SophieCedar

Wet: leather and olive oil with a slight polished wood background. The leather is brown and definitely oiled. There's a buttery quality to it, not sharp or fruity. (whew) Drydown: smells like a gentleman's club. Soft warm leather and warm sweet wood. Kinda like Herr Drosselmeyer without the pipe tobacco. Nice!

Wet: this scent makes me rethink my hatred for tuberose..ok maybe hatred is too strong. Could just be a dislike. Wet, there's strong sweet tuberose, jonquil (daffodil), mandarin, green musk (wow never smelled before) hyacinth, and violet musk. Very sweet, green, pervading, and elusive. Reason I say elusive is because it's strong but you can't really hone in on it well by getting closer to your wrist. It's not direct like some foodies, resins, or say a jasmine or red rose base. Drydown: tuberose, jonquil, sandalwood (strong here, yay!), hyacinth, and a touch of styrax (plant origin of benzoin). Sweeter as the mandarin gets juicier and looses it's sharpness. The florals mellow too. It's a floral blend that leaves a tang in my mouth. This isn't a bad thing. Just a very distinctive watery green purple floral with a lovely resinous woody base. I really like this and need to try it out a few times. Great variation for people that like lily of the valley, tuberose, or daffodil blends.

Wet: ooh wow. I didn't want to like this because what a naughty naughty gal.. concealing love affairs! Hurmph! But this truly is a dazzling scent. 1st strongest are the orchid and plum musk, followed by neroli, narcissus, grapefruit. Sweet flowing purple reminding me of suspiro here and there. Drydown: sweet narcissus and plum with neroli, sandalwood, and a touch of thyme. I wished to smell more oakmoss, but that's ok. Nice supporting actress for this one. The suspiro association is still there, but this is more sugary and a little darker. It fades somewhat quickly.. oh the similarity to real love affairs is becoming obvious. hahaha

Wet: springy fresh, green jasmine. Something that smells like fresh pavement and riding by flower beds in spring. I am a huge jasmine fan, and was momentarily depressed when I smelled something like a litterbox, which passed in all of about 10 seconds. I think my nose was misreading information and was overwhelmed. Crossed wires quickly straightened. I think the gardenia and jasmine had a quick cat fight. The jasmine, rose, gardenia, and ylang ylang quickly sort themselves out to a nicely aligned bright spring jasmine mix. Strange how reminiscent this is of riding a bike in spring. Drydown: warm soft, non-powdery jasmine with apple blossom, amber and ylang ylang. The gardenia is getting lost in the background, which is fine. Wonderful.

Wet: oooh boy. I knew I should have bought a bottle of this right of the bat. Next order! Calla lily is of course dominant here, honeysuckle is sweet and wonderfully complimentary to it. The jasmine is actually only slight on me..? Bourbon vanilla is the one that starts to appear the fastest. I can't tell you how surprised I am by that. Drydown: this turns creamier, sweeter, and muskier. Strange because the ambrette seed can be a nightmare on my skin occasionally. The galbanum develops as well. This is just gorgeous.Sweet, heady, seductive florals, bourbon vanilla, and warm amber.

Wet: ok I opened the imp and the cap popped, went flying, and sprayed a trajectory of Love & Pain all over the computer. Therefore, the scent is uhm.. very present right now. This is a really interesting one. As love and pain can be, it's all encompassing, confusing, alluring, dark, and soothing all at once. My brain wants to explode due to the emotional malfunction this is causing. The lavender is strong and soothing. Underneath is a strong current of musk and resinous notes. Balkan tobacco is unlike any I've smelled in the past. It has a port wine-like quality to it. The vanilla is so dark, and in combination with the tobacco and musk, it translates as tonka-esque, if you smelled it blindly. Drydown: apparently my coffee is starting to work. This review is much more verbose than the previous one..(which was basically filled with mono-syllabic grunts of "mm good"... ) The lavender mellows without getting powdery. The tobacco takes forefront with dark vanilla and lavender just provides this sweet and sad backdrop. golden copaifera is warm and glowing too. Really amazing scent. One that I'll be coming back to over and over to try and figure out.

