marared

Tart raspberry candy with an undercurrent of sour, slightly powdery GACK, and I'm not sure which note is causing it. I'm leaning towards the raspberry, because I've never had this reaction from benzoin, and the last couple times I've tried a raspberry-heavy blend from the lab, they didn't work out all that well. I'm gonna stick it in the closet for a couple of years and check every few months to see if the gack mellows out with age, because I really love a good smooth resiny raspberry.

So what I was hoping for here was a cousin to Bath and Body Works' Jasmine Vanilla - I still have some of the old formula, which is so much richer than it's been the last several years, the epitome of dark and sexy vanilla floral. 

This is much brighter. It was a little much on first application - nose-wrinklingly potent ylang ylang with high-pitched candyish vanilla behind it. But within ten minutes or so, the ylang ylang calms down, and the sandalwood comes out to mesh smoothly with the vanilla, and it becomes much more gentle and feminine. Not much throw at all, sits close to the skin, lasts for a good few hours but I have to put my nose to my wrist to really smell it. Probably going to order a backup bottle...

A sister scent would be A Spirit, Katie. 

ExtrEEEEEmely potent. My hands smelled of this just opening the box and the bubble wrap. It's like red musk potent. Loud, libidinous, bacchanalian fruit just barely held back by the oakmoss. 

Oh, this is gorgeous. Everything is so well blended that nothing really dominates. Can't really detect the vanilla, the patchouli is so aged and smooth that it's way down in the blend just chillin'. If anything is more noticeable than another, I'd say it's the champaca. Frankincense creates that powdery resinous undertone. Gloriously hippie without being obnoxious.

ETA that the champaca is definitely the dominant note here. That sweet grapey incense note is more noticeable on my fleece than on my skin though.

In the bottle and the first minute or two on the skin is a lovely fruity musk, but within five minutes the hinoki wood starts to dominate. Virtually no vanilla to speak of. I wish the fruit stayed longer, but this is still lovely and delicate, like high quality Japanese fruity-wood incense.

ETA: This aged really nicely. It's less musky; the apricot and the vanilla are more noticeable now (and I can tell it's specifically apricot), and I get some of the sticky brandy behind the wood on a deep inhale. It's low-key sweet.

Sexed up patchouli that's not quite so dark and planty - the honey is an undertone, not immediately identifiable as such, and the sandalwood dries things up a bit, but it's the labdanum and benzoin that shine here, giving it a lighter, playful, HOW YA DOIN? aspect.

This started out woody smoky grape - for about two minutes - and then it turned into strong syrupy grape, rose, and opium. Wine. Yes. This is sweet musky homemade WINE. 

Botanical, herby lavender suspended in a delicate sweet musk. The amber is there, but it's a bottom note that is undetectable in the bottle and only shows up on my skin if I inhale deeply. This might be a good nighttime blend - TKO frequently gives me vivid and weird dreams, and I think this will do the same.

Hot herbal ginger. Definitely the peel rather than the fruit, giving it an earthier aspect, and I think that's what gives it the "mineral" feel. Khus is apparently vetiver (which I love), and I don't smell it at all, or the mandarin, but the cistus is loud and proud. Ginger herbaceous floral. It's pretty strong on the skin, but the throw is mild. Strangely enough, it really does have a Christmassy feel to it, which might be the mandarin and the balsam working together?

Initially: salty musk. Neither the rose nor the amber are distinctive; they meld together to create an impression of beach sand. This is a semi-tropical beach on a cool fall day with the wind driving waves against the rocks. Not much throw. With time, the rose gets a little stronger - but my chemistry also notoriously amps rose. It doesn't *dominate* the blend, but it does slowly become more floral than beach, and I can see this having a "craft store powder" effect on some people. 

Orris is, ordinarily, a death note, but this does not go soapy at all on me. It's kind of a vanilla marshmallow with a golden overtone to it - it's kind of a love child of O and Sed Non Satiata - but it's not excessively sweet and it's REALLY good.

5ML PLS.

Fresh on my skin: extremely tart apple and something cool green that is not herbal or planty at all. The leather is waaay down under there if I inhale deeply. It's definitely seasonally appropriate There is a bit of sour playdoh that's similar to what I get from Snake Oil. Not sure what the culprit is, but I suspect it's either the clove or the rum.

