Saffrin

Double review for this one! Aged ~2 years Imp: Spices. It's more kitcheny than incense. No sign of the vanilla or smoothness. I can easily understand why it apparently smells medicinal when fresh as it still carries an undertone of it. Wet: Even sharper spices. Reminds me of pepper, with that back-of-the-nose hit of sharpness. The oil is yellow on my super pale skin. Hopefully that fades away when my skin eats it more. 15 minutes in, and the yellow has faded a bit, but is still pretty obvious. Thankfully I didn't wear it at the top of my cleavage. Dry: Still got the light gold stain on the inside of my wrist. The spices no longer hit the back of my nose. I can't tell if the sharpness has just fallen off a bit, or if the vanilla has softened it. Aged even more years (however, not the flying witch imp label old) Imp: This one is definitely creamier. The spices are still there in the front, and they still have a bit of sharpness to them, but the vanilla really tempers it nicely. For some reason, it's reminding me of slightly spicy brown-cream soda. Onomnom. Wet: This is a foody vanilla. When first applied, the cream-soda smell jumps out even more. Pretty shortly after, it falls away into a nice even mix of spices and vanilla. The spice losses the sharpness, and instead just give off a nice warmth. Dry: This one has also stained. Dammit, blend! Mainly vanilla, with warned spice edges. Definitely better than the less-aged version - this one definitely has more vanilla. + Some more time: Something in it is smelling burnt. Like burnt sugar and spices. Boyfriend's opinion: "Meh. Smells like talcum powder." They're both nice enough, I guess, but neither came close to wowing me. I also realllyyy wish they didn't make the application area look like I have onsetting jaundice. ._.; Edit: Just after 2 hours in, and the stain has faded enough that you can only see it if you know to look for it. Guess I need to get some more sun.

The start of it was very tingly minty, but then it feel straight, head first into slightly-minty Deep Heat territory, which both myself and the man had a giggle about. I'd probably had liked this for it's tingly strangeness if I wasn't already associated with Deep Heat. Sadly, that association has ruined it for me.

Pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle, and passion flower. A buttery and creamy, pink-pale gold blend, that reminds me strongly of something that I just can't put my finger on. It's close yo foody, but doesn't cross that line. The pepper comes out shortly after, overpoweringly, making the blend far too sharp for my liking. I wish the other notes would come out to make it more of a surprise, peaking sharpness, rather than an in your face one. Too sharp/hot/spicy for me.

This one will be interesting to piece together. I am not familiar with most of these notes. Imp: Plum takes centre stage, with florals hanging around the edges. Very pretty, complex and light - right up my field-of-warm-flowers alley. Wet: Jasmine briefly overpowers everything. After that, the jasmine fades back into the other notes, leaving a scent that I can only describe as "sun warmth." Dry The plum reasserts itself again, and the florals and musk fall behind it, deepening and enriching it. Really pretty. It's a warmer, softer version of the imp.

Not a fresh imp. Imp: Warm, golden, syupy sweetness. Not particularly tangy, but very snuggly. Wet: Spiciness of the fig comes out briefly, over top of the sweetness, but then it falls back into an almost candy-like scent. The throw on this seems to be quite small. I had to apply double my usual test amount, and even then, it seems really soft. Dry Grownupish orange candy. Just not complex enough for me, and it leaves me wishing that it had sandalwood and honey notes.

Imp: And even mix of of floral and sandalwood. The floral softens the sandalwood a bit. Surprisingly pretty, and brings to mind my old bedroom in spring. The window opened out over my mum's heavily flowered garden, and I used to keep a soapstone box with sandalwood inside on the window sill so it'd warm, and scent the room. It also managed to leak and heavily stain said window sill, but that's another story... Wet: Lily pops out, and the mandarin gives it a citrus edge, though not clearly being mandarin. Sandalwood hangs in the background, with a smokiness I'm guessing is the opium. I'm not sure what to think of it. It's feminine, for sure, but in a sort of darker/underhanded way. The lily has began to change to a little bit of soapiness (though not over the top omgIsmelllikeashower), however, and the sandalwood has fallen in with the opium to leave a sweet smokiness. No sign of the vanilla. Dry Nothing but headachy smoke. I had to wash it off at this stage.

