinoki, abandoning its citrusy and rich woody facets in favor of funky earth, green leaves, mosses, and cold spiciness. In the final dry down to the base layer, proceedings get warmer and calmer still but yet still xenophobic. A highly musky and animalic base of ambrette, styrax, and ambroxan seals the deal of metallic and silvery, touches of chemically leathers, and threatening animalics. Calmer, but not calm. A wonderfully thrilling leathery base awaits the patient and the brave. Emotional. Thought provoking. Synthetic yet physically and psychologically relatable (are you listening, Quentin Bisch?). An excellent perfume, full stop. Euan McCall is not doing God’s work in the world of perfumery, at least as far as Them is concerned. He is doing alien’s work, and I am all for it - abduction, anal probing, xenophobia and all.

So Neandertal have two new Perfumes Us & Them, a sample of which they very kindly sent to me prior to the release (Thanks Brooke and Kentaro) however I still hadn't tried anything at all from the brand at that point, and I didn't really know what to expect. If I'm honest I'd been a little put off by the usual suspects and the seeming saturation of Youtube reviews when something new arrives on the scene. No matter, These are truly artistic from composition to brand concept and marketing, I don't want to be suckered in but I am, Neandertal is just cool. None moreso than 'them'. It's perfect. I couldn't ask for more. A beautiful, resplendent, mildly sweet, smooth, fleshy, leather perfume. I've recently taken up leather craft and this reminds me the most of veg tan, natural tooling leather, thick, glorious smelling and a blank canvas of possibility. This is like the best musk perfumes, minimal but little jewels poking out from a silky, mist of loveliness. In this case it's a sort of Iris/orris feel I suppose but unlike any other you've smelled before. The closest for me is Aedes de venustas Iris Nazarena, but in truth they are as different as they are similar. Them has fresh, vibrant top notes, which keep putting in an appearance after you'd think they'd be long gone. Then a sweetness, that orris theme punctuated by complementary carrot seed which I'm not surprised to see in the notes, such a fine use in here. Then you have a mild sea spray, but not salty or aquatic just a breathy, animal suggestion of ambergris. It reminds me of a trendy Scandinavian furniture store where everything is posh, arty, minimal, low slung cubist, buttery leather sofas and the air smells of wood and leather. Guys this is a leather perfume, we can break down the individual aspects and call it orris and carrot and citrus and whatever but its a fiercely modern minimal pebble of a contruction that conveys leather much more realistically and effectively that a hit of IBQ, saffraliene, birch tar or castoreum. This is clever, clever, clever, by a brilliant perfumer that my pal from Edinburgh told me about ages ago....I should've paid more attention to her. So Euan McCall is something of a revelation to me at this point,his other efforts for the brand are great too but THEM just transcends perfume into a special territory of had to have, adoration for me. Beautiful perfume and comes in a frosted, icicle of a flacon, pure art!

The older I get and the more experienced I become in the fragrance world, the more I realize most people are full of shit. They have no idea what they are really talking about. Reading reviews and recommendations from individuals has become a waste of time. Not my reviews of course lol just other people! Neanderthal is an excellent brand. Anything Euan Mcall creates or composes is exceptional. In my opinion! Yes they are absolutely challenging. Much more challenging than other things on the market, especially if you are shopping at department stores etc. He is not for people like that. However, if you consider fragrance creation art, real art that should be discussed much like a painting exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, then you are going to thoroughly enjoy the creations of this man. Screw the trends of today. First of all, this fragrance has great transition. I love fragrances like that because they tell a story quite vividly. The composition takes you for a ride without uttering a single word. Where you begin is never where you end. It's so creative the notes he chooses as well. They are so distinctive and contradictory, but somehow blend so beautifully. There is intention all the way from the title to the very last note in the base. Nothing is overlooked or disregarded. I have to believe that he really cares about his work. And that makes me care. This is my first impression. I have only worn this for about 20 minutes. Later on today, I will write a more descriptive review. For now just know incredible work is being done here from an incredible young artist. I am a fan.

