hkhm

bottle: a crisp sharp pine cologne scent. this does remind me a bit of october, but with pine.

wet: this is very woodsy/piney at first, quite strong for the little dab that i tried on my arm. after a few minutes a sort of heby note appears. this has a very outdoosy feel, very chilly and crisp.

dry: november has dried to the scent i get from old pinecones, like the glory of pine trees from long ago. this is an amazing scent and i like it a lot more than i thought i was going to.

imp: bright citrus-y jasmine.

wet: the jasmine is certainly strongest here but the background notes are spicy and sweet. this may be the first jasmine i can wear.

dry: i'm not sure if there's another floral note in here, but the jasmine is competing with something sweet. this oil really does smell orange to me. how very interesting.

imp: whoa! vetiver and cedar! this is incredibly strong.

wet: this has a smoky, earthy scent that makes me think of damp, wooded areas. there's also a faint whiff of lavender.

dry: the cedar has come out strongest and this is a very fresh, sweet, strong cedar. i don't detect any other notes, just cedar.

bottle: oh my. red, dripping fruit. this smells so grand!

wet: this is the scent i have been searching for! sweet and mysterious, just a hint of something spicy and a touch of something tart.

dry: this fades over the hours but remains sweet and beautiful. another bottle will be necessary.

bottle: ultra-sharp peppermint, like sticking a candy cane up my nose!

wet: super-minty and wonderful! this is less vanilla-y than tokyo stomp and reminds me a bit of grr (only stronger).

dry: still minty. this just stays crisp and minty on me for hours. love it, will definitely need another bottle.

bottle: apples! apples with cherries and plums and other ripe, rich fruit.

wet: there's a sweet, sharp, spicy green-ness with the apple scent. not as sharp as poisoned apple but very crisp, this really puts me in mind of picking apples on perfect autumn days. it's like a happy memory in a bottle!

dry: the apple stays but there is this creamy, spicy note as well. what a wonderful blend.

just a quick one: how do you pronounce 'faiza'?

i pronounce it fah-EE-zuh but then heard someone pronounce it like it rhymes with eye-zuh. so now i'm wondering.

imp: jasmine and lime. i'm not normally a huge fan of jasmine but mixed with lime it smells great.

wet: that's some serious jasmine. jasmine is all that i can smell here, not so much as a hint of lime.

dry: the lime makes a valiant attempt to peek out here but it just overwhelmed by the jasmine. i think if the lime had been stronger this scent would have mede it onto my bottle list. i may test it again later to make sure.

bottle: this smells like spiced tootsie rolls. weird but interesting.

wet: whoa! there's still the tootsie roll scent but then there's this awesome waft of spices and herbs. i can't pinpoint any single note, it's just a general herby spiciness.

dry: even better! the tootsie roll scent softens to just a vague chocolate scent and the spicy note gets a bit more dominant. the result: a rich, spicy chocolate that makes me want to nibble my arm. this is the first chocolate scent that has smelled this accurate. very nice!

Does anyone have any suggestions for a fellow foodie who keeps getting disappointed by lovely descriptions and less-than wrist sniffs?

have you tried jack? to me it smells just like cockaigne but with a warm pumpkin note.

bottle: yum! this smells like the insides of junior mints. or those minty girl scout cookies.

wet: minty vanilla goodness! i smell so yummy... must not nibble arm...

dry: still minty and vanilla-y. this is pure creamy-minty yum on my skin. now i just need to dig up a few more bottles...

imp: this almost smells like it's got musk in it. a sweet, fruity musk.

wet: smoky and sweet, hints of fruit with hints of something sticky and languid. very interesting!

dry: the smoky scent stays but stays very sweet and murky. the oddest thing of all is that this is reminding me of some scratch 'n' sniff stickers i had in grade school. it smells exactly like them.

imp: very crisp, snappy green scent.

wet: this is a bright, green aquatic. this is what tea scents always smell like to me, not like tea at all, but like the idea of tea.

dry: faint florals with the fading aquatic note. this is a very clean scent, perfect for early spring when everything is touched by light rain and soft sunlight.

bottle: this is a dark patchouli with a deep fruity note.

