theseagrows

Fear of Dolls (But not ventriloquist dummies. That's an entire phobia unto itself.) White porcelain cracked by white tobacco, threads of brittle cognac, and vanilla filigree. ooh, this is pretty. i think i am mostly getting cognac and whatever note the porcelain is, with hints of tobacco and vanilla in the background. it's kind of cold, but a bit sweet and the cognac does warm it up a bit. something about this scent seems so familiar, but i can't place it. it definitely makes me think of pale white porcelain surrounded by darkness, and it is so pretty. i think i need a bottle of this.

ok hmm, at the outset this one does not play well with my skin chemistry. it smells kind of animalic and sour at with a hint of sweetness. i think after a minute or so i smell a tiny hint of cardamom and sugar followed by the addition of egyptian musk. this is not what i was expecting, somehow. i get more vanilla as time goes on, thankfully! after about 5 minutes all the notes become more balanced, and it's akin to a soft egyptian musk scent with added sugary sweetness, but not too sugary, it's not what i would call a very foody scent. it also has very low throw. after the drydown it's pure bourbon vanilla.

in the very beginning, this starts off with amber and rose oud, and omg it's pretty. it's like wine, roses and leather, yet not leather in the usual sense. after this it gets pretty animalic mingled with a winey, dark red rose, and ends up being primarily a dark, winey red rose in the end. i think there's some juicy sweetness from the fig, but it doesn't read as typical fig, if that makes sense. a sultry beauty!

this starts off with musk and a hint of cypress. soon after i'm getting hints of the frost-limmed opoponax, which adds a cool, minty aspect. i think there's some ambergris but it's subtle at this point. the mintiness calms down after about 15-20 minutes, but it's still faintly there. i think in the end i'm mostly getting opoponax, ambergris and subtle hints of musk and amber with a hint of cypress/mint. i kind of like the juxtaposition of warm and cool in this scent, it's interesting! i'm not sure how much i would wear this though i keep wanting to sniff my wrist... after the drydown it's quite nice- just amber, ambergris and opoponax. yum.

mostly chypre, cypress and pine starting out. it's very green and pine-y. it's dark green. i get some cedar and sandalwood i think, grounding it a bit from being so green. it reminds me of the scent of a wild forest where it has recently rained. then the labdanum finally comes through and it smells like incense burning in the forest. so pretty! i do like this a lot but it's not my type of scent to wear...i'm thinking of trying to burn it in an oil burner though.

i'm pretty sure this is all orris and tea to start off. it's a sharp, watery tea scent with a bit of greenery. after awhile it softens and i get some warmth from sandalwood and vanilla. after about 20 minutes i am liking it, it's still a bit too green for my tastes but i like the combination of vanilla and tea, though it's very different than something like dorian, for example. still, i think it's too aquatic for me, so i am probably going to swap it.

starts off with powdery resins with a bit of sharpness. not quite how i expected it to be-i expected it to be softer. the vanilla comes through after about 10 minutes. it does get a bit softer, but is still quite resiny. it smells like a vintage perfume, stays strong and resiny. not terrible by any means, but it's just not for me.

this starts off with a warm red musk and a hint of nuttiness from the hazelnut. thankfully, the nuttiness burns off and the vanilla, oudh and amber chypre becomes stronger. at this point it is just gorgeous. the patchouli and leather are subtle, just adding a depth in the background. i absolutely love this scent, it's gorgeous and i am now in need of a bottle.

ooh! pretty, just like i knew it'd be. a musk of the softer/medium variety plus some vanilla. the sandalwood is subtle at first, but after about 5 minutes i can smell the sandalwood more, while the vanilla has died down a bit. the musk and sandalwood continue to get stronger and the vanilla seems to slowly disappear. once it's in the drydown phase it's a gorgeous balanced mix of all 3 notes. a warm, cuddly scent perfect for this cold day.

this starts off with orris and lilac, rooty and floral at the same time. there is a sense of mistiness as in the description, and earthiness from the white moss. it remains mostly orris with a lilac mistiness supporting it. it's pretty, ethereal, yet earthy all at once. very evocative of a unicorn.

i smell mostly asphodel, i think. it's a medium strength floral with something greenish, i'm guessing cognac. i have really loved some olive blossom scents from the lab, so that's why i was drawn to this primarily. after awhile i get some myrrh and woods but this smells pretty soapy on me overall so far. the asphodel continues to morph into that sort of rotten floral scent. this is just too strong/soapy on me, unfortunately.

i smell the saltiness in the beginning, followed by beeswax and the yellowed paper. it does bring to mind a candlelit room full of books, golden yellow reflecting on white pages and brown leather. it gets saltier and saltier and i sense a metallic edge with some smokiness in the background. paper and salt notes don't really do well with me, so i am disliking this because of those. i like the beeswax though and the golden-ness of this scent. it's interesting and evocative, even though i personally don't find it very wearable.

