SophieCedar

I thought it was really nice that the labble included 2 very nice ocean scent frimps in my last order. Helps amp the natural smell in the air around here... Wet: evergreen and ocean air with violet blue-feeling flowers.. wow! It's quite ethereal. My head just lifted off my body and away from the worry of getting ready for a workweek. It's wet, gree, blue, violet, and flashes of fuchsia. Drydown: the fir turns less sappy but this still has some serious staying power. The star jasmine and hyacinth are wonderful sweet aromatic deep without knocking you out florals. It goes back and forth between beautiful and slightly B.O.-ish as my chemistry fights with it. I'm not sure if this one likes my skin, but I'm definitely using it as an atmospheric scent *rummages for lamp oil ring*. I might still wear it occasionally.

Wet: Lots of ginger. White, lush, spicy floral! The calla lily and lily of the valley overpower the black pepper. Drydown: the lilies subside a bit and the black pepper comes out, drying and blackening the mix. It now has a dusty, bone dry, white floral feel. Interesting!

Ok, so here's my spin on it: The osmanthus and white tea simulates the feeling of clarity and pinpoint focus through pain. (I'm not a pain junkie by any means.. I hate it. I'm just recognizing it here.. I prefer to sit for a tattoo 1st thing in the morning while I haven't even finished my coffee. Full senses.. It's a feeling that comes on quickly and stays in my nostrils for a while.) There's also a clean element making me think of green soap diluted with water... Odd! I really like the white honey, hibiscus, and sugar cane notes. Nice representation of the prostitute. When I 1st got the imp pack, this one had the strongest impression on me. I was really surprised that Beth got it so dead on (but then after a second, I wasn't that surprised. hahahaa). Overall, this is mind clearing, energizing, slightly unsettling (I hates the needles), and sweet. Very impressed!

Wet: This one is uh-frikkin-mazing! This is strong! Pure creamy nutty meaty chestnuts and lily of the valley are 1st. The magnolia is present too, and so smooth and silky, it gives the sensation of lightly rubbing the leaves. The mandarin isn't tart or overwhelming, just a nice bright layer of warm orange under the florals. Color impression is hard to pin...warm brown, white, orange, yellow... Drydown: Bubble bursted.. this fades all too quick.. I was ready to place an order for decanting to myself and my mother-in-law, who by judging the wet phase, would love this. But the chestnuts disappear, so does the mandarin and most of the magnolia. A ghost of the wonderfulness remains. Totally bummed.

This scent makes me dreamy and wish I was aimlessly floating around an antiquated town. Wet: lilac with blue musk, sandalwood and stargazer lily. I can barely smell lily at first, but it comes out rapidly. Drydown: much more interesting. The lily takes over the lilac and more sandalwood is present. I can smell the narcissus and ylang ylang, giving it a nice top note. The ylang ylang is a great touch, with it's definitive wine/jasmine sexiness. I could smell mind clearing cypress for a second but it sunk back in. Delphinium, I can barely smell. I can conjure it, knowing it's in there from reading the description, but blindly smelling, not really. Lovely blue floral blend!

Wet: golden boozy vanilla, caramel, meaty benzoin, and a touch of sandalwood and patchouli.. I can even smell the top note of iris. aka: sex in a bottle! Ohhh boy..man trap. (or woman trap, depending on what you prefer ) Drydown: When mixed with natural skin musk and my particular chemistry stink (which is kinda like a cross of this & midnight on the midway) this is AWESOME. It's turns more buttery/pastry-like and I'm amping the benzoin (which I tend to anyways). This weakened for a second then got stronger. Debating a bottle. Today is order day, after all...

Ok, I'm really bummed this was discontinued. I like it the most out of the whole Salon II pack.. he-goat runs close second. Wet: definitely my kinda blend.. dragons blood, sandalwood, copal, vanilla are some of my favorites. These run the forefront. Sweet pea, hyssop, and muguet are in the background brightening and lifting the blend. Brilliant. It's warm, sweet, and the florals tread very carefully, carried along by the deeper resinous notes. Color impression is golden yellow, flashes of red and burnt umber. Drydown: Same but with a touch of orchid, which is amazing. The woods come out, fostering the blend after the heavy copal dissipates. It's like getting a gourmet entree with brilliant garnishes and swirls and swoops of precious sauces.. you're not quite sure which makes you happier...the meal or the accouterments. The overall effect is ecstatic over-stimulation, which on the outside looks similar to a malfunctioning robot ready to blow. My senses are screaming with joy.

oooh wow! Wet: iris, chamomile, gardenia, and frankincense, in that order. Words that come to mind: sweet, wine-like, pure, heady, intoxicating. Drydown: the amber barely makes a notable appearance, but I can tell it's working the backstage. It just adds a golden warmth to the background. However the chamomile, iris, and gardenia take over and turn sugary on me. It's almost saccharin-like. I like it, but it doesn't love me. Going back to it later when my chemistry changes.

