The Antikytheria Mechanism Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab for women and men

The first time I applied this, I was hit with a strong blast of bug spray. I immediately classified this as a failed experiment and a total scrubber.

But shortly after I let the oil settle on my skin, Antikythera Mechanism turned into one of the most gorgeous perfumes I had ever come across in my life. I kept sniffing and sniffing and falling in love with it a little more each time. The tobacco and teak make it seem like this would be too sharp and smoky, but the vanilla really gives the blend a golden warmth. Fantastic longevity - a couple of dabs will last the whole day.

I haven't found very many scents to love in the BPAL catalog, but the ones I do love, I LOVE. This is one I'll want to keep buying forever. This is my comfort scent, what I wear when I feel like I just can't catch a break. I can get a little depressed when it's been too long since I've seen the sun, and this always cheers me up - it absolutely glows in the wintertime. This is a perfume I wear just for me.

Oh my, its so lovely and dark and sweet, but not so sweet I smell like a cupcake. I would wear it every day forever if it lasted a little longer

Also: this smells like woman to me, I couldn't imagine my boyfriend wearing it, but maybe that's just my sugary, girly chemistry.

I would say this was a predominantly masculine scent but not out of the question for a woman to wear, woody with a vanillic warmth. I would love it more but these scents with oak/teak can give me a headache.

Super lasting power and very strong. Dab, don't drench, as the previous poster also suggested this has the potential to stun at four paces if over applied.

The Antikytheria Mechanism goes on as a musky-sweet-woodsy aroma, which stays intact its entire lifespan; an evolving scent journey, this is not. However, the scent is unique. I've sampled probably 30 colognes now, and nothing smells even remotely like this one. It's a close, complex, outdoorsy, masculine scent.

It impresses upon you a sense of being debonaire, strong, classy, and yet without the arrogance or elitism of colognes such as Boucheron. How does it affect the fairer sex? This one works. I've had women tell me that they "really liked" this smell, and the confidence it lends you arrests the attention of women that you chance across.

Be warned, however, that it is strong. Three dabs will do it, but four transforms you into a scent grenade. The longevity is unparalleled. I've not found any other scent that lasts as long -- it can last the entire day and into the next. It must have molecular pincers the way it attaches to your skin!

It's also not expensive, so you don't have to have Serge Lutens/Creed-level cash to play.

I know that I must sound like PR copy at this point, but the Antikytheria Mechanism is a breed apart, even among other Black Phoenix Laboratory creations. It's the first cologne that I can say that I truly loved upon me.