Astarial

Is all mint problematic for you? What have you tried so far?

Here's some possibilities, with links to their reviews: Golden Priapus: Vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood and white pine. Jabberwocky: Pine, eucalyptus and orange. Loup Garou: Juniper, cypress and galangal with the barest touch of eucalyptus. Thanatopsis: Pine, juniper and musk. Undertow: Lotus and juniper with a hint of mint. You could also take a look at Ogygia (Crisp sea air, kelp, and climbing vines, flame-singed cedarwood and juniper branches, cypress boughs, alder wood, violets, selino, parsley, glistritha, and white sage), though it's significantly more complex.

Hanerot Halalu gets some comparisons to No. 03 Engine, though I personally don't get any honey from it - just wonderful beeswax and a touch of smoke and oil. You could try layering it with a scent that's primarily honey and see if that does the trick?

I can't really recommend the name Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit, but the notes (Vanilla orchid, black amber, coffee bean, labdanum, champaca, and oudh) sound like a good match, and the reviews definitely say it's a milky, sweet, creamy coffee. Could just tell her it's called Fox Spirit?

Wow, this is a serious morpher! This starts out in the imp as VERY RED wood varnish! I know that sounds weird but I actually really like it. It brings me back to the shop classes of my childhood. Once it hits the skin it starts changing a lot. First dead leaves, then wood, then a milder varnish, then something a bit sweet, then very wet, alive leaves, then a grassy scent. It seems to have settled on wet grass and dried leaves, though I think I'm getting maybe some maple when I sniff my wrist closely. There's something sweet there, in any case. I grew up in New England, so this is very evocative of the sudden, unpredictable mood swings of autumn. Once it's dry, though, I'm not sure it's terribly distinct from Autumn Coolness. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison.

In the imp, I get leaves. It reminds me a lot of Autumn Coolness. If I sniff a bit, I can detect maybe a hint of fuzz or fabric. Wet on the skin, ambergris comes out to play! It's just a little bit herbal, and a little bit sweet from the currant. "Fuzzy" is the perfect descriptor for this - it smells like how sinking your fingers into skeins of the softest yarn feels. I'm sniffing it while wrapped up in a warm fuzzy blanket (okay, two) and it just... it smells how I feel. "Yep, this scent describes this moment." As it dries, all the notes blend together beautifully. I can't really pick out the currant or the ambergris or the leaves or the fabrics. Nothing fades away, nothing takes over. They just... mingle. From time to time I do get a stronger whiff of leaves, primarily from the crook of my arm (I applied it there and on the wrist). There isn't a ton of throw here. I think it would be a perfect sleep scent, particularly if the general recommendations of lavender or vanilla-type blends don't work for you.

This is a gorgeous sweet floral. In the bottle, it reminds me a lot of Fallen Woman - the same kind of strong honey sweetness. But once sprayed the flowers come out and the honey becomes more of a sugar, and the bergamot lends a kick of bitter citrus to the fun. Very pretty! Lasts a lot less time than most of my glosses, though - it was gone within a few hours, whereas others tend to linger enough that I can huff my hair and smell them.

This is a very delicate scent. I get musk, and some woodiness, and some vanilla sweetness coming through, but it's very light and... almost fragile? There's almost a sense of longing and wistfulness. It's pretty and chilly at the same time.

The Arbor: Red musk, East African red patchouli, tonka bean, white gardenia, black narcissus, champaca flower, Roman chamomile, and massoia bark. O Love and Time and Sin: Red rose, Saturnian opoponax, and red musk. Lust Bonbon: Red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh, surrounded by smoky cinnamon-dusted cacao. Lips Full of Lust and Laughter: Red musk, wildflower honey, elemi, tangerine, and mint. Areia: Dragon's blood resin, pimento berry, olive wood, rosemary, black cherry, persimmon, red musk, and red rose. Ushi: Red musk, crushed tomatoes, mango, and fig. Of these, I think only Ushi isn't a strong red musk - it's mostly fruity with the musk playing a sexy sidekick. In all the others, at least on me (and in a bunch of reviews too), the red musk is definitely prominent.

This is an aquatic for aquatic haters, a floral for floral haters. While the seaweed and salt are strong in the bottle, with only a touch of floral sweetness, on the skin they soften significantly and the florals come out and play. I can't pick out any individually - I know the orange blossom is not super prominent because that doesn't play nicely on my skin and this blend doesn't display that, but the lotus, gardenias, and vanilla combine to make this a creamy, soft, feminine blend.

