puellacaerulea

File under "bottles I've had for years yet forgot to review." Probably because it's tough to describe this one -- it's so well-blended that picking out individual notes is tough. The matcha and leather accord do stand out the most, but there's a light, clean element to this scent that runs parallel to the leather notes that's hard to describe. (It might be the narcissus and petitgrain.) It smells vintage, expensive, and androgynous. I mostly save this one for special occasions or times when I particularly want that vintage perfume vibe.

In the bottle, I definitely pick up the astringency of the tobacco. As it wears, the astringency fades, and the scent becomes more of a chewy, caramelized, slightly sweet tobacco. So: a warm, brown, slightly sweet pipe tobacco scent. Has great staying power, which is good as I'm more a fan of the less-astringent drydown stage. It's great on its own, but I'm curious to see how it layers. Glad I took a chance and splurged on a secondhand bottle.

Today I learned that letting bottles/imps rest a bit really does work. When I got my decant a few weeks ago, I tried it on right away and was not a fan -- too heavy on the patchouli and amber. After a few weeks of letting the decant sit, I like the results a lot better now -- the patch and amber are still there, but are background players, giving a little grounding to what is mostly a jammy fig and lokum sweetened with bourbon vanilla. The patch and amber aren't too aggressive, but they keep the scent from getting overly sweet. Need to test a few more times to see if I need a bottle, but I'm here for both the concept and the cause.

Add me to the list of folks who got the Turkish Delight instead of the nutty experience of this scent. In the decant, I could pick out the fig, almond, and hazelnut, but shortly after applying, I got a huuuuge blast of rose candy (that also went a bit powdery on me, as rose often does) that was borderline overpowering. Well after drydown, the lokum calms down and the rich, nutty notes were able to get a word in edgewise, but the scent had faded pretty considerably on me by then. This one might not be for me, though I do want to see if the nutty notes develop differently after the decant ages a bit.

This one's all fresh, green, springlike florals. A little bit of powdery floral, but also the green note you'd get from a freshly cut stem. Very much a "spring" scent. If fresh florals are your thing, this is one to try.

In the decant and once on, I get resins and oudh, and unfortunately, it's a notably fecal oudh. This goes through several stages of morphing before settling -- there's the extra-indolic oudh stage, but then the iris upstages it for a while in an intense white floral phase. It does eventually settle into something better after drydown -- the iris calms down and the oudh gets more soft and golden and less indolic, while the frankincense adds another soft resinous note. Overall, a mix of soft resins and chilly white floral. It's unusual for sure, and while I have to power through some unpleasant stages as it dries down, I don't dislike the end result.

In the decant and once on, this is pale, creamy, slightly marshmallowy vanilla. I never quite pick out the osmanthus, but it might be blending with the subtle hints of sandalwood and frankincense to give the scent a faint woodiness/muskiness that helps counterbalance the foodiness a bit. Like other reviewers have said, the scent description fits. Like a more overtly feminine version of the Bourbon Vanilla, White Sandalwood, and Sage Ménage à Trois. Given I already have a bottle of the latter and it's a bit more my style, I probably don't need a full bottle of this, but will definitely keep using my decant.

In the bottle and wet, I pick up the sweet earthiness of tonka, but there's also a ton of almond in here. I don't find it particularly boozy, but it's definitely heavy on the almond. It's more subtle and low-throw than I expected -- sweet, warm, and a little earthy. It's probably the almond, but it reminds me of Salomé.

I can't believe I slept on the SNs when they originally appeared. I've snagged a few via sales pages and it's clear I was missing out. In the bottle, this is slightly astringent coffee, but most definitely fresh coffee, with a hint of sweetness. Once on, the astringency calms down, but the sweetness hangs out. One of my favorite cafes used to offer a "coffee soda" that consisted of their cold brew concentrate, plain soda water, and simple syrup -- this reminds me very much of that drink. It's not aggressively sweet, but definitely sweeter than sticking your nose in a bag of coffee beans. I like it a lot on its own, but I feel like this has a ton of layering potential, too.

