Holy Shit
Pekji (2015)

A strong, dark opening blast combining a faecaloid ("shit") impression with an equally dark incense ("holy") - the top notes reflect the name. Soon a harsh castoreum combined with a strong civet is added, an d a dark musky untertone to. A dark and animalistic set of top notes; more harshly animalistic that even Koublaï Khan.

The drydown keeps the animalistic core for a while, adding sharp oud-like characteristics, dark dried prunes and herbal glimpses. Later on, several hours later, the faecal-components becomes less prominent and less intrusive. Over times the sharp civet retreats too, and the whole composition softens considerably. Now the incense comes to the fore, changing somewhat and displaying more camphor with medicinal hints at times. Whiffs of wood come and go.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and seven hours of longevity on my skin.

Whilst the top notes of this wintery creation are best worn when working in the dung and manure corner of the garden, the latter stages may appeal more to incense lover. The excellent quality of the smooth blending are without doubt, and although the concept is not particularity original, it is overall convincing in its execution. 3.5/5.

Same comment as for Cuir6: interesting but not for me.
For me it's mostly like wearing clove oil. It starts with a blast of clove oil, warm, boozy and spicy. Later a quite authentic smoky incense comes through. I love cloves, although they always must, annoyingly, remind me of Christmas. The smoky incense genuinely takes me to church, but into an enclosed space or small room, not the high-vaulted building : maybe the sacristy. I really don't get anything fecal (ironically I did with Cuir6). God forbid that's not because I'm so used to living with dogs and cats that I can't detect civet or similar any more!....
The strong, clovey , incensy scent lasts for many hours, and sillage is good: unmistakably detectable in the same room (you'll see people sniffing because they quite like the smell but don't realise it's somebody's perfume), but doesn't have people reaching to open the windows.
I actually like to smell this scent, and have enjoyed sniffing my arm a lot today. My problem is I can't imagine when I would or could ever wear it. At church on Christmas Day (sit as close as possible to the thurible) and then straight home into the shower before serving the turkey? Maybe it's the perfect "office scent" for a priest....

It's all musty catacombs, dust covered remains of resinous altar offerings, smoke impregnated cassocks and sweat infused leathers, pain followed by ecstatic howls and mewling. A light slightly damp movement of air from adjoining tunnels is slightly cooling but unrefreshing. This is what I wanted 1740 Marquis de Sade to be. It's creepy, liturgical, and a little scary, but in parallel possesses a kinky charm that beguiles.

PROLOGUE

Wow! Now yes! We do provocation! What a fantastic idea! What an original idea! A punk perfume to meditate! I need to medite to Niche world!

THEME

I would be happy to know which is the scandal: a perfumer who is the critic, or some pseudo critics that become perfumers?
A good critic of perfumes is not, per se, a good perfumer. No more so than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender.

It seems that cultivate friendships on the forum will contribute to a rapid career: who is proclaimed critic, who claims to be a new perfumes creator, who says pathetically willing to accept the point of views of others and finally it's just a hypocrite one.

The problem of this perfume is that it is lacking in originality and courage and becomes an example of kitsch, something like "I would to be but I can not."

A further example of perfumery destined to please a niche of the niche made only of strangers who talk about other strangers, the important thing is to be friends, what generally is called "lobby".

The beauty of the Internet is that everything seems flat and equal, but it is not!
I take this opportunity to thank who allows everyone to talk! If it were not so, a lot of new critics probably would never have been able to be such critics, being the critic (for definition) a journalist or who reviews art (or perfumery if you want) with his name and surname.

Being passionate is an individual quality, which often proves to be only onanism.

CONCLUSIONS

This is my quote:

"The both, perfumer and blogger, are a combination as dog and owner, where the dog is obviously the perfumer."

(?)

