sylvanusurban

In bottle: Definitely a “woodland” smell – musky sagey berry. On me, wet: First the piney woodsy scent is dominant, and then the berries come out more. On me, drying: Pleasantly complex. There’s one sharp note in there that is not entirely to my liking – if Bewitched as a whole conjures up images of the woods, the sharp note is a splash of animal spray in one of the bushes. It’s pretty faint, though. Verdict: A neat one. I’ll put it in the “good” pile.

In bottle: Buttery sweetness. On me, wet: Buttery honeycomb. Very sweet. On me, drying: Overbearingly sweet with a “dirty” overtone – tobacco? Verdict: Another eagerly-awaited foodie to consign to the “no-go” pile. Not as gross as Knave of Hearts or Gluttony, though.

I thought I might never get a chance to sniff this, but a partial imp was given to me as a freebie by an awesome seller! In bottle: Incredibly interesting and unlike anything I’ve smelled so far! I don’t really know how to describe what I’m smelling. It’s a very “high-pitched” scent. On me, wet: Faint, woody On me, drying: Sweet aromatic wood. It reminds me of cedar, but I’m guessing that it’s the teak. Quite pretty. In retrospect, I’m guessing that the in-bottle scent was the “cream accord” – it had a creamy quality to it, but sweet, like cream soda or something. Verdict: A very nice scent. I’m glad to have had the chance to test it, but I’m not going to be tortured by my inability to buy a bottle. Best of both worlds, I guess.

In bottle: Lovely fresh pear and creamy-sweet vanilla! On me, wet: This is pure nom. On me, drying: Nooo, the vanilla smell turns sour/cloying and leaps into the foreground. Fuckin’ skin chemistry, man. Later: The vanilla seems to have mellowed a bit, but it still isn’t great and the pear is still banished to the land of wind and ghosts. Still later: Faded, slightly spiced vanilla, with a hint of something weird like burnt toast. Verdict: This would have been an insta-favourite if it had maintained its wet scent. The drydown was majorly disappointing. Nevertheless, I’ll keep it around and maybe try to use it as a room scent or something.

In bottle: Purple! Smells like grape-flavoured candy mixed with floral perfume. On me, wet: First predominantly purple, then predominantly floral, then purple. There’s a soapiness to the floral note. I’m testing Prospero on one wrist and The Dormouse on the other and there is a lot of synesthesia happening – right wrist purple, left wrist green/white. On me, drying: Seems to have settled on Purple with a background hint of soap. Verdict: Interesting, but nah.

In bottle: Light herbal/floral tea. On me, wet: Slightly soapy peony. On me, drying: Soapy peony. Verdict: Unremarkable.

In bottle: I smell pumpkin, mango, persimmon, and coconut, though not necessarily in that order. On me, wet: It gets pumpkinier, spicier, and more organic. At first the pumpkin scent was intriguingly wet and raw – it brought back memories of gutting the Halloween pumpkin before carving its face. On me, drying: After just a few seconds, the pumpkin smell becomes warm and spicy like a cinnamon pumpkin pie garnished with coconut flakes on top. A remarkable morph! I can no longer smell any significant amount of mango or persimmon, and the myrrh hasn’t shown – this is autumnal baked-good goodness. The perfect scent for a cool autumn day. On me, dry: Oh, how strange! Now it smells like Indian curry. It is very peculiar to smell like a main course. Verdict: Before it started smelling like curry, this was an A-plus scent -- one of my favourites so far. The curry stage isn't a total dealbreaker, but I prefer to smell like pie.

In bottle: Musky, green-smelling, fairly bold, un-sweet. On me, wet: A decidedly chlorophyllous scent. I’m getting the crushed grass first and foremost, but the musk is there too, and possibly the sage and tea. On me, drying: Gets gentler, but still not sweet. It’s nice. On me, dry: A pleasant enough but undistinguished soft green musk. Verdict: Not bad, not awesome.

