SophieCedar

I was really looking forward to this one and I'm not disappointed. Wet: The creamy skin musk is very quick to blossom. Smells like rich butter. Next is the pink musk, which dominates the skin musk quickly. ((I'm realizing, against my own pride, that I really enjoy pink musk.(loli.goth) I really wish Beth would use it more!)) Anyways..the amber is sweet and soft. Strange... the laudanum that I tested between Vasilissa and Knave of Hearts now smells awesome! It's amping sweet nutmeg, myrrh, and poppy. That gives me blending ideas for later. Drydown: pink musk is dominant and the jasmine is just amplifying it. Brilliant. The amber is my favorite kind: sweet and sticky and sandalwood is offering a peaceful dreamy element. I can't really pick out the myrrh however I'm sure it's in there deepening this blend. This is a total win.

Wet: whoa. Myrrh and sassafras rush towards my nostrils first, then followed by the black poppy. Very rich, dark, and all encompassing. Color impression, dark red and brown with flashes of golden orange. Drydown: Nutmeg comes out and sadly this blend turns mostly towards that. There's a faint trickle of poppy and sassafras in the background however I smell mostly nutmeg. I still like it but wish the others could (basically do the chemically impossible and..) stick around longer.

Wet: away from wrist all I smell are sweet buttery pastries and black currant jam. Yum. Up close, sharp red rose distorting it and souring it. Experience translation: the ugly and sad underbelly of love. Drydown: The tarts win! The rose mellows into the background while jammy dark currant and sweet butter sugar pastries take over. I really love this. It's like walking into an old school pastry shop with red roses displayed on the counter.

Ooh wow. So complex I really don't know where to start... Wet: the laudanum and sandalwood are awesome together. I can see the association with a library. The lavender is a great addition. adds the perfect top note. There's something meaty and dark like vetivert in here, but not pungent and repelling. maybe it's the nag champa and tobacco mixing with all of it. Drydown: lavender burned off. Smells like smoking a pipe in an old library, next door to a tibetan wares shop. I'm in love. I feel like I'm back in Harvard Square.

Wet: apple blossom and rose.. piercingly sharp and acrid. Then ylang ylang, which is usually my friend.. starts batting them over the head and screaming..the honey is whimpering in the background.. Oh man.. not good. Drydown: intervention happened and everyone's playing nice. It's actually really pleasant at this stage! The honey smothers all the rough and sharp parts. It's light apple, sweet rose, rich honey, and intoxicating ylang ylang. Lovely. That was totally bizarre. Experience translation: like I was having a bad nightmare then waking up to complete calm.. add on to it my husband greeting me with fresh cinnamon buns and a warm bubble bath.

Wet: strong red patchouli, myrrh, and a touch of clove. Gritty, dark, blackened. Smells a bit like burnt wood and damp ash. This is perfect for this time of year. Drydown: perfumey golden ylang ylang comes out, making the blend pretty and slightly ethereal, in a basal sort of way... if that makes sense...The concoction has the same sensation as leather scents. But it's scattered, broken, and manic.. instead of uniform & singular. Interesting!

I deadened my nasal passages due to excitement about my newly arrived GC order...yay. This is partially from memories of sniffing it when 1st arrived last night. Wet: This has a similar nasal feel/ experience as Perversion and Chimera. It hits all the same spots and causes the same feral drooling eyes rolling into back of ocular cavities goodness reaction. Deeper and darker. Strong buttery dark leather and tobacco with wet sticky amber. Wear this when out on the town some night... You're guaranteed an *ahem!* intriguing evening.. It's Perversion for the difficult to seduce... Perversion may be too obvious and would scare away your victim, but this.. hmmm. Drydown: creates and keeps an atmospheric cloud around me. I could stay in this bubble for quite a while...sigh. It's all my favorite things from any old downtown area.. the tobacco shops with chess boards and old leather.. bars from the 17 and 1800's with velvet curtains, embellished wallpaper, copious amounts and selections of absinthe, chartreuse, scotch, and dark corners.

Wet: The color was surprising! Inky blue green black. The smell is very dark and reminiscent of cologne, the musk is strong w/ wood spices and labdanum. However I can tell it has promise...something lovely in the drydown. Drydown: patchouli and saffron brightens the mix and the woods dry it out and deepen it. I truly love this one. Slightly masculine however with my skin chemistry it's complex, deep, slightly sweet, and seductive.

