brilliantcat

I definitely get apple and tomato leaf on my skin, I recognize the tomato leaf note from Jerusalem Cherry Honey. It reminds me of being outdoors. On the drydown it smells of flowers and soap. Not for me. I wanted more apple.

I am generally not a floral fan, but something in the description tugged at me.

 

In the decant and wet, it's a lush, sweet, slightly soapy floral. I don't get any greens, just straight up elegant, feminine flowers. It's softer than I expected, with very light throw. I doubt I would reach for it often, but it has a strange sort of appeal.

Swapped for a decant of this and omg I opened the spray bottle to sniff it and almost swooned it smelled so good! Beautifully resiny, smoky, spicy. I usually apply hair gloss to my hair by spraying in my hands and smoothing over dry hair, so what was left on my hands got brushed all over my arms and the most delightful scent is wafting up as I move. It's so very light because this is HG not a perfume oil... and boy how I wish there was a blend that smelled like this! As have all the glosses I've tried thus far, my dry, frizzy, winter hair is sucking these up and actually glowing. One of these days I'll try one on wet hair, I usually don't bother blow-drying my hair so I skip it and just apply when it's air-dried.

In the imp and wet on my skin, the first thing I get is the delicious passionflower. It smells more like the fruit to me and whoa it's FANTASTIC. Every other blend with passion fruit/flower has had another note or combination of notes that ruined it for me. I'm hoping this one lasts! Passionflower is slightly sour and I can see why it would be a turnoff for many, but I love it. It smells tropical and lush. I can smell a little of the delicacy of the hyssop and just a touch of myrrh, but no more than a touch which is very good because too much myrrh is bad news on me. As it warms, I get sugar-dusted lush flowers. These are not proper garden flowers, this are big, showy, heady jungle blooms. I may need a bottle

Fruity, boozy, S&M cakes I get some spices, some bright fruit, and some booze with an effervescent quality. I don't really get rust or leather on me. Damn, that bubbly quality is ruining this for me. Champagne notes don't work on me, that note ruined Geek.Goth for me, it ruined Gnome for me... Bah. People that like it though, it's a nice foody, fruity scent with just a little darkness.

Whoa, I'm first

This smells fantastic in the decant! Smoky, slightly woodsy/grassy from the vetiver, a little sweet from the DBR. The steel comes out on my skin and blends with the other notes to create an evocative blend that smells like it should be part of the RPG series. The vetiver darkens it enough to make it just slightly unnerving. I really like this one. Even though leather isn't one of the notes, I get a hint of a leathery scent. This may be a bottle purchase!

In the decant and wet on me, it's a beautiful sweet incense with hints of opium. As with most opium blends, though, this does become a bit soapy. It's one of the nicest incense blends on me as it doesn't contain myrrh which can amp and go a bit funky on me. I'll definitely keep my imp.

Butterscotch and rum! Mmmm. Heavily boozy with some spice, cinnamon and nutmeg maybe. I absolutely love Grog which I find to be far less sweet than this. In addition this has a strange off note, almost plasticky or... floral? WTH nose?! I thought it was plasticky but it's reading as some sort of floral to my nose. Hmm. Well it seems to burn off quickly. I already have Madagascan Vanilla Rum and Rum-Soaked French Tonka and I want a bottle of Grog, so do I need another rummy scent? ABSOLUTELY

Holy shit this smells amazing in the decant! Frosty, snowy, piney, a bit minty with just a hint of darker things. On me, I get the minty snow and a breath of smoke and something sweet, likely the dragon's blood. Very little if any red musk and that usually amps like crazy on me so there must be just a tiny hint of it in this blend. The snow/mint burn off quickly as they usually do on me and I'm left with a slightly sharp yet lightly dusty ambery and resin blend. I think the last bit of the tundra frost is what's sharp here, it has a bit of a cologney vibe but I like the rest of the blend. Unfortunately that sharpness never abates so this dragon is a fail on me.

I'm having difficulty picking out discrete notes in this. It's sort of woody, herby, and resiny. There's almost a creamy edge to it. Euh, it's going kind of pencil shavings on me. It started off really nice and then warped into unpleasant.

In the decant, this is mostly about the orange with a faint, faint hint of chocolate. On my skin, the pomegranate comes out more and turns this into fruit darkened by the hint of chocolate. I don't get much honey, if at all. I think it's just serving to balance the tartness of the fruit. It's a very light skin once dried down. Not something I need more of, but pleasant enough that I might wear my decant from time to time.

It... smells like an orange being roasted on a barbeque It honestly kind of turns my stomach in the wet stage. I believe in giving most all oils a chance so I'll give it a little time before I run to wash it off... Yeah, so the longer it's on the worse it smells. Tobacco I've learned is a note that can quickly go bad on me. It amps like crazy and can go sickly sweet, so much so that it turns my stomach. Blergh, not for me at all.

In the imp, it's slightly dusty pine with spices. Very holiday! On me, it's more like spiced cookies in front of a Christmas tree. It's less about the pine than the spices. Quite beautiful, really. Oh, some vanilla! This is yummy. My only complaint is that it fades awfully fast on me but holy crap it's dreamy anyway and worth slathering! I hope this comes back soon because I need some!