In bottle: Flowery. On me, wet: Reasonably pleasant flower blend. Or so I think. Boy, standing halfway across the room from me, gets a whiff and says “Aagh! That’s not a good one!” On me, drying: It seems to be taking on a diaperish undertone. I guess I’ll wipe it off. Verdict: Not the worst thing I’ve ever smelled, but I think I’ll pass on it. ETA: Wow, it has a lot of rave reviews, though, so maybe I’ll give it a second chance.

In bottle: Gyah, substantial oil spill when I open the bottle. It smells like chemical strawberry. On me, wet: Sharply sweet strawberry candy. On me, drying: The scent gets really faint. What I can still smell, smells like plastic. Verdict: Another one for the scrap heap.

In bottle: Very sweet, strong almond/maraschino cherry. Not at all dark! On me, wet: Ditto On me, drying: The obnoxious sweetness dissipates a bit, and now it is merely Very Sweet. Powdery vanilla has appeared on the scene. Frankincense, heliotrope and cinnamon are nowhere to be found. Later: Ah, here comes the frankincense. It’s an improvement over the uncut sweetness, I guess, but it’s too little, too late. The cinnamon appears in another moment or so. Verdict: This is not at all what I was expecting.

In bottle: Cocoa, with a bit of that artificially-sweet “butter” note that has come to be such a bane to me. On me, wet: Very similar to Miskatonic University, aka Cthulhu Babies. Cloying, artificial sweetness: sugared coffee n’ cocoa division. Gross. On me, drying: It seems, slowly, to be mellowing and becoming less cloying. There’s an all-too-faint trace of authentic fresh-ground coffee bean smell in there – I wish it would come out more, but it’s still smothered by the fakey sugar. Getting a bit of cinnamon, which is neither a dealmaker nor a dealbreaker. Verdict: Nope, it was continuing to be kind of awful on me, so I wiped it off. Another one to consign to the Foody Scent Reject Pile. ETA: The scent that lingers after I rub it off is actually nice – sweet but gentle and non-cloying vanilla -- but am I really going to dab this on and then wipe it off just to get to the niceness? No.

In bottle: Rose, orange, a bunch of stuff On me, wet: It’s like this is exploding on my skin – a different scent combination with every sniff! Cocoa becomes prominent. I think I’m getting the rooibos and the geranium. I also smell rubber, but that’s probably because I was just wearing dishwashing gloves. On me, drying: The sandalwood and amber begin to come out. A few hours later, it’s still smelling nice and warm and mellow on my wrist. Verdict: Nice one. Not in the upper echelons, but certainly pleasant, and it ages well. One to try again.

In bottle: Musky perfume. On me, wet: Lemongrass with musk? A very “green” smell, with a not-unwelcome bitter edge. On me, drying: Fades down, and gets more soft and powdery. A nice scent – not crazy-good, but nice. Verdict: I’m pretty neutral about this one; neither loved nor hated it. I’ll probably give it a second try sometime.

In bottle: Soft and sweet. On me, wet: Warm, soft, gently spicy. Honeyish. A very gentle scent – reminds me a bit of Dana O’Shee. On me, drying: It has a beeswaxy note now. Then turns to smooth, creamy honey. Verdict: I particularly appreciate that this scent doesn’t get gross at any point in the drydown. Keeper. ETA: After it’s been on me for a few hours, it develops a slight tobaccoey tarnish. It’s a negative, but a relatively mild one.

In bottle: Soft white floral. On me, wet: Still soft white floral, but the fruity notes emerge a bit, adding some moisture and greenness (and a nice sparing hint of sweetness). I wouldn’t call this “dry” or “biting” – it has a cool, moist breeziness to it. A pretty translucent pale-green scent. On me, drying: Mmm, something almost grapefruity is coming out now. The green mandarin? I don’t know, but it’s lovely. Later: Morphing again! It’s gotten warmer and more fragrant, and “pinker.” Still beautiful and light. I really like this. Verdict: This could be a bottle candidate. It’s beautiful, fresh, and infinitely sniffable. ETA: Hmm, though it continues to do some morphing that I don’t like as much. Gets kind of cologney and slightly harsh. Wah!

