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Wow, this is definitely a complex blend! As others have said, it's difficult to pick out individual notes because they all seem to come together very harmoniously. It's slightly spicy and a little sweet from the green cumin. The patchouli adds an absolutely lovely dimension to the blend, making it richer and deeper. I definitely get some wood notes and resin notes, and thankfully I can't pick up any musk. Overall, it's wonderfully soft and warm. In the bottle, the scent is a lot brighter and has almost like a...soda pop note to it?

In the Bottle: It's sweet, though that's offset by the patchouli and ew, vetiver. The ylang ylang and blood orange are lovely, though. Wet: The vetiver is sharp and at the top, followed by smoky patchouli. The ylang ylang and blood orange have retreated to the background. Dry-down: Ten minutes later and I have wood (the vetiver) and patchouli. The ylang ylang and blood orange are completely gone and I'm left with a wood that's giving me a headache. It's sharp and not at all pleasant. Fifty minutes later, it's now surprisingly nice! If you want a wood and patchouli scent, this might be for you. There was no fruitiness on me, just pure smoked wood. Final Thoughts: Not for me, but the dry-down was certainly interesting.

The enemy of God, also named Iblis, He Who Despaired of the Mercy of God. Al-Shairan is the leader of the Jinn, a tempter who whispers false suggestions to men enticing them into evil and perfidious acts, and is the sworn enemy of all of Adam’s children. His scent is fiery, bright and thick with sweet sinfulness: clove, peach and orange with cinnamon, patchouli and dark incense notes. In the Bottle: Very sweet and fruity; I'm getting orange and peach immediately. The clove, cinnamon and incense are beautifully blended. This scent is a wonderful balance of fruit, spice and depth. Mmm! Wet: The fruitness has backed off a bit and I still can't smell the patchouli. The clove and cinnamon is coming out in a lovely way, wow. This is now more like soft, warm spices with a bit of fruitiness. Dry-down: After twenty minutes, the scent has smoothed out and become a light fruitiness (not overly sweet) with a background of spiciness. Ten minutes later, the fruit has increased and I'm getting more peach than orange. This reminds me of homemade fruit leather sprinkled with cinnamon. After a total of an hour, it still smells pretty much the same, though the fruit has backed down again and the spices aren't as strong as they started out. Final Thoughts: It's nice, but not my taste. After two hours, it turned dry and dusty on me.

In the Bottle: It smells wonderful! Sweet and clean and the honey (I think) is wonderfully bright, though now I'm thinking it's a lot more like clean lemon. It smells like pure lemon candy sugar (from the bergamot) or maybe even lemon drops. I'm getting only the barest of florals. I hope it stays this way! Wet: Wow, I've only ever had bergamot in Earl Grey, which I'm not too fond of. The bergamot note here, however, is nicely different! Bergamot is definitely the top note, followed by milk. I'm wishing there was more milk and definitely more honey, since I can't even smell it. I'm getting a hint of florals, which seems to be more musky and muddled than strong and sharp. It's all very light and close to the skin. Dry-down: Half an hour later and damn, the bergamot is too sharp. It's no longer a light, lemony note but deeper, more mature. That citrus note is making it start to get a bit soapy on me. I'm finally starting to pick up a bit of the honey, but it's not strong enough, unfortunately. Ew, ten minutes later and it's gone completely soapy. Final Thoughts: It became so painfully soapy I had to wash it off. Dang. Mo' honey, plz!

In the Bottle: Heady and strong. The apricot is so intense, this might turn out to be too fruity-sweet for me. Wet: HOLY SHIT, APRICOT! It's really, really intense, even though it's swathed in patchouli. The apricot note in Depraved doesn't smell like fresh, ripe apricots, but dried apricots. This smell is so nostalgic to me, but I don't know why. Dry-down: Ten minutes later, the scent has intensified and clarified. Incense and apricot-sweetness, all the way through. I would describe the scent as "cloying". It's not bringing up any pleasant memories. For some reason, this is what I think death smells like. An hour later and the scent has not diminished in the slightest. Final Thoughts: I think I nailed down the association. It smells like Chinese incense sticks, the ones commonly used in funerals. After a couple of hours, I just couldn't take it anymore and had to get it off me. Even though I scrubbed my wrist several times throughout the day, Depraved lingered for a few more hours. I would definitely never wear this again.

In the Bottle: Wow, it's sticky sweet and an overwhelmingly intense peach. I get a note of amber smoothness rounding it out a little. Wet: The peach is still strong but toned down. The amber's come out a bit more; if I get more amber to balance out the insane peachy sweetness, this could work. It's just a bit too intensely sweet for me right now. Dry-down: Wow, this is really lasting. An hour later, and it's still going strong. The peach is still the most outstanding note and the amber just isn't strong enough. Final Thoughts: Even though I scrubbed my wrist several times, I could still smell peach on me the morning after. This definitely isn't my scent, but if you love peach, this could work for you.

In the Bottle: It smells amazing! It's very aquatic (ozone times a hundred), with a clean green aroma (like eucalyptus). A deep inhale brings out a sharp sweetness. Crisp. It's a bit soapy to me, though, much like the smell of bar soap. Wet: Wow, immediately I get the amber coming out. The ozone has significantly calmed down, though it's very much still present. The lovely amber is rounding out the smell very nicely, though I'm still getting a bit of that "bar soap" association. If the amber comes out a bit more and the ozone takes more of a backseat, this could work out. Dry-down: Ten minutes later and the amber is on its way in overtaking the ozone. It's got a bit of a floral smell now, weird. I'm definitely still reminded of bar soap, though. Half an hour later, the ozone's still too strong for me. It's really a very crisp scent. It's like if you sliced off a sliver of bar soap and stuck it right under my nose. Over an hour later and I'm getting that dryer sheets, baked cleanliness smell. This isn't working. After two and a half hours, it's significantly warmed up but it's too little too late. Final Thoughts: Overall, I spent most of the time smelling like dryer sheets, that same cakey, strong detergent smell. Something didn't react well with the ozone on my skin (I'm suspecting the amber) and it just didn't work out. This was my first aquatic; I hope it's not a premonition of things to come.

