Has anyone given Smell Bent a try yet?

Thanks for the mini-review Merlino! I'm really considering ordering one of those sample packs now.

Haha and did anyone used to play hungry hungry hippos the game as a kid? That game rocked!

Appreciate the post bro. I've been considering the Hungry Hippies. I used to love pot brownies.

Is this company in the same category as stuff like Black Phoenix and others? Ie: a "blend" of fragrance oils with essential oils dropped in?

It's nice to hear that you're enjoying these Merlino.

I got to meet Brent a year-or-so ago, when I was in LA visiting my parents - he met Ray & I for dinner and spent the next day at Scent Bar and other places in Hollywood smelling fragrances. Such a sweetie. Nice to see he's talented too.

I keep meaning to order a sample pack. Thanks for the reminder!

I've still got a few in my sample pack still to try, but I've given these three a go so far:

Incensed - It had a nice curling frankincense in the same vein as L'Air du desert marocain, but underneath were very sweet, very soft vanilla drenched woods that seemed to cheapen the whole blend. It was nice in its simplicity and I was more than happy to wear a few times over the past week, but unfortunately it couldn't really compare to my other reference frankincense fragrances like L'air and Avignon.

Debonair - Crisp astringent (bright?) orange. The reference to Habit Rogue is fitting, although Habit Rogue's golden dusty thing is replaced with a much sweeter vanilla/woods, the same as was in Incensed. It has a nice patchouli note (which is something, because I freaking hate patchouli) akin to Patchouli 24– leathery, almost stale, but quite distinctive. This was nice, my favourite so far, with a sense of warmth that I enjoyed.

Horny Little Devil - starts off with an extreme pepper blast, after a few minutes is joined by some citrus and cinnamon, with a MKK-esque dirty musk underneath (probably accented with cumin) and again a serving of vanilla. As the pepper began to fade a big clove note appeared to replace it. The pepper ruined this for me, too much, too intense. Mind you, this feels quite novel, and I can imagine more pepper/foody spice inclined people may appreciate it.

I'm keen to try Blimey Limey, it's changed the whole scent of my sample box and I haven't even opened it yet. A very salty, sunny lime cocktail. Might be a winner. I've also got Sunshine and Commando to go.

I have not tried them yet, but I'd just like to give a hearty Congratulations, to our VERY OWN bront82, who through sheer hard work has not only created a line of fragrances, BUT, they are now being sold at Luckyscent!!

http://www.luckyscent.com/shop/categ...mell_Bent.html

Wow! And, it looks like there are some scents on LS that I didn't see on the launch of the SmellBent site....a great distribution and marketing coup, Brent, congratulations!

Just ordered a sample of 5 - Blimey Limey, Hungry Hungry Hippies, Incensed, Sunshine and Mama Cassis. Cant wait to receive em!

Has anyone tried 2010 yet? That one in particular has my curiousity piqued. Jet fuel? Ozone? Sounds interesting.

im interested in commando...since i am a musk rat, this sounds interesting, but i worry that it will be a CB Musk reinvention type musk, which is not musk at all...anyone?

I actually just oreder samples of Blimey limey, lemon cowboy, commando, horny devil, sunshine and the elf one.

I will have to update you all with a couple revies when i get them in...all seem to have a musk element which i really like, even if its just a basenote

Thanks guys ... it really is a dream come true! It's amazing to be sold at your favorite perfume shop!

I thought I'd chime in about Commando. I'll tell you right out, he's nothing like CB's Musk. I've smelled a lot of musks over my years as a perfume lover, I even have some real stuff, and I've never pulled my nose away faster from one than I did when I got a sample of Musk Reinvention. That said, Commando is a clean musk with a dirty edge. It's not got any white musk in it, as I'm not much of a fan, but the tonka does temper the dirtier musks. It has traces of "filthier" notes like civet and castoreum, but the scent is really meant to be about nakedness. It's skin, but better. Tom (of PST blog) likens it to the freshly cleaned skin of a child. Obviously, he's much better with his imagery. I'm probably too close to it at this point to have real clarity, but I do know the ingredients and my intentions. So fear not, Commando is totally wearable, whether it's your cup of tea or not, is a totally different issue!

