Upcoming Reviews, Schedule, & Potential Impediments

I wanted to share some updates regarding the fragrances that are on tap to be reviewed in the short-term and long-term, that are still to be tested, and issues which may impact my review schedule on both a fragrance and personal levels.

There are several different categories of fragrances that I wanted to let you know about: First, the fragrances subject to (most probable) upcoming review in the weeks ahead; second, the ones I haven’t decided whether to review due to availability issues (Agar Aura and Slumberhouse) and which, as a result, I’d like to hear from you about the relevancy of coverage; and third, a broad category that consists of fragrances still to be tested or about which I haven’t yet decided if I like enough to exert the effort the effort to cover; and fourth, fragrances that I really like, such as vintage Dioressence or Tabu, but don’t have the energy or time to do the necessary research required for a vintage review, particularly with regard to the important bottle identification and the necessary comparisons across different vintage formulas and concentrations.

Slumberhouse

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Slumberhouse Ore (2022)

Ore 2022 is not Ore 2009 or even the Ore circa 2013 that I tried – and that’s fascinating as a historical development for those of us who have followed Slumberhouse for years. The original (or 2nd version?) Ore was replete with pure Scotch whisky of the wonderful single-malt variety, infused with dry cocoa powder, butterscotch, smoky woods, dark resinous amber, peppermint, and a hint of green herbs. In fact, as I wrote back then: “It’s hard not to think about drinking when you wear Ore, a dry, woody, sweet, and virtually alcoholic fragrance that swirls about in a rich, unctuous, deep bouquet that can be compulsively sniffable at times.”

The new Ore of 2022 is a somewhat different creature on an olfactory basis. That’s not better or worse; it’s just different. As it turns out, however, Ore 2022 is just as enjoyable as its predecessor. I just don’t know whether die-hard Slumberhouse loyalists will feel the same way.

Source: Dreamstime.com

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Slumberhouse New Sibet

Opulent iris butter as thick as cream turned ashen from cinders dropped by smoked woods; grey floral suede and leather wrapped up in vapours of pink and red, first from carnation, and later from roses; the flanks of an animal heated from an afternoon ride, its golden muskiness pulsating softly through its heartbeat to cling to your cool hands as you stroke fur that is as smooth as satin and infinitely creamy — these are parts of the tableau painted by New Sibet, the latest fragrance from Slumberhouse and it’s quite a departure from the brand’s usual style. Gone is the rugged aesthetic of old created from dense, forceful, practically opaque bases imbued with sweetness, spices, or brooding darkness.

Instead of nature-based landscapes slashed with colour and loaded with weight, this is a coolly elegant, sophisticated scent, soft and vaporous, worn with sleek city suits, furs, or cashmere, and constructed in a fashion that is often as much about tactile texture as it is about scent. Often, even more so, because it’s frequently an impressionistic scent where its elements are sensed almost on a subconscious, intuitive, and subliminal level rather than an actual one, its notes a suggestion that pass on the breeze — there and, yet, not there at the same time. It is scent that is often rendered through a filter, notes tinted in sepia hues like an old photograph, and it’s all done in a way that is extremely artistic and sensory.

New Sibet. Photo: my own.

New Sibet. Photo: my own.

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Slumberhouse Norne: Tolkien’s Forest

Source: marketplace.secondlife.com

Source: marketplace.secondlife.com

If the vast forests of America’s Pacific Northwest were all condensed and concentrated down into a green-black wine, it would still be only a fraction of the tale told by Norne, the famous fragrance from Josh Lobb of Slumberhouse. Norne is an incredibly atmospheric scent that conjured up a host of disparate images in my mind: the terroir of expensive aged, red wines; lumberjacks in the Pacific Northwest; and a dark, verdant world straight out of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings where goblins, hobbits, elves, and Orcs battle it out amidst a verdant darkness.

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