Wet: bitter clove is really interesting as a dominant note. This comes across as what I wanted Old Spice to really smell like, but they had to add powdery crap and alcohol to ruin it. hahahaa. The black musk smells sweet, combined with clove. Mahogany wood is dominant as well. Drydown; very old spicey, but not in a bad way. the clove takes over everything but I can smell a bit of patchouli behind it. The mahogany wood is still around but softer. Not bad! I can see developing a 1 week fascination with this and using the imp up.

Wet: something sweet..fruity smelling...wilted greenery? and black amber. I completely didn't expect the fruit smell! The sunflower bouquet smell comes out short after application. It's warm yellow dry, aromatic without being incensey and balanced. drydown: I can smell all elements here. The amber burns down some, as expected. I think the what makes this a signature scent is the dry stems. Without that the scent might waffle and disappear. Nice, warm, dry, late summer early fall, sunbaked dried floral scent.

Same from wet to drydown. Yellow rose, chrysanthemum, and skin musk with slight cream and mandarin. Where's the honeycomb? There's a lot going on in here and I was hoping the cream and skin musk were going to be more prominent. I have no idea what wide-throated yellow monkey-flower is supposed to smell like, but it's in here! This is predominantly a floral mix with slight sweet background. Strange because it's one of those scents where I focused in on only the elements that I wanted (skin musk, honeycomb, cream, honeysuckle) and everything else was *blah blah blah* because I was fixating. My fault! I mean, it's still a nice glowy scent, but I need to come back to it with a fresh perspective.

Wet: oooh..oceanside on a spring morning. makes me think about running down to the ocean to watch the sunrise (yes, I do that frequently). Not very dissimilar to Maine oceanside in spring. The kelp, oceanmist ambergris are strongest of course. The florals are a really unusual addition. Completely took me by surprise even though I, of course, can see they're listed in the description.. Osmanthus and freesia are great additions. White pear sweetens the florals and makes them singularly notable instead of getting lost in the mix or turning the whole thing sour. Very wise. Drydown: the kelp and ocean mist burn down to a soft blue-green. Florals ease off slightly too. The pear and amber become more prominent. Smells like the part of sunrise when the sun starts to warm me and everything around me and I'm finally ready to leave for some breakfast or an adventure. *sigh* spring is coming.

Ok this one surprised me. My preconception of how it would smell was quite different. I contribute it to the asain pear and lavender monofloral honey. Wet: cherry blossom and asian pear with blue lilac and wafts of lavender honey. The sandalwood is there but stays in an auric circle around the rest. Warm light purple color impression. Delicate but inviting. Drydown: sweet lovely lilac and cherry blossom. Lavender note is not as strong, but whatever honey base was used is still around. It smells creamier than the wet phase..surprising. I thought the asian pear and cherry blossom with residual lilac would have turned this acidic on drydown. It wears very close to the skin and smells quite natural and "pretty". Youthful and pure without being naive.

Dusty amber, grey musk, red orchid, moonflower, night-blooming phlox, stock, honeysuckle, English ivy, toadflax, and purple salvia. Wow. This is a really unusual beautiful floral. When the package came in the mail and preliminary sniffing ensued, this was one that caught my attention. Wet: grey musk and dusty amber apparently like my skin. (Bat-Woman works well on me too). The red orchid is second. It really does an amazing job of adding dimension and plays off the amber and musk amazingly. They're quite harmonious, however! Moonflower is gorgeous and innocently seductive as usual. I can smell bits of the stock, honeysuckle and ivy. The overall impression is a "true" perfume base, but on deeper inspection, I'm not repulsed or overwhelmed. (that's normal for regular perfumes..they draw me in and then cause headaches and/or nausea or, at best, just an overall feeling of ickiness). There's something iridescent about this. It reminds me of Black Opal in some respects. Drydown: sweet orchid, moonflower, and honeysuckle with amber and grey musk background. I'm surprised the grey musk stuck around! I can still smell bits of ivy, and now a whisper of toadflax. Overall a sweet dusty gray. I never thought I'd smell that in a perfume..ever. Very interesting and curious how this will shift in perception, in the warmer months ahead. Love it!