A "not for the faint of heart" fecal combination of beastly secretions, ancient woods, forest resins (probably oudh too) and spicy frankincense. According with my experience Holy Shit is the closest "redolent" thing to the La Via del Profumo's Zibetto (Civet) pure oil. This is the juice of "anti-heroes" since is pratically unwearable and could be an immensely daring (and brashly provocative) solution for people wishing to make a really individual statement (a controversial status symbol) in the most aggressive of the ways. The boisterous fecal temperament is in here as much pushed up to turn the infamous C&S Cuba's fecal note out as an holy balmy-soapy essence for catechists. I'm sure a castoreum's appointment is set down in order to "sweeten" the general fecal atmosphere and this seems a tragicomic paradox that is anyway a true story since the first impression you have in the top (for less than one minute) is to inhale a mild combination of castoreum, dryed fruits, spicy frankincense, woods and forest resins (something vaguely a la Slumberhouse Vikt, Sonoma Scent Studio Winter Woods and Lutens Fille en Aiguilles). Sweet resins, musks and fir "glue" jump up (vaguely spicy and fruity) for a while at the opening in order to unfortunately be soon "teared to pieces" by this visceral "catacombal" crap-like miasma which is frankly (but respectfully) too much for me. Assumed it I just wanna tell that people which wish to give its contribution by reviews here on Basenotes might be more respectful and less scurrilous if wanna be welcome by the other reviewers (respecting whatever each creator must be free to appoint without be vulgarly attacked by anybody and respecting whatever each reviewer have to express without undergoing the risk to be defined a perfumer-dog's owner/manipulator), this forum is basically ideated to welcome everybody, self-proclaimed artists and more humble alchemists.
P.S: along the way (Thank God) the power of civet slightly decreases leaving a part of the stage (just a little corner) free for mild resins, dark woods and musks. Is it enough? Not for me.
P.S 2: I read some reviewers declaring to not detect the fecal vibe on their skin and frankly is out of me comprehending how should it be possible (I wonder if my skin overly enhances this effect which I'm sure to catch after a couple of tests). I've compared Holy Shit and Civet oil layered at same time on skin and absolutely any doubt about, civet is the main presence in here, there is saltiness all around and woodiness but is properly civet (probably supported by castoreum) to elicit a sort of salty "organic secretions/rotten teeth-like vibe" which is gradually soothed, sweetened and gentled by sweet resins, spices (cloves??) and woods. In the final part of the trip civet (yet present) is far less powerful and the aroma is more mild, resinous (veined by castoreum) and woody. A great improvement respect opening and central stage for sure.

Nothing particularly bold or challenging here for me: like many other contemporary “dirty” scents, on my skin Holy Shit seems way more mild and mannered than one may assume by reading the notes. Initially quite pleasant, too: a sort of aromatic-woody-animalic concoction with a really well-put harmony between a leathery-tar-animalic base stuffed with lots of cloves, ultra-dry smoky woods (so smoky and salty they smell almost “meat-y”), a hint of civet, contrasting with something on top that I can't detect precisely, but basically a sort of really graceful, velvety sage-lavender-incense breeze with some resinous warmth, maybe with a bit of vanilla. It will tame down and vanish (too) soon, but it's nice until it's there. Somehow close to several works by O'Driù, mostly for the same contrast between “angel and devil” – dirty/dry/dark notes versus aromatic/soothing/smooth ones. And also to some artisanal brands like AbdesSalaam Attar, just with a more modern and “dark” twist – so again, as for Cuir6 by the same house I'm thinking also of Sonoma Scents, Kerosene and that new indie family mostly for a sort of common ground of inspirations (“post-modern desolation” blended with “archaic nature”). Holy Shit smells more natural, less avantgarde, kind of more amateurish than them (not a flaw per se), but fans of these brands will probably enjoy this.

So, catchy at first but... well, a bit short of breath for me overall. Like for Cuir6, moving past the intriguing opening, Holy Shit kind of “loses” its magic soon, revealing itself as a competent, yet not completely successful sort of exercise (I guess around “contrasts” this time) rather than a proper, consistent “full” work of perfumery – at least as I like to consider perfumes. Once the nice opening moves on, you remain with an extremely linear and discreet accord of cloves, dry-salty smoked woods and a hint of civet, which means a smell at the same time “monolithic” and “basic” – kind of bland for me, in other words. Or “scarce”, if you want, both in terms of projection and texture. There's plenty of scents managing to get the most out of a really basic but totally creative texture; this doesn't for me, at least not completely. Mostly because it isn't really either creative or bold/daring enough. It feels more like a really ordinary base for an animalic/leather/woody fragrance, waiting for a whole creative work to come giving it a meaning and some drive. Compare this with any vintage civet/leather scents in terms of texture and evolution to get what I mean, or even just to more contemporary similar stuff by any other brand I've mentioned above. Not a matter of classic taste versus modernity – I don't really get anything “modern” here, and I surely would crave for that. Don't get me wrong, Holy Shit is decent and surely promising, but also considering the price, kind of half-baked and maybe a bit premature in my opinion. Worthy a sniff more for the clearly nice quality of the materials.

