Arsenic

Tried it on a strip in Sephora more out of curiosity than anything, the description made me roll my eyes. "Oh, sure. SURE it smells like absinthe and salt. Uh huh." Kept putting the strip back to my nose despite myself. Got a small sample to take home. And over the next week, became obsessed. I usually want my perfumes to be subtle, inoffensive, but attractive. I lean toward Guerlains. I want to smell like the sexy feminine scion of old money, frankly. Nothing about this perfume hits the points I usually gravitate to. But it is spellbinding. A major factor by which I judge perfumes is how well the scent holds up to and cooperates with the various smells I come into contact with and sometimes pick up throughout my day. Those smells are, in no particular order: cigarette smoke, office coffee, phenol, formaldehyde, decomposition, hot metal, crematory smoke, flowers. Some of those smells (cigarette smoke and decomposition, namely) cling to a person and her clothes more than others. Have you ever tried to find a perfume that manages to transform the smell of death which clings to your hair into something which doesn't disgust and frighten people you come into contact with? It is not an easy task, I can tell you that. This one, though . . . wow. I can't stop smelling myself. It's embarassing, frankly. It smells like something you want to eat but shouldn't because you found it on a path in a dark wood with somebody else's name written on the gift tag and a shadow scurried off when you approached it. And the shadow was chuckling. I hug people a lot in my job. People who need a hug, and who also aren't in the best place emotionally. Certainly not people you expect to give you compliments. But they do. They have not once said "your perfume smells lovely" while I was wearing Arsenic. Instead, they always say, "you smell so good!" Even when I realized I was in love with Arsenic, I never expected it to be a scent that was appropriate for daily wear. But it's turned out to be one. It is somehow comforting and disconcerting at once, delicious and dangerous, and always just barely beneath conscious notice.

Arsenic - such a suitable name for this poison! I've never smelled anything like this. It's intense, sharp, but of a smooth, green quality that swirls with salty vanilla absinthe once it settles down. It smells like the smoke of a witch's brew crawling out of a chimney somewhere deep in the Black Forest. The fennel is unmistakable as it hurls itself out of the nozzle with force into your olfactory senses. However, the fennel is only there to unveil the sleeping beast beneath: absinthe. Absinthe calms the fennel with an herbaceous lullaby that will put you sound to sleep... maybe forever. The vanilla keeps it from falling flat, and the salt prevents it from turning sweet. Wicked, spell-binding, and deviant. Beware. It's deadly when overdone; don't shower yourself with it. Two sprays is enough to last you a full day. It sticks to you like sap, with sillage wide enough to cast a spell on nearby souls. Arsenic hangs in the air like your breath on a frigid winter evening. My ultimate poison for cold weather...

Compared to many other perfumes, this could be strange- but I say strange in the most affectionate and complimentary way. I had did a blind buy on this years ago based on reviews. First time I smelled it, I reminded me of the town I lived in not far from Denver when I was a little girl. Describing that is something like- a bookstore/magazine stand, fresh green grass, and something of a clean brewery that makes their root beer/cream soda. It is a linear scent. And while some people have a thing against linear scents, I think it can be great for many people that have sensitivities. Linear is pretty straight forward and if you do or dont like it within five minutes, you know whats in your hands. I love this but unless "strangeness" appeals to you, maybe dont blind buy. It is lovely tho and I have received many compliments when wearing this fragrance.

Arsenic was my introduction to Tokyo Milk and frankly it was the name and bottle design that caught my attention. It is a very unusual scent. Although it is decidedly vanilla, it is not your pop princess sweet vanilla. This is wild vanilla that spent the night cuddling with a wormwood plant in the herb garden. Near the ocean. Such different notes and yet somehow they blend into a delightful scent unlike anything else I've ever smelled. It opens with a strong burst of green/wormwood/fennel. Then it slides into a vanilla overlay to the wormwood. Finally, well into the development, a distinct, clean scent emerges that I can only identify as sea salt. Unique. Contradictory. Delightful. Its not a scent I want to wear every day but for those times when I'm feeling a bit....different this scent is perfect.

This is my go to scent. The first time I smelled it, I did not enjoy it. My mother received it as a gift, sprayed some on, and offered her wrist to the table. It smelled weird and licorice-y. Months later, I stopped by while on vacation and spritzed some on. The rest of my trip I could not stop smelling my wrist. Then the whole weekend I obsessively smelled the scarf I had been wearing. intriguing. I started wearing it when I was 24. I wear it daily in the cool months. In summer months I save it only for my neck. There is a sweet vanilla, with a dark bitter undertones. I love the fennel. It's sexy and sophisticated, and although there is a warmth it is nothing like amber. It invites one in closer to smell it again and again. Love it.