Headmaster

Yes please! I ordered a 2.5 ml sample of this from Solstice just based on their lovely description. What a unique scent! I was worried it would be too masculine, but it works just as well on a headmistress. I get an initial blast of sharp apple, cherry pipe tobacco, and booze. (I'm a whiskey girl, so the bourbon note is always welcome). It's all very autumnal. As the apple note calms down, I get old black and white composition books and those desks where the chair and the tabletop are attached. Thankfully no old chewing gum note, so better than being in an actual school. As it dries down the pear comes through, but if I hadn't seen it in the notes I likely wouldn't recognize it as such. A touch of realistic apple remains throughout, and eventually it sweetens into a powdery dry-down. I love this. I work at a university, so I find those woody, papery, 'scholarly' smells comforting. I have also found that wearing it in conjunction with a touch of Gibbons Boarding School makes it even more complex, and for me it makes Headmaster stick around even longer.

Headmaster opens with ripe, red fruits, the nose-tickling delight of high quality pencil shavings, and a blast of sweetened, unlit pipe tobacco. I imagine the experience of being trapped, as a sullen teenager, at a posh boarding school during the summertime might smell a bit like this; all of your classmates are jetting out to Amalfi or the the French Riviera, but your mother has remarried and is honeymooning in Egypt with her new husband; her final words to you, over a rushed, static-filled overseas phone call were along the lines of, “...garble garble I’m sure you understand, love you darling garble garble see you on Christmas break...!” There’s a skeleton staff, all of the professors are on break except the creepy one whom no one but you has ever seen (that’s weird, right?) but the cook is very much a real, solid creature–she thinks you’re a dear and makes your favorite treat every night: baked apples en flambé, the secret ingredient being a generous nip of the headmaster’s special bourbon. You savor it at the bottom of the massive staircase every night, spoon in one hand, your other hand languidly sliding along the oaken bannisters, polished smooth by the hands of all of the young ladies over the years who have attended this strange institution. The golden glow of the setting sun glimmers through the ornate stained glass set into building’s solid front doors, and between the dust motes dancing in the amber light, vague shapes begin to take form, swirling and eddying, coalescing into an almost-human shaped cloud. You rub your eyes, sleepily, and the vision is gone.

Mostly sandalwood on me. Possibly a note of tobacco in there, soft and powdery, but mostly sandalwood. Very nice but not a sandalwood I like (as I like so few.) Second try, there are more foody notes, with the wood. Apple and bourbon come up better, in a smooth blend. Liking it much more this time, but it’s sweet. We’ll see if it goes too sweet.) Soft powdery tobacco spiking a strong sandalwood scent, with some wood and apple bourbon notes that make it very pretty and add some sweetness to the mix. It's more sandalwood than I actually like, not being a huge fan of sandalwood, but it's a good blend of notes and draws an evocative picture.

Initially, Headmaster is reminiscent of opening a humidor, but instead of heavy and sweet tobacco, you smell fresher green tobacco leaves waiting to be made into fine cigars, nestled up in cedar. Traces of worn library books and amber are mixed in. Then, in no time at all, the amber melds together with pear and caramel and it smells mostly sweet with hints of green. It got sweeter and more enjoyable as I wore it throughout the day, and was never cloying or heavy. I imagine it would smell awesome on my man, but works for me too and I really love it on me actually!

This is the most comforting fragrance I have ever worn. Pipe tobacco predominates throughout the wear, but it leaves room for oaky bourbon, caramel, and vanilla to come forward as the day goes on. I don't get any cedar (thankfully, I'm not a fan) and the apple and pear are more sort of a vague, fruity sweetness that I can't quite identify. Taken together, it adds up to a warm, fuzzy feeling and I seriously cannot stop sniffing my wrists and smiling when I wear this.