Imp: Slightly sour, creamy milk, with a bit of honey. I don't get any of the lilies. Wet: Lilies! Lilies everywhere! It smells like a creamier version of Tiger lily. It's a pale gold to Tiger Lily's amber-gold. The lilies fall into the background rather rapidly, and leave a creamy-honey scent, with them around the edges. It's morphed enough away from Tiger Lily that they are of the same family, but with very different approaches. It reminds me of O, without the amber that turns it to pure powder on my skin, as it gains its warmth from the lilies instead. Dry: Sheer happiness. I wanted to love O sooo much, but the amber rapidly ruined it. Al-Araaf fills that void so nicely. It's comforting, and all sorts of snuggly cream honey warm. ... Now if only it wasn't a past LE.... I want you. I need you. Oh baby, oh baby. <3

I'm not very familiar with a bunch of these notes, so let's see how this goes. :X Imp: Lilies, with the.. almost hollowness of the plum, with another, warmer floral around the edges. By process of elimination, I'm guessing it's the ylang ylang. It's not generically floral smelling at all. It has more warmth and body to it than that, without the powder undertones. Sort of what I would expect a white, big petalled flower filled garden to smell like on a warm summer day. High hopes for this one, as it seems to belong to the same rich, bodied family that Desdemona and Tiger Lily do. Wet: Plum jumps out on application, with what almost smells like pear along with it. o.o Shortly after application, the lilies come back to dominate the scent, then within minutes morph to almost solely jasmine. This is one hell of a rushing scent. It can't seem to make up it's mind. ._.; 15 minutes in, and it seems to have settled, for now, into a jasmine, with a very little bit of citrusy plum poking out at the edges. All these stages are a little flat and boring compared to what was going on in the imp. Dry: It's still not behaving at all. 40+ mins in, and it is citrusy. Reminds me of white tea, with a little floral warmth. 50+, and it has regained a little bit of the lily's warmth, and lost the white tea feel. It is swinging towards generic floral. I'm not sure how I feel about this - it didn't live up to my imp expectations, but I can't stop sniffing it out of sheer curiousity. It just keeps endlessly morphing on me. I guess it is a good scent for days where I just can't make up my mind what I want to wear. :X

Sadly pretty standard on me. I think I had worked this up in my head to something it didn't deliver on my skin. During most of it's life, it tends to just smell like watered down sweet pea. Almost genetic floral. In the bottle, however, it has a lot more life, and a denser, green smelling centre to it. <3 Would probably go wonderfully on a stinking hot day, but I'll keep mine for locket usage, as the bottle scent is so much more complex than what my skin supplies me with.

This one is gorgeous. All lilies in the imp, but upon application becomes exactly what it says. A warm, honeyed lily. After several hours on my skin, the lily dies down a lot, and leaves me with a wonderfully warm, not cloying honey smell. This reminds me a bit of O, though less creamy, and without the babypowdered amber - the lilies seem to give it a similar warmth. Disappointed finding that this was DCed. It's really, really lovely.

Imp: Soaaappp. Sure, it's sweetpea tinged soap, but still soap. Wet: Sweetpea pops out to the front, briefly, and then the sage comes through and takes centre stage, with the sweetpea's sweetness around the edges. The tonka throws more than the other notes. Still a little bit soapy up close. Dry: Musk has definitely come out to the forefront, supported by the sage. Can't pick out the sweetpea at all, which is weird since it usually hangs around forever in scents on me, and only the creamiest edges of the tonka. Warm, herbal scent. I wish the sweetpea had stuck around for longer. That said, I can think of plenty of florals I own that would layer wonderfully with this. <3 Edit: Hours later, all that remains is a nice musk/tonka scent.

Imp: Can't pick out any one note. Just... soft floral. Wet: As soon as it hit my skin, it turned to strong, heady floral soap. Really wishing more of the notes I loved would love me back. Dry: Gains a bit of powdery warmth at the start of the sniff, but other than that, stays fully soap. Not much to say about this one, because it just went to soap soooo quickly.