In bottle: Lavender and mint, but with a surprise chocolate note. On me, wet: Bleah, mint with latex/burning plastic. Reiko Sazanami writes, “It’s like an over-sanitized doctor’s office, where something very bad is going to happen.” Well put. On me, drying: Less offensively plasticky, but still toothpasteish with a chemical tinge. Verdict: Not a friend to my skin chemistry, apparently. In BPAL, as in life, Pain is to be avoided.

In bottle: Piney and eucalyptusy. On me, wet: Pine and eucalyptus, and the fragrant orange begins to make an appearance. I didn’t think I would like wearing a scent with a pine note, but this is actually quite pleasant. I guess I like the clean sinus-clearing scents. On me, drying: It’s fading down pretty quickly, and sometimes I catch a whiff of a faintly dusty/soapy smell. On me, dry: It quickly got very faint. I just applied it a few minutes ago, and all I can smell now is a faint pineyness. Too bad – it was a winner when it was wet! Verdict: Nice, but apparently very short-lived.

In bottle: Sweet buttery vanilla. On me, wet: Cloying fake butter, cinnamon. Similar to Gluttony. On me, drying: Cloying fake butter, cinnamon, and sharp fake strawberry. Verdict: This ain’t good.

In bottle: Aromatic woods. On me, wet: Dry cedar – not the rich dark cedar I smelled in Velvet’s drydown phase, but a breezy outdoor-in-the-sun, slightly pencil shaving-y cedar. On me, drying: The scent warms up and I can smell the other notes. It’s nice, though I think I can smell a hint of that sharp/sour balderdash that vanilla so often tries to pull when it hits my skin. Later: Mmm, it’s become softer, breezier, and just a little bit sweeter. Verdict: It’s nice. I could see myself wearing it.

In bottle: Butter and cinnamon. On me, wet: The butter smell fades a bit (a good thing), and the cinnamon comes into the foreground. On me, drying: Definitely not smelling any chocolate. I’m getting strong, sugary cinnamon with a buttery foundation. Pralines and hazelnut are playing supporting roles. Toffee and caramel? Maybe. This is very, very sweet. Verdict: I thought I would love all of these sweet foody scents, but so far they’ve been kind of cloying and artificial on me. Not loving it.

In bottle: Perfumed berries. On me, wet: Yup, berry perfume. It’s reasonably nice, but it’s not blowing me away. On me, drying: Now I’m getting what I assume is the “wine” note. It doesn’t smell like alcohol (which is good) – it just deepens and makes more rich the berry smell. I don’t think the thyme is going to make an appearance. Verdict: It’s not bad, but it’s also not for me, I think.

In bottle: Sweet and “grassy” On me, wet: Mmm, how nice! The grassiness grows stronger, and is joined by a freshly-sliced green apple scent (I guess this is actually poppy, but I’m not as familiar with the way poppy smells). The scent of a fresh, summery field. On me, drying: It gains a bit of warmth, a bit of sultriness, and the honey begins to make an appearance. Still a very “outdoor” scent, one that evokes growing things. Later: Now it’s getting spicier, more floral and warmer still. Still later: A darker, slightly bitter scent – like the black seeds of the poppy Verdict: I like it.

In bottle: A sweet, lightly floral pale-purple scent. On me, wet: Light, fresh floral. I smell no plums. On me, drying: Still mostly floral, though I’m now getting a slight fruity waft. Verdict: It’s nice, I can find no fault with it, but it’s not rocking my world.

Envelop yourself in the soft, sensual embrace of gentle sandalwood warmed by cocoa vanilla and a veil of deep myrrh. In bottle: Warm, sweet cocoa vanilla. On me, wet: The cocoa component has become dry and bittersweet, almost like pencil shavings. On me, drying: Hmmm, I can smell the sandalwood/myrrh now and they’re really nice! I thought it was kind of weird to combine incense smells with dessert smells, but I quite like the mysterious incense wound around the warm cocoa. It’s weird but intriguing and sniffable. On me, dry: Ah, the vanilla receded for a while there, but now it’s coming back. It’s warm and sweet and spicy, not too powerful or cloying, reined in and augmented nicely by the myrrh and sandalwood. Verdict: This scent reminds me of gently perfumed keepsakes in a cedar chest. It’s deep, warm, comforting, mysterious, a little sexy. Like very much!