puellacaerulea
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Everything posted by puellacaerulea
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Sweet Potato Musk
puellacaerulea replied to Ina Garten Davita's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
This one started out all caramelized sweet potatoes and spice on me. As it wears, the musk and ambrette come out more, taming the foodiness of the scent a bit. Overall, sweet and gourmand but not cloyingly so. That said, it's not the kind of thing I reach for often enough to justify a full bottle (and my imp of Pumpkin Pie Musk is just similar enough to scratch the autumnal gourmand itch when it arises), so I'm passing it on to someone who's more into gourmands than me. -
In the decant, I get lavender and cashmere musk layered over the tobacco, oud (which fortunately behaves), and leather. I can't pick out the florals specifically, but they add a tiny bit of floral sweetness to the tobacco, etc., while the lavender and musk give a sort of effervescent effect. That combination of deep, smooth notes under effervescent top notes reminds me a bit of Perversion, but this is its own distinct (and more floral) thing. Definitely has a classic perfume vibe but with a dark, moody twist, especially as the effervescent quality fades a bit after drydown. This is the kind of thing I'd wear for going out or special occasions.
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Oof. I had high hopes for this one (sandalwood and pepper? y plz), but it's not working out on my skin. It's warm sandalwood with a slightly spicy note in the decant, but once applied, the red pepper (and maybe also the blood musk?) amps up in a way that makes me think of cinnamon-heavy potpourri more than anything else. The sandalwood also gets a little more high-pitched than I'm used to. Overall, much less sandalwood and much more heavy spice than I expected, so something to be aware of if you're spice-averse.
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Somber, slightly powdery violet deepened and given a slightly green edge by the moss note. Violet can go a little soapy on me, and it does here, but not in a bad way -- think expensive soap. There's no sage in this blend, but I swear what this scent reminds me of is the Pré de Provence sage-scented soap with a bit of purple, gothy floral added in. Atmospheric and a little eerie. I might want a full bottle of this one.
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This is a lovely combo of soft sandalwood and sweet, chewy tobacco (think French Tobacco SN). Something in this blend adds a little extra lightness and sweetness to the tobacco note compared to French Tobacco, though, and while this is definitely woods and tobacco, it's by no means heavy, harsh, or overpowering. Smooth and refined, and light enough that I wouldn't call it traditionally masculine -- this reads more as an all-gender scent to me. This will definitely be a bottle purchase for me.
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This is much, much greener than I typically expect from a DL blend. First sniff in the decant is wet leaves, almost grassy (but not bright) greenness, and a hint of smooth wood. Once I apply it, the vetiver amps up and goes not exactly smoky, but more like dusty. As it dries down, the vetiver calms down and the dark green and slightly resinous wood notes come back to the fore. The overall impression I get is a very deep, almost murky green and woodsy scent -- like a forest scent without the conifer notes. It's not the kind of thing I'd wear often enough to justify a full bottle, but I'll keep my decant.
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BPAL aquatics tend to lean on the fresh, somewhat soapy side for me, or otherwise lean heavily on the sea salt. This scent is a wonderfully balanced blend of the two. I get a little bit of the sweetness other reviewers mentioned after application as it dries down, but it's subtle and not discordant. After drydown, it's all fresh (but not aggressively soapy) aquatic notes with a breath of salt air over top. It feels true to the way the beach and the wind off the ocean smell in the winter. I missed this during its original run, so I'm glad to have found a bottle on the Lab's Etsy.
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This one starts off great -- deep plum and musk, with florals and hint of honey adding slight golden sweetness in the background. The effect is like florals and honey muted under a cover of deep, purple-tinged notes. Pretty, but in a dark, somber way. As it dries down, though, something is amping up in a way that turns it into a sort of generic incense on me. Going to chalk this one up to a skin chemistry fail.
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Basically: Like Ü and Cedarwood & Smoked Vanilla had a cognac-soaked one-night stand. Starts out with something cedary (which I guess is how the tumbleweed note is reading to my nose) and a blast of cognac booziness in the decant, but then the booze settles and I get a non-gourmand vanilla, non-piney balsam, cedar, and a whiff of cognac in the background. Sticks close to the skin, but has great staying power. Definitely going to be a bottle purchase for me.
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In the decant, this is a really interesting mix of bright, juicy peach and plum notes and the Lab's dead leaf note -- deep, earthy, and a little vegetal. It's almost like they don't blend per se, but my nose keeps alternating between noticing one note then the other as I sniff it. The interplay between these two things is really intriguing in the decant, but it goes horribly wrong on my skin -- it dries down to what I can only describe as sour kitty litter on my skin. This isn't the first time peach has gone wrong on my skin when paired with the wrong things, so this may not be your experience if peach is a consistently good note on your skin.
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If you're expecting another citrus + neroli Duet, I'm pleased to report that this is not that. This lemon blossom note is more of a light, creamy, almost vanillic floral with just a hint of lemon. When I apply it, the neroli does briefly amp up and go soapy before settling and letting the lemon blossom come to the fore again. Think floral + lemon creme than a full-on lemon scent. This is reminding me a lot of something from my childhood -- I want to say Love's Baby Soft, but I can't be sure unless I actually chase up some Baby Soft to sniff (because it's been decades). But it has that kind of very youthful light floral vibe.
