DEV #1: Foreplay

Thuja . . . . I needed that. We have what we call "incense cedar" here in Oregon that is actually called Giant Arborvitae elsewhere. It is one of the first cedar scents I think of. I used to burn the fronds wrap and dry them to make cedar smudge sticks. Thuja is the closest thing to my cedars. The first breath is thuja, than the oud and incense comes into play along with some By The Fireside style smoke and some cinnamon. Upon second wearing the cinnamon really stands out, and it is amazing. The combination does have a fun flirting with brimstone feel. Earthy green playing in the background while sweet smoke tempts you to think there's something wonderful in the no-so-safe place. The tasty cinnamon really adds to the allure. This could easily become a favorite. As it dries down the frankincence and beeswax comes out making it more sweet and comforting. The sillage is perfect. I applied it pretty heavily for a dauber sample and it would waft stronger when my wrist was raised near head level but wasn't strong enough to be obnoxious to folks nearby. A perfect level to wear for personal enjoyment.

Wow. Honestly, words almost fail me as to how incredible this scent is. It's now possibly the best frankincense note I've come across (and there have been many!). Smoky and yet also resinous olibanum, a dash of agar wood and a swirling labdanum all combine throughout with other elements such as cinnamon, lemongrass and honey intermittently raising their heads while incredible animalics and ambergris cut their way through to ground this thing with a beastly dose of skank. It's tempting to call this a liturgical incense in the vain of CdG Avignon or Progumum Olibanum, but there is so much hellishness going on here via the animalics and other balsams and resins, that it's more likely to suit a devilish alter than anywhere holy! To top it all off, this thing projects like a cloven heeled beast and lasts for all eternity. Dabble in this satanic foreplay only if you dare. I've officially offered up my soul, will you? PS: I have samples of the other four of this series also and when this one finally dies down (could be days!), I'll be eagerly moving on to Dev 2!

DEV #1: Foreplay is positively bewitching. With beautiful plumes of labdanum to open, the invitation to enter is easy. Beeswax and oud introduce some full bodied accords of deliciously salty skin. Then lemongrass, cypress-like thuja and the subtly sharp resin of olibanum makes you inhale deeply and throw your senses wide open. And then, the carnal qualities of civet--like a prick to the finger, and hyrax--a muffled bite of musk, delicately secrete their salacious essence, which turns you into a beast before you know it's even happening. Tolu envelops the fragrance in a malted amber glow like a reassuring lover. DEV #1 almost makes me want to say who needs sex when you have such entrancing Foreplay? But knowing that this is just the first act makes for a promise of even better things to come, and I'm truly looking forward to the rest of the Devil Scents series. Ellen Covey is truly masterful in her olfactory psychology and story-telling.

Dev #1: Foreplay is, to me, an incredible, sensual scent. I was looking for something to wear on date night and I popped this on and it hit everything I was going for. This is sexy. It opens with a resinous and woody blast (which stayed on me for quite a while as it died down to a skin scent as the night went on). It reminded me of a slutty church. I'm thinking The Thorn Birds kind of church. Next, the oud and the Labdanum came in and blended with the musk. On me, the musk isn't skanky and I didn't get any of the Beeswax or the cinnamon scent. I also didn't pick up on the bubblegum scent that a few other reviewers mentioned. It felt more "citrusy" on me, less spicy. This is a scent you'd put on your ankles and behind your knees on the way out the door *wink* *wink* - Truly enjoyed it. My date enjoyed it as well.

Finally in the database! YAY! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this fragrance! Just like something named after the devil, naturally, its very spicy. The main notes I pick up is cinnamon and smokeyness. I believe on the olympic orchids website it said something about the part of the book this is based on, is the part where the devil and a woman are getting "friendly." Thus, there is some sweetness in it too, maybe even a tad fruity. I only had samples of this and "reprise" which is also nice, but I hear this is the sweetest of the devil collection. As for the longevity, its the longest lasting fragrance I've ever used on my skin (and my skin eats fragrance). It is so potent that I accidentaly spilled less then half of my tiny tester vial in my office at work, and it reeked of sweet devilish goodness in there for a few weeks.