2010 was smell bent doing a nod to CdG - the first perfume house I really fell for. The copy may read a bit out there, but as I posted in my blog, it's a very wearable white floral with an edge. I think the contrast is nice, but it turned out to be a lot more feminine that I originally thought.

Hope that helps. Again, thanks for all the support, this never would have happened without BN ... seriously.

I'm awaiting my sample, five pack. I let Brent assort them for me. Can't wait! :bounce:

Thanks! Im looking forward to trying these buddy!

I'm just sitting here with my samples on various limbs and thought I'd give my first impressions. BTW, I agree with others that Brent is a great guy to deal with and a mindreader as well. (He sent me the sixth scent I wanted to try in my sampler set, even though I didn't ask him to.)
Here goes:

Commando: A great skin scent. Ironically, it smells to me like jockey shorts that have only been worn for a few minutes and then removed. Clean and fresh, but with a bit of the smell of a (male) human being. Very subtle and intimate. Nobody is going to think you're wearing a fragrance with this one. Whether that is a good or a bad thing, I suppose depends on the wearer and the situation. I think this one is remarkably successful at doing what it sets out to do.

Elf-Fulfilling Prophesy: Although lucky scent goes on and on about tobacco, this is pure gourmand holiday baking all the way to me. Spicy baked goods with a touch of cider in the drydown. It's a bit too literal for me, but if you want to smell like holiday baking, you can't get any closer than this!

Pere Noel Coward: This is the extra one Brent threw in for me and I'm really glad he did. Wintery clean evergreen. Fresh in a natural way. Not a lot of projection. Wears close to the skin. One of my favorites in this batch.

Incensed: Hmm, this is nice, but for me the vanilla here is a bit overwhelming. Brent's description of this scent is accurate, though. So, if you want your incense with "vanilla drenched" woods, that's what you'll get with this one. I'm just not quite that much of a vanilla guy.

Blimey Limey: This one starts off with a serious burst of lime. It reminded me of some of the lime colognes my father used when I was a kid. This actually lasts quite a while before being joined by perhaps some amber to turn it into something firmly in the barbershop tradition. If you're serious about limes, you definitely need to give this one a shot. If you're not, this won't be for you.

Horny Little Devil: Nice ambery cinnamon with a touch of musk. I like it, but with a name like that I was expecting something a bit more overtly sexual. To my nose, this one leans more towards the gourmand than a musk, though clearly not as far in that direction as Elf.

Final thoughts: I'm really glad I got a sample pack of these and will probably pick up a little bottle of Commando and Pere Noel Coward. I do think Brent has a certain recognizable style already. It'll be interesting to see how in the future he balances his obvious gourmand tendencies with the other notes he likes to use. As you can see, the two I liked best were the least gourmand of the batch, but that probably says more about my preferences than the quality of his fragrances. I enjoyed trying these, would encourage others to do so, and look forward to sampling more of his work in the months to come. I'd also like to add that I appreciate his obvious joy in his work and his lack of the pretentious affectation which so often dominates niche perfumery. Thanks, Brent!

I just received my 6-pack of samples from Brent. I will be trying them out over the next few weeks.

Exclusive to Luckyscent I believe is a SmellBent 11-sample pack I didn't see listed on the SmellBent site

Ive smelled Debonair and Incensed.

Incensed I found a little misleading, in that I got more amber/vanilla than incense from it. Not sure if its name is more a play on words as opposed to a declaration of its content. It was a little sickly after a while.

Debonair I liked a bit more - its kind of green and citrusy (a la Eau d'Orange vert) but with a handful of dirty patch thrown in for good measure. It actually reminds me of a Crown Perfumery scent whose name escapes me right now (possibly Crown Imperial).

Frankly, as much as I admire Brent's efforts, I wouldn't find either of these FBW.

I'm still eagerly awaiting delivery of my sample pack.

i have just recieved the samples i ordered...of them i have only given blimey limey and commando a full wearing. Blimey limey has that trufitt and hill lime element but then it fades into a lime and vanilla ice cream smell, almost like a lime sherbert...its ok, not really my cup of tea though i love lime.

