DEV #2: The Main Act

Sote: Dev#2 by Olympic Orchids by Indie perfumer Ellen Covey, who has a lovely fascination to orchids. But what started with orchid fragrances has turned into a much bigger platform for non-orchid perfume gems with time. This work-of-art scent contains the notes of: three different kinds of labdanum, tolu balsam, black agar, woody base notes, musks, castoreum, civet, cistus oil, incense, immortelle absolute, cade, davana, and leather. It’s spiced up with a tiny dab of rose, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, and cinnamon leaf (official site). Well the perfume is based on a theme. Five chapters of the novel: Quantum Demonology by Sheila Eggenberger. This is the the no.2 in the series hence the name Dev#2: The Main Act. It represents the dangerous attraction of an innocent lady to the devil....and the artist has chosen apt ingredients to put life into words....the premise is interesting.... As soon as you spray this complex hellraiser....your olfactory receptors will be stunned by the spicy musty dirty stingy powerful combination of dry incense tolu balsam and the animalics...the skin feels the warmth of it....as if you are an innocent lamb staring into the eyes of the devil engulfed in holy fire....and as the imagination flies.....the skanky castoreum gives way to a beautiful sensual civet musk a la civet monster diaghilev (close to dirty deer musk minus the complexities) and the clove, mentholic and sharp, providing a sense of coolness as if the devil is convincing your spirit to douse the flames and save the devil's soul.....it's reflecting your own innocence in its eyes....and trying to fool you...with the dry burnt very tiny hints of rose....and as you move closer to him....you can feel the smell of burnt leather and the remains of the holy ritual....the mentholic clove and musk.... and the sweet cinnamon in the background now are obvious....is this some sort of trickery....is the devil playing tricks.....the story shall continue in the third chapter or the third scent in the series.... This perfume reignites my belief in the talent of humble perfume makers who put passion above profits. The ingredients and the expertise of blending is pretty obvious to the most refined and experienced noses (compare Taeur's LADDM). At a humble price point of 65 dollars for a 30ml (5ml,15ml available too) parfum concentration you do not get a jewel studded relic but a piece of olfactory art. A dry spicy leathery smoky animalic gem which does not seek attention but will be a perfect companion to souls who need more than just a crowdpleasing scent. The experience lasts a very long time. 2 sprays can stay 16+ hours with good projection leaving a nice texture on skin. All I say is don't let the humble presentation fool you. Grab this if your olfactory greed seeks a joyful medieval dream inducing magic potion. A pleasant weather is needed to enjoy the whole experience. I thank the artist from the core of my heart. This is an advanced scent and definitely a full bottle worthy for my needs and prefernces.

I was waiting for this to come up on Fragrantica to write this review. This is absolutely amazing, however you have to be considerate with this one, because the clove/cinnamon combo is not for everyone, and unfortuantely for me, that someone is my wife. I would otherwise wear this as my ideal signature scent, it performs amazingly and it lasts an eternity. Let me start with the bad parts, then the good. For me, the smoke note used in this, acutally smells more like a smoked meat, I dont really dig that, but that part does stay in the background. Then in the very deep drydown, around the 8 hour mark, the cinnamon turns a little bit to a more syrupy kind of smell, and I also dont dig that. But what is amazing about this, is the longevity, and I do LOVE that clove note. I like to do outdoor work whenever I can, and since my wife doenst like this one, I sprayed this on my work gloves, it combined with the leather to form an everlasting fragrance. We are talking last summer is when I sprayed this on, and you can still smell it on the gloves and in fact, after taking the goves off, my hands are lightly fragranced by this concoction. And whats amazing is that it only took the best parts of the fragrance, and kept them, that syrupy cinnamon was gone, as well as the smoked meat. The rest of this potion is absolutely stunning, and I LOVE absolutely LOVE 1 spray of this, and for 8 solid hours, it is heavenly. If clove was not such an offensive note to some (cinnamon has that effect as well) I would wear this everyday. If you can get past the smoked meat and let it settle, and if you enjoy clove, this is for you.