In the Bottle: Slightly sweet with a sharp grassy tang, but it's not a strong aroma. Wet: There's amber, mmm! I can smell a bit of honey that disappeared too quickly. In fact, it seems like the entire scent disappeared too quickly! I put on did twice as much as I usually do and I still barely get the hay, though there's a hint of lemon now. Dry-down: Five minutes later and it's a little stronger than before. Now I'm getting just a hint of spicy cardamom. The lemon has almost completely faded and the amber is getting stronger. After ten minutes, I've got sweet, spicy hay and it's abso-freakin'-lutely lovely. One hour and fifteen minutes later, what's left is very, very light. This didn't last long on me at all! Final Thoughts: NOOOO!!! Stick around!!! I will keep the imp and forever weep over the fact that such a wonderful scent (Sweet! Spicy! Hay!) gets eaten by my skin even when I put on twice as much as usual

In the Bottle: Sweet, green sappy wood. Very fresh. There's no earthiness but the fig note gives it depth. Wet: Sweeter, more fig, a bit creamy, and there's still that sappy new green scent. Dry-down: Well-blended, the sweetness of the fig perfectly matches the green sappiness of the woods. After five minutes, the sappiness almost completely disappears and I'm left with sweet, creamy fig. It's soft and not at all overpowering. Uh oh, after twenty minutes, it's going a little soapy on me. After half an hour, I get the wood coming out and it's saved me from soapiness. An hour later, I still get the creaminess, though it's gone a bit too sweet and powdery for me. Still very figgy, though. The sappy green is gone and though there's a bit of nice woodiness, it's not enough. Final Thoughts: After all that, I'm left with a creamy fig dessert that smells like it's being served on a platter carved of dry wood. Not bad, just not for me. It did go a bit soapy on me, too.

In the Bottle: Whew, I get patchouli and I get wood. A deep, warm, sharp, concentrated woodsy smell. Wet: Initially I smell cinnamon and cedarwood (it's not as sharp as in the bottle) that sliiightly verges on pencil shavings. I'm also getting something a bit like incense but not as heavy or full, but this disappears quickly on my skin. I'm also getting a vague sweet, medicinal odor because I can smell alcohol. It reminds me of the Chinese medicine I would rub on my burns when I was a kid. Faintly smoky. The cinnamon disappeared rapidly after the initial burst. I really thought there was sandalwood in Umbra, it just smells so much like it.... Dry-down: After ten minutes, it's become a strong cedarwood and alcohol/resin smell. No cinnamon. I really don't know what's causing the Chinese medicinal smell. Maybe it's the vetiver and its combination with cedarwood? (I'm not quite sure what vetiver smells like.) There's still a slight incense smokiness I'm getting from the patchouli. Half an hour later, it's pretty much the same. A bit more resinous, a bit less woodsy/earthy. Final Thoughts: I don't like it I can't help but think of Chinese medicine and how gooey and stinky that stuff was.

No problem! I've butchered many a pinyin (and shall continue to), despite the fact that I grew up in a Mandarin-speaking family and am taking Mandarin language classes *cough cough*

In the Bottle: Dry with a light aroma of incense and musk. Wet: Soft, light and slightly sweet. I can smell the musk, though its presence is very faint. There's not a very prominent incense aroma, but I am getting a hint of floral. Drying: After five minutes, I start to get a little incense, but it doesn't last long. An hour later, I have a good balance of incense and musk with something faint that smells like flowers. It's sweetly dusty, an absolutely lovely smell. I'm imagining violets pressed between crumbling pages. Final Thoughts: Aw dang, aw dang. After an hour and a half, there's barely anything but the ghost of a musky floral left. I'll probably hang on to my imp, but I won't try hunting down any bottles.

Since I was just asked about this today, I thought I'd post this Kuang Shi is pronounced koo-ong (said quickly in one word, rhymes with the English "long") shh (with a roll of the tongue, like starting to say "Shrek"). EDIT: LOL, I completely forgot about the letter "w"! Explaining that "Kuang" is pronounced like kwong is probably easier to understand than koo-ong

My first BPAL! This is exciting. In the bottle: Mmm! Deep, dark, heady, incense-y (like walking into one of the old hippie shops on Haight St.), with a strong resin aroma. There's also that burn of alcohol and a note I'd probably call salty. So far, Anne Bonny reminds me of wood polish and old furniture. Wet: It's lighter, softer, smoother and turning sweet and a bit spicy. There's less of that alcohol harshness but the resin note is still very present. Dry down: After a couple of minutes, I get primarily resin and spice. After five minutes I get the saltiness coming out and the general scent is a lot more mellow. It becomes a pleasant, light woody scent with a spicy/salty tang. Like wood soaked in incense. Twenty minutes later, the sandalwood is the most prominent aroma, along with salt. An hour later, the salty sandalwood is still going strong. Oh crap, after about an hour and a half, it's settled down into pencil shavings. Final Thoughts: After three hours, Anne Bonny is still going but I'm not enjoying the way it turned out. I liked the warmth of Anne Bonny and its deepness/darkness in the bottle. I loved that wood-soaked-in-incense aroma and wish it could hold have held on to that for a bit longer.