Commando on the other hand is really nice. In Destin there is a shop called pish posh patchoulis and they have a shower gel line where you can build your own scent with oils...my brother got one with patchouli, sandalwood and china musk. This smells exactly like it and i love it. Its not skanky at all....its a clean musk with sandalwood and light patchouli notes...a winner in my book.

Horny Little Devil is so cinnamon prominent, it has me grinning from ear-to-ear. A bit foodier than I expected it to be, and the sillage is very hushed (it's the nature of oil fragrances) but the sweetness is balanced out by the amber and spice.

Thanks Mike! Useful information. How does it compare to Opium and JHL?

I'm another big fan of Commando - a very inexpensive alternative to Guerlain's Tonka Impériale.

Oh god, what a timely post for me. I was going to open a thread to ask some alternatives to Tonka Imperiale. I must try this so, Tonka is one of the recent gourmand that really captivated me.

Has anybody noticed that they started to sell edt's too? Wonder if they're better than oils...

I don't think Horny Little Devil smells anything like these two. HLD is, as Mike mentioned, very "foody" while JHL has a large amount of carnation and Opium has always smelled like wintergreen to me.

Brent has tried lots of new combinations and some are really good and some are just weird experiments that probably will not last the test of time. But, the price is so reasonable that its sort of fun to try them out as they create them. Of Brents fragrances in only oil form, I still like Lemon Cowboy the best. It is just like the name, lemon and saddle leather - strange but it works.

But in the EDT spray form I REALLY liked:

Bollywood or Bust - this one smells most like a tribute to CdG. Spicey and incensey woods, rose too. Reminds me of of CdG #3. Excellent fragrance.
Commando - this is also excellent in the edt spray version. Very mild sweet clear scent with subtle animalic musk scents peeking out from the edges.
Violet tendencies - the violet is noticeable up front and it stays dry and woody with a hint of leather, agarwood and spruce. Like this one too.
Desperado - opens with a blast of pure sharpened pencil cedar wood but after drying out a bit the saffrom and grass smell gives it a haunting twist. I could swear I smell pathcouli in it, but I guess that may be the saffron. It's good.

The one that I had to just reject and eject because it was so bad was: Saddle Warmer - this one is scary. I am not sure if an ingredient got left out of my bottle or what but - oh well it was not for me.

I have a sample pack of of the EdT's:
Violet Tendencies - leather and violets, a really nice combo, the leather note is a bit too sharp, but perhaps it softens over time.
Prairie Nymph: beeswax and clementine, a sweet gourmand that could work nicely on a very young and very attractive person.
Desperado: Very nice. Dry, pencil shavings style, cedar with some ginger, might appeal to Andy Tauer fans.
Saddle Warmer: a strange peach note and a cheap whiskey note, this one is quite possibly the most nauseating fragrance I've ever smelled.
Bollywood or Bust: My favorite of the group, a spiced up rose and sandalwood.
I've only tested these on paper, with the exception of Saddle Warmer, I'll be doing a skin test this week.

Oh, all of them sound great! Do they last long on skin, like 7-8 hours? And I think that Prairie Nymph is for me :P

Not as amber or opoponax prominent as Opium. Or as aldehydic as JHL. A bit more cinnamony than both - in a sweet candy sort of way, with a resinous, medicinal aftertaste.

Any updated opinions on these? I'm curious on thoughts between the oils and EDT's too because I don't know which I should be trying.....

So far I've only tried Hungry Hungry Hippies which strikes as a poor men verison of Parfumerie generale Cozè. Really nice head shop patchouli with chocolate and hemp...Chastity Begins @ Home which is a transparent woody/incense with a remarkable rose note and some oakmoss. Less interesting than HHH yet well crafted and honest. The Spray Tan Incident was an ok sweet concoction of citrus (mainly mandarine) and green notes laying on a subtle vetiver base....not for me.

From my sample pack I still have to try Franken Smellie

lol@hungry hungry hippies


love the name

Bumping this as I just got my sample pack of:

Dead of winter, Exquisite corpse (which I'm giving a full days wearing and regretting feel a bit sick...), Never never land, Totem Eclipse (love love love!), Otter Luvr and Mountain High.

