RUSSIAN CARAVAN (Winter 2011 and Winter 2012)

RUSSIAN CARAVAN
Smoked Black Tea, Leather, Pomegranate, Black Currant, Amber & Pink Peppercorn

Offered as a perfume oil, whipped soap and Burnishing Glace for the winter collections

Description: Russian Caravan is a blend of smoked black teas and black leather with just a hint of fruity pomegranate and black currants, pink peppercorn and exotic amber. It smells primarily of the smokey tea and leather and has a masculine edge due to these components. The amber is not readily apparent until it has been on the skin for some time and at that point the scent is mostly that of a soft tea and amber. It lends itself to smoothing the blend out and taking the edge off of the harsher dominant notes. The fruits and peppercorn add a subtle twist and slightly sweeten the blend. On skin the combo takes on a note of tobacco leaf as well, most likely from the smoked tea.

Russian Caravan works well on me and on my husband. There's enough sweetness that it suits me and enough of a dark and smoky quality that it suits him. And it's a very well blended scent. I can pick out leather and a sweet fruitiness if I try, but they're subtle notes that dance around behind the smoky, dark, lightly spiced tea. First on it's a bit like woodsmoke, but the drydown is definitely tea (slightly bitter, but still good and sweetened up by the currant). The leather isn't very strong, but gives the blend a dark and dangerous edge that I love.
Dark, smoky, sexy tea scent with a light spiciness. I especially love wearing this when the weather is cooler.

I haven't worn this scent in some time, but I pulled it out this morning and took a whiff and immediately slathered it all over.

I had forgotten how unique and great it is!

I've become a lover of tea scents recently and this combination of tea and leather works wonderfully on my skin. It's quite a dark scent, but not dark in a resinous way. Right after application, I could smell a bit of sweetness from the fruits, but not the type of sweetness that turns me away from the scent. After a while the leather calms down a bit and the scent takes on a lovely tea/amber/spice with a hint of smoke. A fantastic scent for cooler weather!

It reminds me of Russian Caravan tea, which is one of my favorite teas, all smokey and dark. The perfume also invokes a caravan and the exotic items within people in a caravan would come into contact with and sell. It is a mysterious and sensual blend.

The fruit says dry and to the back of the blend, which I like, leaving the tea, smoke, amber and peppercorn shine. There is leather in it too, but just a touch to make it dark.

It is a long lasting blend you don't have to use too much of in order to enjoy it. It's wonderfully unisex as well. I can image wearing this an awful lot. Glad I got a bottle of it.

I didn't think I'd like this as much as I do! On first sniff it's like an old traveling steamer trunk held together with cracked leather straps. The inside retains the accumulated smells of various cargos over several voyages, and there's a bit of dankness from water damage somewhere along the way.

Dry, it melds together beautifully. The pom and currant give it just a touch of sweetness to counterbalance the darkness of the tea and leather. Beautiful.

Cross-posted from the green:

Smells like berries and leather to me. I like black tea scents, but I don't know what *smoked* black tea smells like, so I'm not sure if I'm confusing that note for the leather one. On drydown, the berries become more pronounced, and the leather fades just a little bit, although I can still smell it. Once again, this scent is well-blended, (and unique!) but since I'm not a fan of leather notes, this one isn't for me.

Surprise LOVE. OMG this is so good even on cold sniff--the smoky, citrusy dark tea, the well-worn soft black leather (not dusty, dry, and cracked), the black currant keeps the pom in check (that note can go plastic on me but in this blend it is not), the slightly fruity pink peppercorn, and the amber all combine to make the most incredibly sexy scent. As it warms to the skin, it gets even better. This is the leather blend of my dreams. MUST. HAVE. BOTTLE!!

I have this in the reformulated version, never tried the old version. But the new Russian caravan is really great. On me its a very strong smoky tea note, and the fruits are quite strong and very yummy. Then there's a hint of leather, just the slightest and there to give the overall perfume an edge. It's a great blend of dark tea and fruits, and I can't stop using this!

I love tea fragrances so was really looking forward to this one. Actual Russian Caravan Tea is something I have to be in the mood for and not the sort of tea I like during the daytime. It is definitely a night time brew and one that suits cool weather. My first thoughts are this fragrance it did not start out as tough and smoky/woody as real Russian Caravan Tea (which I guess makes sense as Lapsang Souchong is listed as the tea ingredient). I'm guessing the leather note has been added to darken the fragrance and perhaps give a historic lineage to Cuir de Russie type fragrances of the early to mid 20th Century. It is of course (as I have now come to expect from you) a far more detailed and nuanced fragrance than just a pure tea. In the first test I was surprised at the fruit notes interplaying with each other and really having a central role. I find this very interesting and enjoyable though not as subtle as the website notes suggest. The second wearing for me was focussed on the fruit notes as I felt I had a good understanding of the canvas parameters of the tea/leather. When you focus on them, the fruit notes are quite clearly distinguished. I don't pretend that I'm good enough to detect pomegranate per say, but I can get the cassis bit. The Pink Peppercorn does add a lift as well as it's own fruitiness (so a good choice with that ingredient). It is with the fruit notes that the fragrance comes to life and holds my attention and lifts what might otherwise be a serious and somewhat sombre fragrance into a very enjoyable wear. The drydown too with the amber note appearing, is very enjoyable and warm. The fragrance is always about the tea from start to finish, but what a delightful journey along the way. Wearing this fragrance gives me a great deal of pleasure.

I don't like the top note. I don't know if it's the pomegranate or the pink peppercorn (I just realized I have never loved a perfume with pink peppercorns in it) but there's this almost fruity note with the tea and I just don't like it. It is SO annoying because I bought a fb blind. It doesn't smell so bad I have to scrub it off but it's just not to my taste. I did try it on my clothes to see if it smells better and it does! It's doesn't smell that different but the fruity-ish note isn't that strong and everything is blended more. I do love the dry down though and the sillage is pretty great. I wish I love it more.

EDIT: I don't know if my preference changed or the perfume aged but I suddenly like this more. The top note doesn't annoy me anymore and I actually might be a little in love with it. This is now an everyday perfume for me. Definitely don't trash or giveaway any SS perfumes you don't like at first. Give it more chances and maybe you'll find something you'll love eventually!

On first sniff of Russian Caravan I wasn't too sure if I would like it. It packs a BITE at first which I'm thinking might be the Black Currant, Pomegranate & Peppercorn but then the dry down is amazing. You still have some of that kick but you get more of a "warm" feeling of the leather, tea and Amber. The staying power of this perfume is so impressive. It lasts on me for over 6 hours or more. LOVE this blend. Wish I was able to have grabbed it in more than just perfume and whipped soap.

One of my all-time favorite SS blends. Russian Caravan is such a perfect balanced blend and is SS's take on a russian caravan. While the russian caravan tea is basically black tea, served with the addition of sugar and slices of lemon, the SS interpretation is still keeping me happy and with a smile on my face. 2 THUMBS UP!!!