wet: the resin scent comes out a bit as soon as i put it on. there is something aquatic here as well. i'm also getting hits of coconut every little while. so a coconutty resin against an aquatic backdrop. interesting!

dry: this has dried to a very light, breezy aquatic. not what i was expecting at all, especially with the patchouli in there, but very, very nice.

imp: this smells like a light, fruity aquatic to me.

wet: this is crisp and sweet fruits with a sort of watery, rainy scent. i definitely get the 'crisp mountain air' feel from this scent.

dry: tis dries a a faint, sweet fruit scent that lingers for a while. i like it because it is so faint and delicate and with i had more than my imp.

for me, the best sweet/foody scent in bpal is cockaigne. i just swooned when i put it on my skin as it smelled exactly like the description and stayed that way. i think eat me is a runner up as it also smelled glorious.

plunder.

plunder smelled so much like chai on my skin i had to go and brew a pot. it's amazing.

imp: i get a bit of an indistinct berry smell but the tea doesn't smell like green tea (i drink a tremendous variety of green teas) it smells more herbal. but that might be the sage overpowering it. i'm not getting any musk either.

wet: this goes on pretty sharp and the musk comes out after a few moments. this has a very deep sage musk scent that reminds me of hiking in the mountains. there is a nice, faint berry scent as well. very outdoorsy.

dry: this dries to almost a musky berry scent. there is the barest hint of sage left, more of an afterthought really.

imp: the only note i can pick out for certain sure is frankincense. the rest are a swirling mystery of good scents to me.

wet: there is the sweetness of ripe fruit, yet without the fruit. there is the frankincense and then there's a smooth, sweet, piney scent that makes me swoon over this whole scent. i'm going to give this imp to my husband next and see what he thinks. this is fantastic!

wet: sweet cedar and frankincense. this is a really lovely scent for winter.

imp: carnations and neroli.

wet: the florals are completely overwhelming. this often happens when there's lots of floral notes, they go everywhere and end up jarring and brash. i also think i have some issue with carnations, i'm noticing that note goes yucky on me.

dry: the florals stay strong and abrasive, i tend more toward soft florals myself.

imp: sweet and boozy! two of my favourites! i'm already thinking i'll need to add this one to the bottle list.

wet: this smells like jolly rancher candy dropped into a glass of booze. i'm in heaven here!

dry: oh wow! this is such a yes! i'm just hopping up and down in excitement over the next order i'm gonna place, but there will be two bottles of this sweet, yummy scent in there. this is going to be one of my favourites, perhaps even a top ten.

my under-kimono already carries a faint apple scent (i'm thinking it's from the hesperides or ladon) and my over-kimono has a barest floral scent (i can't figure out what scent is was/is). i was thinking i'd wear the hesperides and yemaya so as to smell like an appley melon. but then i realized those scents are a bit more srpingy and since these kimonos are autumnul (deep rust tones on one, dusty olive greens on the other, the obi is a rich golden colour, haven't selected an obi-age yet) i need to select something more apropriate. i'll probably go with something sweet and spicy but i haven't narrowed it down enough yet. maybe i'll try a bit of plunder with samhain?

imp: smooth aquatic with a dusty, musty smell.

wet: this is the same smoky dirt scent i got from baron samedi. the aquatic note is nearby but the smoky scent is thick in this blend.

dry: when the dustiness clears this become the best-smelling aquatic i've tried yet (with, perhaps, the exception of the pool of tears). that dusty scent takes the edge off the aquatic and makes it more smooth. it puts me in mind of fog rolling over the water, spooky and mysterious.

imp: there's something sweet and... animally here. is this what civet smells like? interesting...

wet: this is sweet florals and some sort of tangy musk. unfortunately the florals are threatening to go soapy on me.

dry: phew! no soapiness. this is a much more floral musk than usual.

i'm still curious about pinpointing civet so i may have to do a little more testing to figure it out.

imp: the first thing i smell is clove. there is something sweet and floral too but all i can really smell is clove. yum.

wet: this is like sweet clove candy on my skin. a very unusual scent to me.

dry: this dries to indistinct florals with a slight spiciness.