Q

101 Deep dark moist green forest...I'm surprised that this has no moss, but then, that's probably why it's more appealing to me. It's a forest wood green, sour, resiny...no sweetness. Cool weather scent. It's realistic to nature. The opening of the edp is a lot more challenging(botanical stinky) than the solid form. I layer both hoping it will last longer because it's a skin scent, unless you put a lot on all over, then maybe someone close to you will smell it. The longjevity at RI varies by scent too. Other than just testing vials from main stream perfume houses on both skin and fabric (I only spray scents on my clothing once I purchase a FB of nearly anything, with some exceptions). Roxanas scents(and a few other perfume houses) are the only ones I will put on my skin. Mainly because they are SO EXPENSIVE by mL (and you thought SDV was pricey). I also find they shine best on skin because of the ingredients used. It's fair to say that 1 hour is average best and it's a personal scent experience. When you smell it on yourself, it really breathes around you from your body heat. It's kind of like many fragrances in parfum form: they are concentrated and often project much less that EDP. The strength on this is between edp and parfum form, although RI does sometimes have parfum concentrations for various scents at one time or another. 8/10-I like the effort, the creativity behind this, even if it's too expensive and botanical smelling.

I didn't notice any fir on my skin. I got a whole lot of the oak and not much else. It wasn't pleasant, but I kept telling myself to sit it out for the drydown and see if anything changed. It did, but not by much. Maybe a half-hour into it, I started to pick up some other notes and get more of a blend. I thought maybe it was a floral, but perhaps it was the bergamot. That made it better, but the oak was still overpowering. I sat it out for about another 15 minutes before I realized I was enduring the scent rather than enjoying it, and at that point I scrubbed. I will say it was persistent; even after water, soap, water, and and alcohol on a cotton ball, I could stlll smell the oak faintly on my skin. I can see the potential if there was more of a mixture, but to me I get oak and not much else.

I'm really liking this house, and along with Sonoma Scent Studio I think California could be the bona fide capital for natural fragrances. Q has a noticable fir note and what I can only describe as an incense vibe. I don't see woody chypres very often, but when I do I tend to love them. This is a scent that could be worn by both sexes, but now that I"m thinking about it, on a man it would be very, very sexy. On my chemistry the bergamot tends to rise, almost making me call it a woody green chypre. Fidgi is one of my all time favorites as a reference, so swap out hte sandalwood for fir and you get the gist. Q is a remarkable, smoldering fragrance.