sunshinedaisybliss

Thanks to the lovely bookandbroom for a tester of this one! I'm finding it difficult to pinpoint what the notes might be in SPDU1 - at first I thought it was green/herby, but then it went a little fruity, and now I'm just not sure what it is! Overall it's very soft and powdery, it has an almost incense-ish vibe but it doesn't seem resiny at all. It's slightly smoky, but not in a vetiver kind of way. I'm pretty sure there's something fruity going on, perhaps a very soft plum.. actually maybe that's what's giving me the smoky feel - plum can sometimes go smoky rather than sweet on my skin. There *might* be a bit of red musk in here too.. maaaaaaybe, or perhaps it's more of a brown musk. I hope someone else comes along and adds another review, because it seems mine is too vague to be of much use!

The hype on this was so strong and the raving so loud that I eventually caved and bought a bottle. Maybe my judgement is influenced by my little hoard of well aged (10+ years) Snake Oil, which is truly magnificent, but for me this does not live up to the hype. For one thing, it’s very light - I was expecting a much more ballsy blend. And I feel like the Smut has smothered the spicy musk and dark rich vanilla that I love so much in SO. I’m getting no leather and no patchouli - just a lighter, warmer Snake Oil. Disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. So I will do the only sensible thing, and put this away at the back of the drawer then see how it feels ten years from now.

Weenie Weenie on the wall, what’s the smuttiest ’ween of all? Well here’s the thing. At first this was ALL pumpkin - dark, boozy, oven roasted until it’s all caramelised type pumpkin. It reminded me of some of my favourite Pumpkin Patch blends from the very early days. But no Smut. And then.. half an hour later, it’s all sugary musky smutty booziness, not as swarthy as Smut on its own… so, Smut Lite. But no pumpkin. Eventually this balances itself out and that’s the sweet spot where the pumpkin and the Smut are there together. Musky, boozy pumpkin. But by then it’s not enough of either and nothing particularly exciting on my skin.

Disclaimer: I’m not hugely into florals, but this was kindly frimped to me, and I believe one should always test all the things, so here we go… On me, this is a strong white floral that leans slightly toward the sour side rather than sweet. It’s very soap-y and very perfume-y. As others have mentioned, the orris is subtle and doesn’t really appear until the oil has fully dried into my skin. Only then does the moonflower mellow out a bit, but it’s still very strong. So this is definitely not my style at all - for me it has no complexity, it is what it is but it’s not for me.

On me, the tobacco is definitely the dominant note here - and I agree, it’s that same rich chewy one from the French Tobacco SN. But where the FT SN was very “golden” to me, here the tobacco is warmer and softer thanks to the red benzoin which is a perfect compliment. Slightly woodsy, slightly sweet - it’s just tempering the tobacco beautifully, holding it back from turning this into The Tobacco Show. The ylang ylang is just quietly doing its thing, minding its own business, adding little glimpses of fruity floral sweetness but never taking over. I think this would appeal to people who like red musk but find it cloying, and people who like tobacco but find it too strong. This trio has some good throw, but it’s not as heady or heavy as other tobacco blends I’ve tried.

Ok so yes, this does smell like LUSH’s Honey I Washed the Kids. Except a grown-up, naughty and boozy version of it. More like Honey I Washed Lenny Kravitz and Slash In A Bath of Molasses And Then We Rolled Around In A Bed Of Donuts. It’s dark, delicious, sweet, rich and syrupy. And it stays that way for hours! I lovelovelove this one 👍🏼

Ooh this is the same dark, treacle like boozy honey that’s in the Honey, Tuberose and Vanilla Sugar trio - so rich, like molasses - borderline burnt brown sugar. It definitely has some balls, it’s not a sweet sunshiney honey. And - just like the honey in HT&VS, this one has a strong throw and lasts for hours. So with that said.. it takes a little while for the black lilies and the gardenia to come out - I couldn’t really find either of them until about 20 minutes in, but once they kicked in, that boozy honey backed off a bit. If you’re looking for sweet gentle honey and pretty florals, this is not the one for you. But if you like a smokey, boozy honey with a sploosh of sweet heady florals, this might do the job for you. Overall, this is interesting and a bit different, and it has great wear length.

