Maggy4u

Of course, it was obvious that (Blackstrap) Betty had to fall in love with him.

He loves those dark, fermented roasted flavors of the barley and malt in his stout. A glass of good wiskey to go with it. His lips taste of his drinks as Betty kisses him. And a hint of his dry, sweet tobacco mingles on his breath.

This guy smells like the end of a day's work, creating things with the hard work of his hands and making the world a little better. He represents the archetype of the founding fathers and first settlers in the new world.

A man you'd be hard pressed to find today.
His scent: booze - unmistakable.
Honest and hard - like his days.
Stimulating and darkly mysterious - like his nights.

We couldn't call the man at Betty's side "Mr. Stout" forever after all.

Let's call him Jack.
For now.

Background:This is now the long awaited brother to Top Shelf. Fragrances that were deliberately created very honest, raw and masculine by Elise. Behind the two are archetypes of men, which she herself also finds fascinating. The basic idea is above all the image of the physically hard-working man of the Gründerzeit, but also in the 1920s and 30s.

In 2018 I had sampled all five elemental scents. I loved the compositions a lot. They cover the elements from fire to air.

At this time I owned about 20 different flacons of Boadicea The Victorious and was very happy, that Quintesscent partnered with Valorem Bespoke for the creations of this house. (Valorem holds the brand of Boadicea)

Now, a new "IUM Collection" got launched in late 2020, named after mysterious chemical elements - like Selenium ... referring in old Greek to the moon.

This creation, Selenium, got a floating, bright floral center with Lilly of The Valley, lavender and rose. Some cumarin, musk and a white, powdery Oud accord adding their texture to the scent, but without weighting the transparent beauty.

Like the first line of Quintesscent, I tested before, this one comes with a perfect longevity of more than 10 hours (!) on my skin and a huge sillage. (I run on 3 sprays for a day)

In the brisk winter's air at -4 C today - I loved the aura of flowers and sun it gave me all day. With a big smile on my face.

Shambho is made for meditation.

Loosely translated as The Auspicious One, it is one of the names of Shiva.

Destroyer(in) and creator(in).

And with this, the basic theme of the fragrance is also already very nicely described. It is about the transfer of the soul of the natural eagle wood.

In quiet contemplation, I accept this gift.

Listen to the stories each tree has to tell.

Its struggle. Its life.
The story of each being that gave its essence to this fragrance.

The flowers in their immortal beauty - create a mystical, transcendent and ethereal touch beyond time.

The scent of damp, earthy wood - the epitome of my shamanic, spiritual image that I create in my mind's eye every time I meditate.

Gentle rain, trickling down, on the world tree. From the crown, down the branches and in the meandering valleys and hills of the bark - down to the roots and Mother Earth

The tree - as a universal path through time and space.

A shamanic symbol.

Universal energy.

And not just a tree.

A forest full of life and spirituality.

Thank you, Peter, for this inspiration in Oudh.

PS: The fragrance was created with sometimes very rare oils from Ensar Oudh. Peter's goal was to celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of each oil and most importantly, to create a monument to the beauty of natural Oudh

Nadeem describes this fragrance as a visit to a tanner. I would add that the man is definitely a chain smoker as well. :)

Well, and there is a strong, very animalistic, pungent smell that raw leather gives off. The smell that repels some is sexy as hell for others

You get a perfect impression why tanners and especially glove makers / tailors became the first professional perfumers, because they always had to hide and cover up the animal scent of their products to sell them at high prices to the lords and ladies of history.

This fragrance begins rough with a chord of pure animal leather, accompanied by a very dark tobacco fusion. Those who know Top Shelf from One Way Bridge have a good sense of the darkness of tobacco.

This uncompromising, but deeply honest union, dances on my skin for a good hour - wild, unbridled and untamed, before a powdery effect sets in, softening the burrs, but only enough not to get the unfiltered charge off - but still staying on the scented path that has been taken.

Yes, on my skin the chords are upside down, as if skipping the top note of suede and diving deep into the heart of the fragrance. So I don't really get suede at all. And there's nothing sweet about me either.

Tobacco and real leather - a reference for the fragrance of good traditional work.

But also nothing for tender souls.

PS: At my home there was unfortunately a veto for this fragrance. Nevertheless I think it is very wearable :)

I followed the intention Chris gave me with this fragrance - to be inspired by the gravity of my own synapses. Without using the scents to "help". And, to be honest, I'm not really interested in them either.

AEOOJ has two main sounds for me. The first is earthy with a slightly resinous background component. The second is an impression of human skin with a touch of ozonic aura.

I deliberately do not want to take a dark path of interpretation, although the name of the fragrance does point in one direction.

For me, it is how my skin smells at the end of a day in the sun and after gardening. My happy place. My little green paradise. Mixed with a walk through our nearby forest - in the embers of summer. This ozonic aura is not a "thing" of human skin alone. I experience it in the air around every living being. Every breathing creature.

So AEOOJ is perhaps the last breath of one person who transfers energy to others. The cycle of life and the connection of us all as part of the universal mother - in short: Nature.

Don't get me wrong - this is neither a forest scent nor a picture of the beauty of nature
It is the very deep profile of decay that lies in every breath. We are approaching the final reunion.

Every breath counts.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Repeat.
Over and over again.

Until there's only silence.
And after a while.
A new light.
Life.