Deep, dark and dirty in all the best ways. Huge cinnamon and spice burst at first, but definitely not in any sort of cutesy Christmassy-gourmand-baked-goods style - rather, a serious walloping with great rough burlap sackloads of raw cloves and pepper and cardamom, along with a billowing bark-like aura of the cinnamon sticks. All very savoury rather than sweet, throbbing with lusty botanical attitude. And the animalics give it even more heft, taking the whole thing to an even funkier, sexier, more beastly space yet. On me, the dry down goes even slightly bitter (juniper and artemisia maybe) while the immortelle is mercifully held in check. Those who hate the dark will loathe this, for there's an unmistakeable edge of really growly, grunting stank in the bottom end - possibly even verging on acrid or sweaty, depending on your chemistry and perception. Definitely conjures up shades of a lover's armpit after a hard night ... but personally I don't mean that as a criticism. This one's possibly as dark as I would want to go - any further and you'd be in Black Afgano territory - but it is absolutely magnetic and charismatic if this sort of thing is your bag. Nothing remotely artificial, cloying or ugly about it - but rugged? Hell yeah. A sexy beast for sure. Definitively unisex I think - its female wearers will generally like other grunty, un-sweet scents, while its male ones will be anyone who loves properly dirty spice. Sillage is firm but not dramatic, longevity is near-epic. You need confidence to take this one on, but roll with it and good things will happen.

Amazing and definitely one of my favorites based on incense and it is very likely that Francesca Bianchi copied it by creating Byzantine Amber. Because it is based mainly on natural oils, it has this characteristic opening that many creations of this house have, reminiscent of olive oil with vinegar, which does not last even a minute and immediately begins to evolve and takes on a lively sensation of aged red sweet wine, to reach its center which is a bomb of honey labdanum and incense, supported by leather, sweet spices, full of resins and animalistic suspicions. Bold fragrance with an intense style of mystique eroticism, something between a Dionysian orgy and an ancient Tandra union ritual! If someone sees it from a distance and more cynically, they might associate it with those hippie shops selling dreamcatchers and incense sticks. It literally sticks to the skin, 8 hours after I put it on and after a shower, I can still detect it on me! I really want to try the rest of the "Devil Scent series", as it is a pentalogy of Dev #1, Dev #2, Dev #3, Dev #4 and LIL, inspired by Sheila Eggenberger's novel, Quantum Demonology, which all combined represent a scent that evolves and tells a story! Unique and beloved Ellen Covey who never compromises and creates not just perfumes, but art!

I love this perfume, but I have come to realize the packaging probably needs an upgrade, because the perfume is evaporating noticeably. The sprayer top is screwed on tight and the lid is on over it, all in a dark climate controlled cabinet. After I became suspicious that this was happening I marked the liquid level with a sharpie on the bottle to confirm I wasn't imagining it, and without spraying it since then the liquid level is now almost 1/8" lower in about 6-8 weeks. I have never had this problem with any other perfume. I suspect that the sprayer top is not a tight fit with the threads on the glass bottle. Does anyone else have this issue with 30ml Olympic Orchids spray bottles? Edit: I am going to try teflon tape on the threads of the screw-on spray cap. I will update after enough time has passed as to whether or not this worked. Edit: the teflon tape works!

Devlish? I feel more like a SMOKY ANGEL when I wear Dev 2! She's a daring scent, to be sure, but this smoke reminds me forcibly of genuine wood fireplace aromas....combined with a little something sweet and spicy. Applied thickly on a cold day, I wouldn't be surprised if some people simply assumed I had been in a wood - heated home, as the smell is that realistic. Shortly after the opening, the entire scent becomes more like the aura of a burning candle. Not a sweet berry candle, but the kind meant to evoke holidays and wood fires. An expensive, high quality candle, of the sort intended for gift giving. In summary, for me Dev 2 is comfort and smoke and dreams of happy winter days spent by the fire. FIVE stars! Update - I now smell more immortelle than previously and less 'candle' scent. Very sophisticated, for sure. If you love immortelle, by all means try this!

Intensely dark, smoky, animalic labdanum bomb with accents of clove, woodsmoke, castoreum, and oud. If you've ever smelled Lutens' La Couche du Diable, that scent was undoubtedly inspired by this one (both in scent profile and name) - the scorched labdanum, oud, and spice accord are unmistakable, and both scents share a very similar profile. Dev 2 is definitely the deeper, richer, darker, funkier, and smokier version, and as a result it feels more naturalistic and fully realized than the Lutens, but also harder to wear. I love smoky scents but sometimes find the opening to Dev 2 too strong for polite company, but it really lives up to the devilish theme like nothing else. For the price, this is unbelievably well done and definitely worth sampling if you like dark, smoky, animalic scents.