This one had a lot to live up to, because I already have a honey/patchouli love in Tricksy (the one that rules them all). So on me, the honey really doesn’t come out to play (surprisingly, because it’s usually an amper), but the labadabbadumdum (what? that’s how I say it ok) is beautifully smokey and the sandalwood is dusky and warm. The benzoin is more woodsy and balsamy than sweet, so with the absence of the honey overall this definitely leans dark and smokey rather than sweet. The patchouli here is earthy but clean, and - as usual for me - it does end up being the lead singer of this little band. I am a bit sad about the lack of a “sweet” element, because I think it would have been more interesting. So in the end, I have a nice earthy smokey patchouli that’s nice and all, but not anything I’m too excited about.

Ugh.. at first this smelled like bad farts that someone has tried to cover up with one of those “Sunshine Fresh” kind of sprays. Nevertheless, I persisted. Then it changed into poop smell that someone has tried to cover up with one of those “Garden Bouquet” kind of sprays. Nevertheless, I persisted. Half an hour later, it changed into water from a vase that’s held dead flowers for a month smell that someone had tried to cover up with a few good sprays of an engine lubricant. Nevertheless, I persisted. In the end all I have is a dirty sour floral with a tinge of poop and hint of metal. I no longer persisted, and washed it off.

hmm.. this is an interesting one! At first, I was getting a strong menthol vibe from the aldehyde, which was messing with the coffee and clove in a weird and clamorous way. Once fully dried down though, the menthol fades - there’s still a slight hint of mintiness, but the benzoin has created a nice base of gentle sweetness which stops it straying back into menthol land. Unfortunately, the coffee has pretty much disappeared from my skin. And I’m not getting any nutmeg, but I’m not mad about that because it’s not a good note for me anyway. I’m not really picking up any amber or sandalwood individually although I know they’re there - they have blended in beautifully with the clove and nag champa to give off a lovely soft clove-y incense vibe. Very nice 😊

I’ve noticed that all the previous reviews here are from a year ago or longer, so I wonder whether - now that this is another year older - things have changed? I’m wondering this because.. what I have here is pretty much just a sweeter, softer version of Snake Oil. I do recognise the honey but it’s not really obvious, it’s just in there somewhere. I can’t really find “vanilla cream” but this is a bit more vanilla forward than regular SO. Honestly if I didn’t know what this is, I would have thought it’s just nicely aged Snake Oil - albeit a less SO and more vanilla version (which doesn’t change my impression, as each of my old SO bottles has aged slightly differently). So thankfully, I don’t have to hunt this one down - I’m happy with my little hoard of lovely old Snake Oil 😊

Ooh! This has the same rich, dark, syrupy blueberry that I love in Blue Unicorn Moon - not a candy blueberry, but a genuine actual fresh blueberry smell. YAY! The cream isn’t sweet or sugary, and very neutral rather than buttery or milky. YAY! The cardamom is unfortunately a bit too much and it feels a bit itchy on my skin. BOO! So - two YAYs and one BOO! But cinnamon, cassia or cardamom are always problematic notes for me so that’s pretty much what I expected with this one. The blueberry has a strong throw though, so thankfully the cardamom only really bothers me when I smell it up close - if I wave my arm around, I can make my very own little cloud of blueberry cream scrumptiousness 👍🏼

This is - surprisingly - less dark than I was expecting. There is a definite undertone of darkness but it’s not heavy or overwhelming - it has a dark sweetness to it, and a nice freshness - like going outside on a chilly autumn day. The blackcurrant is a nice touch, and I do agree that overall this has a velvety feel. No one particular note really stands out to me - everything here is beautifully blended. Overall though - as nice as this is, it doesn’t really knock my socks off. And unfortunately the blackcurrant ends up turning sour on me, so that spoiled everything 😔

This is funky, sour and poopy on me. I smell like a litter box that’s shared by 74 cats and hasn’t been emptied for a while.

My decant has a dark brown globule at the bottom, so I gave it a good shake before testing 👍🏼 Hmm. First impressions - I was expecting this to be more “thumping”.. more dark and gnarly. And it just isn’t that way for me - it has some initial oomph, but it’s just not the KAPOW I was hoping for. For the first little while this is a gentle cocoa + patch mix with faintly woody undertones. I can’t really find any of the tobacco, which surprises me because that’s usually a note my skin plays up but it’s just not here for me. I also found that it faded really quickly - in less than 15 minutes, all I’ve got is a very dry patchouli. The cocoa has pretty much disappeared, the woody undertone is gone, and the tobacco still hasn’t shown up. So - and I say this with the greatest respect for the previous reviewers here - overall this is just not a top shelf patchouli blend for me. I think if I had gotten a good hit of the tobacco absolute, this would be a far more positive review because I feel like it really needs that kind of rich chewy sweetness to lift and warm it up.

