Dreckig Bleiben

The short review: When I first sampled this I thought it smelled of wet wood and, quite disgustingly, the scent that millipedes give off when handled. Thankfully that association has faded! I now LOVE Dreckig Bleiben, and only get the millipede connection in the faintest of ways. Instead I mostly smell a hint of woodsmoke, dry autumn leaves and parched soil, a dry dusty woody vanilla bean, dry but not scratchy cedar, and a beautiful orange hued mix of abstract neroli and ginger. An autumn favorite that is actually quite wearable whenever. I should add that the way the vanilla is used here alongside all of the dry and yet soft notes, creates one of the best 'old book' accords I've come across yet as the scent dries down. This has dethroned L'Anarchiste as my #1 autumn scent, and is one of my top 5. It also shares some similarity with Versace Oud Noir PH, the neroli, cinnamon, woods and vanilla are similar, although this is both more smoky and more casual, whereas the Oud Noir is a bit more elegant/dressed up.

أحد عطوري النادرة خارج عن المعتاد رائحته قريبة من رائحة المسباح المعطر(تراب كهرب)موجه لكبار السن معتق تماما ولا يعجب اي شخص إلا الباحثين عن التميز والروائح المعتقة

Dreckig Bleiben means staying dirty. The name fits the fragrance. Earthy. I personally don ́t like it. It ́s not a good creation from Mark Buxton.

Buxton's latest, Dreckig Bleiben, opens enthusiastically in a way that's more than a touch reminiscent of 2Man's aldehydic blastoff. Bergamot and neroli are rendered slightly medicinal through the infusion of ginger and cistus—the latter of which also brings about a subtle charred, charcoal effect. The medicinal bitterness is invigorating, but mellows to highlight the elemi—a smooth, powdery Pine-Sol type note which, here, cites Avignon's calming chamomile. It all winds down to a homeostatic smoke effect over a squeaky-clean dry wood base that smells closer to polished parquet than punk rock dirt floor. The bottle's interesting—a top handmade from reclaimed wood and stained gray to draw associations to the ashy, charcoal theme of the perfume. But it looks a bit unnecessary, and probably helps to elevate the questionable price point—which would be a shame as it's clearly just part of a beam that's been run through a bandsaw and sanded down. Underneath is a slightly cheap looking sprayer that gets the job done, but undermines the bottle's overall aesthetic. Scent aside, the concept of Dreckig Bleiben seems fundamentally confused. References to squatting or "roughing it" in any shape or form are rendered abstract as the scent, in true Buxton form, is clinically clean. The dirt involved (mainly the ashy effect) is easier to envision sitting in a glass beaker in a pristine laboratory rather than as some remnant of urban survival. This leaves the scent's tag line—"a finely-tuned rejection of superficiality"—as questionable given that the whole package appears more to embrace superficiality than reject it. But the scent itself is solid. And like other Buxton compositions, it doesn't leap off the skin—nor does it last a particularly long time—which draws attention to the price-point once more. Whereas with 2Man, a liberal dousing from a 100ml bottle won't cause too much anxiety, Bleiben's price of $150 for just 50ml would necessitate a more conservative approach to spraying—which is a shame, as this is the kind of scent that would be well suited to a heavy dosage. It's not a scent that will dominate or overwhelm the wearer; it's restrained enough to simply add a level of coloration and interest to the skin, lending it that same easy-to-wear quality of 2Man. If you love Buxton's work, it's worth seeking out; but if 2Man satisfies your need for a modern incense fragrance, then this might simply be an extravagance given its inflated price. (Also, a word of warning for the Iso-E phobic: I suspect that this is absolutely loaded with the stuff.)

I've SO looked forward to this release and with much of my sadness I've to report it has been a disappointment. Created by the same ensenble of people who previously worked on the MoslBuddJewChristHinDao - Unifaith fragrance project (Mark Buxton and Elternhaus), Dreckig Bleiben, german for "Stay Dirty" has nothing dirty about it, instead it strikes as a woody oriental with dark-ish twists. Basically a synth sandalwood with the typical dry-sweet / woodyamber-vanilla facets that are almost everywhere in today's niche offerings. A mandatory dose of resins is obviously included. Not completely bad but far from being a standout. My next question is. Does really Mark Buxton have nothing else to add to the table? I so wanted to like Dreckig Bleiben but in the end I realized I loved everything about this fragrance except the fragrance. Rating: 6.5/10