Review for the 2014 version: In the bottle, this smells like homemade apple booze that a friend of mine makes, combined with fresh orange slices. Delicious! I think I might want to mix some up for real. Once applied, cinnamon leaps out to join the apple and orange. I get booziness, but not really any butterscotch. It's delicious and drinkable, but for the next couple hours the cinnamon really takes over, with the apple fading into the background. That does eventually settle down, though, resulting in a warm, spicy apple cider. I like this a lot! I would love it a lot more if the cinnamon didn't completely take over for a while, though - I'm hoping with a bit of aging that will calm down. It's a really good fall scent, along the lines of Fearful Pleasure and Lambs-Wool.

Looking at your list of notes, I would strongly recommend Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood). It's definitely warm and soft, and the sweet pea plays so, so well with the vanilla and amber. Edit: You could also consider getting an imp of Prague (Crocus with snowdrop and three lilies). It's all flowers, but crocus and snowdrop are both really uncommon, and it's not at all like most of the floral notes - not heady, or cloying, or screaming of flowers. It's... fruity (almost like berries), juicy, very cheerful. A really good floral for people who don't like florals, I think.

How does this have only two reviews so far!? It's phenomenal! In the bottle, I get honey and vanilla, with a very mellow patchouli. If I sniff carefully, I can detect just a pinch of cinnamon. It's very similar once applied, though the patchouli gets a bit stronger. None of the notes is overwhelming, and I can pick up on all of them. The cinnamon is really very mild the whole time, lending a bit of nose-tingle and upping the woodsy factor, but not to the point of burning. Both patch and honey normally amp on my skin, but here they're both playing very nicely - like when a young kitten has spent its day tearing up your curtains and chewing on your computer wires and finally finds itself utterly exhausted and curls up on your chest for a rare quiet snuggle. This is very rich, syrupy, and a bit woody, but it's also very gentle. Despite its components, and despite the intensity when I put my nose to it, it really does hover relatively close to the skin. It's definitely a cuddly sort of blend. I want to cuddle myself while I'm wearing it. I never ever buy backups, but I'm seriously considering a second one of these - it's that beautiful.

I generally like aquatics, so i was super excited for this one. Unfortunately, I'm not getting any of the mint, anise, birchbark, or lemon - just salt and seaweed. It's somewhat harsh, and sometimes ozone-y, and doesn't seem to either morph much or gentle out. I'll need to get a second opinion, I think - I've recently discovered that my nose apparently can't pick up citrus on my skin. Even though I can smell it in the bottle, and even when other people can sniff me and smell lemon or orange or whatever, I get no hint of it. So it's possible that this is doing more that I just am not picking up on. So far, though, it seems like a bust.

Heavy on pumpkin spices, light on ice cream. I've not yet found a pumpkin that I like on me, and this one is no exception. While it doesn't make me feel physically ill (as Jack and various Pumpkin Patch blends have done), it's kind of single note pumpkin/spice from first sniff through drydown. Not offensive, but... eh.

Oh man, this is gorgeous. In the bottle, this is CREAM! and jasmine! Jasmine whipped cream! There might be some of the vanilla flower and peach blossom hanging out in there too. I'm not sure - but it's a delicious floral whipped cream om nom nom I want to bake cupcakes and make jasmine-infused whipped cream to frost them with. Thanks a lot, Peach VIII. The cream note recedes on my skin, where this becomes a sweet and creamy vanilla jasmine, with just a breath of peachiness. It's got a decent throw, and is soft and gentle. Very feminine. Over time, the florals ease up and I can smell the cream again, and I think some of the frankincense comes out. Not sure if it's because it's the "white" type or because this blend is still young, but the frank never qualifies for anything stronger than "subdued". The peach, too, is more a supporting note than a main player. I get a lot of similarities between this blend and Katrina van Tassel ("White rose and honeyed cream"), so if you liked Kat - or have had a hard time finding any - this might be an alternative. I haven't done a direct matchup (though I should!), but they've got similar floral/sweet/cream notes and I envision myself reaching for them in similar situations.

I agree with the earlier dried apricot comparison. In the bottle, this is a very chewy, dried-fruit scent, with some gentle spices rounding it out. It's sweet and syrupy, but not fresh or bright. Once applied, a bit of musk comes out and is joined by more of the spice, as the peace fades away. It stays similar all through drydown - slightly spicy, slightly musky, sweet and close. There's not a lot of peach on me... it's more of a sweet impression of fruitiness than the actual fruit itself. Seems like a good late summer kind of blend.

