awesomeoverlord

Hmmm...this is oddly boozy to me...maybe it's the grape? This is nicely blended, but unfortunately orange blossom is my worst enemy and it amps within seconds of touching my skin. Overall, though, it's a nice fruity floral with a fair share of herb on drydown. I'm not getting a whole lot of rose, but I know it's in the somewhere, lurking behind the orange flower.

I should preface this by saying that ylang ylang and I very rarely get along...and by rarely, I mean to say pretty much never. With the dragon's blood, the effect is overall oddly soapy. Usually florals like this just give me a headache but here they're being tempered by the resin enough so that this isn't the case. Unfortunately, the result is still soap. Not for me, I guess.

Wow...I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was that I was smelling before I went and read the other reviews -- nailpolish remover, for sure! In the imp and wet on my skin, anyway...

 

Once it starts to dry down it morphs into this oddly perfumey dry hay smell...a little sweet, a little fresh, but overall kind of artificial. Not really my thing, I think.

LXXVI

 

In the bottle: Little bit of Snake Oil with a slew of other things I can't quite discern -- there's something sweet and woody in here.

 

Wet: Whoa...deep! Sexy spices and a touch of smokiness. Definitely cinnamon, though I'm also picking up a bit of clove and what I want to say is fennel. Basically, a really nice smoky spicy Snake Oil.

 

Dry: It went through a funky phase about half an hour in where it smelled of pure cinnamon... Like serious angry CINNAMON. I was almost ready to give up on it at this point since, even though it was a very nice spicy scent, I'm not generally a fan of that much straightforward spice. However, another half hour later, the cinnamon beast calms down and it melts into this wonderfully spicy soft incensy sweetness. Kind of what I always wished Snake Oil would be on me.

 

ETA: It's had a couple of weeks to settle into itself and the spices are mellowing into each other quite nicely...at this point, I'm inclined to call in a cross between gingerbread and a really good Indian chai, yet surprisingly not foody in the traditional sense. Angry cinnamon never did make a comeback, so I'm rather pleased.

VII

 

In the bottle: Heavy on the Dorian, I sense a little bit of light floral as well and a bit of an extra citrusy edge, though that may just be because it's fresh and I'm used to my Dorian with a few extra months on him.

 

Wet: Dear Dorian went strolling through a garden and had a little roll in the meadow --it's that delectable sweet tea vibe, but coated in pollen, and honey, and soft golden flowers.

 

Dry: Dorian settles back into his old ways. The sweet musky goodness I've learned to expect from him begins to emerge upon drydown -- it's not as cologney as I'm used to Dorian being -- perhaps those soft florals are smoothing it out a bit. There's something familiar in here...I swear it's gotta be chrysanthemums -- I got a couple of bottles of Flowering 'Mums in this same order and now that I smell them side by side, I definitely sense that same dry spicy floral in this blend. Like a sexy tea party in a blooming English garden -- complete with a good cuppa, some crumpets and a good serving of naughtiness with a not-so-proper Victorian gentleman on a bed of pretty yellow flowers.

 

Final verdict: YUMMY. For realz. I'm starting to think my bottles fornicated en route and produced this concoction all on their own because the more I sniff it, the more it seems like the love child of my sweet Dorian and my newest Shunga fling. Perfect!

Megalomania is right -- on me, this is basically frankincense and cinnamon engaged in a fierce battle for world domination. Not sure what happened to poor violet...I don't think she ever made it out of the imp. Not bad, but not me either.

Mmmm...I think this may be the BPAL violet I've been looking for! I don't get the gardenia, which is a huge relief as gardenia tends to overpower everything else in my experience and it's not really my favorite floral. The vanilla is there in a fuzzy sweet kind of way, but it behaves, tempering the violet just slightly. This is what I was hoping Faith would be before she went plasticky sweet on me. Very very nice. Dark, but innocent.

There's definitely something Snake Oilesque in here...must be the red musk. On my skin, the roses really take a back seat to everything else, coming out as sort of a generic perfumey floral rose. It's ok, but it reminds me of something weird that I can't quite place...like a New Age shop, or something. Overall, probably not for me. I'm starting to learn I prefer my roses fresh.

Yup, there's that gardenia! I should have known -- gardenia seems to have a habit of jumping out at me whenever it's present in the blend and here it's definitely a major player. There's definitely something vaguely watery going on here and I can distinguish other notes complicating the bland -- the ginger definitely pokes its head through, for instance -- but the gardenia rather overpowers the character of the blend. Pity, since it's not really my favorite floral, but the scent totally lives up to its description.

Very light -- the ginger is lovely in this one, and I'm not generally a fan of ginger -- I'm not really getting honey, more like beeswax, but it's very nice and warm. There's something vaguely floral here, although maybe it's just some of the sharpness from the ginger playing games with my nose. Probably not something I need a bottle of any time soon, but it's fresh and comforting.

This is really lovely -- on drydown, it reminds me of Illustrated Woman but softer, almost more powdery, and without the smokiness. Very nice androgynous kind of scent.

Mehh...I had high hopes for this one. Starts out like a dry mossy leather, which is ok, except that it quickly turns into...I don't even know how to put this kindly, but...old people. And not in a good way. Oh well.

Whoa...bubblegum! Of the most classic variety, no less. Cute, but not for me.

This is nice, but ultimately sort of uninspiring -- it's a lovely soft amber with a hint of sharper floral from the orange blossom. Something I would wear if I didn't really want to smell like anything in particular but wanted to put on perfume anyway.

Come away with me, fair reader, on a journey into the world of lovers and frisky felines...imagine yourself sitting down to eat a large cake -- buttery, tooth-achingly sweet, and covered with about three times as much frosting as any confection has a right to have. Not to be so easily dissuaded, you pick up a forkful -- ahh, this is better -- gingery spice, musk, and dusty powdery moss. Relieved and hopeful, you take a bite...

