Diana

In the bottle: ambery/perfumey (probably from the musk)

Wet: The amber & fir needle notes are the first to erupt, with just a slight hint of leather. It reminds me a bit of Dee, but a little less sweet.

Drydown: This reminds me a bit of Torture King from Carnavale Noir; the same dark, rich leather note is used in conjunction with a soft, subtle "smoke" note, but without the heavy vetiver basenote.

This is probably a more typical masculine blend, but this, like TK from last year, may be the surprise winner of the bunch for me. I just love the way it smells.

Oh my. This is so sexy. I want to slather it everywhere.

Bottle: very jasminey, pretty gosh-durn perfumey.

Wet: jasmine/sweet floral. There's something kind of sharp in there, almost green-ish, but I don't know if it's the "sambac" variety of jasmine, or one of the other notes saying hello.

Drydown: The sharpness has faded, and I can now detect violet (yay!). Oddly enough, I'm not getting much musk at all from this, it's very faint & skin-like.

I really like this. This is a floral that's sweet without being cloying, not old-fashioned, powdery, sticky, or waxy. It's very delightful.

Bottle: Somewhere between Bliss & Velvet; a dark, oily chocolate scent.

Wet: Chocolate... and uh, plastic. There's an odd quasi-floral/inflatable swimming pool smell that seems to be drowning out the chocolate note. Maybe it's a nut oil? I'm really unsure about this.

Drydown: The odd scent has dissipated greatly, so now it's mostly chocolate & cream, though it does smell a bit like chocolate + Coppertone from time to time.

It reminds me a lot of Velvet, but maybe my opinion in that regard will change after I've worn it a few times & it's had time to age. But yay for chocolate blends!

In the bottle: bright lemony-citrus.

Wet: Lemony goodness. Something softer is starting to emerge, but for the most part it's sweet & sharp lemon.

Drydown: The lemon is persisting, but a bit of a coconut note is starting to emerge. It starts to become more creamy & soft, but it does take a while to get to this stage. Maybe an hour or so after initial application, I'm finally starting to get anything I'd deem "smokey," but it's rather faint. Not too much change. I'm rather surprised there isn't more black musk; it is usually very stong on me.

I do like this, but I want more of the other notes to take charge. I think this is one to let age for a bit to let the basenotes develop a bit more.

In the bottle: almond-milky-pine. Odd.

Wet: Pine with a bit of a sweet backdrop, most likely from the almond milk. There is a bit of a "milk" scent that's not necessarily attached to the almond, which a bit weird in conjunction with the pine. Not bad, just not something I'd ever smelled in combination before. This reminds me a bit of Golden Priapus, minus the vanilla.

Drydown: This becomes a smokey, spicey piney concoction. The almond & sassaparilla are way in the background, just adding a tiny bit of a sweet edge to the blend. The pine is almost peppery! The pine note is so smokey with the addition of the tobacco smoke; it's dark & alluring.

This is probably most fantastical on a man, but I do love the dark, mysterious scents on myself.

Conclusion:

In the bottle: It smells a lot like Snake Oil/Snake Charmer to me. But I figured it would, so no big surprise here.

Wet: smells less like Snake Oil. The patchouli really stands out, with just a tiny hint of the musk & vanilla.

Drydown: Wow, this smells a lot like Snake Charmer. It's like Snake Oil with just a tiny burst of more fruit than SC had. The fruit notes are a lot stronger and noticable on me than they ever were in SC. The pomegranite especially really comes to the foreground for a nice bright top note, with the sultry sugared & spiced vanilla as the basenote.

I love all the Snake Oil variants, so this is a total win for me.

In the bottle: sugary flowers; a bit perfumey.

Wet: Eep. Super strong jasmine. A tiny bit of incense (the kind in Sybaris) is very faint in the background.