I love wearing this to bed. It's a comforting scent. It's deja vu of a camp fire. Something burning. A very woody smoke. It's like being in the forrest, almost like you're camping again. (As I type this from my iPad in bed, in my condo, of a major North American city, with every modern day convenience around me.) Let's be real, this is as close to camping as I'm going to get right now. The last time I went camping was in 2010, but Im quite sure this is how that camp fire smelled. As you fall asleep, you have to keep reminding yourself that you are not on fire... or maybe you are. Gurl, You are on FIRE! Snap! ( Sorry I got a bit flamey there.) Just remember pyromaniac, you lit this one yourself, you're not being burned at the stake, And you're not in hell, not yet anyway.

I love the whole Dev series (with the exception of Lil 😕 sorry). I love that they all share a labdanum base, but that each fragrance is it’s own unique experience. #1 reminds me most of red cedarwood. I totally get what some of the other reviewers have mentioned to be a sort of bubblegum smell, but I’m pretty sure that’s the labdanum, beeswax, cinnamon, and wood notes coming together. To me, this fragrance is intoxicating, weirdly mouth-watering. It’s sultry and sweet. The wood dies down after a few hours and more of the musk and powder notes come out which I normally don’t care for, but don’t mind in this specific fragrance.

This reminds me of Oud Luban by Aftelier. Very woodsy. Makes me think of Girl Scout camp in the winter in Michigan. Definitely a great colder weather fragrance. I got a sample set of 10 with this as well as Dev #2. I tried Dev #1 and went on a crisp October walk and I felt like it was the perfect compliment to the chilly, dried-leafy air. It’s a warm woody scent with just a hint of something a little more exciting. I can see cozying up by the fire with a new love interest wearing this. Later, when Dev #1 had run its course, I moved on to Dev #2, which I definitely found to be the perfect next step on that cozy night.

A gorgeous musky animalic, this beautifully composed perfume is much sweeter and tamer than its reputation. The key notes here are civet, hyrax and musk wonderfully blended in with ambergris, cinnamon, lemongrass, thuja, tolu balsam, labdanum, black vanilla, Oud and olibanum to create a potent, mysterious and mostly sweet smelling potion. Very strong on the projection and sillage quotient and available only directly from the perfumer this is a must own for lovers of unusual and mysterious perfumes.

I really enjoy this scent. After smelling again I agree with the other reviews that describe this as bubblegum and sweet. The first image to come to my mind is a glass of Bumbu Rum sitting on an end table, next to a leather arm chair with a fireplace crackling next to it in an old library. The type of library where the wood floorboards creak. I could see myself wearing this in winter while grabbing a hot cup of cocoa from a street vendor.

Dev. 1 is quite dark and mysterious. It is filled with so many different types of resins and spices, all potent and each takes a turn at the top. I have never smelled anything like it except a faint echo of memory from when I painted with oils. Read Gwizz's review for the breakdown of notes. Not for every day, but spectacularly good. Sillage and longevity both great on my skin.

I love this one. My fave of the Dev series by far! Yes there’s a bubblegum vibe (probably resulting from a resin combo) but so much more. I love the resins in this one. And the smokiness and animalics amounts are perfectly not overdone. Alas but I can’t wear this one nor pursue this series for myself. These scents give me a headache for some reason. Very frustrating.

This is my holy graal, up close my husband don't like it so I've been searching high and low for the darkness, warmth, sweet ess, The animalic goodness aand the rasins and The woody notes to compeet with this. This grunds me, warm me and to me it is really sexy. Waiting for my full bottle to travle to Europe.

A masterfully blended, balanced, warm animalic perfume with oriental and balsamic touches. The use of labdanum seems to be a signature of Dr. Covey at times. If you are selling or swapping your bottle please pm me. I have a lot I can swap.

I love this one. Smoky, animalic, woody, and a little bit spicy. It reminds me of a basement or attic. It has the atmosphere of Gothic architecture. I hope to try the rest from the Dev series.

