Dance With The Devil

The fragrance opens with an intense, aromatic burst of fresh thyme. Unlike typical designer colognes that start with bright lemon or bergamot, this begins dry, herbal, and slightly savory. The herbal edge cuts cleanly through cool air for roughly twenty minutes before softening into dark rose and gentle woods.

After thirty minutes, the savory thyme gives way to a velvety heart of Rose de Mai, Turkish rose, violet leaf, and powdery iris. As hours pass, dense base notes of Peru balsam, smoky frankincense, dark leather, and earthy patchouli take over, drying into a warm, smoldering amberwood scent that lasts all day.

On bare skin, you can expect between 10 and 12 hours of noticeable performance due to the extrait de parfum concentration. On clothing, wool scarves, and winter outerwear, heavy fixatives like labdanum, cypriol, and oud anchor into fabrics for multiple days until the garment is washed.

During the first two hours, this perfume projects strongly, radiating three to four feet beyond your body. Afterward, it calms into an arm's length scent bubble. The trail it leaves behind in cooler air is smoky, resinous, and distinctly woody without ever smelling harsh or screechy.

This perfume excels in cold weather below 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius), making late autumn and winter its ideal seasons. The dense resinous accords of benzoin, Peru balsam, and tobacco need crisp, chilly air to breathe properly. In warm summer temperatures, the composition quickly becomes overpowering.

It is generally too bold and dark for small, enclosed office cubicles unless applied with extreme caution. One light spray under clothing can work in well-ventilated spaces, but the fragrance is far better suited for evening dinners, outdoor events, and casual weekend wear during cooler months.

While officially presented for men, anyone who loves dry woods and smoky resins can wear it. However, the prominent notes of cured tobacco, rugged leather, and dark oud give it an assertive masculine lean that appeals strongly to wearers who prefer traditional woody oriental compositions over sweet gourmands.

Black Afgano is much more aggressive and centered around dry hashish, dark smoke, and raw wood. Dance With The Devil shares that dark, moody aesthetic, but it feels softer and more nuanced thanks to its heart of floral rose, iris, and the natural sweetness of Peru balsam.

This fragrance is formulated as an extrait de parfum by Vanitas Parfums. Because of its high fragrance oil concentration, you only need one or two sprays per application. This extreme potency ensures that a single bottle will easily last through multiple fall and winter seasons, delivering strong value.

Clean vanilla, pure sandalwood, or dry cedarwood scents layer brilliantly with this fragrance. Adding a linear vanilla oil softens the savory thyme opening and highlights the sweet Peru balsam base, while a cedarwood layer accentuates the Japanese hiba wood and smoky incense facets for an even woodier dry-down.