i think i'm getting incense and the vanilla-infused mahogany at first. it warms up even more and gets a somewhat caramelly thing going on, not sure what from. maybe tonka + rum? the rosewood seems to get stronger over time. it's mainly sweet vanilla/tonka/rum/rosewood. a little too sweet for my tastes, it borders on foodie.

first off, i smell a soft, wispy dewy rose with gossamer greenery all around. soon after i get the slightly bitter sweetness of pear, white incense, and just a hint of white sandalwood. it really reminds me of a japanese incense. the vanilla remains subtle and nearly elusive. this scent is quite soft overall-the incense is gorgeous, but the pear is too sweet for my tastes.

i received this as a frimp. i love rose and musk but am iffy on the other notes tbh. it starts with pear and lily of the valley and a hint of rose. it's a bit sour and strong. it stays sour, i think it's from the rose actually. the pear dissipates and i get a sour rose-white musk. i do love rose but sometimes it goes all wrong on me, like in this scent.

this is very soft. i think i get mostly honey and some hints of vanilla and magnolia at first. then the magnolia blooms more, along with the vanilla. i like this but i think i'm amping the magnolia a bit. it gets pretty strong and gives me a slight headache, even though i like the scent itself. thankfully, more vanilla takes over and the magnolia calms down a bit. it turns to a beautiful vanilla with magnolia on the drydown. a very pretty spring scent.

i wanted to try this because of the osmanthus! i am still looking for osmanthus blends that smell amazing on me. we shall see. at first i get tea then some white sandalwood. i think the pink pepper and vanilla comes next. a hint of osmanthus comes through and the pink pepper gets stronger too. it ends up primarily a pink pepper vanilla-tea scent on me. very light and pretty and great for spring.

this is a fruity honey. smells closest to peach but not exactly, but the only thing it could be is fig i guess? this is sweet, like fruity syrupy sweet. not really what i was expecting at all, and i don't think i even get any honeysuckle, it doesn't seem floral to me. it's much too fruity for me.

starts off with lavender and a hint of wood...also, aren't agarwood and oudh the same thing? anyway, i think i get a bit of the wildflowers too but the strongest note is definitely lavender. after about 5 minutes on the skin, i think i'm getting mostly the lavender, oudh and saffron. a nice woody lavender. this is a really relaxing scent and leans a bit unisex/traditionally masculine, i'd say.

this starts off with a dry incense mixed with some pepper, honey and labdanum. later on i get hints of plum but it's not super fruity. i don't seem to get any vetiver here, or it's just extremely subtle. i like this but there is something in this that's a bit too animalic on me, other than that it has nice elements, and i do like some animalic notes but whatever is giving that impression here is just a little too funky for me.

this starts off with a musky weirdness. something smells a little bit too animalic, but i'm trying to wait through it. thankfully it's gone in 5 minutes or less! after that i get a beautiful dark red rose, musk and opponax. this is like a musky red rose, one of my favorite types of scents! eventually i get more tobacco, which adds even more depth and beauty to the scent. ahhh i really love this and might need a bottle...it has a similar feeling to gypsy queen but it's less spicy there's no candle wax (if i am remembering correctly.)

right off i smell a hay-like honey, kind of like the honey in O which didn't work for me, but thankfully that hay thing fades and some lilac comes in but it's not a super strong lilac, it's perfectly balanced with the honey and it's divine. i would love this in a shampoo or shower gel too. i do get a slight brightness in the background which must be the drop of lime? but it doesn't smell overly citrussy at all, it's truly just a hint that i probably wouldn't have detected if i hadn't known. i really like this one a lot and am happy to add it to the small collection of lilac scents that i can wear. beautiful and springy....i may need a bottle of this.

this starts off all rose, much more than a thin whiff! it's bright, blooming pink roses. a couple minutes later the other notes come alive, but rose is by far the strongest note. the brown leather and tonka get stronger, balancing out the rose. i kind of like this one, but i seem to really be amping the rose and it's too sharp.

this is definitely gleaming, and i get a bit of pencil shavings like i usually do from bpal's frankincense note, but it's a bit softer this time. i see the similarity with hope and fear set free but this is a bit subtler, i think, and the vanilla is less pronounced in this.

i get vetiver and vanilla at the outset. this is a strong, smoky vetiver. something smells almost nutty, but i think it's just the vetiver. i get hints of the sandalwood a couple minutes later. the vanilla gets stronger and warms this up nicely. this is reminding me strongly of another BPAL but i can't place it right now. it seems to be mostly vanilla and vetiver with a hint of sandalwood. nice, but not amazing on me.