Drydown: as it dries, it gets sweeter, more candy-like. It does retain a bit of the jasmine, but the other note smells a lot like those candy necklaces! Whoa. And yum! I think this smells a lot more like candy than the other Midway smelled (more like funnel cake and candied apples). The more it dries, the more it smells sugary & sweet, and the flowers just add a soft breath of a note to the blend. This is super pretty, and not what I expected at all.

eta: now that this has been on for almost 2 hours, there's more of a smokiness to it, and the floral notes just add a cool lightness to the blend. Now I like it even more!

wet: more floral notes. It smells vaguely familiar, yet I can't pick any note out.

dry: more vague notes! I have no idea what I'm smelling. It's very light with a hint of spice to it. the floral note i'm most able to detect is cool and light, maybe muget? everything else would be a total guess, and most likely wrong.

wet: a hint of mint and a hint of citrus. fairly pleasant.

dry: it's still really nice. light, clean, fresh. the mint note isn't quite as strong (which wasn't all that strong to begin with), but it's just barely detectable. This would make an outstanding summer scent! It reminds me a bit of Usher.

wet: uh. not liking this. it's like bad, sour floral notes and socks. that's one way to poison god, i guess.

dry: This is one of the rare oils that just goes totally wrong and awful on me. It's a really floral blend (of the sort that must be made entirely of flowers i dislike like lilies & irises) backed by possibly honey? But it really smells like old, stale flowers, and dirty laundry. It is a testament to my love of bpal that i've had it on for over an hour to review it. Ugh. Total thumbs down on this one.

wet: patchouli, and a berry note? something sweet, at any rate.

dry: the berry note reminds me of red phoenix. it is a bit sour on me, and overwhelming any other notes that might be lurking. There might be a bit of a dry wood/incensey note behind it, but i'm too distracted by berry/plum/whatever fruit this might be.

wet: florals... and something else. I am becoming more and more horrible at picking out notes.

dry: warm, slightly floral, and slightly resiny. i think it might be myrrh, which tends to go very slightly bitter on me. it's not terribly strong, and I'm having a hard time describing it or picking out a note. It's pretty, but just not something that's calling to me.

wet: smells like my deodorant...no, seriously. It's kind of a "fresh/clean" scent.

dry: still very sharp floral. I think that some sort of lily may be the culprit. I love it in blends when it adds a cool, "crystaline" note, but here it's just sharp & cloying, which is just overwhelming my nose.

wet: juniper berries? it's sweet, but not the typical sweetness encountered with most fruit blends, and there's a super faint evergreen note to it.

dry: still fruity, with a bit of greenery to it. there may even be a bit of spice to it as well. it reminds me a bit of a strawberry Malkuth. Huh.

wet: ozoney, but also something a bit smokey in the background

dry: still very sharp ozone, but the "smokey" has gone and turned very plastic-smelling. I'm not a fan of ozones, so this one is not for me.

wet: ooh. this one is juicy & sweet smelling. like citrus, berry & white musk. love it so far, and i just put it on!

dry: it's really nice. there is a refreshing, juicy quality to it, and a slight creamy backdrop. It's along the lines of Dorian or F5, but more fruity.

wet: woodsy/patchouli, i think. there's a faint sweetness to it too.

dry: much the same as wet. It's a nice sweet & woodsy blend. nothing super different or special for me, though.

Wet: oddly, this smells a lot like chicha morada - a sweet purple corn drink popular in south america. fruity, fruity-punch, candy. maybe it's lotus?

drydown: i can't even smell it anymore! i get a light, super faint woodsy smell, but i'm straining to find any scent on my arm.

Wet: medicinal; eucalyptus plus something else herbal

Dry: The "something else" smells a lot like anise or licorice. Very yummy smelling.

wet: sweet lemon candy

dry: almost disappears in the drydown; it's similar to the Vortex, but much softer. This also loses much of the pretty citrus note and becomes a bit more bitter. Not particularly long-lasting.

wet: soft, slightly herbal/floral. i can't pick out this note.

dry: sweet, very light florals. i can barely smell it anymore, so it's especially hard to pick out anything specific from it at this point.

wet: slightly earthy/spicy, i can't put my finger on what this note is. it's almost like vetiver + cinnamon.

drydown: must be ginger; it's gone all spicy-soap on me. it's the only thing i can smell out of it now.

wet: sweet--dragon's blood and something else, possibly a light floral?

dry: sweet florals, mostly. possibly jasmine. it's a bit too sweet for me, but if I were to get this, I'd probably not be really wearing it as perfume anyway.

Wet: vetiver!

drydown: mostly vetiver with a bit of spice to it, possibly ginger or pepper. very earthy & grounding.

Wet: sharp citrus, very lemony

drydown: softer lemon, something bitter in the background. I'm not getting anything I can describe as creamy or vanilla, unfortunately. Smells mostly like a lemon-flavored lollipop.