Wet: I blurted out "men." when I smelled it. Wet patchouli and new money smell. The copal is notable as well. Drydown: Reminds me of working as a courier in DT Boston. The financial district smells like this..dry new money, men's cologne, old wood, wrought iron stairwells & elevator shafts, the dampness of the old Boston sewers and sub-basements emanating through the cracks in the old marble floors and dank lobby carpets.. and me wreaking of oakmoss (my favorite singular note) whipping through the buildings. Wow.

Wet: the 1st note that rushes towards my nostrils is star jasmine. This has me hopeful and excited.. then I descend to the wrist.. cheap soap. Uh oh.. the jumble of notes are all screaming at each other producing a 10 cent bar of yuck. Well atleast it's not band-aids! Drydown: a little more spicy and the soap feeling isn't as strong. I think the lavender isn't getting along with the rest of it, in combination with my skin chemistry. It's really funny that everyone has such different impressions of this one! On me, I guess this makes me wonder what combination of scents were in soap a long time ago, before companies started just adding artificial chemical scents that simulate that combination. I guess this was it!

I accidentally ordered 2 imps of this.. that's what I get for rushing through a bpal order...glad I did! Wet: plums and cream with a breath of chamomile and bellflower or something? Drydown: much much more herbal and plum, with a slight creaminess left over. I wish I knew what's in the wildflower mix.. this is driving me nuts! Smells lovely though!

Wet: clean linen, touch of melon? I totally smell a light melon mixed with maybe moonflower or wisteria or sweetpea.. one of those. Drydown: there's some detergent that my sister is addicted to.. she's loyal to it because of the smell. This is very similar. Bouncy clean and sunshiney. I still get the melon smell. OK so I tried this on a hangover. It helps with that crudy, blood feels like molasses and omg what did I do that I don't remember I'll hide in a hole until I feel better feeling. I still prefer a few others to wipe away my sins, but this is good.

I ordered The Raven and the labbie was kind enough to include a frimp of this. Very thoughtful! Wet: rose geranium right off the bat. The indigo musk, night-blooming jasmine, and plum start to twine with it quickly. Meaty warm benzoin is lurking in the background.. Drydown: a poignant patchouli joins in.. color impression is definitely an inky fluid blue black. The rose geranium stays dominant. Smells like a strange soap. I'm just happy that I don't smell urinal cakes or BMs like some other people!

Wet: Like others have said, definitely like they mixed O and Snake Oil. I was hoping the arabian musk was going to have more throw. Oh well... the spices are sharp and unique, plum wet & rounded, not heady and sweet. Drydown: my nose adjusts to this too quickly! I can smell it if I'm moving around (close to whirling dervish action). I believe it's perfect for those who are sensitive to smell, but I'm a smell junkie and need to drown in it in order to be satisfied.. *slather slather slather*

Wet: very meaty fruity flesh? there's a cranberry fruitiness but the only thing I can equate it to is skin coated in some fruity lotion surrounded by incense. There's a jumble of smells right now. The lily isn't there. the Mediterranean spices are there a bit. Drydown: the musk that was causing the fleshy smell has subsided. Now its sharper cranberry, smoky lily and spices (with a light light touch of ginger) smoothed together by the musk.. whew. Overall, pleasant and reminds me a bit of thanksgiving dinner here in Maine before the turkey (or tofurkey) comes out of the oven.

Mmm. Debating a bottle. Wet: Similar to arabian musk but smoother...where arabian musk is very pungent and hangs in the your nasal cavities, this glides through my nose like very fine incense. There's a sweetness of almond but it actually sticks around instead of disappearing immediately. Drydown: this makes me realize that red sandalwood is my favorite out of all the sandalwoods. Also, that carnation loves my skin, no matter what form. I smell and feel heavenly. Total brain vacation scent. The cassia just makes the whole thing a touch more intense without sharpness. Love love love.

