Smell Bent North by Northwest

Indie Perfumer Smell Bent is responsible for a lot of scents that I have in heavy rotation; they’re fun scents at a price point that makes spraying with abandon not just a joy, but a duty.  They’ve come up with five new scents that according to nose and founder Brent Leonesio were inspired by a trip to Alaska.

Werewolf Lumberjack they write of as “oversexed wolf musk sprayed atop a pile of freshly cut timber“.  I don’t get a huge blast of musk out of this but I do get the wood.  Whether or not you’re musk-phobic will color whether you love this one.  I could have used a bit more skank, but that’s me.

She Wolf I like better: it’s like the lumberjacks sister.  Citrus and patchouli and vanilla make this a stand-out.

Mountain High is “fresh cannabis with balsam fir, lavender, vanilla extract, tonka, patchouli and sandalwood“.  It’s not headshoppy in the way the ingredients would lead you to believe, but on my skin there was something sharp in the opening that just didn’t work.  The later portions of the program were a lot better, but it’s not the one I’d reach for.

Total Eclipse (of the Heart) is “western red cedar accented with champaca, skunk cabbage, evergreen, and earthy, vegetal musk”, and is the one that I would reach for.  It’s sharp and green and delightful in a way that sort of reminds me of the way that Chanel No 19 used to be though it’s in no way is it a carbon copy.

Otter Lover is “bay, oakmoss, algae absolute, natural ambergris, castoreum, sweet resins and musk“.  The initial bay is a bit christmassy, but it calms down quickly to something resembling bracing mountain air on a cold day that has a touch of frozen green-ness, like a pine forest by a lake.  I like it.

All of these are available at the SmellBent Website.  A sample set of all five oils is available for $16.50, all five 4ML purse sprays for $16.50, including shipping.  My samples were courtesy the perfumer.