In the imp, the coconut definitely stands out, but I also pick up the milk note, which keeps the scent from going into full suntan-lotion territory. Once it's on, my skin eats the milk up fast, and the coconut (with a touch of shea) dominates the blend. At this point, we are in full suntan-lotion territory -- classic, coconut-scented lotion (and I mean that in a good way -- no chemical-scented lotion here). If coconut's your thing, you'll probably want to try this one. Relatively low throw, but has great staying power. I could see myself reaching for this in hot weather or when I want to be reminded of the beach, so I'll definitely hang onto my frimp, but this probably won't be a regular-wear thing for me.

In the bottle and once on, I get a mix of deep amber, citrus, sunflower, and marigold -- they should be bright and sunny scents, but there's something darkened and muted about them. I never fully pick up the leaves, but there's a brief period where I get the off note that sometimes happens when a green note isn't playing well with my skin, so possibly the leaves? There's a slight astringency, but for the most part, this remains that mix of amber, marigold, and citrus on me, in that order. It's a little somber despite the brightness of many of the notes -- very evocative of the end of summer. (As a side note, this scent had its original run right when I was going through a significant life change that coincided with the end of summer. I always regretted not grabbing this at the time, and now that I've snagged a bottle years later, I'm amazed at how evocative it is of that period.)

This is sweet citrus and fruit to me, both in the imp and once on. There's also something a little creamy/vanillic about it -- the comparisons to meringue pie earlier reviewers made make sense to me. (On the other hand, this is a pretty well-aged imp, so that might be intensifying some notes.) If the scent's any indication, I can see this working as a mood booster; if nothing else, I feel less stressed and more motivated to tackle today's massive to-do list.

In the imp, this is a pretty mix of woodsy, mossy notes and pale, ethereal florals. Unfortunately, my skin eats the florals and amps the berry, so I end up with more of a mossy green/coniferous scent with berries. It's still a perfectly good forest scent, but the florals in the mix helped differentiate it from other forest scents in my stash. Will hang onto my frimp for scent locket use, though.

In the bottle, I get a balanced mix of lemongrass and tonka -- lots of bright lemongrass, but the tonka's there lending a sweet earthiness to the scent. After a brief period of the lemongrass amping up on me, it settles and balances with the tonka again. It's a really pretty combination of bright, clean citrus notes and slightly earthy sweetness. Strong throw and good staying power. This reminds me a lot of a lime and tonka-based perfume Lush used to make that I really miss, so I'm glad to have snagged a bottle of this.

This starts out as tobacco with a kind of high-pitched frankincense. There's a slight astringency to the blend at first, but it does eventually settle and get sweeter and slightly chewy with wear. The tonka's very subtle, but I think it's adding that faint sweetness. Still, this is tobacco-forward throughout. A warm, brown kind of scent; would be good for cooler weather. Not sure if I need a full bottle (I actually want to death match this with the bottle of French Tobacco I recently scored before I make that call), but will keep using my decant.

In the decant, very honey-forward mead and dried fruits -- I can't pick out the spices, but they're there. This is really well-blended -- I know there are fruits and spice under the honey, but this is definitely a primarily honey scent. I was worried it was going to be too heavy on the fruit and spice in the decant, but the honey note amps up a lot, so that I get a bright honey scent with a faint undercurrent of fruit and spice. I'm probably good with just a decant of this, but if you like honey blends, this is one to try.

Scent-wise, the ylang is pretty low-key -- the chamomile and tansy stand out more, with the elemi giving it an astringent, medicinal edge. The elemi calms down with wear, leaving me with a subtle, herbaceous floral. I do find it calming -- this one called out to me both for the scent notes and because, well, 2020.

In the decant, wisteria stands out the most, followed by the honeysuckle, with the jasmine barely detectable. They're all blended really well, though, which might be why I'm not immediately picking up the jasmine. This doesn't morph significantly -- my main impression is somber, purple florals. Not loud, and definitely not soapy. I love it for being a subtle, non-soapy floral, but my skin eats it up fast.

