patina

This is a perfect amber scent on me. The Lights of Men's Lives was somewhat unimpressive wax on me, but this is amazing. It's more than a candle smell, it's also firey and glowng. It's sweet without smelling like straight up candy, it's spicy without smelling like a spice rack or any spice I can name. It's amber without smelling powdery or overly perfumy. It may change over time but right now it's just about perfect.

I get strong memories of the GC Darkness, though this has no opium at all. Maybe the gardenia is just that close to narcissus. I'm also reminded of a somewhat less dirty GC Sheol, which makes sense because I believe Sheol had gardenia. Simple, sophisticated and a little ominous. The medicinal qualities appear at first but then die down. Then again that's what labdanum does on my skin.

I get lemon honey cake and cream as advertised. The honey is going a little waxy and I can't believe I'm saying this but this is just a little too sweet for me. It's good but sort of overwhelming. More candy than cake.

Snake oil's spice and depth is present, but the Bordello-ish plum is strong here. The plum has a bit of a waxy note, like lip gloss but it's powerful and pretty juicy too. Right now I'm wishing I had a Sugar Plum Goblin sample to compare, and to see whether the patchouli there blends better with the plum than these spices do. Don't get me wrong, it's good and I'm sure it'll be amazing after some aging.

Cherry? Plum??? Dragon's blood? I don't even know where I'm getting those notes from but that's what this smells like. This honey smells crazy fruity to me. After drydown it changes into a recognizable brown musk but that was crazy for a while.

Anyone know a good sandalwood and honey or patchouli and honey scent they can recommend, with maybe other notes like amber? Or hay? Or cacao? I am missing Thrice Plowed Field.

Today I put on an aged Drink Me and wondered why I'd ignored it so long. Without looking at notes I get apple cider, caramel, coconut, and butterscotch, but blended in the best way. Looking at notes: okay yeah, there's the cherry that usually blends with the cider and occasionally rears its head as a medicinal smell. Otherwise, this is delicious. I could see pineapple being here too. Not my favorite fruit to smell, but hey. It doesn't stand in the way of the absolute cake party that is going on on my wrists. TLDR: Cake party!

It's a three way custard fight between cherry, chocolate, and pumpkin flavor. I don't know who's winning. Probably not chocolate. But I smell great.

First sniff: It's leaf. I don't know what I expected. Specifically it's the dead leaf note from Dead Leaves, Red Musk, and Neroli. This is softer than that scent though. A skin test brings out a soft red musk and the woodsmoke. Not perfumy (at least yet) This might be considered masculine by some because of the smoke and the patchouli darkness.

This is everything I hoped for. Right now, in its fresh state I get mostly fresh woody Cathedral with a slight background of sweetness and sugar. It's sort of a burnt or brown sugar incense. Edit: I just remembered what this reminded me of: Halloween in Innsmouth. Not the fishy part, but the incense plus baked goods.

Violet smells clean to me. Like shampoo without being soapy. Spanish moss is far more airy and than oakmoss. It doesn't have much of a presence yet but it may be giving a faintly green edge. Put them together and you get something light and fresh that nevertheless would feel eerie on a rainy day (at least to me.)

The inky black part is gorgeous. It's got a soft brushed by a raven's wing feel. The sense of purple fruit is good too. This is very perfumy, surprisingly perfumy for a Lilith. It must be the champa that makes me think there's jasmine here. It doesn't smell like jasmine exactly, but it's close enough. Also I think my chemistry might not be playing nice with the lavender. Boo It's still gorgeous, just a bit "scratchy." Now to age and see how it works. The comparison to The Elephant is Slow to Mate is apt, though this is somewhat less over the top. That one also threw me off a bit with how very perfumy it was. Edit: If I didn't know better I would swear up and down that there's vetiver here. There's no char but the patchouli may be standing in for vetiver. Months later: Much better. Before it was screaming perfume, now it's Violet jelly with soft roses and maybe a hint of woody patchouli. Of course dark resins and black musk turn to candy on me.

Ahh. BPAL's luring me back once again with my love of frogs and green musk. First applied, this is a bright, lemony spring green. I can certainly smell bamboo and all the other stuff too. It gives the scent a deeper cologny edge and doesn't let the green musk turn to drier sheets...at least so far. Super refreshing, aquatic and a little foresty. This is a green musk holy grail so far.

Waffle cone? Wafflecone! Also thick mint cream and chocolate. I can occasionally get a slightly lemon green tea but it's very faint. This is really fairly sweet for me, but the green tea tones that done.

I get alternating dirt and dandelions, though there's more dirt. There may be cumin in the dirt but it's not overwhelming on me. Also there's more blood than I expected, but my nose is very good at picking up the Lab's blood note. Fairly simple, pleasant and spring-like.