Invidiana

Synaesthesia-heavy review incoming. This smells like a disco ball. Not that I've ever smelled a disco ball. It's just that if a disco ball had a distinctive smell, this is what I would imagine it would smell like; sparkly facets of icy mint catching different colors of light as it twirls around. It's really the snow and mint notes that stay at the forefront for me, with whiffs of different fruits coming and going. I smell something different every time I move. 

 

ETA: More of a frosty sugarplum scent comes out on the drydown. This is certainly a morpher!

YE GODS. This is so much more than your average caramel macchiato. The caramel is delicious and chewy, less of a milk caramel and more caramelized sugar, and the coffee balances it out with just the right amount of depth and bitterness to keep it from going into cloying territory, but the scent as a whole is not bitter at all. There is something musky about it on the drydown; I think it's my skin, but I'm here for it. If only someone could make an actual drink that tastes like this smells, I'd die happy. 

I've fallen hard for this, because it's basically tropical honey. There is an element here that reminds me of the Coconut, Vanilla Bean and Tiare hair gloss, possibly the jasmine which (even though star jasmine is a different species than tiare) comes close to that tiare note on my skin. The amber and beeswax meld together in one glorious sticky nosegasm that the jasmine takes to the tropics. It's honey, but not cloyingly sweet, just rich and golden. I am definitely going to try wearing this together with the hair gloss at the risk of doing nothing but sniffing myself all day.

Vetiver, you and I just can't get along...you overpowered everything as this dried down. I'll never know what lovely shadows this could smell like without the vetiver, but on me, at least, it overpowers everything, leaving just wisps of the other notes in the background struggling to make themselves known. That's what you get when your skin amps vetiver.

Anything night-blooming is a win for me, so this lady of the night gets along with my skin chemistry very well. Something in it reminds me of my beloved long-discontinued Midnight. It's all glorious, heady jasmine (and possibly gardenia, possibly even moonflower) that you'd expect to find growing around haunted Garden District houses in an Anne Rice novel. The midnight musk and deep purple shadows of blackcurrant only makes it even more intoxicating. It's like jasmine-scented skin wrapped in a velvet cloak. Wherever the clove is, it behaves. While it must be adding something, maybe a the barest hint of warmth, like the debauchery behind the brothel walls, but stays distant in the background. This makes me want to go read The Witching Hour again.

I can't possibly resist anything with wisteria, and the floral charms of Miss Anna do not disappoint. It's like the first flowers off spring blossoming straight form the bottle, and while lit starts off like a shower of petals, it is eventually warmed up by a lovely backdrop of honey and almond with a slight shadow from what I'm assuming is the cacao. Wisteria is one of my favorite florals and while I don't amp it, it doesn't vanish after the drydown. This is not a screeching floral but more of what I like to call a fairytale floral. It starts off innocent and slowly reveals something telling about its namesake. Who knew a painted lady could be so respectable?

 

 

I was crossing every limb on my body this would work on me since my name is Elizabeth. By some kind of magic it did! Sometimes I amp carnation to the point of it crushing everything else, and red or purple fruits can sometimes go cloying on me, but not this time. What stays at the forefront is honey, honey, golden and glorious honey. Full disclosure: I amp honey. The carnation is not too strong, more like a decorative flower behind the madam's ear, and the fruits add a bit of a tart (see what I did there?) element with a blush of red. First-class house indeed.

 

 

Ah, vetiver. Why must my skin chemistry turn you into a perfume of ill repute? I love leather and couldn't wait to see the Victorian whorehouse version of it until you crashed the party. Even the clove here doesn't amp too much on me and I'm notorious for ruining things like Voodoo Queen because my skin will not love certain types of clove. The vetiver is the perpetrator stealing into the brothel and terrorizing the ladies. Trying to put the vetiver aside, I can smell that the leather and patchouli, splashed with rum to sweeten the toughness with a boozy kick, are the 19th century version of badass.

I had such high hopes for this, from the tobacco leaf to the golden musk to the hay sugar and amber. I wanted it to be like an autumn sunset in a bottle. As an atmo it probably would be an autumn sunset in a bottle. The only thing I was leery of was (skin chemistry strikes again) the sandalwood. Sandalwoods that are blonde to white tend to screech on my skin, and unfortunately, this one gladly gobbled up all the gold gloriousness I could smell in the background. In an effort to get past the sandalwood takeover I tried picking out the other notes. The combination of those is like the last honeyed rays of sunlight falling upon the hay bales of a harvested field. Sigh.

 

 

I was really, really hoping this would be like All Hallows' Eve 1917 on me, that same scent of dusty light beaming in through a window at dusk. Alas my skin chemistry and the sandalwood just couldn't agree with each other. I amp many types of sandalwood and sadly I amped this one to the point of it going from swirling dust to the strong dry wood I was so desperately hoping wouldn't rear its Cerberus head. The black tea was completely overshadowed. It is, however, and atmospheric scent, and if it was an atmo, I would probably love it!

