She Came to Stay

She Came To Stay is a really good fougère, intelligently composed with high-quality ingredients. Aromatic and spicy with an unusual woody drydown, it is a creative, unusual take on a fougère. SCTS opens with a radiant lemon note, tempered to perfection with green herbal notes. Lemon is a difficult note to get right - it usually oscillates between cleaning products or candied sweets, but here it is fresh and juicy. I get tart grapefruit too. Soft, warm nutmeg follows, joined by earthy patchouli. The drydown is unusual despite the fairly typical combination of notes listed. The woody notes are rich, complemented by spicy clove. @Glyph below nails it - it is most likely due to unusual concentrations of the ingredients used rather than the notes themselves. Labdanum adds a leather undertone and the vetiver is dry, airy and woody. There is a hint of anise in there too, but the clove is perhaps the strongest note of the drydown. The vetiver-clove accord is excellent, set off beautifully by the amber background. It fades, becoming a mossy-leather skin scent with clove remaining until final fade. Sillage and longevity are moderate. A unisex, aromatic scent, this is an excellent woody-amber with herbal and spicy points of interest. A great use of clove too. Best worn in autumn/winter. Comforting yet avant-garde, this is impressive stuff. 4.5/5.

The actual notes of this striking fougére are not what's unusual about it: it's their concentrations. When I put this on the sharp tartness of the lemon and the mellowness of the nutmeg confused my nose so that I thought I was wearing something more like grapefruit with the vetiver; only during the drydown was I more sure of what I was actually wearing. I've tried dozens and dozens of fougéres but this is really a standout not only because it doesn't smell like much else but because it's so very powerful. This is an intelligently blended and balanced fragrance.

This is delicious! Comfy and sexy both. Has a resinous-sweet top that reminds me of a high-quality root beer, but with an earthiness throughout. It settles into an oakmoss-patchouli accord, though still with a playful spiciness dancing through it. I'd say most people would call it more masculine than unisex, but as a woman I'm happy to wear it too.

Awesome scent. The lemon, basil and clove for me in all intents and purpose fools me into believing this is a twist on Hermes Concentre d,Orange or Les Indemodables Chyphre Azural or Ramon Monegal Entre Naranjos - a green herbaceous twist with super super bitter Orange Zest. I had to keep reminding myself this is not the note pyramid - yeah I had to keep checking - I can now after a number of applications and constant nose to skin sniffs see the super tart oily lemon zest mixed with clove (just enough clove that you wouldn’t realise unless you were told) fools you with the basil coming in underneath and the other notes just jelling together beyond that. Quite strongand piquant and definitely beautifully made - easily could use it to replace the aforementioned. If you enjoy scents along this line you should really give it a go.:.

Powerful and thick at the first spray, it kicks in very herbal with a slight medicinal hue. It feels very green and slightly leathery at the same time; the geranium leaves are very concentrated and, along with the spices (mostly cloves), are making the fragrance cold and serious. 30 minutes in and it starts to settle. It's not shouting anymore and there is a slight sweetness lurking underneath those spices that rounds the sharp edges. The minty herbal aspect is gradually fading and the scent metamorphoses from cold to warm as the dry down is sweeter, woodier and smokier. It lasted for about 10 hours on my skin with moderate projection. I appreciate it as a blend, but it's not really my cup of tea. Scent: 6.5/10 Longevity: 9/10 Projection: 6/10