Another smokey animalic beauty from Ellen Covey. This is not for less adventurous perfume lovers. The main notes here are castoreum and civet which are fortified with labdanum, tolu balsam, oud, incense, immortelle, juniper, artemisia, leather, rose, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. The resulting dense juice is a dark mystical potion that conveys dark animalic feelings and can be frightening to many. Like smells emanating from ancient sorceric or shamanic rites this haunting dark juice ebbs and flows on your skin and commands the attention of all your senses with its moderate sillage and prolonged longevity. Erotic, dark, mysterious, sensual and completely original, this is one that needs to be in the collection of adventurous and animalic perfume lovers.

So amazingly good. I guess the best compliment I can give is that this scent can stand up to the best that Amouage has to offer. It's really that good. It opens with a boozy vibe that is medium sweet and has hints of both clove and cinnamon, with a bit of cardamom. There is also a slightly smoky vibe as if the booze had been aged in smoked barrels with some dried leaves. The boozy fades and is followed by a more woody scent. That then is slowly joined by the immortelle. There is definitely an undercurrent animalic vibe that, along with the labdanum and resins, ties it all together. It's complex, nuanced with many layers that vary during the drydown, and it's long lasting with great sillage. One of my favorites from Olympic Orchids.

After sniffing, testing, and sniffing some more - I've reached a surprising conclusion.... I've done the side by side comparison, and the heart notes of Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille truly resemble Dev#2. No joke! They aren't twins by any means - the top notes and drydowns veer separate ways - but I feel the similarity ought to be noted. If you LIKE Tom Ford's TV, then do give yourself a chance to try Dev#2. Given a choice, I would choose Olympic Orchids any day, and NOT just because I love what Ellen Covey does ( and definately prefer small businesses ). To my nose, Dev#2 actually Smells more deluxe, lasts longer, and has a 'quelque chose' the Tom Ford lacks. To sum up, this makes Tobacco Vanille look pretty dull!

The best one out of the 4 Devil Scents and I also predict this will have the most comments. I have a tendency to procrastinate. I'm not sure why I don't own this fragrance but if you're anything like me and love challenging scents, I would say this is necessary to have almost like BeatsbyDre for your skin. This is a combination of cinnamon sticks, Jeke, Sombre Negra and Montecristo...and boy is it Satanic! Dev #2 is true to the Devilish moniker proving that it's dark, menacing, controversial but sweet enough to deceive the mind. This stuff will not only start a conversation but may start your car too! It's that potent. Oh yeah, let me also add that the aroma is thicker than a German guard dog.

Very similar to the popular Dhanal Oudh Nashwah by Rasasi. I actually like this one better than DON because it is slightly more animalic, just a touch sweeter and a little more spicy on the dry down. Overall, this is also more complex than DON. Think a gentlemen's cigar club from the 70s with wood paneling, a fireplace and fruit on the table that no one eats. I would probably buy a 15ML of this because I have a FSB of DON. You must personally sample the frags of this house as they have some hidden gems but ironically, they were not the ones I would have chosen first. Scent composition: Many layers blended well together. 9 Longevity: 9 Silage: (Be careful) 9 Value: 9 Interesting: 9

i just received dev two today and i have no knowledge of fragrances at all and i’m still very young im in middle school please keep that in mind. the first thing i smell is like cinnamon or some kind of spice but it’s not as basic as that if that makes sense? it’s like those cinnamon pine cones you can buy during christmas time! i’m from california and this reminds me of when i was a lot younger, it’s like smokey it reminds me of cigarettes kinda. sorry for this lame review but i think this is a great fragrance! i don’t think it’s for me since i’m so young this is a more mature fragrance but if you’re a cool biker guy with tattoos i think this would be perfect for you!