All reviewed in my link below, latest post so easy to find.

I'm well impressed!! Wish longevity and sillage was a bit better on most though, especially Mountain High, its wonderful but the drydown comes too fast.

ELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY - this smells similar to Tobacco Vanille. This is a festive winter scent.

Bumping this -

Any fresh thoughts on any of these?

I gave my Hansel & Dreidel a full wearing today after owning it for ages (a blind buy) and being disappointed on first sniff. I actually really enjoyed it today, just a typical gourmand, I smelt like a hot German christmas cake all day I washed it off and applied another fragrance in the afternoon - had a shower this evening, and I could still smell the honey/cakey goodness from the morning! Impressive for an EDT

I'm tempted to try out some more of their scents again as it's coming up to summer.
I'm hoping Tokyo Mama Fizzzz is a wicked alternative to Comme des Garcons' Soda
I also want one of his pot fragrances, just torn between Hungry Hungry Hippies and Mountain High, I don't have a cocoa so think it'll be the previous.

Haven't read anything about his vo-cab-u-lary range and just wondering if anyone has explored more of his stuff

I ordered a few samples from Smell Bent recently and have been working my way through slowly (mostly because a recent head cold rendered me useless in the olfactory department!).

The one that has captured my attention most, but that has also been the most challenging to me is Violet Tendencies. It's a beautiful violet darkened with woods and leather...the initial spray is intoxicating, and has a STRONG plasticky leather aura, which I perversely love! It wears well on my skin and heads towards the much more subdued and subtle drydown sooner than later, which I'm somewhat thankful for, because I think my less adventurous loved ones would be a little taken aback by the initial exuberant onslaught (which I'm insatiably drawn to, for some reason).

I also quite love Bollywood or Bust, but where Violet Tendences was big and brash, BoB is refined and balanced. The opening is all classic rose and spices, which it maintains for a good two hours or so. I like that there isn't a precipice where all of a sudden I notice that most of the floral notes are gone, leaving just the sandalwood base. Instead, there is a gradual change - almost like a color gradient in graphic design, slowly and almost imperceptibly inching to the finish line - confidently morphing from delicious rose to subtle and relaxed sandalwood. This is definitely one of those scents where I can see why experienced fragrance collectors say things like "Smell Bent is worth three times the price!" - this is definitely a scent that could be someone's classical go-to, someone's easy-wearing signature in waiting. I'm definitely sold on a FB.

Other notable samples (which I haven't tried for more than a quick skin test, but warrant mentioning immediately):

Commando - Musk and tonka. For lack of a better way to put it - I wanted to rip my OWN clothes off. Well done. I can't wait to wear it more.

Tok'Yo Mama Fizzzzz - Basically wearable lime soda. It's SO not what I'd normally wear, but is incredibly mouthwatering in the small amounts that I've smelled so far - not cloying or treacly at all, and you really can sense the "fizz" note. I kind of wonder what people will think when they see a big bear of a guy (me) and then smell a waft of lime soda, so I'm super tempted to dive in and wear the heck out of it soon.

Incensed Short Fuse - I really thought this would be my fave and it's not...not exactly. I did love the spicy drydown, but I'm just not sure I'm taking in the full picture of what the top notes and heart are saying. It could be that I need to spray more, as I was hoping for greater sillage. Regardless, this definitely wasn't bad or offensive at all, just confusing to my nose.

I've got more to try - I'll report back soon!

I have gone through a bazillion samples from this house and found a few treasures: Commando, which is a really nice musk; Pere Noel Coward, a slightly sweet frosty pine; and Otter Luvr, a sweet, musky bay rum. Bollywood or Bust is also a very nice rose and sandalwood, as has been mentioned. Unfortunately, two of the four I mentioned are discontinued, although Brent has been great about digging out a leftover bottle when asked.

Only remember trying Debonair - nothing special IMO.

Have Commando, Dead of Winter, and Hungry Hungry Hippies coming. I bought a sample pack earlier this year and thought they were unique, but just couldn't wear them as a fragrance. Hopefully that'll change.