When you start looking at LE scents, you should see about tracking down some Lawn Gnome - it's a summer 2009 blend that completely turned me from "patchouli? Isn't that kind of a hippie thing?" to "omfg love". It's sweet, rich, and delicious, and the patchouli really behaves itself. The notes are "red currant, molasses, vanilla cream, moss, and patchouli", and you can check out the reviews here.

In the imp, I get jasmine and cedar. Wet on my skin, this is lemony jasmine and marigold, though something about it is making me think of lilac. The neroli and bergamot help make it richer and more complex. I don't get much cedar, but either that or the tobacco is hanging around in back with a little kick. It's a nice, citrusy floral. Would probably make a good summer scent.

In the imp, this is tonka and sandalwood I think. Brown and fuzzy. Wet, it gets a bit sweet and heavy, I'm not sure if that's the ambrette or the orange blossom being weird. Then it goes to.. sweet baby powder? It's not exactly baby powder, but it's sweet and dry and kind of dusty. Oh wait, no, now it's full on baby powder. And doesn't change back.

In the imp, I get cardamom, maybe oakmoss, and cedar? It kind of smells minty, even though there's no mint listed, and I see that at least one other reviewer has had the same impression. Once wet on my skin, the sense of creamy mintiness gets stronger. I know it's not real mint, though, since when I sniff it and try to compare it to mints I know, I can tell it's different. But something about the oakmoss combining with the brightness of orange and the spice from cardamom and cedar give it that edge. The orange peel comes out more as it dries, though it's not the super realistic pith and peel of Eastern Comma - this one is more of a dried, possibly candied, orange peel, but it doesn't dominate. Cedar gets stronger as it dries, and combined with the cardamom spice and the orange I'm actually reminded of going christmas tree shopping! It's not really a super cold weather scent, though. I think it'd be very lovely for cool fall evenings.

In the imp, this is floral and watery, with a champagne sort of bubbliness. Wet, it's... fizzy? Like Question Mark, it also reminds me of stardust, but without the tobacco note. I actually can't pick out any of the actual listed notes - just SN Champagne. And it stays that way the whole time.

In the imp this is VERY musky. Sweet musk, a little bit nutty, but very strong. Wowza. Wet on my skin, it's smoky, leathery, and musky. I'd say it's a very very wearable leather! Leather rarely works on me - it gets super chemically leather that just smells sharp - so I love it. It stays pretty stable while it dries, though my brain switches between interpreting it as "snuggly man smell" and "clean fluffy cuddly pet smell." There's something about it that evokes memories of my kitty curling up on my pillow right next to my face and breathing in her scent while falling asleep. It's definitely stronger than she ever smelled, and not really the same... but there's a strong animalistic association nonetheless. I miss my kitty dreadfully, so this was a surprisingly comforting (if also somewhat heartbreaking) sleep scent for me.

In the imp this is very peppery and spicy, with some frankincense and vetiver lurking in there. There's a hint of something lighter, maybe the iris or the black currant, but I expected this to be a dark and spicy scent. Once on my skin, it gets really fruity. There's some spice, some honey, some floral, some smoke, sure, but they're all hanging out in back while the BLACK CURRANT takes center stage. Loudly. Sweetly, and it's lovely, but wow. Was not expecting that. It stays really bright and fruity for a LONG time, too - all through drydown, and overnight, and through the following evening. It definitely melds and gets more muddled as it goes, but even now when I sniff I go "hmm, fruit!" This is really pretty, and very well blended IMO.

This is a huge morpher on me! It starts out LIME and YUZU, both yelling and clamoring for attention. It reminds me a ton of lightning storm, which also has those two notes overwhelming most everything else on me. Applied, it's more yuzu than lime, and the floral, fruit, and wood notes ground it and give it a bit of sweetness. Citrus normally disappears pretty quickly on my skin, but here it lasts a surprising amount of time and lend a continuing brightness as it burns off. It starts to get a lot sharper and woodier as this happens. There's a stage where I think of pine-sol, but mostly it's just... dry and sharp. The plum and citrus don't stick around to drag it back from that border, and ultimately the dry isn't something I like all that much. Woods really don't work super well on me, sadly.