Luctor et Emergo
People of the Labyrinths (1998)

Sweet grass. Fresh mown hay. Vanilla wax candle. Almond milk. Cherry note dances and bounces around all over the place. The cherry isn't super sweet nor is it sour. There are wood notes that seem to keep it in check. Woody notes are not aggressive. They are like oak or maple or at least something other than cedar.

Later the cherry and almond fuse. I want to state that they smell to me like marzipan but, not quite. Someone mentioned Play-Doh. I don't recall how that smells - it's been too long. Anyhow, the latter accord seems fuzzy or blurred, rather meditative, too. Full bottle worthy, for me.

Unfortunately the cherry / almond goes wonky and smells of mothballs and playdough on my skin.

I remember reading about this time and time again, and never having a major interest in it. Then, on a chilly day in Amsterdam, I noticed that I was passing the shop, and went in for a sniff. I was intending to go across the road to the Skins shop (which has since expanded exponentially and seems to sell just about anything you can think of perfume wise), but didn't so I only had L+E on for the day. It seemed very marzipan sweet in the beginning but soon after I got a lovely hay/woods/cherry almond waft and spent the odd few moments over the following days considering a bottle. I never got back to the shop and that could have been that. Until last year, passing through Amsterdam again, when I popped in and ended up buying the Parfum (which seems to be an EdP really).

I think the sweet almond one I tried first was the EdT, what I have still has the cherry sweetness on top but there seems to be more wood and incense compared to hay in this version. I like it very much, especially as it seems to morph continually, sometimes sweet and boozy, sometimes dry with a thread of incense giving an airy feel. It is as many people say a comforting scent, but not too sugary. I get the play-doh references and have no problem with that facet - as it weaves in and out - but I don't think I'd be as enamoured of it if it was straight up sweet play-doh!

This fragrance is lovely with my skin chemistry. I get the almondy cherry hit in the first 15 minutes of applying, then it turns warm, tobacco-like woody and vanillic. Very sensuous, a little sweet but not overly so. Every so often I'll get a little whiff of a floral, then a little cherry tobacco. At times it even seems a little chocolatey. Very nice. It does seem to last a good while and the sillage is on the soft to moderate side.

Smells like cherry cough syrup, mothballs, almond candy and some sort of old fashioned perfume thing I've smelled in other perfumes but don't know the name for...
I hate it, which is good because it's too expensive for me anyway.

fades into tobacco and resin (and nasty cherry cough syrup) after 20 min on oily hot skin- wish it would both start and end this way

Cherry medicinal/ menthol/clovey top note which gives way to a gentle
flowery tobacco with play doh along for the ride
I don't mind wearing this. Buy a bottle? No
It expresses its name well
"I struggle and I emerge"