School

one of the most photorealistic fragrances i’ve encountered... i can see why it’s so polarizing / why some find it repulsive haha it’s so beyond strange; this might be a niche reference but it totally reminds me of the student store that we took turns working at in grade school — erasers, pencils, notepads, plastic, in an old cedar cabinet crudely painted with a jungle mural in house paint. this even captures the scent of the kids i remember working alongside (rain soaked jackets, tennis shoes, some kind of mustiness lol (i’d probably attribute to the moss)), down to the smell of the stale coffee wafting from the teacher’s lounge i could seriously go on and on about different scenes that this reminds me of but i’ll spare even more verbosity <3 very nostalgic in a sincere and unromantic way, it’s kind of disgusting but i’m so addicted to it. definitely a warts and all kind of memory frag

This was the first time I could really understand why people like fragrance. I could not relate to reviews that described an image/setting and were able to pick out individual notes until I smelled this. The rubber, pencil shavings, and ozone come through first. The drydown is an amazing coffee and paper smell (and still pencil shavings). I could not stop smelling my wrist and all I could see was the clearest image of an empty, unlit classroom on a rainy day with the windows cracked and the trees outside. I can smell rained-on corridors and desks. The drydown makes me think of coming inside from the rain with the warmer, more comforting coffee and paper smells. It made me want to start dressing like a tired, middle-aged, divorced teacher who's a softie underneath it all and wearing this daily.

Opens with photorealistic rubber eraser and pencil shavings. Warms up to steam from a dark roast coffee and resins. The dry down to me is coffee, resin, and concrete. This is a very unusual and industrial perfume, and I can’t be happier with it. The opening may be challenging for many, but once it dries down I think it’s one of the more comforting and nostalgic perfumes I’ve smelled.

Sounded very interesting. The only way to sample it thou was to buy a full bottle. So I blindly did and here is what happened... Thoughts of a full bottle... * I do get the concrete at the beginning. * Then it’s Rubber hose on the nose. * Or better yet, up the nose. * It most definitely is a pencil eraser rubber. * That being said, pencil eraser is the predominant smell for the entire duration. * And that would be a good 7 to 8 hours. * After it settles, pencil sharpener shavings tame the rubber a tiny bit. * All in all it’s pure Rubber Eraser. * The Pencil shavings and eraser are so vivid. * Reminds me of a studio with old school architect drafting tables before CAD (Computer Automated Design). * It is definitely a strange one. * I like it. I like it a lot but... * I can only wear it for myself. * The indulgence is all mine. ** Final thought... Good for long automobile drives or chilling in a zone state of mind.

I randomly got a sample of this fragrance and while there’s many negative reviews on this fragrance; I rather quite like it. Essentially notes of pencil shavings, fresh open paper, brand new rubber erasers and some kind of mineral dusty note. I picture an older gentleman wearing this while sitting in an old dusty bookstore or a college professor lecturing on Philosophy. Is this for everyone? No. I’d definitely wear it however. That’s the wonderful thing about niche. It’s definitely not for everyone. There’s something magical about that.

I'm a MASSIVE fan of my previous Rook purchase, Undergrowth, so I took the risk of buying this blind. It's not bad, but I was a little disappointed in terms of its originality at the price point. I also own Encre Noir and Fzotic's Lampblack, which do similar things, and in terms of the Encre, a bit better for much less. The overall vibe is extremely dry, with the most prominent notes being wood and rubber as promised. I generally love more industrial smells like rubber. In fact, I could spend a long time in a real classroom smelling all kinds of stuff with pleasure (hello, dry erase markers!). But in this case the rubber effect is heavy and fights a little bit with the coffee. I find myself wishing there was more sweetness to play off of or balance this. Maybe a hint of mint (i.e. chewing gum)? And maybe this is just me, but "school" has connotations of energy/nerves: eagerness or dread re interacting with peers, excitement or worry about answering a question, etc. I have no idea how that would be communicated via scent - maybe that's what the listed ozonic note is about - but in any case it's missing for me. Again, not bad, but if I'd been able to test in advance I probably wouldn't have bought a full bottle.

I felt nauseous/sick to my stomach after smelling this. That's all you need to know. It does have points for creativity tho.

A definite no from me. Washed it off my arm after maybe 20m because I kept smelling it (so I guess I can say the silage is good). Out of the samples from this brand I tried, this was the least offensive though. I get the fresh air accord which is interesting and refreshing. To me this is more standing in a dense, cold forest than being in a school, but maybe the school-like notes come later in the dry-down. I also got something that reminded me a bit of liquorice in there. Wouldn’t say it’s unisex, if I could imagine anyone wearing it as a scent it would be someone masculine presenting, not feminine at all.

I didn't care for it and could not get it off of me. I double washed the arm I applied it to and rinsed with vinegar and still, it persists. Who is this for?

horrid. nauseating. OK at first but after a while it just smells like eraser shavings . i felt sick .......

Yep - it smells like a condom on fire.

sickening and nauseating. just awful.

Wow rubber immediately for me! Very artificial right off the bat. Then 10-15 minutes in I get stale coffee, like its heat has released the warm notes but it’s bitter and a touch sweet which helps take the edge off the intense rubber. Just a bit later I get super dry woody pencil shavings and that’s where it sits on me. Almost powdery wood. This is definitely a wtf are you wearing scent as opposed to a omg you smell so good scent. I’m so fascinated by this and am excited to continue wearing it. I wore it on a very swampy rainy hot day and it feels like it hasn’t lasted long. I will reapply generously but as of now I still get a faint dry woody smell a couple hours after use. Think this will be a lovely fall scent! Plus a pro Palestine perfumer!!! Would one million percent support again!

This scent is just about as photo-realistic as advertised. It's very dry and very smooth. You can definitely smell the pencils and the chalk. But more than anything, I smell the chalkboard itself, a familiar scent from my years in the classroom. There's also something animalistic in the notes, and there's a coffee finish that almost doesn't belong--we didn't drink much coffee in elementary school, after all. But maybe I'm reading too much into this. Maybe it's supposed to be the scent of a college classroom, full of coffee and bluebooks and bic pens.

Photo realistic elementary school setting. Pencils, erasers, sticky glue paper crafts, old and overly used "scratched into" desks. The waxy hard covered and musty out of date textbooks with broken spines among torn spiral notebook pages crammed into backpacks. Sharp, industrial, and unlike anything I've ever smelled. The perfumer at Rook is a creative visionary taking risks and I like it. School is more of a nostalgia inducing experience than a daily wear. This is a vivid scent memory.

The beginning is all pencil shavings on me, which is really fun and nostalgic, but as it warmed up on my skin, the coffee comes through and the two together were not a good combination, making me a little nauseous. If the coffee was replaced by something else I think this would be a very interesting fragrance.