One of the best from the house!! Good Job

as I read in many reviews, this is a great scent that really has it all. chewing gum, sweetness, a background of church incense, cinnamon, oud, bonfire smell, cedarwood, balsam of tolu, animal notes, thuja, fennel, lemongrass, burnt wood, smoke from burned wood, beeswax , vanilla, paint, ladano, balsamic acid smell mixed with sweet and sour smell. it is a fragrance that never stands still. it gives me innumerable sensations. goes from remembering maistream perfumes to more refined perfumes. definitely a fragrance to take into account if you want to switch to incense aromas less clerical and more imaginative. for now it deserves a good 8/10 with moderate performances. pinches my throat. now every day I will test one and at the end I will really see which ones in this series are worthy of purchase. for now this is a no. although I recognize the great quality. very skank... the drydown sometimes remembers the meat on the grill ... maybe it's not so easy to wear. it becomes very acid to my nose with sweet whiffs. lemongrass in quantity ... very animal ... almost a smoked kouros ... mentholed ... sometimes with hints of licorice and fennel even if not listed ... it is closer to but not today of unum ... less acrid but more acid . not for all . I would write for hours on this jewel, but I realize that I change my idea too often on this perfume. definitely a fragrance that leaves its mark.

If you like Musky, animalistic ouds, Dev #1 Foreplay should definitely be in your test list. They really dont make frags like this anymore, hence niche perfumery and thank god for that. I get the oud, the skanky civet and hyrax but it does not stink or at least not as much as you would expect, it adds an oily depth to the olibanum, balsam and labdanum notes over the course of the development. I get the honey and cinnamon as well, adding a spicy touch. Very well blended, heavy projection initially and then settles down. Longevity is good but lesser than Blackbird and Amber which were the other 2 I was testing, for eg I put on 2 sprays before going to bed and while I can smell the other 2 wafting off me when I wake up 7 hours later, Foreplay I kinda need to sniff my T shirt. It's still there but faintly. Maybe it's on purpose, Foreplay should not go on forever after all! I love this one and it's piqued my interest to try the rest of the Olympic Orchids Dev Line. 8/10

This is probably my favorite of all the Dev project fragrances. It starts off with a very incense/resin herby scent, as it dried I get a lot more of the leathery, laudanum, musk, beeswax notes. I think beeswax is always a nice addition on skin. I still get the cinnamon but not as strong as in a couple of the other Devs, I think this one is perfectly balanced and can be wearable in summer, fall, or winter. I’ll have to try this one in the colder weather as well, I can see this being a fragrance that stays more resin/balsamy in the summer but that gives more of that spice and cinnamon in colder weather. Again, I love leather notes in fragrances, so this one is great for me. A little more dimensional than the leather in Dev #2, if you purely wanted something that dries down a stronger leather scent Dev #2 is perfect. Dev #2 I think is also a stronger fragrance while Dev #1 had less sillage/sat closer to the skin.

This is a dark, clovey niche amber, in the same vein as Under My Skin or Bengale Rouge or Larmes du Desert or Sova, but more complex than any of the others. Darkly sparkling, vivid, and only lightly animalic; I get fluctuating glints of fragrant woods and dry incense and a crackle of civet, but the main event is the labdanum and tolu, deep and almost winy. The drydown gets muskier and a bit more masculine; I think there might be a woody-amber in there. eventually it takes on a savory aspect, almost like popcorn, with a touch of salty skin sweat. Amazing radiance and projection, without a trace of heaviness. None of the creamy or fuzzy textures you’d find in Under My Skin or Bengale Rouge; it’s not a snuggly blanket, it’s an autumnal Chinese landscape, all falling leaves and turbulent clouds and wet mountain crags. Extremely tenacious – hangs on more than a day, through a bath and beyond.

