Lapsang Lover
Providence Perfume Co. (2022)

I've never tried lapsang tea, but the closest scent wise to which I've tried is probably darjeeling oolong. It definitely has some more "funky" elements, not animalic by any means, but rather the scent of a pretty fermented tea. The myrrh and other resinous elements come out well as well, albeit the rose wasn't perceptible for me. The mixture of the lapsang tea along with the resins quite honestly reminded me alot of oud, especially during the dry down. Not medicinal or fizzy cola oud, but rather leaning towards the more barnyard elements.

The best way to describe this scent is that of an old fireplace. Being next to the fireplace, sipping your tea, reading an old, dusty book. On my skin, this perfume unfolds as a most gorgeous Amber Fossil accord with a prominent Lapsang tea woody-smoky aroma. I get almost zero sweetness from it, although it lists honey. You have the smoky quality from the tea note, with a characteristic woody undertone adjoined to the smokiness of the amber fossil, labdanum, and other resins used. I love Amber Resin accords in perfumery, and this one is among the best I have come across. On top of that, all-natural, using actual fossilized amber resin. Hence, you get the typical facets of leather, dustiness, dryness, and toffee-like texture. There is also a slight bitter-medicinal feel to the perfume that works well with the other accords. When I smell an amber resin-themed perfume, I want it to make me think of something old and dusty. Very few managed to pull off that imagery, this one being one of them and the most realistic at that. In a market where all the Amber perfumes are overdosed on vanillin, ambrarome, and ambroxan, with the sweetness reaching sky-high limits, compositions like this are a breath of fresh air, or should I say, old air.

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