It's really interesting how different everyone's experiences of this scent are! In my decant, I definitely pick up the amber, coconut, and sweet florals -- I think the wildflower honey is reading like honeysuckle to me. There's no honeysuckle in this, but I swear I smell it. The coconut, smoked vanilla, and amber amp up more as it dries down on me. I don't pick up tobacco per se, but I definitely recognize the coconut/smoked vanilla combo from the Coconut, Smoked Vanilla, & Fig Menage a Trois -- here it's smooth, dry-ish, only faintly smoky, and helps keep the florals and honey from getting aggressively sweet. After drydown, I'd describe this as a light and sweet amber, orange blossom, and honey scent, grounded by the coconut and smoked vanilla and a hint of skin musk. It's ridiculously pretty.

In the imp: A fresh rose scent, with some faint green notes. It settles and the green notes get more subtle on drydown, but this rose avoids going powdery. Pretty subtle and low-throw. If you like rose but have issues with rose notes going to baby powder, this might be one to try.

Was recently frimped this by a forumite. In the imp, it's very strong, sharp incense -- yikes! (I can't tell if it's the patch or the frankincense, but based on other scents I've tried recently, I think it might be the latter). It develops wonderfully once on, though -- I'm used to softer white sandalwood blends, but this sandalwood is closer to cedar -- definitely a wood note, but avoids pencil-shavings territory. The sharpness also fades, and I get wood and spices that are reminding me almost of fresh ginger, even though that's not a note in the description. It's more subtle and close to the skin than that initial sharp blast from imp suggested. It's woods and resins and a hint of spice, but in a very low-key way. I don't think I need more than an imp, but I like it a lot more than I expected to at first sniff.

Leather and tobacco notes tend to work well for me, so I wanted to at least try a decant of this. It is *strong* in the decant and once applied -- I can pick up the leather and tobacco, but they're accompanied by some pretty strong, dark incense notes (guessing it's the blackened champaca and/or raw frankincense). Strong, dark, sharp, smoky incense with a backdrop of leather. It does mellow out a bit with wear -- I never quite pick out the petitgrain or bourbon vanilla, but I suspect they're helping to tone down the initial sharpness. It eventually fades to a leather/tobacco combo. It's not the kind of thing I'd reach for often enough to justify a full bottle, but I'll keep my decant.

In the bottle: The sandalwood and orris stand out, as well as yellow florals in the background. Once it's on, the orris and nicotiana really amp up - the orris goes through a brief powdery phase, but it does eventually settle down and blend more effectively with the sandalwood. Overall impression is soft smoky notes (think pale, hazy, luminous) over a base of subtle floral notes. Sticks pretty close to the skin and has great wear time. I always regretted not getting a bottle of this during its original run, so I'm glad I snagged one secondhand.

In the decant, I get whiffs of lavender and rosemary, and just a hint of bergamot. Promising start. Unfortunately, I seem to amp the blackberry, and something about the way those fruity notes interact with the rosemary is just not working for me -- they combine in a way that's cloyingly sweet to my nose. (I had a similar reaction to Bess -- I think I just need to avoid scents that involve a combo of non-citrus fruits and rosemary.) Still, I'll hang onto my decant to see if it works better in a scent locket, given it's way better in the decant than on my skin. Could also see potential as a room scent.

The cannabis accord always scared me away from this scent, but when an opportunity to try a decant came up, I decided to go for it. In the decant: Patchouli and, yes, weed. Fortunately, the smoky vanilla really amps up on me and the cannabis accord fades fast. It's not a sweet vanilla, more like smoked dry vanilla bean. Likewise, the patchouli isn't the heavy, dirty, chewy kind, but more dark green and mossy (I'm guessing I'm also picking up the hemp). So: mainly mossy greens and smoky vanilla on me. Sort of like Smug Yale Alchemy Lab's dirty hippie cousin.