After about ten minutes, it has definitely gone far too sour for me to enjoy, so it's off to the closet for a few months.

This one morphs a LOT. On my skin, it smells like luxury pencil shavings with the black suede in the background, and it's a little too sharp and fresh for a good ten or fifteen minutes. But then, abruptly, it smooths out into delicious deep rich sandalwood thoroughly blended into the musk. No leather, no bergamot, even the cedar vanishes. I can't believe how *different* it becomes in so short a time.

This suffered badly from travel shock - when I first got it, and even now on first sniff, it was an unappealingly loud jumble of scents. But it calms down after a few minutes, and while it is initially very rich, it becomes cool, smooth, slightly musky and woody labdanum. The fruit and the tuberose are just undertones, the vanilla isn't particularly noticeable, and the neroli fades after the initial blast. It morphs a lot, and I think it's going to get even smoother over a couple of years.

Ooh boy. Filthy is a good word for this. Both notes smell like they have some age on them - they're strong, but they're not sharp, and masterfully blended. The vetiver is by far the dominant note in both the bottle and the skin, and it's rich with slight hint of dark vegetation. The patchouli holds it down and smooths it out. 

If you don't like vetiver, this won't change your mind - it's not swampy or scorched, but it's still definitive and forceful. It's about as Dirty Hippie as you can get without sandalwood.

Whenever I order decants, I always get one that's outside my comfort zone, because I am regularly surprised by things I shouldn't like. This was my experiment, but unfortunately it didn't work out on my skin.

When it's fresh, it's a really juicy and sweet floral, and not even all that much rose. It has almost more of a ... hibiscus tang to it. But once it dries down, it goes through a slightly ammonia phase (like jasmine but not nearly so strong) and then turns to powdery apricot. 

Fresh application is bright zingy orange and lime as promised, and the ylang ylang shows up a few minutes later. Aaaaand then the citrus fades away, leaving a slightly resinous floral with only the ghost of fruit beneath it. 

Fresh, green, almost effervescent/citrus. Very zingy. Not very strong, nor much throw, but it lingers for quite a while. It gets a little darker and more resiny with time, but still retains that green freshness. 

This is a less obnoxious Boomslang.

Boomslang, at least the original, is LOUD. Waving the bottle in the general direction of your skin is almost too much, and when it warms up on your skin, people can smell you for an entire city block. (or maybe that's just me.)

Snake's Shadow has that same rich tone to it, minus the cocoa, but it's so much calmer. Snake Oil has never worked for me in any form, but this might be the one that finally cooperates on my skin.

Had pretty much the same reaction as patina, except I cannot smell any of the labda... oh wait there it is now. Oudh really dominates this blend. It's a lot like jasmine in that the initial sniff is like "whoa wtf gross," but it settles down very quickly as it melds with the other notes. BUT, the "ick" still reaches out and slaps me in the face every so often, which means I am not going to wear this again. 

*adds oudh to the "not a death note but probably should avoid" list*

Update a bit over a year later: tried this without remember what the notes were, and said "ugh, poopy oudh." 

Yep, this is a total blast of rich, sweet labdanum. It's slightly fizzy, almost like a honey cream soda. It's very strong on the skin, but it doesn't have a lot of throw. 

And yes, this will age like a monster. 

Dry spiced cacao, and - shockingly - it does NOT go sour like most spiced scents do! 

This is not especially *chocolatey*, but I definitely get the chili pepper and the clove. I am NOT sorry I got a bottle.

Leafy vetiver. It's not as sharp and smoky as fresh vetiver can be, nor as rich and gooey as the aged sort, more like what I would expect a vetiver *plant* to smell like. I would never have known there was any vanilla in this, but I think maybe that's what's softening the vetiver and the dead leaves, both of which can be a little harsh, especially fresh.

One day, I will find my perfect dark, not-too-sweet vanilla, but this isn't quite it. It's a nice dusty sweetness (I actually kinda sorta get that bell pepper impression someone else mentioned, although I wouldn't have thought of it that way) and it's got medium throw that doesn't announce itself, but it doesn't really have a whole lot of personality, either.

Smoky sage. Nothing identifiably oakmoss, and I don't know what chaparral smells like on its own. Mellow, slightly sweet, easily masculine if someone leans that way.