Ok I don't know what this is supposed to accomplish..but this scent is my own personal form of olfactory crack. I just got this in the mail and tested, with fear that it wouldn't work well on my skin. Nonsense! This is great! Wet: 1st though: "Mmmm.. cherry tarts...wait..cherry tarts? Very funny, Beth..."(then laughed to myself) I literally got the smell of fresh cherry tarts with marzipan and vanilla bean liquor. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, no wonder this would supposedly furnish pregnancy...he'd eat you alive. Drydown: this scent does a bizarre thing of simulating the complexity of a good deep musk, without any, and hitting that golden ratio of sweet, floral, and earthy. True, peru balsam, vanilla bean and benzoin are some of my favorites and are really prominent here.. But I'm not really zoning in on only the elements that bring me guaranteed joy in life. The rose water and lemon peel are perfect balancers and keep me going back to smell it deeply again. Reason is, I noticed I was able to equate how it plays out on my sense of smell as being similar to how someone would seductively describe a perfect glass of wine. That is all together too creepy of an association for me so, I'll stop now and run away, huffing my arm.

It's unusually warm today so I figured this would be a good day to try it. Strange how different this smells from a couple weeks ago, when 1st tested. The lily of the valley and sandalwood is actually much stronger now and it's overall drier. When I 1st tested in colder weather, I could smell more hibiscus and green fig. Very energizing and a great lily of the valley variation and hits me more as late spring-early summerish. This makes me wish it was May and I was out riding my bicycle only to stop for seashell collecting and crow mocking.

Ok the similarity to Red Lantern would not have been apparent, had I not checked new content this morning and realized I never reviewed RL..therefore tested it. Wet: very similar to Red Lantern as stated before. Just woodier, with patchouli and something that smells like clove on me. This could be the cinnamon leaf amping in combination with the caramel and patchouli. Nice earthy foodie scent. I'm a fan. Drydown: much of the currant burns off, but still there. Caramel, sandalwood, patchouli and cinnamon leaf remain. I missed the muguet both rounds (wet and dry) but oh well. This decant is of indeterminate age.

Wet: black myrrh and black musk with oppoponax and frankincense. Nice strong start but it's shifting quickly.. The crushed olive leaf is in the background. Drydown: the myrrh dries out and the musk disappears almost completely. Frankincense and olive leaf, spikenard, cypress, dried ginger and patchouli. I think this blend has lost strength, being 5 years old.

Did I seriously never review this? Glad it popped up from someone's 2011 review. Red lantern 08: I bought a partial bottle in the summertime. That was the WRONG season for me to be wearing Red Lantern. The caramel was so overpowering that I stashed the bottle away, pouting and disappointed.. But I reasoned that Beth releases blends at certain times of year with the idea of complimenting the seasonal atmosphere. I recently went back to Smut 10 too and realized it's much better in winter. Wet: OK this is great. The amber, coconut, caramel, tobacco, currant, and delphinium are forefront forming a silky, weightless cloud of pure indulgent awesomeness. It has a light touch but firm presence.. none of that raunchy overpowering heavy-handedness. Very seductive. The delphinium is a wonderful unexpected top note. I love the white opium too: Nice soporific background. The spices aren't too heavy and I can't really tell what's in the mix. Drydown: caramel, tobacco, and currant stick around. Delphinium is in the background still, but light. Much foodier and the opium has disappeared. I love it. Glad I have this partial. It's the perfect cold weather love affair.

