contradictory scent! While this photo was not my initial vision of Hyacinths and a Mechanic it clearly demonstrates that opposing fragrance notes can be a delightful surprise! According to Andy, "It is a floral scent, a bouquet of powdery lilacs, green hyacinths and gentle lily of the valley. A bouquet of May flowers in the hand of a mechanic with an undertone of oily skin."
Having read the earlier reviews of this perfume, I knew it would not be prudent to spritz Hyacinths and a Mechanic with abandonment, so I tenderly rubbed the residue from Raphaella's test spray onto my wrists. This was at precisely 7:20 pm. I thought, "Oh no, this could be a migraine just waiting to happen." The 'oil' note was quite pronounced and just about caused me to run to the sink and grab the lemon scented Joy dish washing detergent, but I thought I should be fair to Andy, whom I adore.
After waited the obligatory 8-10 minutes before I sniffed again, the powerfully strong oil note was still definitely present, but the
florals were beginning to debut. At about 7:45, there was an incredible soft, powdery floral bouquet that emerged as totally hypnotic and captivatingly sensual and was taking over the party. Nose to wrist; nose to wrist, over and over! I had become a slave to the Bottle Journey adventure!The oil note clung with a fierce tenacity and took a good hour to dry down to the creamy mature Hyacinth and her little Lilac sister. Checking again at 9:00 the oil note for me was returning??? How could this be? Now this took me by surprise but then, we're dealing with Andy Tauer and he is a genius at creating complex fragrances, right? What I'll now share is the honest truth: at 6:00 am the next morning....I'm still feeling the love of the perfume, so that would mean that this fragrance could last almost 12 hours with a single drop. Andy, this is some mighty strong stuff.
The Verdict: This is a wonderfully complex fragrance that does become more 'wearable' as the hours go by, but I'm unsure of owning a perfume that I could not spray with abandonment. This is one of those scents, that if I choose to wear it, I'd have to get up an hour earlier than normal to begin my routine so the oily note could have dissipated enough that my peers wouldn't think I just completed an oil change on my Nissan. Now Andy, if you could just make a version sans oil? I'd be your raving fan for life!
Visit Andy Tauer to learn more about the bottle journey of Hyacinths and a Mechanic.
Photo courtesy of Raphaella Brescia and Kathy Patterson of Sniffapalooza Magazine.
