Eau de Eww

This hasn't been the best of weeks as far as fragrance sampling goes, and not for lack of trying. The two new-to-me scents that I tested ended up being horrible scrubbers, of the kind that still linger even after you actually scrubbed yourself silly, and their memory is enough to make me shudder. We all know that fragrance is all about body chemistry and that there's a skin for every scent. I'm just not sure that I want to meet the skin that can make those two work.

Heeley- Spirit of the Tiger
The problem begins with the inspiration for this scent, the Chinese pain relief ointment Tiger Balm, which is more or less like Bengay. Do you want to smell like Bengay? Didn't think so. What made the noses and minds at Heeley think that this was a wonderful idea? Your guess is as good as mine.
The fragrance starts with sharp mint oil that is soon joined by camphor, to give you that medicinal touch. And if that wasn't enough, there's nothing warm and spicy in the clove note. I love clove when it's either in a gourmand gingerbread-like blend or accompanies carnation, but here it smells exactly like my late grandfather's dentistry clinic. A perfume that makes me think of the drill and of backache is definitely not a good thing.


Profumum- Fumidus
There's no nice way to say this: I hate this one. The listed notes sound quite lovely: Essence of distilled scotch, vetiver root and birch bark. The reality is that this is liquid smoke. The babble on the website says something about castles and owning a forest. The only forest here is a forest fire, and it stinks to high heaven. It was very persistent and took some work to scrub. A trace of really bad bbq remained for a while.

I think I'm going to be wearing some sweet and feminine stuff in the next few days.