 

 

Be still my beating heart. The vanilla musk had me at first sniff out of the bottle, and it only blooms on my skin the longer it dries down. This is more of a translucent vanilla as opposed to the foodier ones, but there is still something irresistible that could almost be called "delicious" about it. Ethereal freesia and white tea swirl into what is really an enchanting, almost fairy-like scent that would make me think more of a Victorian virgin ghost bride than a mistress of ill repute. I'm conservative with what I get backups of, but I had to get a backup of this one.

I might be a fan of everything dark and unholy, but I love this ethereal white scent. Clouds of fluffy vanilla and mallow amp on me, like a more sophisticated version of vanilla marshmallows. White sandalwood is an iffy note for my skin but thankfully this one behaved on my chemistry and acted more as a hint of a something sultry along with the oudh and tinge of red musk rather than a screeching white sandalwood banshee. Mrs. Valentine is somehow innocent and sexy all at once, even for a proprietress of a house of ill repute.

 

 

This had me at "blood musk", and as a big fan of Beth's blood accord, it lives up to any and all evil, sultry, blood-soaked expectations I had for it. It's basically the love child of Blood (GC) and Oceans of Love and Millions of Kisses bath oil. It has that ridiculously sexy blood note entwined with come-hither musk (there has to be red musk in here somewhere), but it's also so much more than that. Neroli gives it a heady, almost honeyed feel that receives a sensual warmth and flame from the saffron. If I hadn't known there was no honey note in this, I would have guessed there was. It's a scent that burns with two colors of fire. Whereas the blood musk and slight bite of pink pepper give this moon its red fury, the neroli and saffron swirl the Lake of Hate with molten gold. Seething and boiling indeed, but in a really good way.

When I first smelled this I immediately thought leather, paper and ink--which I was dead on about--but there was something else, something sinister int he background that I just couldn't figure out. I didn't have a list of notes in front of me at the time but actually reading them for the first time, I see what it is that I had a hard time putting my finger on. It was the ghostly chill. Kind of like Beth's snow note, but more....evil, if you will. I love anything that smells like old books, especially haunted old books, so this is right up my dark and twisted alley.

This is a contemplative scent, soft and dusty in a pleasant way. The first things I smell in the wet stage are the sandalwood and coconut milk. I love the uniqueness of this sandalwood note, which really sets itself apart form the too-dry sandalwoods and the sexy sandalwoods that often appear in Ars Amatoria and the Lupers. This one is unexpectedly comforting, like a furry blanket you've just discovered in the attic and now can't let go. There is an additional, earthier woodiness behind it, which I believe is the mandrake root, and a hint of very well-worn brown leather. The creamy coconut milk and gently floral apple blossom also wrap themselves around you like that furry blanket. It's something I would want to be wearing during a long rainy day, curled up on the sofa, oblivious to everything else except the book I'm reading.

I love the juxtaposition of cold snow and smoldering woodsmoke notes here. It's not masculine at all, but rather cool and fresh with a smoky undertone that reminds me of walking outside in the winter and breathing in air that smells of fireplaces and impending snow. Putting my synaesthesia to use here, it also does smell "gray" if that makes any sense at all. There might be some cool musks at play here to contribute to that. This morning it was gray and snowing, so I couldn't have picked a better scent to wear.

Wow. This does something really magical on me. Honey isn't listed as one of the notes but it smells honeyed--must be the wine. I love how the wheat and grain notes are just bordering on the edge of foody but not dessert per se. They're warm, comforting and golden, just like wheat and grains that had been soaked in an autumn sun. Sometimes pear notes get too sweet on my skin but not here. The pear adds just enough sweetness but never grows cloying. Did I mention it lasts for ages? I am completely in love.

I'm head over heels for this beaver! It's like the most luscious lemony cheesecake on the planet, and I do love me some lemon cheesecake. The cheesecake note is rich, creamy and vanillaed with the lemon giving it the right amount of tang to balance the sweetness. I used to be terrified of pear because it can sometimes go saccharine on me, but not here. The pear note, if anything, adds more interest and complexity and gives it a more autumnal feel than just lemon alone. I don't amp thyme, so I can't say that it's really prominent on me, but it's probably a contributing factor in rounding it out. This making me wonder if a similar (edible) cheesecake recipe would taste as good as this smells!

so.. any new recommendations? especially from the limited editions that are out now?

 

All Souls'! The minging of incense and cake is positively addictive. Dia De Los Muertos is more on the floral side, but in the sense that the flowers are resting on a cloud of sweet incense.

Do the lunacy scents have a commonality? Like a shared note or something?

