M/Mink Byredo for women and men

Mink is beautiful and tasty as old school ink for fountain pens ;-) I remember when during classes in the primary school we were using the Chinese blue ink called Hero that have same dirty, incense like smel. But in the Mink the honey is also applied to make fragrance very unusual. From the start to the end it is really different than any perfume I had before so it was must have for my collection. First of all this creations was made for incense lovers. But forget olibanum, Hindu incense or something you can categorize as church or temple smell. This is extremely dry already burned resins or herbs that are a litle sweetened by wild honey. In my opinion perfume don't evolve to much, so the same aura stay around you unchanged for many hours. However this is extraordinary fragrance that can be categorized as niche in the niche group - same as incense by Sonoma Scent Studio. If I would to compare to something I know from the past the closest is the Diptyque L'eau Trois but supported by teaspun of sweet honey. So I love it... Mink will have special place in my collection, hopefully it will never be discontinued as L'eau Trois was unfortunately.

I don't find the opening of this to be revolting at all. Perhaps different noses have radically different takes on adoxal. To my nose, the opening is smooth and sweet, a dark and inky floral. Adoxal allegedly smells of lily of the valley in dilution, and I can sense a lily type sweetness and smoothness in the opening that joins forces with the immediately noticeable honey note (a dark and unsweetened honey as mentioned by others) and the equally dark patchouli note.

The patchouli deserves special mention in this fragrance because it is very dark and has that typical patchouli earthiness and dryness to it while simultaneously not being so thick and full bodied as natural patchouli oil. The body that is cut out of the patchouli note is filled with the notes of incense and honey, and a pine-like note that I believe comes from the frankincense/labdanum duo(I know it's not listed, but I sense a strong natural labdanum note here).

As one who works on my own blends with only natural oils, I don't find M/Mink to be 'disgusting', 'dreadful' or even all that dirty. It's just very natural in a way that few scents are - it leaves intact some of the rough edges of these natural notes. Thus, it's more challenging than many scents around, but I think that some of the other reviewers allegations (eg: worst scent ever) are to be taken with a grain of salt. At least, don't let those sway you from so much as trying the scent.

The scent isn't strictly linear but conversely there are no radical shifts in its development. As the sweet, dark and inky opening fades the heart presents more of the incense and labdanum combo. The incense and labdanum are smoldering - warm with hints of smoke. At all times the fragrance has a dark and billowy veil of patchouli and ink enveloping it. The honey/beeswax flits in and out of perception. It too is always there, but at times it is shrouded by the incense, at other times it and the incense unite into a truly beautiful and downright sultry, sexy accord.

My only qualm is the pine-like aspect persists a bit longer, or at least a bit more prevalently than I would prefer. I'm assuming this was done to keep the texture from becoming too smooth or gentle, but it occasionally crosses over from being a textural counterpoint into being marginally grating. A minor qualm though and one I can live with.

I should note that my girlfriend immediately took to the scent. She loved it on me from my first sampling, and she got a chance to smell it just moments after application - so not everybody finds the opening appalling!

There's really no other scent I can compare this too but for a rough idea of what it smells like, imagine a cross between Kouros (the honey/incense elements) and Rive Gauche PH (the thickness and dark patchouli/anise element). I wouldn't necessarily say that M/Mink is barbershop-y, but it has that same kind of thickness to it, and one of my first thoughts on my first sampling was the distant relation to Rive Gauche PH.

BEEWAX
at the limit of unwearable
but i like it
It begin with bee wax and incense in a aggressive way.
after a while the smell rounds off itself till to become very nice
not church incense.
byredo is accustomed to create hard-sharp-bold scent

Ugh.

Pine disinfectant mixed with bitter, metallic bilge water and noxious drain cleaner. There's no fur, hide or musk anywhere in here (it would be a blessing). Come to think of it, anything 'Fecal' would also be a relief.

Without question this is the most obnoxious, offensive smell I've come across in 20 years of fragrance sampling... and I'm a lover of unusual, daring experiments and bizarre combinations. I've also go to say that this smells like a concentrated, grotesque version of the bitter, metallic, Byredo house note (it runs through most of their perfumes) amplified a million times into a monster.

A perfumery disaster IMO, completely unwearable, antisocial, expensive and horrible in the extreme!

wow... not for the faint of heart.

Opening strongly animal (zoo-animal) and, dare I say it, fecal. If you can lock yourself away from other people for the first 30 minutes, it does dry down into something more 'normal' in fragrance terms, actually quite ok, musky and resinous, a bit of charcoal ink, although always with the lingering memory of horse stables. But that opening.. not nauseating exactly, but close. They call it adoxal; god knows what it is.

Would recommend using a small amount, if you must. It *is* wearable, but I won't be wearing it much myself, mainly out of consideration for others. Actually, now I recall it, there was a Welsh sheep farmer I once knew who smelled like this all the time; I kept wishing he would have a shower. He would be amused to think that self-styled sophisticates in places like Stockholm and Berlin were now striving to emulate him.

This is a musk no? And yet musk isn't mentioned in the notes. It's strongly urinous at first and very animalic too. I like it, especially the dry down but I'm going to buy one of Tom Ford's musks instead. Not worth the outrageous price.

This is a weird one! I usually love weird scents, but with this one I can't really decide. It opens with a blast of "I don't know what the hell is that but it makes me wanna puke" (rancid adoxal?) mixed with "bodily fluids?"and "animalistic secretions?"...who knows??? I guess is the completely desweetened honey note that smells more like beeswax. Very dense, sticky, almost animalic (in a bad way). Absolutely disgusting and seriously disturbing to my nose. The weirdest part is that the drydown is simply amazing with a warm and meditative inky-frankincense note. It never happened to me that I really hated a perfume opening and totally loved the drydown. My solution could be that I spray it on my clothes and then I wait one hour before to wear them so I can avoid the initial brutal blast! BTW incredible lasting power!

Rating: 8.5/10 (for its uniqueness)
4/10 (for my personal taste)

NOTE: This is a fragrance to experience. Love or hate type of stuff but whether you'll like it or not it deserves its status as one of the most daring compositions so far.

Have you ever been too a circus arena with the big predator cats running around in the middle circle with its wood shavings which are drenched with cat-urine and sweat? That is precisely what I get from the opening of that frag...who wants to smell like that ? But it s a brave creation indeed. HOW do they do it?? unbelievable and only for the brave at heart !! That one is surely unique, quite different from the Ajmal Al Shams special edition but they re sure in the same liga.. so try and sample it if you dare:grrroooaaarrr!!

The drydown is on me absolutely stunning - all the notes here listed in a very sensual and unique blend. Honey and incense very intriguingly done. But whats with the initial blast? I get something like dirty water and animalistic notes overkill at once, actually I find it revolting. Lack of scrubbing possibilities was the only thing that kept me from scrubbing this one away the first time I tried it. The wonderful drydown made me retry it since. The initial blast will keep me from getting it.
Bravo for the bravery, I appreciate the challenge that tickles my brain and senses in an unpredictable way. Very good stayingpower.
Curious about others experiences and reviews!