Tony is spot on with his review. It opens with a strong almost sweet hot cinnamon candy. That dies off rather quickly leaving a more smokey frankincense and labdanum. The sweetness is very light but still present. I can detect almost every note if I try hard enough. Though it is kind of hard to get past the strong frankincense and labdanum to find the other notes. It just fills your nose. I love the idea of it all. A good civet, animalic scent always makes me feel sexy and strong. BUT I agree this is more of a scent to wear when you are alone and want to wear a warming scent. Meaning its good and performs well but I doubt I will wear it in public again. When I take a deep smell I get oud just before I feel as if I have to stop before I sneeze or something. Another great scent from Ellen but I dont see myself purchasing it. I will use up my sample at some point

Catholic church incense, oud, cinnamon, wood and amber. A touch of sweetness; a bit of an animalic feel. I think my amber interpretation is an excellent blend of many of the notes listed here. I do smell the bubble gum at the opening. There's a campfire vibe as well. Projection and sillage are very good. This stuff is potent. I get around eight hours longevity before it becomes soft. Smells high quality and pretty natural. May not appeal to everyone; not the best for work or a date but I think it is sexy. Mature and more suited for the cooler months. Mmm... this stuff is nice!

Amber with the sweetness balanced with hints of woods and animalics. On side-by-side test, it doesn't leave a doubt where this one is inspired from: this is a glorified Armani Myrrhe Imperiale. Since I appreciate MI, I thus like an 'improved' version of it, even if I might not want to pull the trigger on a full bottle. That said, performance could have been improved. For sure one of the most interesting resinous vanilla-centric fragrances around.

Such a good weirdo goth perfume! A rush of bubblegum and cinnamon that transitions into a smooth, silky blend of incense, wood, wood smoke, amber, and musk with a hint of sugar. As an aforementioned weirdo goth it makes me think of a warm summer dusk bonfire party in a field by the woods, a warm breeze swirling the smells of the outdoors with smoke, a burning incense, skin musk and a sweet drink in your hand. Pure bliss!

These dev scents all seem to share a common labdanum base with differences in the additions over the top. My preference ranking for the 4 dev in order: #3, #2, #1, #4 #1 here reminds me of a much lighter version of Zoologist Hyrax. They both have a boozy dry smoky wood element, and a mildly animalic bitterness. I would say they differ though in that #1 here sweeter vanilla edge to it too. I don't mind this scent but I wouldn't upgrade to a full bottle.

this is woody, resiny and animalic, and it's quite smoky on me. i get more honey into the drydown but it's quite subtle. it kind of smells like resins with burning rubber. it's interesting and i am curious to smell it on others to see what comes out, because i think this gets incredibly smoky on me. the wood notes are quite beautiful in this. it's great in cooler weather too.

Smokey, woody, herbaceous, spicy and animalic. I don’t hate it and would probably like smelling it on someone else, but it’s not for me. Smells like a hunting camp with the outdoors smells meeting campfire smoke and the smell of freshly butchered animals as well as the faint smell of long dead animals. Interesting, but not something I want to go walking around smelling like.

I haven't seen anyone mention the compost pile opening! A blast of juicy red wine, banana peel, and something minty before it settles down on the skin. I agree with the reviewers mentioning bubblegum. Overall an odd, but not unpleasant smell—gothic.

Bubblegum and Kalamata olive opening becomes distinctly cinnamon smoky musk on the dry down. Not offensive or life-changing for me.

Deep and dark and not for the faint of heart. This is a relentless scent. No frills or thrills. Straight up dark,smoky and animalic. More resinous and smoky than sweet. This one is simply for the user's pleasure on a cold rainy autumn night and not for one who seeks compliments. Overall I appreciate the scent and it was a joy to sample it but it would never be added to my collection. Performance is excellent BTW as all Dev scents are.

I have to agree with Jazzclrnt, in that it has a bubble gum vibe that kind of ruins the whole effect for me. If not for that nuance, it would be a lovely, warm, resinous, ambery scent that I would wear. Alas.

