Welcome to our first installment of “a company sent us a product to try and then talk about”. Today’s product is Duft Werks Costume Scents.
I must admit when we received their email we were skeptical.
Duft Werks: Want to smell like your cosplay character?
Us: Uhhhhhhhhh…. no? Pretty sure that would smell of dirt, sweat, burnt magic, and dried blood. Doesn’t a con smell bad enough as it is?
Duft Werks: But, you put so much detail into every facet of your cosplay — from your makeup to your shoes. Don’t you want to complete the look with the smell of leather armor or the spice of a foreign market?
Us: We’re intrigued. Sure! Send us something for our World of Warcraft characters.
Sure enough, a week or so later we received samples of “Mercenary”, “Scavenger”, and “Maverick”, all of which were hand-selected by the Duft Werks team based on our descriptions of our characters. “Maverick” was selected for my Frost Mage and “Scavenger” for Fred’s Goblin. “Mercenary” was a backup selection for us to experiment with.
The blind smell test commenced. Fred selected me for the test.
Side note: Most people don’t know this but I have a superpower. It’s a useless superpower, but it is one nonetheless. I have a super-nose. No, it’s not huge (It’s quite delicate and lovely, thankyouverymuch). My super-nose can pick up smells over long distances and can detect layers of scents. For example, I know when my neighbors are doing laundry by the smell of fabric softener in the air, and I can detect if Fred has eaten a candy bar from the moment he pulls into the driveway. God help my kids when they tried to smoke a cigarette — I’d smell it on them weeks after they’d laundered their clothes. OK, so it had some uses most of which made my family fearful of me.
Parameters of the test: I was not told the name of the scent nor was I allowed to see the bottle. I was blindfolded. The product was sprayed onto a piece of cardstock and was placed under my nose. And here we go…
Scavenger “Smells like damp gear but in a good way”
First, it’s important to note that we were impressed by how many layers each scent had. We expected the products to contain one or two essential oils, lazily thrown together. Fred expected everything to smell like patchouli and was prepared to spend the afternoon vomiting (Fred doesn’t care for patchouli). Neither were accurate. Scavenger was spicy and earthy with an undertone that I could only describe as metallic, but without the sting one would expect from such smells. It was clean and comfortable on my nose and had an after-scent of rain (petrichor for all my Doctor Who fans). It’s strange to say, but Scavenger definitely smelled of someone who had spent their time scavenging for armor, supplies, and food in a Middle-Earth-type world. It even smelled like they had found a nice spring to dip into (in other words, it doesn’t smell of unwashed masses or patchouli trying to mask a stinky body).
Score: 4 out of 5 bars of soap
Maverick “Smells like a Renn Faire but with showers”
I have to admit right up front — I LOVE THIS SCENT. I’ve been spritzing it on myself regularly since receiving it and competes with some of my more expensive fragrances, especially during the holidays. It smells of cinnamon and cardamon, fresh baked bread and your favorite candle. As much of a contradiction as this is, Maverick is both light and deep — it’s pleasant to inhale and doesn’t hang heavy in the air, but it contains layers of spice and minerals. I give Duft Werks credit for selecting this one for my Frost Mage because it really reminded me of what I think magic would SMELL like after a spell is cast (maybe with an added shot of Scavenger to get that metallic touch).
Score: 5 out of 5 cinnamon sticks
Mercenary “OMG this smells like a leather shop!”
For real tho — Mercenary smells like leather and the incredible oils used to make leather supple. For those of us cosplayers who use foam to recreate leather, you MUST have this scent in your toolbox. Fred wore it with his Goblin and it made my brain confused. I knew the leather details on his costume were only foam, but my head was saying “Nope, it’s leather”. Interesting note with this scent — it has a strong after-scent that lingers in the back of your throat, which makes you think you’re in a leatherworker’s shop. This one was much stronger and less like a cologne than the others (in other words, I wouldn’t wear it unless it was with a leather costume). This is definitely a tool in your toolkit.
Score: 3 out of 5 leather hides
Recommendation? Surprisingly, yes.
I have to admit that I would never have purchased these items without having tried them first. The whole idea of cosplay colognes just sounded WEIRD, but we were happily proven wrong. Costume scents is a surprisingly cool idea well-executed by Duft Werks. Check them out at their website www.duftwerks.com and ask their advice on what scent to choose for your cosplay. Use coupon code FREDANDELLE to get 10% off your purchase. You can smell like your hero, too!
We had a blast wearing the scents at JekyllCon in our World of Warcraft cosplays. Fred wore “Scavenger” and I wore “Maverick”. Here we are!
Check out a video of me HERE trying out Maverick at JekyllCon!
Elle