Dev 2 smells very similar to Bortnikoff's Mysterious Oud, which I absolutely love. They share the same notes of Cloves, Tolu Balsam, Castoreum, Labdanum, Cinnamon, Oud, and hint of rose. The Oud is much more forward and pronounced on Mysterious Oud, while Dev 2 has the Oud as a supporting role in the background. The Dev 2 is absolutely fantastic and lasts over 24hr on my skins, all the samples from the Devil scent project are beast mode on me. The quality and performance to price ratio is absolutely incredible from this house, certainly get more than what I paid for. Highly recommended to at least sample this one, no doubt.

This is a very exciting scent. I picture the beginning of a forbidden relationship. It’s got a pretty strong campfire note, but with a deeper vintage vibe. It almost reminds me of a smoky craft cocktail in a dark, upscale bar. It makes me think of how I’ve felt in the past when I’ve just started dating someone new in the fall and we are finding out all sorts of interesting and sexy things about each other, particularly around Halloween when we are dressing up and going out to parties, but not being able to keep our hands off each other and sneaking out early in the night to go off on our own private adventure.

Smoke, clove, a leathery castoreum, oud and wood. Cinnamon is there as well but toned down compared to DEV 1. I get the campfire feel. This one is darker, more earthy with less of an amber feel than DEV 1. Smells like a bad cinnamon candle your mom would buy from the discount store at the late drydown. Sillage and projection are nice. Lasted about eight hours before becoming very soft. Again, I don't know about wearing this on a date or for work. Some might wrinkle their nose at it. "Masculine", mature and for cooler weather. I'd love to smell this on a lady if only for the gender bender factor. Very nice!

I found this to be quite crass at first and the weakest of the dev series when my samples arrived but I was dead wrong. No clue why but it too summer time to make me realize the beauty this holds. This is crazy but it reminds me of amouage fate woman somehow. Like an aspect of it plucked out and emphasized. That fiery cinnamon labdanum base roaring at full throttle from beginning to end. But the heart notes something sophisticated and refined appears. It’s like discovering the class asshole is secretly a world class interpretive dancer with a yearning romantic heart. I kinda need it

It's a stunning cinnamon/incense bomb. Fabulous! Its backed by a big dose of labdanum and cloves. You can almost feel the heat. You have to wait a while and then the animalic notes bubble to the surface but they remain low key on me. There is a resinous warmth and sweetness from the immortelle. There is a nice bit of kick from the aromatic note and cardamom. All these intense and fiery notes sit on a bed of dense dark leather. A devil's whip?! If you love cinnamon then do test this extraordinary unisex scent. Amazing longevity and above average sillage.

Wow this is a demon. It really contains everything in the pyramid above and more! What dominates for me is campfire and cinnamon. Incredibly smokey, incredibly spicy. Layer with anything to add smokeyness. Very mysterious, but I am a bit intimidated by it. I also detect a earthy savoury truffle allong with the incence, deep musk and wood smoke. I have just tried this and Dev 3 - Reprise. I prefer Main Act, but Reprise is more wearable i think. ⛤⛤⛤⛤

Wonderful smoky intoxicating fragrance. Just got my bottle and I am in love. Will add more when I see how long it lasts,but for now, a beautiful, smoky delight. Spicy. It does have a bit of a medicine opening, but that quickly fades and develops into smooth, deep smoky incense. Gorgeous!!!

the ultimate cinnamon beast. One drop of this one eat all the perfumes who dare come close in a circle of ten meters. Explain this perfume by a Warm-spicy it's like compare a fire camp with a nuclear reactor by saying "It's a hot place". ...It's to die for.

I'm speechless.....DEV 32 is fantastic. Breathtakingly Beautiful. Breathtakingly STUNNING!!!! It's the most glorious smoky, dark, sweet, stunningly sensual, richly potent Devil's potion..... and lasts FOREVER!! Glorious Devil!!!!!

Definitely a wow factor here, very powerful has oomph. Reminds me a lot in quality of the baruti's berlin im winter and also chai. It is the same great intensity sweet perfume. Must be amazing for winter wear.

Nostalgia.. Smells like the incense sticks my mom used to burn when I was a little kid. During the first 10 minutes it smells oudy and animalic but then it calms down to stay linear. Love it.

Personally I prefer Dev 1. This one has a lot of smells that remind me of propolis and pollen and that stuff is less my personal cup of tea than resins, animalics, and spices.

