lohengrin

In the decant: Mostly musk. Don't really pick up anything fruity or sweet. On skin, wet: Musky and maybe just a touch of honey. Not entirely sure what tagetes smells like, but there is another note in here that I can't quite pin down, I guess it could be that. On skin, dry: Aw, baby powder city. After an hour: Baby powder and a very faint, very occasional hint of that mystery note from before. NOT a winner.

In the decant: Sweet and fruity. Nothing really stands out. On skin, wet: Sweet, fruity and just a very faint background note of something that could be the pink musk. Whatever the background note is, it's a little... odd, on me. I'm not sure how to even describe it. Not bad, but weird. On skin, dry: The maybe-musk note went away and now this is all super-sweet fruit-flavoured candy. After an hour: Candy. Currant always does this to me; this smells basically identical to Lady MacBeth (and just about every other currant scent I've tried) on me. I was hoping the musk and pepper would keep that from happening, but no such luck.

In the decant: Sugared citrus. No one citrus note dominates. On skin, wet: Sugared grapefruit. Like a grapefruit Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat. On skin, dry: A slightly soapy note has appeared, which really surprised me because nothing in here normally goes soapy on me (and I didn't read reviews before trying this, obviously). It's much too sharp and hardly sweet at all, at this point. After an hour: The soapy note has died down a little and a hint of the vanilla cream has rounded out the scent, but it's still a bit too sharp for my tastes and the soapy period definitely pushes this into "not for me" territory.

In the bottle: Borderline bubblegum. o.O I have no idea what note is doing this, but it's just... sweet. Maybe a touch fruity, but no spice at all. On skin, wet: Tea and sweetness with that same bubblegum undertone. Maybe a touch of mango now, but it's very subtle and I could be imagining it. On skin, dry: Much the same. After an hour: The sickly-sweet bubblegum-ish note has thankfully settled down and the mango is clearer now. Maybe there's a bit of milkiness there now, too, but mostly this is sweetness and mango. Weird, because usually I amp spices like all get out! Gonna re-test this later.

In the bottle: Rummy vanilla, maybe a hint of almond. No trace of clove. On skin, wet: This smells almost woody on me, though still rum-heavy as well. Only a hint left of the vanilla. ^^; On skin, dry: Slightly sweet, a little smoky, and still kinda woody. After an hour: The woody/smoky note has mellowed a little and there's still a subtle sweetness, but I would definitely not call this a tonka or vanilla scent. It's NICE, just... not what I would have expected from it being a "single note."

In the bottle: Oddly, I want to say this is almost a musky scent. Must be the amber giving me that impression. No coconut, hazelnut or anise. On skin, wet: There's the anise! Still that musky/amber scent in the background, but still no hazel- or coconut. On skin, dry: It's actually very hard to pick out individual notes at this stage, but the anise is mostly gone. It's still kind of musky, but it's gotten warmer. I couldn't say for sure that the new type of warmth is coconut, but it's there. No real trace of the hazelnut, though. After an hour: Still a very well-balanced, well-blended scent. It's not the coconut party I was hoping for, but it's pretty nice. Will re-test at a later date, but this is probably a keeper.

In the decant: Almond and lavender. It's an odd combination, and I hope that it doesn't turn into a lavender single-note on me. :/ On skin, wet: Lavender. Sigh. There's the occasional hint of almond or thyme (though never both at the same time, for some reason), but this is very herbal and not at all sweet. On skin, dry: Lavender and thyme, almost equally. No more almond, no trace of honey. After an hour: Apparently, in the rock-paper-scissors of things-I-amp, thyme beats lavender. This is almost all thyme, with a little lavender in the background, and zero hint of anything sweet. It's interesting, but not at all what I was hoping for.

In the decant: A little bit of orange but mostly this smells a lot like a gingerbread sort of scent. A lot of BPAL's "spiced" blends do this to my nose, though this one also has a marzipan feel to it instead of straight up gingerbread. On skin, wet: The spices definitely dominate, though I don't smell the cinnamon note that I amp like crazy, so that's good. There's still a hint of orange but it's definitely in the background. No more marzipan note, either. On skin, dry: Much the same as it was wet. It's very slightly more balanced, but the spices are still front and centre, the orange behind. After an hour: The rum peeks out a bit now and the orange hasn't gone away, at least, but the spices are still the dominant notes here. Still, it's nice, and worth a re-test.

In the decant: Sweet floral. Not overtly fruity, just sweet. On skin, wet: Completely floral, zero sign of any fruit. Wow, I have no idea how this happened. On skin, dry: And now it's starting to go a bit soapy. After an hour: This scent has been one big WTF for me--despite the notes and all the other reviews, all I get from this is soapy floal. It's got to be the frangipani amping all out of proportion, but whatever the case, it's not a winner. At all.

Red and sticky! From a genuine Old Salem recipe! In the decant: BOOZE. Sweet, fruity booze, but very decidedly BOOZE. On skin, wet: Still pretty boozy, but sweeter. On skin, dry: Still a very fruity, very sweet sort of boozy scent. After an hour: The booziness has mostly gone, leaving just a hint. Like cherry cordials, almost--very sweet and candy-like with just a touch of alcohol. Nice, but not really a must-buy for me.

In the decant: Predominantly green tea. There's a subtle undertone that could be floral. On skin, wet: It's a lot sharper on my skin, with that undertone becoming stronger and more definitively floral. Not soapy, exactly, but sharp. On skin, dry: It's gotten very faint already. After an hour: It's still very faint, too subtle to really pick out any specifics. It's a pity the staying power is so poor, it's hard to get a really good sense of it as a scent.