this starts off with a wonderfully smooth accord struck between the tolu, cinn and lab, creating an MFK-esque note, akin to the 'mood series', which, for the record, draw comparisons. there's a mild stank element initially, stankier than leather or musk, probably a civet or something similar. there's no real resinous quality apparent at the start, that bad boy comes to the fore much later. underlying all of this, there is a strange herbal element, possibly german chamomile, or maybe something herbal-floral, like tansy, it's hard to say. i really need to sniff at my wrist three or four times to get anosmic to the tolu-cinn-lab and stank element. it could be something aromachemically, also, galaxolide reacts like this when paired with resins (which, whilst in the mix, aren't quite apparent at the start). ***EDIT*** about 3+ hours in, the smooth accord remains and the resins weedle their way in. it diminishes in strength to somewhat of a skin scent, but it remains pleasant and definitely enjoyable. the herbal-floral element goes, also. if anything, the tolu amps up, and tolu makes ANYTHING smell smooth; like, vanilla-amber-cinn smooth, it just balances out any scent and makes it smell good. the downside is, it adds a bit of a generic element to it, which, unfortunately, makes it a little disappointing. nonetheless, a beautiful scent you really need to be smothered in...

There are a handful of take no prisoner olibanums on the market and this is probably the more wearable amongst them all. When I say MORE WEARABLE, I'm referring to Dev #1 as being somewhat unflinching in its delivery but enjoyable. Foreplay opens as a powdery yet chalky olibanum followed by burnt balsams which slightly offsets a subdued cinnamon spice. Not as sweet as the perfume pyramid would promote but this can be a little challenging even for a vet. In the middle, the dominant olibanum is fading into the background a bit and sooty labdanum appears. Rodents roasted on lemongrass blades would be a nice play on words but honestly, I'm not even sure if I detect those notes bcuz everything is so damn dark! Dev #1 is as close to Satan you will get without going to Hell.

Not much more to add to what everyone else has noted: Dark frankincense, smokey, resinous, spicy and slightly animalic. Catholic church incense. I don't get too much animalic in case that worries you. This smells like a nice, spicy incense stick with enough sweetness to it to make it smooth. I had a Frankincense oil once that smelled a lot like this. I have the whole Dev series and they all smell slightly similar. I'm loving this and its lasting all day. Not for the faint of heart but for those of us who love dark- this is one to try. I get a LOT of pine from this one and less clove/cinnamon. It seems less redundant than the others. Note to future Joe: get this one!

With all those amazing notes, this one should be a masterpiece, yet it’s flat and boring. She must have used cheap synthetics . If those notes indeed are in this fragrance, it shouldn’t smell so awful. So far I’m not a fan of this perfumer. Each one I sampled has been just so bad and unwearable . Just like her horrific version of Bat. I’m glad Zoologist kicked her version out. It was just sooo bad. New Bat is actually quite nice. Still a bit weird but Zoologist frags are all somewhat weird. Or artistic if u want to look at it that way . I love 6 from the collection. That’s it. The rest are not wearable imho.

Bear with me... this reminds me of a little gift shop my mother used to take me into around the holidays. Hand dipped candles, decorative cinnamon brooms, clay pottery, potpourri, wrapping paper and bows, wreaths... all displayed on antique wooden tables and shelves. This is the fragrance of the air inside that store. Campfire made of herbs and spices. The sillage is enormous and this will last on your skin until your shower it off.

I have nothing against synthetics in theory but on my skin this is a MESS in a characteristically synthetic mode. Somehow discordantly sweet, airy, and smoky, yet somehow flat. It comes into focus one minute out of every 100 or so to be a gorgeously soft balsamic/animalic caress ! But then falls apart again.

Before application: Ensure you will be alone, or have a partner who is seriously into animalistic perfumes. Make sure you have no family or polite company expected. Draw the curtains, lock the doors. Loosen your clothing. Deep breath. Apply Have fun!

The first thought for me here is pink bubble gum. The kind you get with the goofy stickers inside. Looking at the notes I can now make them out, but that was my first impression and it still smells like that to me.

Reminds me of the incense they used to burn in church when the bishop would visit, or an exotic Arabian bazaar. Very, very nice! Very long lasting. Good for both genders.

Resinous, animalic, & beeswax with hints of oud. It’s not a stinky oud nor annoying animalics. Honestly I could see my self wearing this. It’s quite dark as well.

that rottigirlnyc person is always hating. yall i do not like her. accusing ellen of using synthetics just seems spiteful.

Off my skin this smells like a smokey resinous bubblegum.. I like it.