Definitely a western lodge... with smoke billowing from the fire and a floral animalic presence in the background. Gorgeous. Nor the faint of heart. Strong and comforting.

Gorgeous creation. Balsamic, smoky, resinous, and rich. Unbelievable quality. On par with the best of Lutens' and Gardoni's "dark" ideas. Five stars.

A leather smoked up vintage couch in some old biker strip club where the strippers are hippie girls from the 80s Smells mesmerising

Boozy, smoky leather with green elements and bitterness of artemisia. Yet another great sample from Ellen's collection. I was ready to write this is much less original than the rest of her collection that I sampled, but then I checked the release dates and was not sure at all what to think, honestly. It seems this fragrance is around since 2014 which means it must have been release almost simultaneously with another creation that I find very very similar (surprisingly not mentioned in the list of alike perfumes - even though it objectively shares MANY notes). The one in question is Zoologist Rhinoceros - the old formulation from Paul Kiler. I have to say they are both absolutely gorgeous and great take on the genre of mature dry non-sweet boozy leather with medicinal green facets. I really love Rhino (which got recently reformulated and will therefore be hard to find or buy - if you liked it, this right here is perfect alternative). If you have one of the two in your collection, the other would be a bit redundant, but even if there is striking similarity, it only show geniality of both creators.

The things I like about Dev1 are more subtle in this iteration. I like the incensey, smokey aspects of Dev1 and in the beginning and medium-terms, they're present in Dev2, but I find the other notes really distracting. The rose and leather and animals get in the way. I went outside to work in the sun and the incense has all but disappeared. In its place I'm left with the green and rose notes, so much so that I smell very much like freshly cut celery. Must be something about the rose and the immortelle/artemisia mixing together? While this isn't an offensive smell, I don't really like smelling like mirepoix. :) It's so odd that I don't get as much of the smoke/church insense because of the other notes on top. It sounds like most people get a lot of warm/spice/cinnamon. The sileage is also quite wide for my taste. I prefer to have to get close to smell perfumes but this one I can smell arm's length away.

Of the DEV series, I've only tried #2, as it seemed the most appealing (shoutout to everyone who has talked about the differences below! It was a big help!) I do, in fact, really like this fragrance, and the best way to describe it in my mind is by using a setting: witch shop. From the occult shop that popped up in my hometown when I was in middle school to visiting Salem (always in the off-season!) and New Orleans, this scent has all of the incense, herbal aromatics, animalic, and dried floral traits that make me think of my favorite oddities haunts, and still feels very wearable. Charmingly disturbing taxidermy, pressed dead roses, shelves lined with various shades of ochre and chestnut brown seeds and powders, flickering candles, and a trail of thick smoke moving languidly toward the ceiling by the partition that allows some measure of privacy for whoever is having their cards read.

At first this one worried me, it was initially pretty powdery along with the strong incense note and powdery fragrances do not always agree with my skin. After this has time to dry down, maybe 30 minutes for this one, it becomes mostly a leather, labdanum, musk, and slight incense/resin fragrance for me. Also some wood and slight clove notes. I feel that most the powdery scent is gone so this is still wearable for me, and I actually love leather fragrances so this worked out great for me. This one will be great for layering for me because I do love a little more dimension along with leather, normally something with fruit, tobacco, honey, and/or smoke, but honestly I’m pretty impressed with the whole devil project. Each one I either love from the get go or as soon as it dries down a little.

Orgasmic and sensational! Raw, pure incense with touches of musk,leather and spice. It brings to mind the Gothic scene of the aftermath of a burnt Abbey in a Medieval battle full of scorched earth and nature in a winter landscape, burnt twigs still fuming underfoot and the cloisters bereft of life, no soft touch of humanity or greivieng maidens on the scene. And that's what this scent is about, the main act, a full blown, to the point incense, devilishly smoky, no soft openings or hidden gentleness, this is for the hardcore incense lovers like myself. For full effect wear sparingly on its own, or layer it underneath a softer flower note to add depth and interest, whichever way this scent is a gorgeous beast!

