50 x 2 Review: Lush’s Dirty and The Breath of God

I am reviewing these together, as I am convinced they need to switch names! God’s breath should smell of rain on stones and oakmoss, and dirt smells of cedar and dry resins, right?

This smells to me like a freshly bathed child before bed: faintly minty, human, and mineral-clean.  The mint is more natural and herbal, leaning to lavender, than toothpaste. It is nearly perfect as a scent, if a bit unusual as a perfume. The oakmoss is very present and divine in its most rain-on-stone form.

Listed Notes: lavender, neroli, sandalwood, oak moss, tarragon, thyme and mint
Sillage and Longevity: Quiet due to solid perfume, Excellent
Wearability: Would wear everyday.

This was breathtakingly unusual, but fully of a persistent organic dryness from cedarwood, ritual incense and mineral soil. I find Atlas cedar very dry, with some of the musty-rich notes of yellow cedar. The incense was photo realistic temple incense, and completely without sweetness. Unapologetically of the earth.

Listed Notes: neroli, sandalwood, virginia cedar, incense, amalfi lemon, melon, rose, ylang-ylang, vetiver, grapefruit, black pepper and juniper. (All those fruit and flowers? wut?)
Sillage and Longevity: louder than many solid perfumes, OK
Wearability: Very dry and real-wood laden. A bit challenging but refreshing

50 Word Review: Atelier Cologne’s Santal Carmin

This is an ode to distinctive maple-cream New Caladonian sandalwood sharpened up with, to my nose, Haitian vetiver and cedarwood. The opening limette-tinged sugar rush fades to a luxurious maple warmth sparkling with woody notes. Dry-down is rich sandalwood heaven , sweet and close to the skin.

Gender:  A hand-tailored cashmere suit jacket in the library, red silk handkerchief
Listed Notes: bergamot, limette, saffron, sandalwood (New Caledonia), gaiac, white musc, papyrus, cedarwood (Texas), vanilla
Sillage and longevity: Moderate fading to professional; eternal (at least 24 hours on my skin, weeks on clothing)
Packaging and design: The gold bottle is gorgeous and decadent, if a bit ridiculous. While I find Atelier’s label design a bit meh, the leather sleeve and engraving font are modern and elegant. The travel bottle has a nice geometry.

Ingredients List: Vetiver

Vetiver is among my prime examples of an odd and wonderful scent one might reject at first brush and whose descriptions do it no justice. Give it one sniff and it is weird, smokey, and damp. Give it five minutes and it is absolutely gorgeous. It is a root extract from a tropical grass, and maintains that fragrant earth note. Although the earthiness and vegetative notes are ever present, Vetiver has a number of  distinctive regional scents, with Haitian being the brightest and Indian the smokiest.

 

If I were to describe or compare, I would say something between sphagnum, sweetgrass, grass in a fire, and good cold  patchouli.

If you’ve never burned grass, I highly recommend it. If you’ve nevered burned sweetgrass, you have my condolences.

Outside of its oil, vetiver is an amazing plant. It has a massive root system and very rapid growth, making it ideal for erosion control. The hybrid pictured beside doesn’t spread laterally or by seed, making it easier to contain the spread of the plant.

It is non-toxic to livestock and humans, making it safe to use in traditional agricultural areas. This is important as many areas in developing tropical nations are in need of cheap, fast, and lasting erosion erosion control.

Vetiver isn’t the perfect plant, but it may come close.