6-6,5/10

Holy Shit!

Yes, this is exactly the first thing that comes to mind as soon as this fragrance touches your skin. As with Cuir 6 and Odoon (both from the same line), Holy Shit takes a theme and push it to the limits. I could try to dissect this fragrance into notes but it would honestly be reductive as the main charm of this composition relies on its incredibly evocative power. Ancient woods, a stable where you played hide-n-seek as a kid, a subway station in a metropolis, a catacomb, moldy walls, smoke, incense, animalic notes, oxidized metal, art, sacred art, modern art, traditional art. People, sidewalks, dried herbs, wrinkles on your mother's face, your father's hands, craftsmanship, joy, pain, love and hate.

There's nothing even barely similar to Holy Shit and, beside being two completely different fragrances, its evocative and striking power is only comparable to Norma Kamali's infamous Incense. If you like unique stuff, this is something not to miss. For any reason. An iconic fragrance from a true pioneer.

Bravo!

Disclaimer: Like a few others here, I tried this in October of 2013 as a penultimate prototype, but from what I can tell, many of my observations still hold. Personally speaking, Eau Mer is my favorite, followed by a scent named Anima Mundi. Holy shit, Holy Shit is challenging.

This takes some initial bravery as it smells preposterously strong right out of the bottle, and it's a thick, writhing, meaty smell, too. It's predominantly guaiac upfront for me–salty, nutty, bacon-y, and quite off-putting, but it becomes something else entirely as soon as it touches the skin. What I get is a fairly biting smoke that's threaded through a balmy, rich, camphorous accord with a subdued note that reminds me a little of that delicate water/algae thing that runs beneath the surface of Sécrétions Magnifique. The guaiac's still there at the opening, but it falls into line, and what emerges is the olfactory likeness of a sheet of weathered, corroded copper. It's not a bitter metallic, but rather an impression of various shimmery browns with an unusual damp effect that transforms into a mineral-type base as the scent develops. This is all surrounded by a leather component that's draped over an unidentifiable wooden frame. The smoke is revealed to be more tobacco-related than it is resinous, and there's a filthy civet that doesn't really announce itself until later in the scent's development. It's water, metal, and meat with quite a bit of dirt thrown in, and it all kind of works.

But what's most cool about it is the way that the combination of individual notes doesn't seem as important as the overall atmosphere the scent engenders. Leather Oud tends to do this for me–I get more of an impression of a specific environment than I do individual notes with that one, and Holy Shit is at times akin to the Ballardian landscape, but it's also the scent of a sketchy motel that's been recently evacuated. Picture yourself wandering into this space: a poorly lit room lined with funky geometric wallpaper in hues of brown and orange. Two oversized, fabric lampshades, yellowed by decades of cigarette smoke, flank an unmade bed whose mattress has been half-dragged onto a thick pile carpet that hasn't been changed in years. Although there's no one present, the bathroom door's ajar and a running faucet can be heard pouring rusted water over the sink and onto the tiles below. Holy Shit brings up all of these kinds of images for me, but twists them into something wearable while leaving more than enough dirt to keep the sketchy narrative afloat.

Out of the four that I've tried from the line, this is probably the most cinematically evocative. It's basically a noir film, but later noir–more gritty, Polanksi-type stuff. It's also by far the most challenging of the four (the massive guaiac and ferocious tobacco keep it from being my favorite), but for those who like some brawny phenolics, it's thoughtfully composed. Whereas the name might drudge up some church incense type images, that's really not what this scent is at all; Creepy Shit or Scary Shit would probably be more appropriate a title for this one. Although I couldn't align it to anything else directly, steer your thoughts toward the likes of Jeke, Patch 24, Tribute Attar, and Norma Kamali Incense, and that'll give you a general impression of what you're dealing with.