A smoky, animalic and sexy, sweet cinnamon fragrance that is great for wearing on cold Autumn and Winter nights. This is also the perfect fragrance to wear for those intimate moments. This one has a strong scent and is not for everyone, so you might want to get the sample before purchasing the 60 ml bottle (the largest size for this fragrance). Sillage: The fumes of Dev 2- The Main Act, will fill the room with its scent, so go easy on the number of sprays. One spray is great and two sprays is great but almost pushing it, in my opinion. Longevity: Very, very long lasting (12-24 hours). You will easily smell this on your skin the next day. 8.5/10

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 #2 here has a nice mix of light rose, very recognisable cloves and a warm herbal immortelle feel. I see SL couche de diable people have compared with and I can agree with that, there is some crossover there it's true. I prefer this though and it's possible I'll get a small bottle of this, it is nice for a cold day.

This opens how Dev #1 ends which is such a cool touch. Starts with campfire, incense, cinnamon, and warm summer wind whipping around woodlands. Theres a burst of a different sweetness than its predecessor, where Dev #1 did a stint of bubblegum on my skin, Dev #2 pushes a sweet berry wine forward. After that it dries down into a heady, thick incense, musk, leather, and hay with a very faint sweet in the backseat. Really interesting performance, so far I am loving this line!

The opening is a very strong incense, a little sweet. If you dont like incense, dont come near this. After the 1 hour mark, the incense tones down and i was left with an leathery very spiced up smell. Really enjoy it but i think it has pretty limited use cases.

big red gum in an erotic way. incense all the way down but the big red hangs out for a long time. splayed out on a leather couch drinking wassail.

Elderberry cough drops but pretty great? Also in front of a wood burning fire that has been used a lot. I like it.

Love it. Similar to Kerosene Blackmail, but sweeter, smokier, and more animalic.

this starts off very smoky and animalic on top of resins and leather. something in this smells kind of boozy too. then the clove really comes out much stronger along with more woods and cinnamon. it makes me think of drinking whiskey and maybe having a smoke in a lodge with worn leather couches, a fire in the fireplace...

I get dark rose, and a combo of cloves/artemisia/cinnamon/animalics that will give an impression of cypriol. But the harsh smoke aromachemical gave me a headache (it's rare). It reminded me of something (not Lutens - at all), but I can;t figure out what, so it qualifies as unique. Nuclear performance. Will probably please who likes the current 'loud, smoky and dark' trend, but I find it unbalanced, and it's a pass for me. Dev#1 felt like a great fragrance, but Dev#2 feels like many other garage perfumes: an unfinished work, rough on the edges, made only to showdown more than a carefully thought story. In short: a raw lab experiment, that I'd rather pass on.

The more mainstream of the Dev series and the most easy to wear and the best easily. It reminds me of many other scents such as Ambre Fetiche and Copper Skies but yet stands on it's own. Very creative and more of a comfort/cozy scent IMO. I am shocked that this is only the 2nd review of the year for it as it a great scent. I am a sucker for any scent with immortelle such as Sables but this is blended so much better and is not as sweet. A must try for any smoky lover and it's great as she has sales every now and then. With the holidays coming up I might get a bottle.

almost fruity - floral opening with an ancient rose and red wine, juniper and cloves, cinnamon and animal notes. very smooth and always acre as everyone so far. I like immortelle. incense is a far away from what we mean in Europe. I do not like. 3/10. fantastic performance. smells of distillate. dev 1 is still the winner .

