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

On the blotter, this holds my interest! Lovely and bright. Citrus, spicy, woody. Unisex, leaning ever so slightly feminine. Woody, clove-dominant with a hint of fennel seeds on a citrus, patchouli, lightly oakmoss base at the midpoint. Echoing a reviewer below: this is pleasing.

I was so excited to sample this 100% natural botanical perfume, and when I finally got my little hands on it, I was very bummed out to discover that it smelled so much like a 100% natural botanical perfume that I already own--Atlantic by Strange Invisible Perfumes. Both have a minty top note as well as strong vetiver in the base. Both have a slightly sweet, ambery note lingering throughout. But there are some differences too. She Came to Stay seems more complex because it adds another dimension--specifically spice and citrus. I do get the clove and nutmeg in the heart, which eventually dissipates, but the citrus note lingers well into the drydown. The pyramid suggests lemon, but on me it turns out to smell, most unfortunately, like rotting orange peels. So at the end of the day, I end up with a perfume that smells like my beloved Atlantic mixed with the icky smell of orange peels from the trash can. I would still recommend that others give it a whirl, as chemistry is a finicky thing, so it might not smell like rotten orange peel on others. Also there are not that many 100% natural perfumes on the market that I would refer to as "fine perfumery", but She Came to Stay is no doubt complex enough to be at that calibur of artistry. It's one of those perfumes that I still appreciate, despite not working with my chemistry. I'd love to try On the Road.....

Eugenol overdose. The name's perfect: I just can't scrub it off!

This strikes me as a candied, herbal rose-esque scent with some solid cedar powering it. There’s a citric twist up top for contrast which also counterbalances a slight soapiness from the florals. Clove is playing a big role, yet it doesn’t throw the balance at all. In fact, the blend itself is meticulous with all the pieces working in unison. It sits somewhere between Diptyque’s Geranium Odorata and Neil Morris’ Gotham without forming a bridge between them. In other words, I imagine that this scent is flexible enough for multiple contexts: it’s crisp and direct (akin to the Diptyque) but its depth reflect's Gotham's more moody, pensive state as well — appropriate, given the scent’s namesake. Perfectly unisex, but best suited for fans of herbalized florals with a slight classical edge to them. If this is Timothy Han’s debut, keep your nose to the ground, as this is seriously impressive.

The first release from the house of Edition Perfumes by Timothy Han is She Came to Stay, and was welcomed with a warm reception, but it's a little bit of a letdown for me after sampling his second perfume, On the Road, yesterday. She Came to Stay is noticeably more unisex, an slightly more fresh, herbal, earthy blend of which the standout note to my nose is clove, which I generally enjoy, mixed with a lot of woods. The fragrance starts off a bit cloying and sharp--the top note of basil doesn't play well for me--but it dries down into a more harmonious mix of clove, patchouli, vetiver, and cedar. It becomes significantly more agreeable in the dry down. Still not one I'd buy but I ended up being a little bit more pleased with the dry down experience overall than the opening. 6 out of 10

Wearing this twice, without looking at the notes, I thought this was a leather chypre, a vintage style in a toned down, all natural iteration. Terre d'Hermes? Not at all what I picked up. There was lemon? Herbs, yes. Woods, for sure. I can see vetiver and patch, probably where I'm getting leather but not cloves at all. Hmmm Irregardless of the notes, I really loved this one and thought it was beautifully blended, interesting and complex. It's not sweet or soft but more astringent without tipping in to unpleasantness. I love fragrances that have a bite to them as this one does. That there is such a wide variety of experience among those reviewing this fragrance is a testament to how complex and well blended it is, especially for something all natural. Highly recommended!

I am wearing this right now. I like it a lot but I certainly wish that it had better village and greater longevity. It reminds me of Terre d'Hermes. It's pleasing. And I think it could be worn either day or night. Both formally and casually. I was hoping it would be longer lasting. The "green" quality of it's ingredients is very intriguing.

I am wearing this right now. I like it a lot but I certainly wish that it had better village and greater longevity. It reminds me of Terre d'Hermes. It's pleasing. And I think it could be worn either day or night. Both formally and casually. I was hoping it would be longer lasting. The "green" quality of it's ingredients is very intriguing.