I don't understand what destiny's planned.

Ulrich Lang Nightscape

I have not been feeling very Christmas-y this year.

This is the first time since I was eighteen that I’ve been unemployed during the holidays. It is also the first time in a decade that I haven’t been on an academic schedule. All of this has resulted in a substantial lack of holiday cheer. I’ve acquired and wrapped some of my gifts. I put up the tree, though it still isn’t decorated. It turns out I need twinkle lights as mine were all burnt out. I made the card list, bought the cards, and am ready to start writing them, I guess.

But that’s it. “I guess.” Normally I am bursting with holiday flavor at this point, but I just can’t muster it this year.

But enough about me and my holiday malaise. I'll just say that for now I'm looking forward to the fresh start of a new year. It makes me feel like there's an opportunity for an emotional purge so I can start anew.

Nightscape, according to Ulrich Lang, is described as "a modern take on patchouli":

Nightscape is a sensual, mysterious and long lasting scent with notes of bergamot, “green” notes, a floral heart note of jasmine and geranium interwoven with cedarwood and a base of soft leather notes, musk, amber, tonka bean and patchouli.

In keeping with tradition, Ulrich Lang asked a new artist to interpret this fragrance visually. Carrying a small lab sample of nightscape around with him, young American photographer Matt Licari hit the streets of his home town New York City and got inspired by the fascinating metropolis.

The result: an image that shows the magic of a glittering, vast city at night that matches what Ulrich Lang had in mind: Following portraits of Belgian Photography Dealer Roger Smulewicz photographed by artists Erik Swain and Katy Grannan for anvers and anvers 2, the cityscape at night works well with the pure yet sensual aura of nightscape. It reflects the cosmopolitan and futuristic scent which will become a modern classic for the times to come.

Notes: Bergamot, Green Notes, Jasmine, Geranium, Cedarwood, Leather, Musk, Amber, Tonka Bean, Patchouli

The immediate notes I get are mostly citrus and greenery, rolling immediately into bergamot, amber, and tonka, with the opening being a bit sweet with tiny bits of spice underneath. Within a few minutes though, the sweetness backs off and you get a dry wood, dry old leather like the smell of the interior of a well-used classic car, and spice mixture that reminds me a tiny bit of classic Old Spice. According to Kevin over at Now Smell This!, the pre-1990s (i.e. original) formulation of Old Spice, the one I grew up smelling in my grandfather's bathroom every day, was a combination of "orange, lemon, spices, clary sage, aldehydes, cinnamon, carnation, geranium, jasmine, heliotrope, pimento berry, vanilla, musk, cedar wood, frankincense, benzoin, tonka bean, ambergris." Given that list, I think I can see where there is enough overlap that "a little bit like Old Spice" as a first impulse was not a bad guess on my part. I also get the patchouli, and plenty of it, but it's a dried patchouli, like what you'd expect in a medicine man's bag, not like the green and lively patchouli you get in other scents.

I enjoy Nightscape. It's got low-ish sillage and that dryness would work well for a man or a woman. I think it's a nice fragrance, one that isn't too big or bold. This isn't a scent that isn't going to offend anyone and might be mistaken, after it had the opportunity of an hour or two to mix with one's natural scent, for one's own scent, freshly showered, powdered, and coiffed. If you'd like to buy a gift for someone, particularly a man, who doesn't think he likes 'perfume,' this might make for an excellent starter scent. This is also a great scent to try on someone who claims to hate all things patchouli. I suspect this one might be modern, gentle, and appealing enough to trick even the most self-avowed patchouli-loathing hipsters.

I'm starting to grasp what is in my own hands.
Now I'm clean.
I've broken my fall;
Put an end to it all.
I've changed my routine.
Now I'm clean.
- "Clean," Depeche Mode

Nightscape is available in 100ml for $110 from LuckyScent and Aedes De Venustas.

Once again, I will point you toward the user reviews over at Luckyscent if you'd like more opinions than my humble nose.

Images courtesy of Ulrich Lang (top left) and Spiritual Renewal (Joy Unspeakable) by Angela Branigan, available for purchase at Art.com.