This is much weirder and less palatable than the comments lead on i feel- and im usually the one saying the opposite of that with fragrance reviews. What strikes me the most about this is that it smells 1:1 like this incense my mom uses all the time- it isnt your typical patchoulli incense affair but these more obscure dark sticks that smell a little more resinous- i wish i knew the name, they have an earthy dark wine accord to them that is the same very dominating accord in this fragrance. That association kinda obscures my feelings towards this fragrance, because when i say 1:1, i mean they smell literally identical. And even without that association this does strike me as a scent that someone who works at a head shop might smell like- which i dont personally like, i really have a distaste for fragrances that evoke a head shop like ambiance- but hey that might be your jam. Some people noted some kind of big red/ or fireball type of accord in here, and i can completely see where theyre picking that up, but i just do not get that, maybe slightly but its barely perceptible under the weirder elements of this fragrance. Also not getting any sort of attractive humanly animalic elements like i was hoping- but in a way this truly does smell like an animal enclosure at a zoo (and seemingly more from the earthier elements- not so much the actual animalic notes listed like you might expect), and i actually find that aspect of it sort of intriguing and cool. Its complex but feels a little one note or one dimensional at the same time, i do not get sweetness, just deep resins which seem to form that earthy dark wine accord i mentioned and is the clear star of the fragrance (if you dont like that accord, you wont like this)- and maybe a very slight banana-y sweetness in the back. Its well made, not a bad fragrance but it just really has to appease to your tastes to like this- and it doesnt to mine. It certainly stands out, and if i didnt get a head shop vibe from this perhaps id give it more chances- i think id actually be very wowed by its mix of appealing and animalistic elements, but as is its not for me and i dont think it would be for most people. I really wish i could see the bones of this fragrance reworked to be a little more mass appealing and less incense-like while still maintaining its weird edge, because i think it could be simply amazing- im curious and hope to get my nose on dev 1 3 and 4 but from what ive read i dont think theyd take this in the direction id hope that they would. Even though i dont like the headshop association i get from this, and would find it unappealing to smell on a person- in part i do like to smell it because it also really does remind me of going to the zoo, and the zoo makes me happy. I can tell this house uses a lot of naturals and high quality ingredients which i love- in my opinion theres plenty of great synthetically oriented fragrances but a truly magnificent fragrance has to hit you in a naturalistic way. However, when using these naturals i think you have to make a conscious effort to not fall into the trap of coming across as overly “essential-oil-y” or “incensey/head shop-y” (unless thats your intention going into it- and w this scent it seems like it probably was intentional)- and i think a few of the olympic orchids i’ve sampled did fall into that category for me unfortunately. Though i do recommend woodcut, that one has grown into being a love for me

Uh-oh. I just discovered this line. And I missed the July sale by one day. 🙄 I got a five-piece discovery set. Have tried #’s 1 and 2 so far. I am soooooooo in trouble. These are UP. MY. ALLEY. I really can’t see why this isn’t what everyone on the planet wants to smell like. For me, this just makes sense and seems natural. Right? Macy’s who?? I get no skank at all. Just heaven. This kind of stuff just must work with my skin. Also, the bottom note shows on the bar graph as powdery, which I perceive as more of a soft, incense-y/ musk vs an iris or violet or other things I normally associate with “powdery”. I was already in love with SL La Couche. So far, maybe I’d say LCdD is more rosey and cedar, minty, pine/ish and this feels more amber, or glow-y? Like this still has hot embers, and a leather boot is leaning up against them. Maybe in general, SL’s have a cooler vibe, whereas OOA’s are a little warmer? Yet, one thing I like about LCdD is that it has a bit of a warm “aura”, as if it’s lifting gently from my skin, so I think LCdD and Dev2 have a similarity there, just it’s more rose/cedar from LCdD and more incensey musk in Dev2. LCdD ends up slightly sweeter, but it’s not sugar sweet, more floral sweet. I think Dev2 is just a bit heftier in the dry down. Dev2 is a different kind of Smokey or incense, almost has a bergamot-ish vibe? Something maybe brighter or more sprite-ly? Yet more incensey. I’m really struggling to make the delineations, and am working from memory vs a side-by-side. I’m not good at this to start, and it’s prob easier for me to compare a bit vs describe from scratch. I think they have a similar vibe, and if you like one you are likely to like the other, but I get the idea they don’t actually smell alike. Maybe Dev2 is kinda like if you combine LCdD with a bit of Participe Passé plus L’Orpheline.... and maybe threw in some other stuff? Maybe Dev2 is more like hot bonfire smoke and LcdD is more like cooled bonfire smell? What do I know... I’m just echoing that I do not think this smells “like” LCdD. Maybe similar, but not same. Which is just trouble for me. I seem to think all these Smokey deep scents have their own worth, like multiple offspring or something, lol. For a different goal, I do have a few houses that I am smitten with, of which SL is one.... Sisley is another. But in this moment, this is what perfumeries should aspire to be. I’m sooooooo in trouble.