 

...and end up chewing on your plastic fork as the cake magically disappears in a poof of powdery smoke.

I will preface this review by stating that my skin devours chocolate like a ravenous hell beast. That being said, the bottle holds only the slightest whiff of chocolate to begin with -- the brown sugar is much more prominent here, which is fine by me since the sugar might actually stick around, whereas the chocolate never did stand a chance. Wet on my skin, this is a fairly foody with a sweet sugary base and lovely spices. As it dries down, it treads a dangerously fine line between a nice rich blend of spices and holiday potpourri. I'm curious to see how this will age as well.

Given the other notes, this is ultimately surprisingly light and sweet-peaish on me. I was thinking the sweat pea would settle down a bit on dry down and the tonka and sage I was looking for would come out, but instead it just disappears entirely. Poo.

All I'm really getting from this one are those imperial florals. Vetiver's (thankfully) nowhere to be seem and the sandalwood, amber & co sort of waffle around in the background while the musk blends in with the aforementioned florals.

 

Overall, nice, but kind of generic.

Hmmm...not really my thing, but nice. Initially it struck me as neroli, but after a minute I'm getting gardenia, a little bit of jasmine, and...well, that might be it actually. Pretty floral, but rather generic.

Bahhh. Of course. Pure Snake Oil. I don't know what I was hoping for -- my skin devours chocolate like a ravenous hell beast. I sooo wanted this to be different but, alas, it was not meant to be.

Don't get me wrong, I really like it. If you can wear chocolate, I am positive this will give you the wonderful chocolate slathered Snake Oil I was hoping for (at least that's what it smells like in the bottle). Me? I could have saved a few bucks and just gone for the straight Snake Oil from the start

Bottle: Oooo pretty! Lovely fresh mint and citrus and what, I suppose, is the Snake Oil lurking underneath.

 

Wet: holycrap!MINT...if I concentrate, there's something bright and green and the sweetness that I was initially identifying as Snake Oil except...wait for it, it's not Snake Oil at all but...DORIAN! Whaaaaa?

 

Dry: Yup, it's official. It's like Mr. Snake Oil and Ms. holycrap!MINT got married, with a house and a dog and a white picket fence, but then the first-born finally pops out and he's a carbon-copy of the mailman. Dorian being the mailman.

 

Now, I really really like Dorian. In fact, if I were to pick one perfume to wear for the rest of my life, it might very well be Dorian. And what's awesome about this is that the ultimate drydown phase is like my favorite part of the Dorian wearing spectrum...that part right at the beginning before my skin eats the lovely tea and Dorian drowns himself in cologne to compensate. I suppose it's the green tea and bergamot that are producing this most favorable result...though I must say I'm rather worried about where the Snake Oil went. Maybe it's that light sweetness that my nose is mistaking for straightforward Dorian-sugar? Very odd. But who am I to judge

Imp: Wow...this is fruity! Really bright and juicy and fruity -- if it's plum, it's very very fresh plum. Not getting much else at this point.

 

Wet: The fruity backs off a tiny bit and I'm getting some of the "potpourri" element, which, I'll hate to agree with zankoku_zen, is probably the nutmeg talking. Still very bright and fruity from the plum but the softness of the vanilla starts to come out a bit more -- if the sandalwood is there, it's very light -- and I'm getting a creamyness, which I'm going to ascribe to the wild rice.

 

Dry: This really reminds me of Lady Una. It's not really that they smell alike, but this has the same "sweet skin" type feel to it once it dries down, except with plum instead of blackberry. It's a lovely creamy light scent. Too light, actually. Like all the Shungas I've tried, I really wish this would last longer.

 

Verdict: There may be a bottle in my future -- I really like how soft this is -- I'll have to slather it on a few times and see how long it lasts. As long as I don't let anyone smell me during that initial holycrap!FRUIT phase, I think I can really pull this off.

Meh. I agree that this doesn't really hit me as white chocolate -- I've not learned to distinguish variations in the lab's chocolate notes, unfortunately -- they all kind of smell the same to me.

 

In the imp, this is chocolate covered Faith. On my skin, it's just Faith, seeing chocolate never seems to last longer than 5 minutes on me. Sadly, this means I have the same problems with it that I have with Faith -- the violets are just too darn sweet and...fruity. The quest for the perfect violet continues...

Imp: Nondescript chocolate note.

 

Wet: Much of the same, though the caramel does start to peak out a bit more. Very very sweet and chocolatey. Definitely a foody blend at this point.

 

Dry: Wow...what a difference. My skin eats chocolate for breakfast, so that part disappears pretty quickly. What I'm left with is an awesome smokey, spicy caramel. The foodiness has definitely lightened up a bit.

 

Verdic: I probably won't need a bottle of this, but I'm glad I got the decant to try.

 

ETA: Never friggin' mind...this is the first one that had elicited anything more impressive than a noncommittal, "yeah, that's nice" from my manperson. Also, a couple of hours and it's the BEST spicy caramel incense! Might need a bottle after all...

Imp: Beautiful florals -- lush but spicy and dry at the same time. Grounded in amber and soft sandalwood.

 

Wet: The florals start to dry out a bit more, the powdery loveliness of the amber emerges and I think I'm getting the *lightest* whiff of the cinnamon.

 

Dry: Deep creamy spicy florals -- this is gorgeous, and that's coming from a person who's not big on florals as a rule (to the exclusion of rose). Really soft and understated but unbelievably beautiful. I wish it had more throw -- I'll have to slather -- which just means I'll definitely be needing a bottle