Wet: lots of damp grass and ivy.. good amount of morning glory, daisy, and heliotrope. I can smell the nasturtium, gardenia, and bit of herbs too. Lovely. It really does smell like a garden path.. many people up here grow these flowers, minus gardenia. I was hoping for a touch of dusty chicken feathers, but that's ok. Drydown: grass and ivy settled, allowing the florals to come out more. I can smell the rose geranium and climbing roses. The gardenia is still strong too. Lovely green floral blend!

Wet: what a lovely blend. This is like Mme Moriarty's big brother. The vetivert is warm and aromatic because of the egyptian amber and sweet notes. Spicy ginger and pomegranate are dominant with patchouli running behind them. Murky dark black musk is a great addition, tying it together extremely well. (I've seen it tear apart some scents) I can detect a touch of the carnation too. This is so well blended.. Drydown: mmmmmmmmm....egyptian amber, you're my hero. The ginger is still prevalent (yay!), the vetivert is lovely. This is what I wished Death Adder to smell like on drydown. Smoky, sweet, dark, sexy. It's going in the hat for next bottle purchases.

Wet: warm musky egyptian amber with a touch of black pepper and mandarin. I like the black pepper and vetivert notes, which I see as representing the hag in the background of this painting. Slightly biting and ominous. The tobacco is medium throw, kinda blonde. Drydown: still warm, fragrant and spicy, but of course tuned down. The wet muskiness of the egyptian amber is still present mixed with tobacco but the other notes, particularly the citrus, have given out significantly. I can barely smell the large amount I applied. This one may be better for sensitive snooters, not mine, which loves to be dramatically overwhelmed and enveloped in my own stench.

Wet: black tea, cherry blossom, something creamy..heavy cream! Uhmm.. Where? Uh..not on the list. I can smell the rice wine too. Not familiar with ho wood but I see it's similar to rosewood... The mint is there too but only the middle notes of it. There isn't any sharpness. I'm seriously perplexed as to why I smell cream. The only suspect is rice wine. Drydown: even creamier! The calla lily is notable now. black tea is still there, there's a soft warmness to it..mint still there, rice wine still there.. a whisper of cherry blossom. I never thought I'd get black tea and calla lilies soaked in heavy cream and rice wine with a cherry blossom breeze. Completely bottle purchase inducing..

Huh.. 1st time I tested, the most dominant note was brandy. Second time, petitgrain. Wet: I get a mentholated swift shot up the nostrils. I think the lemon peel tangerine and petitgrain are combining forces. Not as boozy and sweet as the first time. Something is hitting me like pine. Bourbon geranium starts to appear after a while, complicating the matters for me. Drydown: ohhh.. I rubbed it and found the skin musk and patchouli. It seems that if tested and left, without agitation, the citrus forms a barrier. Much more even and sweet now. Still strange and there's a bitter tinge, but complex and intriguing.

Wet: the citrus, orange blossom and lavender are strongest. Very Mediterranean (not that I've been there but representing the culture that's generally promoted via smellies and some foods). Words that come to mind are fragrant, wafting, saturated, succulent, sun-baked. Drydown: There's a strange body to it.. the jasmine and herbs seem to create a meaty smell..? Uhm.. hmm. Well that passes a bit. The jasmine and herbs are just developing and the shift caused some confusion in my snooter. Citrus dries up and lavender seems to as well. I feel like I've moved from the kitchen to the bath! This becomes a lovely warm floral.. I feel like I'm getting a warm hug. Sticks close to the skin and makes my mouth water (dried citrus tends to cause this reaction with me). I didn't expect to love this one (thanks for the frimp, lab!) but I can see this as one of my new comfort scents. ETA: get this if you like Cocktail from LUSH. Very similar citrusy floral jello thing going on.

My nose has a hard time capturing this one because I've been overloading it lately.. The notes are soft and well-blended (of course.. it's a salon scent). Having grown up in Boston and heard the stories of Scollay Sq, I believe this is pretty accurate for the time period it depicts. (Scollay sq was where all the sailors poured in, from the docks. The hill perched behind it was a red light district.. that hill is Beacon Hill, which is now one of the most expensive/luxuriant/well-to-do places to live in Boston... funny how things work.) Anyways... Wet: orris and palm, right off, with oak wood, tobacco, and blue lilac. The lilac seems to twine with the palm, otherwise I think it would just get squashed by woods and booze. The coconut meat is elusive. Drydown: More orris, palm and lilac with pronounced spices from the bay rum. The tobacco sticks around and linen is there as well, giving this a similar feel as Herr Drosselmeyer, but with an added layer of fresh green, spice, and floral. Very nice. I can't wait until my nose is in better shape, so I can fully smell this one.

I'm also in a decant circle for this one but still got a bottle. The lab hit this one dead on. Wet: Most prominent are red musk, black pepper, and pie. I'm really not good with pepper, but this isn't oppressive, just notable, and provides a playful bite. Vanilla cream is present, giving a juvenile, harmless, playful quality. The black tea is also there, which my brain interprets as refined, traditional, and comforting. Drydown: very fun. The black pepper moved to the background more (yay!) leather is more notable. Still sweet with vanilla cream and pie crust notes too. Red musk seems to be good at keeping a scent tied together for an extended time.. this is no exception. I really like this one and don't regret getting the bottle.