spicy, smokey and animalic! there's a smidge of fire/burning, in the background, but this might be one of my favourite uses of cloves EVER. cloves are always misused. i rarely smell an as well-used clove in perfumery. it's always misused. overused. it should never be the main course. should only ever co-star and/or support, never lead. the incense pairs well with the clove and the animalic element. it's in the same realm as rume, and whilst i see similarities etc, it's *just* not in the similar category. the immortelle and labdenum add the right amount of curry to the mix, and overall, i think this one works. i really really do think it works. i think i like it. i really do. ***EDIT*** i've smelt a heap of attars with 'oud' and other animalic elements that are just too loud, dialled up WAY too high. this scent is in that vicinity, in that precinct, in that area, but NOT overdone. it's not obnoxious and not crazy. i have a few 1/4 tolas of ASAQ and ajmal attars that are just RIDICULOUSLY too obnoxious. this one is a middle eastern attar done tastefully. the pizzazz is there, and it's toned down. subtle, and done right. ***EDIT*** the dry down is hauntingly familiar; brosse, by slumberhouse. there's a resiney, metallic minor stank element, also present in brosse, which is very apparent. the entire scent is a masterfully mixed creation, and with the evolution is undergoes a whole heaps of changes. definitely needs to be worn and lived in. a simple spritz on the wrist just is NOT enough.

Sitting in front of a campfire, weighted down by an oversized leather jacket, and a mouth full of Red Hots. These were my initial impressions when I sprayed Dev #2 onto my skin over a year ago. I could appreciate the art and strength of the scent, but struggled to find it appropriate for any time other than the situation presented above. A restless search for the perfect amber scent brought me back to my sample of Dev #2. Maybe it's the age of my nose that has grown, or maybe sitting in my cabinet for long enough has tamed this scent, but it feels more manageable than it did before. There's still a loud blast of smoke, incense, and cinnamon when the fragrance opens. From the sillage, the scent feels like someone lit a box of incense sticks on fire and is watching it burn hopelessly. Once you get past the initial punch, the scent does expose some of its more gentle accords. There's something herbaceous past the opening, and I can pick up a definite touch of leather. It reminds me a slight bit of Yatagan around the middle of the scent; buried under the fog of incense smoke. The rest of the composition smooths out under the incense, sweetening and becoming a bit more musky. Dev #2 is an enjoyable fragrance through and through, but still isn't the amber I'm seeking.

I got a 15 ml sample of Dev2 yesterday along with a nice note from the creator, Ms. Covey. This has to be one of the most unusual scents that I've had the pleasure of enjoying! It's definitely exotic. Whiffs of dried, smokey piped tobacco come through intially, along with bark, dried leaves, honeyed vanilla, whiskey that's been barrel-aged, spices of resins (balsamic) and floral scents in the distance. I also pick up on reminisce of Cypress notes. You want to know what this reminds me of people---- the vintage Halston Z-14. DANG!!! Ms. Covey has created a real winner here. This is so good that when I first opened my bottle, I felt like I could drink it! Relax, I didn't, but I'm definitely getting the 1oz bottle or two. Definitely a collectors item. Hopefully, this will not be reformulated---are you hearing me Ms. Covey! We scent lovers and collectors take our scents just as seriously as you do in creating them. This is a true gem...Thank you Olympic Orchids!!! Update: 3-6-19. I still got whiffs of this beautiful scent 12-15 hours later. Put it on at 7am, smelled it after a shower at 9pm. Greeaaatttt!!!!

I wore and reviewed Dev#1 yesterday and today I am wearing Dev#2. First off, I thought #1 was potent but it garnered no reaction from my household. After putting on #2 I walked through the house and everyone popped their heads out and commented on its potency. So, be warned! Unlike Dev#1 which I felt was mostly based on frankincense, #2 is mostly incense smoke and spices. I get much more of the musky animalics here too. #1 reminded me of a cabin or a Catholic church and this one seems more suited to a pagan sacrifice. The smoke note is more incense rather than wood smoke, the spices really come forward here and, although I am not a fan of cinnamon notes this one is strong but blended well with the wood, leather and labdanum. Did I mention its potent? I wore it to work and I think that was likely a mistake. People are almost for sure going to tell me they could smell me the moment they walked in the building. Both Dev #1 and #2 are dark in color and smell almost more like attars or oils than perfumes. I love them both and cannot wait to try #3 and #4.