This is hands down the most unique fragrance I have ever tried. The first time I tried this on my skin, it smelled like burning plastic. I could not for the life of me understand what all the other commenters were talking about. I washed it off immediately. After my experience with Us by Neandertal, I decided to give Them a second chance too. I put it on over an unscented moisturiser and I struggled to even get a whiff of the burnt plastic smell from the previous time. It did smell smoky, but in a way where the carrot seeds, seaweed and iris were clearly distinguishable, especially after the dry down. Over time, they give way to a wonderful “your skin but better” type of scent. For me, the opening notes make me imagine a post-apocalyptic scenario, sitting alone next to an extinguished campfire by the seaside. In the distance, a figure appears out of thin air - a time-traveller wearing a 1970s brown and green Chanel tweed suit and a dainty gold chain attached to her large amber-tinted glasses. There shouldn’t be another person around for miles. As if by magic, her heels don’t sink into the sand as she strides towards you, rummaging through her purse for god knows what. You don’t want to find out, so you turn away and run.

When I smell 'Them' I'm instantly transported to the old dusty beloved small town library I visited regularly in early childhood. And the shadowed halls of my 1920s-era elementary school building. It must be the orris, there was no doubt a plethora of women's handbags in those spaces at any given time. That faint and well-worn iris lipstick suggestion that lingered on all things for a century. Powdery and dusty can often be indistinguishable, too. I never realized just how much orris was a formative part of my early sensory life until recently. Something about Them has cemented that for me. If you're looking for that book smell, that oft-sought after library smell, and find that all those all too common leather-whiskey library "concepts" are just not hitting the mark, give this a try. It may surprise you. I'm wildly curious if anyone else taps into these sorts of memories with Them. Neandertal's brand concept is rather avant-garde meets the existential. I wouldn't say they set out to make a library fragrance, but I would say it's a rather fateful olfactory accident that has quietly thrilled me.

The aliens have kidnapped you, they are using you for testing. You are holed up in a strange cell on their ship. They feed you a grey sludge that tastes like nothing but an amalgamation of everything you've ever eaten before, good and bad, it smells like this. This is what I think the grey ration bars the clones ate in the clone wars smelled like. Something similar to carrot seeds smothered in castor oil wrapped up in the fog of a distant childhood memory. As cringey and self insisting as neandertal can sometimes be as a brand, I absolutely cannot deny the beauty that is their fragrances. Them is something so odd to me, yet completely acceptable, not abrasive or off putting at all. It gets me thinking though, is it just so strange that it simply loops around back into the normal zone, or is it just normal, and the pretext of odd brand and strange backstory influence our interpretation of sensation? I dont know who cares Lasts a good while projects well.

I feel like this is too earthy and incense-y to make me think of optimistic futures. There's also a fresh dryness, like that of skin after a day swimming at the beach, which sends me backwards, not forwards, in time. It's not smokey per se, it doesn't give off "burnt", but it's got an ethereal quality. Perhaps vapor is closer to what I'm thinking. There's dampness here, but it's far from unpleasant. This stuff lasts forever. Even when I was still with the sample, very timid puffs at a time, it would linger very strongly on clothes. And day, evening, summer, winter, who cares? It is extremely versatile. The bottle is quite beautiful, but the cap doesn't hold on properly. If I didn't know what's in it, I'd think it was some indistinct, cheap stuff. It's that bad, but who cares about caps anyway?

One word: arty. This is the type of scent you wear if you frequent gallery openings or haute couture fashion shows. If you’re someone who loves mainstream, warm, spicy, dapper scents, you will hate this. It’s the anti-D&G The One. There’s a coldness and aloofness here, which is not to say that it’s harsh or offensive in any way. It’s just not desperate to please - at all. I first came across this at the gift shop of a modern art museum - which says it all. The bottle is one of the coolest bottle designs ever. A perfect signature scent for someone who truly marches by the beat of their own drum.

This scent is unlike any other in my 100+ collection. It’s hard to pick out any notes except something in it reminded me of the OG art piece Iris Silver Mist. It’s not floral. It’s not gourmand. It’s not spicy. There’s a smokiness to it. It’s haunting. It’s ethereal. I normally go for banger beast mode sweet scents. This is not that. I’m in a strict no-buy phase as I just bought a new vehicle. But I want a backup bottle of this. Will try to edit this review with more details about top notes and longevity.

