Iroko
A: Oh! Smells good. Kinda dude-y.
J: Mmhmmm. Musky but syrupy.
(sprayed on A’s arm)
A: Oh, this smells like really nice incense that doesn’t smell like patchouli. Like an extraordinarily rich hippie’s house.
J: Deeply flowery in a way. Like that Chakra perfume I gave you. There’s something kind of honey-y about it, like cologne for women.
Pipe Bomb
J: Smells like metal. Metal with a flower growing near it.
A: Agree. Flowery metal.
J: Perfect for someone really girly who likes heavy metal.
A: It’s perfectly androgynous. I could see a dude who doesn’t mind smelling like flowers or a girl who doesn’t mind smelling like metal wearing it. I don’t believe in room freshener, but this could be a good room freshener.
(sprayed on J’s arm)
J: Whoa, it’s a lot stronger. Smells like something I remember, like something from my childhood. It smells like the inside of a cedar box I had as a child!
A: Yes. It smells like cedar shavings, like in a hamster cage.
Tinderbox
A: This is smoky without being heavy. It’s a little more like lighter fluid than actual smoke.
J: I can barely smell it. Let’s come back to this one. I just painted my nails and I think I’m smelling that more.
(sprayed on A’s arm)
A: I’m still getting lighter fluid.
J: It’s a woody scent like Pipe Bomb but much warmer. Like a tree mixed with an older woman’s perfume, in a good way.
Mizuchi
A: This smells really strongly like something I can’t put my finger on. Redwood trees? Cedar? Some kind of evergreen.
J: Possibly Juniper. Definitely tree-y.
(sprayed on back of A’s hand)
J: This one smells woody too! They all smell woody, but they have totally different characters.
A: They’re all very Pacific Northwest. Like this one is a higher, sharper evergreen than Pipe Bomb [Ed. note: A spent childhood summers on Whidbey Island, knows what she's talking about].
Hallow
A: Straight up Juniper. Juniper and money. Like when you get a really fresh bill, and you smell it and you’re like “Ahh, money.”
J: Dusty juniper. Yeah, it smells like you’ve been outside. You can smell dirt in it. Really earthy.
A: I would totally also enjoy a house that smelled like this.
A: This is the sweetest smelling one so far. Fruitier than anything else.
J: It smells like pears.
A: Fruit that’s super clean. Like, there’s no syrupiness, it’s a clean sweetness.
(sprayed on J’s wrist)
J: It smells like alcohol! It smells like a stiff drink. Like an eau de vie. Calvados? Brandy?
A: Straight-up pear eau de vie.
J: This one smells almost minty. It smells like a tree like the other ones. Like a tree that’s been infused with peppermint.
A: Oh yeah, definitely herbal. Like a weird German lotion that’s therapeutic on some level.
J: Like something they’d apply to you at a public European bath?
A: Yes, medicinal almost, in a Swiss German way. Ricola??
A: It smells like metal and a fire, so they nailed what they were shooting for. It’s one of the strongest smells.
J: Oh yeah. You smell this one right away. It’s very masculine.
A: Maybe a little leather?
J: Yes.
(sprayed on J’s hand)
J: The most interesting because it doesn’t smell like a tree. It smells like something else altogether. It’s not a natural, botanical smell.
Final Verdicts
A: I actually quite like all of them. They’re very Pacific Northwest. If I were to buy one, Moto Oud is the most distinctive, and I feel like Iroko is one of the most approachable and just a nice smell. I can really see buying one and using it like a different scent if you wanted to change it up one evening.
J: I’m really surprised at how they can all smell like trees but smell totally different. They’re all very strong at first and I’m interested to see how they’ll mellow out. I think it will really change their character. I don’t know if any would be my signature scent, but like you said, good for when you want to try on a different scent from time to time.
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