In the imp: Musk isn't listed as one of the notes in this, but that's actually what it smells like most to my nose. On skin, wet: There's the rosin. This is now mainly piney, though it's not giving me an instead headache so that's a good sign. On skin, dry: Now the leather makes its appearance, blends with that musk I smelled in the imp, and the rosin fades into the background. After an hour: It doesn't change much from the initial drydown. It's a nice blend, but pretty seriously masculine on me and thus, alas, not something I'd wear.

In the imp: Foresty. No one note really stands out. On skin, wet: Still foresty. It's more of a bark smell than leaves or resin, now. On skin, dry: Very similar to the wet scent, but sweeter. After an hour: It's gotten pretty faint, in general. It's more dominantly sweet now, with the bark scent now just an undertone. It's nice enough, but fading fast and not really grabbing me.

In the imp: Herbal, a bit sharp, maybe a tiny bit minty, and not at all sweet. On skin, wet: Still strongly herbal, but now there's some honey peeking out too. On skin, dry: Now it's very definitely honey first, with an herbal undertone. After an hour: Pretty similar to the initial drydown. It's almost musky, in that particular way some honeys can be, but still herbal as well. It's... nice. But it doesn't really grab me.

In the decant: Mostly this is lemon and musk, with just a hint of iris. On skin, wet: The same three notes as in the vial, but the iris is more dominant. On skin, dry: And the iris is entirely gone! ... But nothing new has made an appearance, so it's just lemon and musk. After an hour: This is more Whitechapel than Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat on me. Either way, though, it's nothing new or special. :/

In the decant: Green, a bit musty, and just a little touch spicy. On skin, wet: Similar to first sniff but with a bit more spice and a worrying hint of soap. On skin, dry: Spicy soap. Which is a nice change from the floral soap I so often get, but it's still soapy. After an hour: No change from the initial drydown. I blame the cardamom for the soapiness, but one of the other unfamiliar notes could also be the culprit I suppose. Never did get any honey or beeswax.

In the decant: Orange, coffee, and maybe a bit of ebony smoothing it all out. On skin, wet: Same as first sniff. On skin, dry: Still very consistent. After an hour: No real change. The orange (which somehow smells a lot like a true orange, even though osage orange isn't actually closely related) never gets overwhelmed. Worth a re-test for sure.

In the imp: Slightly perfumey, but sweet and warm too. On skin, wet: Still kinda perfumey, with a little bit of amber and vanilla adding warmth and sweetness. On skin, dry: Still pretty much the same, really. After an hour: The perfumey note has settled into a mellower sort of sanadalwood, and now it smells kind of like O with sandalwood instead of honey. I like the honey better. ^^;

In the decant: Earthy, rooty, and with a hint of spicy ginger kick. On skin, wet: Something in here goes slightly perfumey on me--I suspect the hiba wood. It's still a bit gingery, but the earthiness is gone. On skin, dry: Yay, the perfumey phase was brief! Now this smells like hay and a little bit of spicy ginger. After an hour: Warm hay and spice. This is a really fascinating scent, and quite pleasant, but I'm not sure I can see myself actually wearing it. Which is probably a good thing, since it means I don't have to track down a bottle.

In the decant: Fruity, no one fruit standing out particularly, with just a hint of floral. On skin, wet: Pretty much unchanged from first sniff. On skin, dry: Still essentially the same. After an hour: This one never really morphs. It's tart, fruity, and a bit floral. Nothing special, and never any trace of the shishito, which makes me very sad.

In the decant: Nutty and musky. The almond is strongest, but I can smell the gingko nut too. On skin, wet: Nutty and musky still, but now with a hint of something sweeter. On skin, dry: Now it's mostly musky and somehow spicy. It smells similar to the "gingerbread" type BPAL scents, somehow. Weird. After an hour: The spice--however it got in there to begin with--is very much dominant, with a little muskiness in the background. It really does smell too much like other spicy BPAL blends I already have, alas.

In the decant: Extra-sweet and juicy honeydew. On skin, wet: Same as in the decant. Yum! On skin, dry: Definitely very similar to Japanese melon candies, that's a good comparison. There's a little hint of muskiness that doesn't quite stand out as a note on its own, but reminds me that honeydew is indeed a variety of muskmelon. After an hour: This never changed much from the scent in the decant, except to get a little less sweet. It's still going strong, and very warm and juicy. Delicious.

In the decant: Apple and apple blossom. On skin, wet: Same as in the decant. Kind of reminiscent of Baobhan Sith, with apple instead of citrus. On skin, dry: Now it's getting soapy. After an hour: So many floral notes just Do Not Like Me. It's probably the champaca flower here, since apple blossom is usually okay on me. Whatever it is going wrong, though, it turns this sharp and soapy. And I never got any tomato leaf or goma (the notes I was hoping for most) at all.

In the decant: Boozy, fermented apples. A hint of spice, but not specifically ginger. On skin, wet: Pretty much identical to in the decant. On skin, dry: Still pretty much the same. After an hour: The apple has gotten more prominent and the spice settled down a little. This is actually what I'd hoped Autumn Cider (which turned into a cinnamon single-note on me) would smell like. I really like it, but I'll have to deathmatch it with my other apple scents to see if it's really different enough.

In the decant: Men's cologne, or aftershave. Off to a bad start. x.x On skin, wet: Same as in the decant. Ack. On skin, dry: Pretty much still the same, except a tiny bit of warmth from the tonka is showing up. After an hour: This finally smells more like a darker, more masculine Dorian like so many other people have said. Sort of like if someone mixed Dorian half and half with aftershave. This phase is tolerable, but not even close to good enough to make up for the straight-up-aftershave phases.