This very much reminds me of Tricksy bath oil but with a hint of cacao, and as I already have a bottle of that which I've barely made a dent in, I'll probably swap this away.

I see now why this oil is so loved. I mistakenly thought I had tried it and hated it (turns out that was Cockaigne). This starts off sweet almond that dries down creamy and lovely. This is pretty much a skin scent, no throw to speak of and it fades pretty quickly but it's so worthy of slathering. I can see the comparisons to Snow White minus the snow. This is the most comforting, cozy scent I have ever smelled and I neeeeeed a bottle. This is going to be in heavy rotation as a nighttime blend, daytime blend, anytime blend. It's like wrapping yourself in a scented hug.

The perfect patchouli. Definitely get the sugar and a light hint of citrus. Since I own and love so many patchouli blends, I foresee getting a lot of use out of this. I should have gotten a backup or ten.

I got a Nice inquisition for Christmas. The glop is quite a bit runnier than I expected but sinks in well with a little massage. It's a lovely sugary honeysuckle that would layer well. There's a good amount of scent as well and the moisturizing properties are good but less so than a Villianess whipped. I would love to see glops in other scents be a permanent addition to the Post.

Very faint pine with sweet, sticky PINK cotton candy upon first application. I love these sorts of odd but amazing combinations the lab produces! It turns very slightly plasticky but nothing bothersome to my nose... maybe I'm just accepting of that based on my love of notorious "plastic" notes like vanilla. I never get any flowers, it just smells like delightfully sweet pine.

This sounded so intriguing despite the rose and jasmine (which both typically amp on me and go horrible in their own ways) that I had to try it.

 

In the tester, the opium jumps out at me immediately with its slightly soapy, smoky caress. I also get a hint of the florals and they are flowers by midnight, not a cheerful sunny garden. Slightly ominous. On me, the rose makes herself known as I expected but somehow doesn't completely take over the blend. I get a hint of jasmine's bitterness and it reminds me of pikake rather than the jasmine notes that go so awful and smell like cat pee. It has a funky edge but I'm not racing to wash it off as I normally would. These are dark, oppressive florals and I must say I like this despite not typically liking florals. A bit powdery/soapy from the opium. It warms into a very pleasing smoky, sweet floral. I don't smell the vanilla/benzoin but I have a feeling it's what's making this blend work for me. On drydown, the opium disappears and it becomes a fairly "perfumey", ordinary floral.

In the imp, it's chocolatey and piney(?)... something is tricking my nose. On me, it's definitely pine trees and something kind of rotten :x I'm not sure what's causing it to smell like that, none of the notes are represented to my nose. It makes me queasy to be honest. And not five minutes later, it smells AMAZING. Creamy patchouli, earthy and slightly sweet. Well that was a surprise! During drydown it develops a salty, aquatic feel, probably from the stone. I'd definitely take a partial!

I have absolutely no idea what's in this It's herbal and dusty. I get the feeling of being in a huge multicultural market with incenses and herbs and oils of all kinds... so I guess the inspiration was captured accurately! It gets a little soapy and I can pick out olive leaf/oil and cinnamon but not much else. It's a well-blended melange of scents. I find it sticks very close to the skin with little to no throw. I like it a lot but it's not something I would have wanted more than my imp, not that I could get it now anyway

This is so incredibly well-blended. I get a mostly creamy yet slightly powdery amber. I honestly can't pick out the other notes and if there wasn't that distinctive powdery note, I wouldn't have recognized the amber either. It's truly lovely and very complex. It becomes somewhat perfumey upon drydown. It has a very elegant feel to it. It's beautiful but I don't think it's something I would wear.

In the imp it's mostly rosemary and lavender but once I apply it, there's a bright lemony note from the verbena. It actually smells like a bergamot EO I had long ago. Pretty decent throw, I can smell it from several inches away. I can smell frankincense if I sniff above my wrist, but close up it disappears. It smells like like bergamot as it dries down and more tart, sugared lemon. The lavender is still present but only just. Not for me.

In the imp, I can't quite make out any notes. It smells floral and "perfumey". On it's richer and less objectionable to my nose. The pepper is adding a nice sort of bite. It's still floral but it's almost got a buttery edge to it that is really lovely. As it's warming, that buttery note turns almost cakey. I really like this! It's totally like a white cake with candied fruit and flowers to my nose. Mmm! Light throw.

I'm having a very difficult time picking out notes in the bottle. Pretty sure I can smell fig and cocoa and maybe honey? Wet on me, it's zingy lemon, cocoa, fig, and something dark and earthy. Patchouli isn't listed but I swear that's what I get. The lemon is super tart and verging on sour, it's mouthwatering actually. It does calm down really fast though and I can barely detect it. Now I'm getting pomegranate (I think) and perhaps the honey musk? It's very faint. This dries down to a figgy pomegranate with no honey musk, vanilla, or cocoa TBH, I'm kind of disappointed. It smells good of course but isn't anything special on me.