Wet: this is good. The lighter greener brother of Unsavory Gravediggers. The hops amps 1st, followed by the booze and dandelion. Green boozy passed out in the grass fun. Drydown: the tobacco comes out more and the booze and hops deepen and the mix sweetens to a wonderfully intoxicating level. This actually sticks around for hours on my skin. Unexpected love fascination with this one.

Wet: this is WHOA strong. 1st I smell the grapes, as I tend to amp them anyways, then some kinda evergreen and patchouli. Then there's wet rose mingling with the grapes and the evergreen confusing the hell out of me. This scent is turning me around and around...I'm still waking up with coffee by my side.. Drydown: I smell the opium and lilies however they're turning acrid. Probably because of the evergreen and grape, both of which are really iffy on me. I tried this once before, thinking maybe my experience was a fluke, but no. This is just too bizarre on my skin for my little brain to handle and amping like crazy. Coming back to this in summer/fall. ETA: ok wait.. It's burned off a little more. Now I smell opium smokey grapes with an evergreen background. Kinda nice now! I think the 1st test, I was so horrified that I just washed it off too soon.

Wet: what a great blend. The strongest are chamomile, rosewood, primrose with a slight arabian musk and bergamont. The red sandalwood and violet are noticable but take the background. This has a wonderful duality to it. Sensual, mind-stirring, soothing, and uplifting. Drydown: mostly rosewood, sandalwood, slight violet and musk. Chamomile has a tendency to go a little wine-like on me after a while. This combines well with the rosewood and arabian musk. my hubby loves dousing himself in chamomile oil, so he really liked this when I offered a sniff. Sure he'll be asking for some soon! (oh that sounded bad..)

Wet: leather slaps my face straight from the imp...wait.. no leather. I didn't know whale barf could be leathery. The spanish moss is amping on me as well. this is a very fragrant cologne. Not dark and brooding, just classic springy summery aftershave. I can detect orange blossom and the mints but bummed that I can't smell the jasmine. Confusing well-blended scent. Drydown: ambergris and orange blossom. The rest are in the background, mixing, melding, confusing. I feel like I'm back in Jr high raiding my dad's cologne stash. (Yes,that was a popular thing gals did when I was that age)

Wet: ooh I like this way more than I expected. The asian pear and quince are awesome additions and actually smooth out the ginger slightly. Drydown: smooth creamy fruity ginger candy. This is really uplifting and energizing. Debating the search for a bottle.

Wet: the cedar tries to do it's overpowering pouf, similarly to ouija. (which if I get too close, it smells like toothpaste..) This smells brilliantly sweet and incensey from afar...if I can just keep my arm away from my nose until it cools down. The saffron is wonderfully strong and sandalwood +lotus is sweet woody awesomeness. Drydown: a few failed attempts at not sniffing up close later...The cedar settled and this is a sweet, not overpowering incense. The lotus takes over with whatever spices are in the mix. Decent!

Wet: evergreen, pine-like, slight hint of a juniper berry. This phase smells like the non-poisonous type. From what I read about poison hemlock, it's a foul odor compared to parsnips or mice. Drydown: more plant-like, less evergreen. Ok now I'm confused. Is this the poison hemlock version? I smell parsnips and slight warm pine. Maybe I'm just impressionable. Not a bad scent, but not something I'll reach for often.

Wet: I love honeysuckle, but can't smell any here. This is frustrating. The bulgarian rose, night blooming jasmine, clove, and nectarine are turning this into a pouf of rancid fruit on a bed of roses. I'm upset (and whiny apparently). Drydown: oh whew. Much better! This dries out well. The cedarwood develops nicely and I can distinctively smell the honeysuckle now. The sweet clove and nectarine twine and make for a great spicy sweet background for the wood and florals. Rose is still there but not being obnoxious. This scent might be better in summer. Need to come back to it.