 

To add to that, while all the Lunacies don't share one particular note, it often happens that Lunacies with the same theme from different years often have shared notes. For example, you'll find shared notes in most of the Blue Moon and Blood Moon blends. However, sometimes one with the same name and theme as a previous Lunacy may go for a complete turnaround too. For example, the very first Harvest Moon had more traditional fall notes like pear and spice, but his year's had dry leaves and rose.

If I knew I had five minutes left to live this is exactly the sort of ridiculous thing I'd be stuffing myself with. Wet I initially get a blast of almond, and then the pumpkin comes through pretty quickly in the drydown. I like the booziness of it, which initially comes off strong but softens in the drydown. It does retain a certain boozy undertone throughout which I find kind of addictive. The blending of that with the clouds of vanilla buttercream is just pure ecstasy. I'm glad that the spice here is very subtle, just a warming accent and nothing that amps to the point of killing the other notes. Really, really tempted to lick it off.

Let me just say that I'm so relieved I don't get any melon out of this because it generally doesn't love my skin, but it's all ripe fall fruits uninterrupted by any melon shenanigans. Now that that's out of the way I can let the goblins seduce me with their tempting fruits. There's the juicy sweetness of the peach and apple, checked by the red tartness of the cherry and raspberry. I can definitely distinguish the quince note; I've eaten them baked many times and it smells like exactly that. It's kind of like a less sweet apple with something of a starchy, almost bread-like undertone. I also like how the quince adds something warm and hearty to the blend and balances the sweeter fruit notes. There is a hint of citrus from the lemon and orange, and they're both sweet-tart juice notes rather than the more bitter rind notes. The presence of citrus here doesn't make this a summery scent at all but has more of the effect that the orange in Fearful Pleasure has, even though they're very different scents. I'm thinking there might even be a kiss of golden honey here though I can't be completely sure with all the fruit action going on. I adore Christina Rossetti's poem so much, and this is like the lines above were brought to life and bottled.

October has a sister! Almost anything with dry leaves has my heart and this is no exception. The leaf notes definitely remind me of October, but I feel that while that one is evocative of late October when there are cold winds and crunchy leaves everywhere, this one is more evocative of early October when all the leaves are ablaze. The maple wood note is actually very close to oak, perhaps just a tad sweeter. The sweet undertones come out more as this dries down, and it seems like there is a hint of sap here too, though somewhat lighter than the sap note in October. It's not maple syrup or the least bit foody but there is a very, very slight undertone that hints at it being related to maple syrup if that makes any sense at all whatsoever. Like something that says this is the raw state of what eventually ends up as maple syrup. Maybe that makes a bit more sense. Keep in mind I could potentially be high from all the Weenies I've already assaulted my nostrils with. But I love how this one brings out a distinct "redness"--there goes my synaesthesia again--in the leaf note. It just so clearly illustrates brilliant red leaves, along with memories of apple picking in upstate New York, in my mind.

I've always wanted a haunted house scent that could work as a perfume on me. There have been so many I tried in the past that would have been great as atmos, but just didn't like my skin for one reason or the other. I think I finally found the big exception in Haunted Houses. It's a scent that evokes the feeling of a ghostly, abandoned house without actually smelling musty or moldy but more ethereal and even feminine, in an unexpected way. In the beginning I got the wood first and I was gritting my teeth hoping this wouldn't die an untimely cedar death on my skin, but it ended up doing a complete turnaround to show off the pale musks instead. They have a lovely cool, crystalline feeling that evokes things like fleeting ghostlike visions and dust swirling in late-afternoon light. There still is subtle wood in the background, and a bit of a cool stone note; they round out the scent more than anything else, adding to the feeling of a house from a forgotten era. Come to think of it, this really reminds me of the actual haunted house in NYC that I went to visit a few years back. I can almost feel the invisible presence of a ghost.

Ah, mead. Only my favorite thing in the world to imbibe. What's this, you say? Pumpkin mead?

Forget the "I die", I'm already dead.

I haven't ever been able to find a ready-made pumpkin mead (of the drinkable persuasion), but this one (of the smellable persuasion) bottles up everything I hope the real thing will someday be. f the characters in A Song of Ice and Fire were as crazy for pumpkin as I am, this would be in all their drinking horns. Let me clarify that this actually isn't a boozy scent. It has that characteristic honeyed sweetness of mead which is tempered by a golden, almost bready undertone that the honey gets from fermenting. Compared to a sniff of the actual (drinkable) bottle of mead in my liquor cabinet, this is by far a darker, richer scent. I'm sure the pumpkin contributes to this quality but it also seems like the honeys used here are generally darker. I also think the maple contributes to the "dark" aspect; while the pumpkin and honey mead are definitely the prominent notes here, the undercurrent of maple deepens it further. The maple note here is more like that amazing Grade B maple syrup you can never find in your average supermarket, not as sweet but a more robust dark amber.

Long story short I want to roll in this for all eternity.