Wet: strong white musk, like almost hippie shop shaman oil strong. I never thought I would smell that from a bpal scent! Water violet (sweet and slightly aquatic) and ylang ylang are dominant as well. I don't get any magnolia? Dryness of white sandalwood is there. Drydown: sweet refined expensive bath soap...not in a negative way. Reminds me a bit of Bat Woman but whiter and lighter. Very soothing! I can smell a touch of the magnolia. Some may reach for Dirty when they've had a hellishly fun night... I don't. This will be my "everything is ok. Hit the delete button on your memory bank" scent.

Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits. Very similar to Dirty, in my mind. There's a slightly greener edge to it. Light flowing green as others were talking about. It weakens quickly but makes me feel fresh & new while it's there.

Wet: strong red apple with a hint of opium and hemlock. No oleander at this stage. Drydown: a more bitter tang appears as the sweetness wears off. Oleander appears but is slipping in and out of the frame. I was hoping for a bit more opium here. Still nice but I wanted it headier instead of dry green bitter w/ red apple.

Wowowowooww. I can't believe a generous forum member gave me a sample of Cake Smash! Very greatful.. Wet: Creamy thick cream cheese frosting and cooled red velvet cupcakes! Smells like valentines day at my house last year! (minus the Wulric I was wearing and accidentally ate off my fingers..) Drydown: I can smell wafts of the SO and Doc Constantine but not really the Dorian, at first. Dorian comes out a little bit later. Lovely foody scent!

Wet: First thing that rushed towards my nose was a butter note. Pumpkin slowly trailing behind it like a bratty brother on the way home from school. I had to do a triple take at the ingredients because I totally didn't believe that it had tea rose or rosewood included. The pumpkin is so lush and pastry like! Drydown: Finally get the rosewood, sandalwood, and tea rose here. Lovely scent. The pumpkin dried out and moved to the back of the line. Bitter, clean, soothing, pumpkin!

Wet: soapy wet popppy and opium. Not dark resin opium, more of a lighter version, like belle epoque. Drydown: sweeter and softer. Much more enjoyable. Color impression is dry red.

Wet: I smell something like plumeria or sweetpea? Possible that it's the orris and linden flower mixed with lotus. The yuzu comes out quickly with the white ginger adding an exclamation point. I noticed yuzu is one of the lab's favorites for reanimated life, ghost, etc etc spooky notes. Works well in giving a sharp sense of awareness. Draws my senses to a focal point compared to say the floaty dreaminess of Shadowy and Sublime. Very misty.. not musty, musky, or foody. Drydown: the linden flower is finally notable. The lotus sticks around, which is surprising. Orris has a tendency to disappear on me.. White, slightly sweet, clean. I notice the tanginess yuzu tends to create on the sides of my tongue is still there.. even though the scent has almost disappeared. Interesting effect!

Saving grace: Fortunately, the pepper doesn't go completely rancid on me (which it's usually very wont to do). Wet: wet and furry, but not warm coconut + strong strong white sugar. Golden green angelica is notable as well. Drydown: drier, of course. More pepper, making this a sharp, acidic, spicy blackened blend of coconut and sugar. The angelica has disappeared. Confused about this one. It smells like my biker jacket under a baking sun? Weeeiiirrrd.

Reading the description, I figured this would be perfect for me. I purchased a bottle off the forum, without testing a smaller amount. Wet: OK, not a good idea to test randomly while at work. Especially considering we have a strong ventilation system...the red musk and smoky vanilla are STRONG and permeated quickly. I panicked and rushed to the bathroom for removal... Starting over in the comfort of my own livingroom...plus husband has a cold, so he won't be able to detect the explosion... I can now detect wet plum along w/ the smoky vanilla and red musk. Something else hits my nose like honeycomb? Think it's the clove mixing w/ red musk and a touch of patchouli. Mixed with the orchid and frankincense billowing, this is very thick, almost suffocating, during this phase.. not that it's a bad thing. There are worse smells to be suffocated by... Drydown: orchid, thyme (Styrian herbs? all I could find online was Styria is a SE region of Austria.), plum, red musk, and tonka. Something develops that's very sweet and candied at this phase. I smell like a musky gourmet lollipop. I was hoping to smell more peru balsam (one of my favorite singular notes.. vanilla sap). Interesting and glad I have a bottle. Baffled about the development, therefore I'll keep reaching for it.