Terrible Teddy

I was not sure what to expect from a fragrance that consists of 3 notes, of which incense is not one of my most favorite notes. But.... I love it! I have it for about 3 hours now and I keep smelling my wrists. I like it much more in dry down, than in the opening. It's so soft, cozy, warm, tender, sophisticated, sweet (but not sugary or candy sweet, more liquor or balsam sweet), rich, expensive and elegant aroma! I smell the resemblance to B683 indeed, but that one is harsher, more metallic, while this one is soft, like a warm favorite cashmere sweater. The fragrance is so rich, I, too, smell much more notes in it: tobacco, coffee, rum, some animalistic notes, wood. I love it and would love to wear it, it is definitely just as good frag for women, as for men. I can imagine this fragrance would smell very differently on different skins.

A ambroxan, leathery scent drying down with a synthetic peppery sweetness, at first try I thought this fragrance was intensely linear although after repeated use it's complex construction became more apparent, I now use this as my comfort leather, musky frag. It's like no other I have in my collection, so glad to have purchased this for a greatly reduced price on the second hand market, had only been used a couple of times & came with original box. Would I repurchase and pay full RRP, No but I'll search for another used bottle, great longevity drying down to a very musty scent that evokes odours of antique buildings, libraries and old manuscripts, definitely an acquired taste, the liquid is quite dense with a potency like that of a parfum strength fragrance lasting for about 4-6 hours on skin before the need to re-apply!

Tested this on a paper strip and couldn't stop going back to sniff it. It lasted for days and was pinging some old nostalgia thing for me that I couldn't quite place. Tried it on my skin and it wasn't quite as nice as on the card, and not quite as strong/long lasting. Still decent projection, and fairly long lasting (especially as nothing lasts on me). Opens up quite strong, sharp and soapy, then with a nice fizzy Frankincense scent. Did not get leather or smoke at all, it was all warm spicy on me. Dries down and smells like Lynx. Just, exactly like Lynx. Which isn't even a complete insult to be honest because it does smell nice to me, but no wonder I found it nostalgic! I'm almost relieved because I did not want to fall in love with it and then have to fork out £250 if I wanted a bottle.

I have a tester of this. It smells brilliant. Great silage, stays strong and dominant for about 2 hours but then just vanishes off my skin. What a wonderful 2 hours they are though. Perhaps I went anosmic from smelling it too much. The incense is prominent but not overdone, and mixes well with the leather and woodsy accords. The ambroxan is strong and reminds me of Sauvage, but I prefer this one by far. It’s got a dirty, but well groomed presence that makes me think of Alan Quartermaine or some other dapper steampunk adventurer. Spray this on and you will feel like going on your own journey to the centre of the Earth. I would definitely consider this for a full bottle if the longevity was better.

Got this sprayette from scentsplit.com. I've liked all five of the Penhaligon's scents I've tried so far. I think "Sartorial" is great business wear and "Legacy of Petra" is a great date scent and both remain on my shelf. I gave the other three to a young friend leaving for college last month (My advice to him was: "Dude. The women at college smell Sauvage twenty times a day. You cannot wear that! You have to be their alternative to the boring sameness." And ohmigod you should see the girlfriend he's scored!).