Maybe once we reach technological singularity and we can completely modify our genes, instead of having our natural smelly oniony BO, this is how humans in the far future would smell like, a clean inoffensive somewhat liminal and ethereal scent. THEM gives off the vibe of the “your skin but better” kind of fragrances to the tune of Le Labo’s Another 13 and Etat Libre d’Orange’s The Ghost in the Shell although with a colder and more futuristic vibe

Fabulous anti-perfume. White leather washed in from the ocean, roasted in the sun, worn on clean skin. Other reviewers have said avant garde which is very true, and the clay texture is contributing. Still very approachable and wearable - I see no one has voted for hating it, because that would be impossible. I put on five sprays today and walked into a sandwich shop and immediately got a compliment, which never happens to me. I just smelled cool.

The opening isn’t conventionally pleasant since it’s almost post-apocalyptic, plasticky, and a bit unsettling, but I find it strangely addictive. This scent is anything but linear. The dry-down is where it becomes more mass appealing as it settles into a comforting woody, slightly powdery scent. It’s the perfect fragrance for a cold, gloomy, gray day rather than reaching for the usual spicy vanillas or predictable winter fragrances.

It's fascinating, I actually don't think the graph at top is that accurate. There's a definite seaweed and seeds plus musk scent to it but it's unlike anything I have smelled before. Really beautifully done and perfect for wearing to an art gallery and perfect for people who think that art galleries are fun. (ie it's a bit avant garde but so lovely). I didn't even know I liked seaweed scents before this one.

Growing obsession with this one at the moment. Doesn't smell so sterile to me, as it seems to to others. There is definitely some living/human component to it. Cleaner than other scents in the line, but not a simple clean musk to me. Reminds me a bit of molecule 01 (which is quite sterile to me), but with more "aliveness" mixed in, if that makes sense.

It opens with a blast of iris, that is powdery and musky It gives off vibes of a clean, freshly painted room There is soome ambergris and seaweed in the background that gives subtle animalic hints Fragrance has a base of dry woods, musk and amber It is completely unisex, clean and futuristic

Out of the 4vial sample box this one won my heart! It’s leathery, moist earthy start turned into a clean and powdery woody futuristic smell. To me kind of tells a story about planting some abstract seed into the ground and watching it grow and bloom with outerspace flowers. In love!

caution: wet paint, do not touch

While Neandertal Us was inspired by the Neanderthals, Them is inspired by Homo sapiens – clever, sneaky, gracile compared to our hulking “older brother” species. Appropriately, Them is a sheer, pale, chilly iris, with a silvery quality and a hint of fresh paint. But underneath there’s still a hint of musk and smoke. We may have fancy big brains but we’re still in the Paleolithic. It makes a fascinating blend with the iris and takes the scent a notch away from daintier fare like Chanel No. 18. A few hours in, it softens slightly and becomes a more powdery clean iris. I’m not especially drawn to this sort of cold minimalist iris, but Them is one of the nicer executions of the genre. The musk makes it a touch warmer, ivory rather than stark white. It’s not as rooty or harsh as something like Iris Silver Mist or Racine Carree, but Them is also not at all soft, fluffy, or creamy, like the iris-forward scents I’m more fond of (Heure Exquise, My Sin, Fleur de Peau). If anything, Them’s texture and color makes me think of carved bone. Smooth yet archaic, hard rather than soft, and a neutral off-white.

Nothing like the notes seem it would be. It evokes some long lost memory that I cant place, and it is one of the most original things I have ever smelled. It smells exactly like walking into a brand new apartment. The dust from the paint has settled, but the smell remains. It smells new, and clean, waiting to be lived in, yet there's a lingering smell of builders tools, plastic tarp and the masking tape used to glue it down, worn in leather boots, and workwear. The windows have been opened, and they've tried to ventilate it out, but the smell of "nothing" is hard to clear. You're invited in, to walk around, admire the blank white walls and imagine what you will put on them. You feel hollow, yet at home. It's so... strange. But so unbelievably addicting.

Idk how I feel about this one. Right out of the vial the smell was kind of just stale air. Reminded me of boarding an airplane, very airplaney scent. It did get better on my skin. The orris is coming through but I feel like the notes just blend into each other. It's very neutral and clean. There is a bit of sweetness that was not present in the vial, and this sweetness increases over time. It is a soft sweetness, maybe like linen fresh out of the drier. There's a soft musk also present. This kind of reminds me of Electric Fur by Alkemia, minus the candleyness that Alkemia scents tend to have. It is minimal and pure.