Herr Drosselmeyer 2010 Wet: pipe smoke and something aromatically fruity? Strange! The oil is relatively opaque so I expected it to be deeper & darker. I can see the verbena relation. I associate the sweetness to a curbed litsea cubeba..(I amp it).. in fact the more it develops, the more I'm convinced of it. I can't really make out what woods are in here.. maybe cedar and a tiny bit of teak. The teak could be throwing my nose off. Drydown: this turns further away from sweet leather towards litsea cubeba/teaky weirdness with a sugared cocktail included, for a time. I still get a sweet smoke, keeping me from coming to the determination that it was mislabeled w/ something from the atomic lounge. The linen is in there somewhere, but the sweetness is winning. Strange, light-hearted, and child-friendly. Wrist away from nose I do get more sweet pipe smoke too. Oh wait! There it is! Blammo.. had my wrist too close to my nose. The mixture comes together if I let it waft around.

I tried to get hubby to wear this because he loves sassafras, root beer, and birch beer. He wasn't a huge fan. As comical as it was to watch him sniff & ponder for about 3 hours, he's determined he's only a fan of Tombstone, for himself. Wet: sassafras, oak leaf and the CO2 butter extract.. nice and strange. Perky bubbly rootbeer with a side of vanilla tea cakes under an oak tree. Drydown: This is the love phase for me.. butter, sassafras, warm dark vanilla, warm touch of oak and onycha resins. This is richer and deeper than root beer, on my skin. Medicinal feeling (but not smelling) to my senses for sure.

Wet: men's cologne blend.. anise, leather, lavender, patchouli. Slightly tart and strong at this phase. It's not unpleasant or too old spicey. Just aromatic and warm with a clean edge Drydown: it's like a variation of Bow & Crown without sage! Lovely smooth leather and tonka with a touch of anise and lavender left over. The patchouli is slightly more pronounced but blends incredibly well with the others. Warm, refined, clean without being annoyingly squeaky. Just the right amount of groomed muskiness.

Wet:Strong sharp floral pouf at first. The bluebonnet freesia thyme and mint are fighting each other for a sec. It's really strange how serene this becomes so quickly... almost eerie! Bluebonnet is the most dominant. I can't really pick out passionflower per se, but I can smell the jasmine tea and mint. The thyme is green and grounding but I wouldn't be able to pick it out w/o the ingredients list. Drydown: Mmm. light floaty jasmine tea and freesia with a hint of bluebell and thyme. The red currant finally appeared. Very sweet.

A tousled, sexy mix of patchouli, vanilla, and hemp. Ok this is the golden ratio of smellies. Wet: warm meaty sexy patchouli and deep slinky vanilla combined with woody, green, sweet grass-like, yet distinctive, hemp (think rope or seed). Sexy and tousled for sure! I went completely feral. Sometimes the simplest combinations are the best. Hubby loves this one.. and he's PICKY. Drydown: Very straightforward and not a morpher. This is my new go-to scent. I can catch wafts of it even hours later! Back up bottles on the way...

Hurmph. I was hoping this would be dirtier than it is. Very soapy, white, sweet floral. There's a rose variation in here and maybe a touch of sandalwood but there's something else that's making this smell cleaner than Dirty. Maybe a touch of jasmine is there in the drydown too. This is comforting and clean in the drydown. I equate it with a soft, dryer sheeted, blanket but not something that would entice a lover.

Wet: not sure what's in "deep herbs" but it's there. Nothing really sharp, astringent, or notable. Maybe chamomile is in the mix? Strong apple and a touch of fig. I think the fig is apple and black amber mixing. Nice and dark but a bit confusing. Drydown: wine-like chamomile note keeps appearing? the apple and herbs are steady. amber blossoms slightly to make this a more rounded smell. Very nice but not bottle inducing.

Hard to pull out any 1 note. This is so well balanced that each are equally present. The graveyard dirt is a great strong note and hard to obscure. I love spanish moss, I'm learning.. a great complimentary smell to the dirt & geranium while the irish yew gives a fresh green woody element. This is "pretty dirt".

Wet: the storm last night was INSANE..worst I've ever experienced.. I didn't get to sleep for more than 1 hour at a time. Howling screeching wind and heavy rain, the cat wailing, ice cold water splattering my head from the windowsill, and the sound of that wind invading my dreams. It was frightening. Anyways.. I was drawn to this one this morning, even though I dislike aquatics. After putting it on, my mind and body completely relaxed and released the anxiety that storm caused. It was PERFECT for pulling my nose away from my shattered nerves. Soft blue green aquatic notes with chypre mix and orris and a touch of leaves. Warming, cooling, and clarifying. Drydown: same but softer. This is my new mental break scent.