Voleuse

On first application, I get a strong whiff of violets, but the violets quickly give way to beeswax, with an underlying breath of orange blossom. This settles quietly on my skin, beeswax and the halo of a light musk in the end. The florals are a lovely, indistinct muddle, and the leather accord lends the musk the slightest hint of masculinity. It isn't powdery at all on me.

 

This is a soft, old-fashioned but sensual scent.

Mmmmmm, honey! On first application, this is a cool blend of mint and honey, but the apple-ness soon lends a nice, lighter sweetness to the blend, so it isn't as heavy and sticky as honey can sometimes be. This is a delicate honey blend, slightly powdery over time, but in a nice, flowery , playful way.

Oh my! On first sniff, this is all lemon peel and cedar, which is not what I expected. After a moment, the pomegranate and mandarin surge past, leaving the lemon and cedar as nice, spicy background to the sweetness.

 

I have a hard time describing this. If you've ever smelled Bath & Body Works' Lemongrass and Sage scent, at first it's kind of like that, except twenty times more complex and fifty times more awesome. Also, sweeter!

 

The woods and vanilla give it a more low-key aspect, deeper and more pensive, somehow. The teensiest bit boozy--the fruits lend it a sort of tipsy accent, without being alcohol-smelling. And pomegranate is always a cool note for me, so this ends up a bit more shadowy than it would have been, with only the citrus and currant notes.

This is all orange blossom at first, and it's a little soapy, to boot. (Not necessarily a bad thing.) After a little while, it is tempered and sweetened by the vanilla and smoothed by the tea. There's a hint of spice behind it--not spicy, but intriguing. It's the sandalwood, I think: it lends a nice grounding note to the blend, in addition to leavening the initial femininity of the orange blossom and vanilla.

 

This is a sweetly complex scent, mostly vanilla-tea-orange blossom to my nose, like a feminine Dorian, if that makes sense. It's very well-balanced, and all-around lovely to sniff.

This is soft, worn leather and sweetened coffee on first application, with a lovely wash of hazelnut following soonafter. The hazelnut fades quickly, though, and a nice halo of almost-incensey smoke replaces it. I agree with others on the comparison to Bow and Crown of Conquest--the leather note is remarkably similar.

 

In the end, this is mostly a soft leather scent, with the coffee lending it a sweet depth. This one's definitely a keeper.

Ooooh. This is like Shub-Niggurath smothered in marshmallows! Tons and tons of them! With a few shards of candied fruit sprinkled on top! It's a very plush ginger, with only a hint of the tart bite that it could have.

Note: So I guess this blend has cocoa absolute in it, because my little half-decant of oil separated into a very pale oil and little globules of cocoa. A little rolling about remixed the blend, but that's always a danger with chocolatey scents like this!

 

That said, this is very strongly orange blossom at first--with an emphasis on the blossom, as I got a very strong hint of the greenery that underlies the bloom. Over time the chocolate sort of asserts itself, but generally this is a neat orange-blossom-and-chocolate blend. Not at all like orange chocolate, but like...drinking a cup of that nummy, thick drinking chocolate while sitting in the middle of an orange grove.

 

It's a long time before I get any pomegranate, but there is a bit of sweetness in the end that must be pomegranate, as well as a neat, chocolatey smokiness that was pleasantly surprising.

Oooh, this is very pretty. Honey and florals seem to balance evenly to my nose, sweet and golden. It's a little sharp, but I'm not sure if that's because of the mandarin or the carnation.

 

Over time, the rose becomes the dominant floral, though it doesn't overtake the honey at all--it's just the clearest floral out of the bunch. This is very feminine, but also very light. It almost disappears from my skin after a few minutes (the sweetness lingers, but I have to press my nose against my wrist to really get the essence of the scent).

Oooh, this is very appley on first sniff--though it's a bit more red apple when first applied. After a few minutes, the appleness gains a little more green tartness, and the sugar and butter lend a delicious warmth to it, as well. I don't get any candy notes, otherwise, and the vanilla-cinnamon-spiciness is a mere hint. In the end, this is gorgeous apple baked in butter and sugar. Yum!

This is evil root beer on first sniff, sparkling with woodsiness. As it dries, the tea becomes a little more prominent, smoothing out the pop of the root beer. The champaca adds a gorgeous smokiness to the blend, which overtakes the sweetness of the other notes. In the end, this is a sweet, woodsy, smoky blend. It's subtle and cool and earthy--very neat.

Ooooh, this is lovely, and much fruitier than I expected. The pear and quince are dominant to my nose, and it's only later that the sweetened spiciness of the ginger appears. This becomes lovely gingery pear candy--the kind that comes in a tin, redolent with powdered sugar. It's not spicy at all, in the end. Delicious!