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This one was a morpher. It started off sharp and medicinal in the frimp (the labdanum, maybe?), with hints of dark musk and polished wood underneath. As it wears, the medicinal aspect fades and the musk amps up. Post-drydown is deep, smooth musks and woods. It's not "me" enough for a bottle, but I do like the post-drydown phase.
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Yep, this is classic frankincense & myrrh. This version starts off dry, a bit lemony, and more incense smoke than resin. After drydown, the frankincense kicks in more and it gets smoother, deeper, and more resinous. Not the kind of thing I need a bottle of, but do recommend if you want a classic resinous scent.
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Lotus is super iffy on me, in that it can go bubblegum sweet, but this one works. I get a watery, faintly sweet floral that pairs well with the salt notes. Sort of like a very low-key aquatic floral blend. Probably wouldn't have gotten a decant of this myself due to the bubblegum lotus associations, but glad to have a frimp.
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Cool, fresh green tea and mint, with just a hint of cucumber. Nothing synthetic or sharp about these green tea and mint notes, just fresh and slightly sweet greenness. It fades super fast on my skin, otherwise I'd be hunting down a full bottle. Will enjoy my decant in the meantime.
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In the bottle: Soft sage and incense. When I apply it, the sage gets extremely loud and almost acrid -- to my relief, it calmed down quickly as it dried down. Once the sage chills out, this is incredible -- soft sage-y and mossy greens, light honey, and non-heavy incense. I rarely like incense notes, but I love this. Glad I took a chance on a bottle when this popped up on Etsy.
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This one started out all blackberry, all the time. Given fruity scents tend not to agree with me, I was skeptical. Once I apply it, the oud blossoms -- it's not super indolic, but it's a recognizable, rich oud that gives the scent some complexity and counterbalances the blackberry. Surprisingly, I get very little of the iris and sea salt -- on me it's mainly blackberry and musk backed by soft oud and other woods. Surprisingly complex in comparison to the in-the-decant scent.
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This starts out as a creamy clove with rice flower and fig in the background -- creamy, but also just a little too sweet, almost sickly so. (I'm noticing I tend to have this impression with scents where rice flower is a note and am beginning to wonder if I have to add it to my list of death notes.) Fortunately, after drydown, the sickly sweet aspect fades and I'm left with a soft, creamy, slightly toasty vanilla. It's pleasant and snuggly, but also incredibly skin-close.
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Grabbed a secondhand bottle of this for the skin musk, tea, and rice flower notes. This starts off as a pretty, subtle skin musk, light and clean. As it develops on my skin, however, it starts to get fruity and almost candy-sweet -- a little too cloying for my taste. If you're okay with a bit of fruitiness, though, this does have a light, ethereal quality to it that makes it worth checking out.
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I wasn't sure about the clove and patchouli, but the sea salt and kelp was a whole lot of yes, so I took a chance on a secondhand bottle. In the bottle and on application, sea salt is the most prominent note -- I can't quite pick out the clove and patch. It's mostly sea salt and seaweed, an oceanic aquatic without the soapiness you can get from some aquatic blends. The clove starts to peek out a little bit as it dries down, but it's still very much a background player. It's the kind of "ocean" scent I love -- salty and fresh and a little green without being soapy, cool, a little moody. Agreed with the above review that it's evocative of chilly North Atlantic waters. I'd call this more unisex than traditionally masculine. Glad to have come across a bottle.
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Scorched Oak & Blonde Tobacco
puellacaerulea replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This one opened with intensely smoky woods. The woodsmoke is a little more incense than bonfire -- it made me think of those palo santo sticks you can burn, possibly because I swear there's a slightly anise-y undertone to the smoke. After drydown, the wood and smoke notes calm down and the tobacco becomes the dominant note. There's something sweet and a little vanillic about this tobacco. It's like a lighter, sweeter version of French Tobacco without the astringency. This scent also gets very skin-close after drydown, but has great staying power. -
This one starts out heavy on the cardamom -- spicy, warm, a little earthy. It eventually calms down and lets the sandalwood amp up. This is a soft, snuggly white sandalwood, warmed up further by the cardamom. I'll probably be reaching for this one a lot in the fall.
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This one starts out rooty and earthy on me, with a big blast of patchouli. As it dries down, the patch calms down and lets the amber, hay, and hazelnut come out more. It's still earthy, but less intensely so, and with a warm golden quality from the hay and amber. There's also a slight nutty sweetness from the hazelnut. Overall, sweetly earthy. Not quite "me" enough for a full bottle, but I'll keep my decant.
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The sage and cedar in this blend stand out the most to me throughout this scent's wear time. It starts out intensely sagey, but then the cedar and other notes amp up a bit more, giving a warm, woodsy, slightly earthy impression. Think a woodsy scent (with the "forest" aspects coming from the cedar and juniper rather than pine) amped up with sage.
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This one starts out rich, herbaceous lavender. After application, the oakmoss amps up but doesn't get overwhelming -- it adds more of a soft, mossy greenness that complements the lavender and keeps it from getting too herby/medicinal. Soothing and pleasant, but my skin apparently eats this one up, because it's gone in an hour. Will hang onto my decant, though.