kohaisama

In the imp: creamy strawberry and bitter vermouth

Wet: boozy strawberry cream. wow. I could get a buzz off the fumes!

Dry: citrus strawberry cream

After all the reading that it's like Floating Brain, I'm really happy that this isn't what I got. There wasn't a whole lot of morph going on with this one. From start to finish, it was the same.

In the imp: Irish coffee. Pure and straight irish coffee, sweet and a bit acidic.

Wet: Sweet tobacco and woodsy.

Dry: The tonka has really come out and mingled with the wood. It's really mellow.

This is what I would have wanted Misk U to be like without being screaming irish coffee 24/7.

In the imp: AUGH! OH GODS!! I think I just became diabetic just sniffing that. I couldn't make out any notes except that it was painfully sweet.

Wet: Marshmallows and cotton candy, toothachingly sweet.

Dry: Just as it hits the drying stage, I start to smell the greasepaint and it's really mellowed out the sweetness. I'm no longer in danger of getting cavities.

I'm really surprised at how this morphed on the dry down. It started out so sickeningly sweet and is now a bit of spicy (that's how circus peanuts smell to me) and mildly sweet. The throw also shrank incredibly and has become soft.

Dead ringer for Snake Oil to my nose.

It's a dead ringer for Aveeno sun screen. All the notes are completely drained away, leaving a lifeless husk of oil.

CIV:

In the imp: smells like O

Wet: violets & honey

Dry: violets, rose and honey and it's very close to the skin.

CXV:

In the imp: something sweet like candies

Wet: Watermelon jolly rancher!

Dry: Fresh cut grass, rose leaf and a touch of rose maybe. Good throw.

CCXLLI (291) :

In the bottle: Caramel latte and black tea

Wet: Nutmeg, lemongrass? (something lightly green with a bit of citrus), coffee

Dry: Back to a caramel latte w/tea and dash of nutmeg and a spritz of lemon zest. Decent throw.

This is what I imagine would happen if Miskatonic University and Dorian had babies.

15 min later: Ha! The throw has increased a LOT. I can now smell it from my hand (testing spot) on the keyboard and my head leaned back on the reclining chair. The tea smell of Dorian has come through more and the caramel/nutmeg is blending wonderfully with it.

Most of the numerals on my bottles were rubbed off, so I'm guessing with what little bit I can see.

CCXVII (217) :

In the bottle: spicy and resiny

Wet: soft snake oil base and a punch of dark vanilla, stronger than normal but not in your face.

Dry: it's really softened down to something similar to chai tea, but creamy, oh so creamy. the throw has also diminished. I'm starting to get hints of amber, but it's just wafting in the background. Yeah. That's amber. It's going powdery, but not in a bad way. It's making the snake oil delicate and smooth.

I imagine this one might age very well.

CCIII (203) :

In the bottle: HOLY CRAP FLORAL CANDIES

Wet: Shaving cream and snake oil?

Dry: There's a whole lot of floral action going on here, but I can't quite pick out what they are. It's almost like a mix of white florals and violets. It's an interesting combo with the snake oil drifting around. The throw is decent.

15 minutes later: Lavender!? Wow. That was a hidden one!

I'm not sure what happened, but mine sample smells like astringent roses. Very much like rose scented rubbing alcohol.

In the imp: chocolate

Wet: chocolate and ginger

Dry: chocolate ginger snaps (a chocolaty Shub), but after 30min it goes incensy-herbal with some serious throw. I think some aging will tone down the herbal aspect a bit. I'm still on the fence about how much I like it though as I'm rather partial to Shub. I'll have to try these two together and see how that goes (not layered, but "side by side").

In the imp: delicious fig and cedar

Wet: wood shavings, cold wet wood shavings

Dry: the fig finally came out and now the wood is cold with a bit of sweetness. the throw has all but faded away.

An curious scent, but not enough of the notes I wanted to smell were able to reach out.

Clearing Out the Cobwebs: Dark Delicacies Trunk Show, 2/8/09

In the imp: something fruity and cologne-y, a smell I usually only get when leather is a note

Wet: a floral and something herbal, like an aftershave

Dry: green and medicinal, but not a in-your-face kind of way

In the bottle: Orange Crush soda

Wet: lots of orange zest and juicy orange

Dry: it's gone a bit creamy, like orange cream soda now but without the fizz.

This is almost more than I was hoping for. creamy orange that's fun without being sugary sweet, sharp like a cleaner or overly citrusy. just a big, fat juicy orange with cream. My only sadness is how it fades after an hour and becomes close to skin. it had such great throw until that point. I still love it though. I think if the lab could make it last longer, this would be a HUGE hit. I hope we see a perfected Orange Phoenix hit retail this year or next.

In the bottle: wow. dark, rich spices and warm ginger

Wet: oh yeah. gingerbread men and fresh from the oven. still warm and spicy.

Dry: all warm gingerbread, but softer and a hint of smoky resin in the background

this is a GREAT scent that has decent throw. I'm so glad I got to try this year old Shub and I'm totally addicted.