Why does this smell so awful? There’s nothing in the notes to justify this ghastly odour!! At first, this smells like unwashed penis, ass crack and sweaty feet. And then it changes! But does it get better? No, no it does not. Now it smells like the odour that greets you when walking into a bathroom after someone has just vomited up their blue cheese pizza with so much force that they accidentally and quite violently shat their pants. But don’t let any of that put you off - after about half an hour it dries down nicely to the smell of sour pee-soaked baby powder and dirty socks and honestly I’m really glad I stuck around for that stage, because I wasn’t really feeling quite sick enough already. That’s it. I’m done.

This one just glows on my skin - beautiful golden amber, a sultry but not-too-sweet vanilla, and a soft base of creamy benzoin. I can pick up the musk though it’s quite subtle. But the star of this show is the apple + fig combo - just gorgeous together. Ah sheeeit… I should have bought an extra bottle of this, it’s beautiful now but I’m sure it’s going to age very well.

I get a swarthy citrus sweetness here, with a dark boozy twist. Not bubblegum, not cherry, definitely orange. Cointreau. This smells exactly like Cointreau on me. Aaaand.. ten minutes later.. it’s gone. As in - I almost cannot find the spot on my arm where it was. Gone

This is what I get… 1. Dark, smokey leather (I left my old leather jacket over the back of a chair in a smokey club and this is how it smelled when I got home). 2. Dark, soft smokey leather, a hint of rum, and warm patchouli (I loaned my leather jacket to my friend - a pipe-smoking grizzly bear - who slept on it for three days after too many hot rum toddies, and this is how it smelled when I got it back). 3. Sweet, dry, golden tobacco with warm patchouli and leather (I discovered that the bear left a pouch of his pipe tobacco in the pocket of my leather jacket, and this is how it smelled when I opened it up). 4. Golden tobacco, warm patchouli, soft earthy vetiver, snuggly leather and a hint of lime and sweet honey (I had a sleepover at my friend the bear’s place and we rolled our own smokes, drank margaritas, then laid my leather jacket on the forest floor and slept on it all snuggled up together, and this is how we smelled when we woke up). 5. Soft sweet patchouli and a faint memory of leather, soft smokey vetiver, warm golden tobacco and a dash of lime (a year has passed, I just pulled my old leather jacket out of the closet and I smile as I’m reminded of that night in the forest with my friend the pipe-smoking margarita drinking bear). I kinda love this. A lot. And thank you, skin chemistry, for not giving me any bile, puke or blood as neither I - nor my friend the bear (whose name is Sherman, by the way) - like either of those things. We’re just all about the warm snuggles.

Well this one is interesting! For me, it started out with a blast of sweet syrupy candy blackberry which reminded me of blackcurrant cordial. I didn’t get any of the oudh right away, and to be honest at that point I was just very happy that the blackberry hadn’t gone to instant cat pee on me, which blackcurrant usually does. So I checked back 10 minutes later, and there’s the oudh! That initial candy sweetness of the blackberry has gone, leaving behind a lovely dark and dusky warm wine-like berry or deep plum instead, and the oudh is now definitely there.. slightly smokey and somewhat earthy but not poopy or stanky. Good oudh! After about half an hour, I can’t really identify the oudh or the blackberry separately - they have integrated perfectly and together they’re quite lovely. I’m getting a slightly waxy feel from it, and if I really breathe it in there’s a slight camphor-like tone which is a bit odd but it’s not intrusive. Overall this has a lovely dark but soft feel and quite a mysterious vibe to it that keeps drawing me back in for another sniff.

Firstly, I should mention that I received this as a gifted decant and when I read the label, I thought it was "Not Such an Agreeable Seal" and was expecting something completely different. Seat, silly me. SEAT. No seals here. OK so the oudh here is kind of odd, with the "golden rose" element - instead of being all dark and serious it's kind of light and bright,but that stanky earthy oudh flavour is still lurking in the background. The saffron is bright and warm, and I definitely get the "opalescent" and "twinkle" elements as an overall vibe. Here's what's weird though... I can't really figure out what this smells like! There's rose, which is strong at first but fades back pretty quickly, a background of oudh, and the dusky floral melange smell of orris root... so overall, I'm going with the smell of walking into a florist shop that has bags of potting mix open out back and really needs to open a window to let some fresh air in. Dull soft florals with rose out front, and an earthy undertone. Not really my bag,