This is all cinnamon spice and marshmallowy sugar on first application. The marshmallow plumps into a rounder, sweeter note, but it ends up smelling like cinnamon gum and plush marshmallows on me. Sweet and spicy and powdery at once. Neat, but not pumpkiny at all.

This is juicy and delicious pomegranate; my mouth watered as soon as I sniffed it! The cocoa isn't nearly as prominent as I expected, but it's definitely there: a dry and grounding chocolateness underlying the pomegranate and musk. Over time, however, this is mostly a juicy pomegranate blend, with hints of smooth and smoky complexity underneath it.

On first application, this is a rather incensy vetiver, which is different and interesting. As it dries, it becomes more cologne-like, with the vetiver playing a dominant role. The carnation makes for a nice, but not overly-floral highlight, and the patchouli isn't as prominent as I expected. Unfortunately, however, there's an odd note that I find personally off-putting--it's like faintly sickly smoke on me, though I imagine it would play more nicely on others.

This is a lovely, fresh green on first application, though the warmer notes start piping through quickly. The greenery never gives in to the other notes, though--there's simply a waft of spices being carried by a breeze in the background. This is such a vivid scent picture: dewy green leaves, absolutely, but also a hint of sunrise.

The hydrangea is intense and piercing on first application, and only slightly mediated by a--rather astringent--rose note. There's a hint of smokiness and incense, but over time, the blend becomes a laid-back blend of rose lotion (I'm not sure how else to describe it) with a hint of incense. It's slightly powdery and, despite the smoke, quite clean-smelling.

2008 Version: Yum, yum, yum. The cocoa of this powdery and rich and creamy--but not quite foody. The amber intrudes quickly, though, warming the blend without morphing it, though there is a nuttiness to the blend that increases over time. (There's a hint of citrus for a moment, but it disappears. Weird.) A nice, subtle cocoa scent.

2008 Version: This is DELICIOUS. The cake scent is a fluffy, moist vanilla-orange, with a zest of tangy oranged cream. The scent fades quickly on me, however, to a faint orange syrup scent, with a hint of bakery. Still yummy, but not quite as vivid as the first blush.

2009 version: This is so amazingly delicious. I'm a fan of the spicy apple cider (Verdandi is one of my favorite blends), but this has a hint of cream that encompasses the spices, muffling them gently. It's so soft, especially for such a cidery blend. It doesn't strike me as overpowering ("holiday candle"), and it seems to sweeten over time.

This is intensely aquatic on first sniff, but in a minute, it settles into the salt-water freshness of Penthus. Or perhaps Bayou? I don't know why, but those are the two GC scents that spring to mind when I sniff this. There's a hint of greenery that rounds the blend, almost but not quite edging into soapiness. It's faintly foggy, cool and damp at once.

Hm. This is fruitier than other 13s have been; the chocolate is a faint grounding note, rather than the predominant one. I like the complexity of it--there's a pink fruitiness to it, as well as a hint of pepper and florals. The chocolate--a dark, barely sweet chocolate--is a little more prominent over time, but it never does more than balance the fruitier notes. It also fades quickly on me, so overall I don't have a strong reaction to the blend. It's nice, though--just not for me.

This is AMAZING. The pomegranate starts out intensely sweet, but the jasmine balances it perfectly, lending a smooth, round floral note. In the end, I'd call this a jasmine blend, but the pomegranate keeps it from running rampant (as jasmine often does). I kind of wish this was a tea blend, because it's beautifully juicy even as the jasmine lends some sophistication.

The first note that strikes me is orangey, but the pumpkin is a rich, buttery undertone for the blend. Interesting! This is such a strange blend to my nose--not in a bad way--because it alternates between the cool sweetness of the citrus and the warm pumpkin and ginger. I think I catch a bit of rounder, sweeter mango, as well, but this never quite settles down for me. It's a bright, fleeting scent, like a cool, sunny day just before the sun starts setting.

Oooh, resinous woods are what pop in this blend, sweet and spiky with a hint of smoke. This is very different from what I expected: sexier than the description would imply, sweeter than most woodsy blends, and dominating, despite the sweetness. There's something herbal and rounding, underneath the woods and incense. I'd say this is gender-neutral, but I think it's definitely something menfolk would find masculine. I would not mind a bottle of this at all!

Almond and a hint of musk. Cool smoke. Slightly artificially-sweet. Underneath it all, it's akin to a rich incense, but it stays close to the skin. Weirdly, this reminds me of a bookshop, a small, independent one that has incense stocked in the corner.