In the imp: soft lime and lemongrass

Wet: lime zest, sharper green lemongrass and a bit of soft floral

Dry: same wet, but softer with a bit more lemongrass

very strange fragrance. this reminds me a lot of my favorite Thai soup, no doubt because of the lemongrass. I'm a bit sad I didn't get any of the other notes or the coconut meat. still nice though.

In the imp: herbaly cedar. kinda sweet, kinda green.

Wet: sweet, cedar with a bit of fresh picked green herbs. it reminds me of some of the herbs used for pickling. I know I smell dill in there. I recognize that scent anywhere.

Dry: lovely, smooth cedar and sweet, soft green herbs.

This really surprised me. I wasn't expecting to like this one at all. The only down side is that it fades very fast and settles real close to the skin. Zero throw.

In the imp: jasmine and rosehip, like a soft, rose that's reaching wilted. still rose, but deeper and velvety

Wet: rose, something green and a hint of something of Off! bug spray

Dry: straight up jasmine

After it dried, the jasmine took over to make it a very mature, floral scent with a small range of throw. with my nose right up to my skin, I still smell like Off! bug spray. strange.

In the imp: peach wine, lemon zest, a bit of orange and spicy (carnation) tuberose.

Wet: peach wine and oranges

Dry: peach wine

There's not a whole lot of morph going on in this one. no violet (note of DOOM) and the tuberose never showed up. it's sweet, fun and reminds me of Fruit Stripe gum. it has great throw too.

In the imp: floral that's a bit green and spicy

Wet: all tea rose and lily of the valley. the two flip back and forth over top note.

Dry: all floral, all the time. lily, tea rose and plumeria are in a cage match to the death. poor orris and ambergris never made it to the arena. this one has a lot of throw and only a little is needed, so take it easy on slaterhing!

I'm not one to normally say this, but it's way too much floral for me. tea rose, lily and plumeria are florals that don't joke around.

Edit: 18min after I posted this, it's turned into french milled rose soap.

In the imp: boozy and soft woody

Wet: the aggressive boozy is mellowed by a soft apricot. it's what I imagine apricot sake would smell like.

Dry: surprisingly, this has become a delicate fragrance. the blonde wood has almost a floral aspect to it and the apricot has become more tangy, but not loud. the down side, it's very, very close to the skin.

I was honestly expecting this one to be astringent, but it's not. It's very feminine and delicate. It's what I'd imagine a shy maiko (geisha in training) to wear. Nothing that pulls the attention from her more experienced sister geisha, but something alluring and innocent that a patron might catch a fleeting smell of if he's lucky enough to get close.

In the imp: beeswax, soft vanilla flower (not the same as vanilla!), sharp copal.... ah, and the skin musk slinks in at the end

Wet: skin musk, beeswax and a faint copal. the skin musk is real close up front making it smell kinda like Old Spice cologne

Dry: all skin musk and copal. the skin musk has completely pushed everything else out of the picture and it wrestles for top note with copal.

I was afraid of getting another Agrat and it's not too far off. The skin musk being the top note in this scent and Agrat makes them very similar. If skin musk and copal are your favorite notes, you'll LOVE Giant Vulva. I ended up having to scrub this one off after a while because it almost closed up my nostrils.

In the imp: leather and cheap men's cologne

Wet: there's the leather, something creamy and something... not so good. it's medicinal sharp.

Dry: pine resin??

This one was a real disappointment. It's so strong that my left nostril has closed up. I never got the berries (note of DOOM), figs or cognac. I really had such high hopes for this one. I was praying for this to work on me, but it doesn't. On the plus side, I helped contribute to a great cause, so it was worth it.

In the imp: sharp amber

Wet: sugary vanilla amber going a bit powdery as it dries

Dry: *note: it took 20 minutes for the little spot to dry* The sharp amber is still there, but the orange blossom does help to mellow it out a bit and the vanilla in the background smells a lot to me of Snake Charmer Res. I'd call this a softer side of Snake Charmer Res. Sorta like a little sister.

As this scent stands right now, it's too sharp. This needs to age a bit, methinks. It'll probably be nice to revisit after a few months.

In the imp: smooth vanilla on soft sandalwood and a bit dry, probably the rice.

Wet: The same as in the imp, but I get a hint of nutmeg. No plum blossom yet.

Dry: Ah, there's the blossom with the vanilla sandalwood. But it's gone very soft and close to the skin.

This one is really nice. Not overpowering and stays in the nose rather well even though it's close to the skin when it dries. This would be great for a locket. I wonder what this would be like when the sandalwood has time to age. I'm a big fan of sandalwood and this is nice, but I wouldn't wear it fresh. Give it a few months and it'll probably have a little more throw and make the vanilla a bit richer.

This has to be the easiest review I've ever done. It smells exactly like described from imp, to wet, to drydown. It's the old, forgotten about foyer of a haunted house that is still extremely creepy. The only thing I didn't get was the cognac. There was no morph and it has great throw.