Imp: Musk, orris root and amber, with something wetter? in the background that makes it smell like the centre is hollow. Veryyyy strong. It reminds me of something, but can't put my finger on what. Not sure what to think of it, but can't stop smelling it. Wet: First on, my skins amps the imp smell, with a bit of vanilla, crazily. Pretty quickly however, at least to my nose, it just about disappears. When I do get a wiff of it, it's definitely the end-smoky part of sandalwood and musk, with a tiny bit of sweetness at the end. The boyfriend, however, assures me that not only can he smell it easily, but it "smells like that last one you had on," which just happened to be O. We'd both agreed that O smelt like baby powder on me, and when I asked him if that meant Lyonesse smelt like babypowder too, he said "No, I can't smell any powder in this one... but it feels like the same sort of smell as the other one." Props to the man for being able to smell more than rose, patchouli and cookies. Dry: Still pretty soft to my nose, but comfortably so. At the front of a sniff is the vanilla, which works through the lily, sandalwood and then whatever is giving it that hollow, aquatic feel, with the musk obviously hovering over the top of it all. Edit: A bit later, and it's morphed a little again. The ambergris is now there, and the smoky end of the sandalwood has mostly dropped away. The amber in this one doesn't seem to be turning and amping to babypowder. Something is keeping it under control. <3 The throw isn't overly large, and it certainly isn't invasive. It has an almost "second skin" feel to it. It's so very, very nice and comfortable. Loving this far more than I expected. Edit II: Hour later, and this thing is *still* morphing. Ambergris is at the forefront now, and it's getting a littttttle bit powdery around the edges. Nothing too noticeable. Edit III: You're kidding me. We're up to like 3-4 hours later... and it's finally turned to babypowder. How damn disappointing.

Imp: A slightly dark, slightly smooth honey. Boyfriend said it smelt like a magic shoppish incense, without the darkness or the smoke. Super pretty, sexy and voluptuous. Wet: Mainly honey, with vanilla in the background. Smooth and sweet. Bit too sweet for me. Waiting for the amber to come in and deepen it, but still lots of promise. Dry: So, turns out I amp amber-babypowder. For the past few hours, it's been all I can smell. I can see the merits of if as a comfort--refuse-to-get-out-of-bed scent, but it's not something that I would see myself reaching for just normally. However, the Imp smell was gorgeous, so will definitely try it with a locket or hair, because it'd be totally worth it. <3

Imp: Very much ginger with a floral backing. Little too bit foody for my liking. Wet: Still ginger, and beginning to smell a sharp, citrus smell over it. A little but headachy at this stage. Hoping white tea isn't adding itself to the super death note list with black. Enormousss throw. Only put on a small test amount, but it's almost overwhelming. Dry: Crisp, clean, just a little soft citrus. It smells midway between lemon and lime, with the ginger softening it in the background. Amazingly, this smells more like lemon on me than actual lemon notes do, which just turn to detergent. Still a few signs of headache, but will definitely try this again to see if that's the actual source. Considering it's a tea, it sadly likely. It's been on for almost 4 hours now, and I can still smell and feel it in myhead with ease. Definitely a scent for hot, summer days. While it's not overly cool or anything, it's incredibly clean and crisp and would cut through icky summer smells easily. Note: Preused, aged (cobalt bottle). Edit: Nope. Can't wear white tea. Defintiely the same headache type as black gives me.

Imp: Hot, slightly damp moss.Some mid wood. Can't smell the blooms it mentions. Wet: A little bit of moss and damp, and a lot of flowers. Dry: Soft, hot florals. A little damp. Not getting swamp from it. Maybe recent rainfall in a hot, dusty field of flowers?

Imp: I have no idea what to make of this. It smells damp, but not cold, and more like greeny weeds than blossoms to me. Wet: Getting the slight cold now, but it doesn't stay long. It has an almost Deep Heat feeling in my nose, and smells a lot like it covered in moss. I'm guessing it's a wood giving that effect. Dry: Still getting some nose tickling, but most of it is gone. Not sure what to make of this. It's not particularly cold, in fact it smells more warm, but it is a bit misty, definitely wet and woody. Sort of piney. I think I need more experience in identifying these sorts of notes. It's not unpleasant, but it's not something I'd seek out to wear. I'd likely make a nice room scent or to put in a locket.

Imp: Herby with a slight sharp darkness behind it. I believe it's the frankincense, not leather. Definitely warmed, dirty herbs. Wet: The herbs pop. Before they smelt sort of dried, now they smell freshly cut. Very, very, very green. They quickly disappear behind the frankincense, though the super greenness can be smelt just on the ending edge. Can make out a tinyyyy bit of the leather. Few minutes later, I'm only smelling the frankincense. Dry: Only frankincense. I think I amp this note.

Imp: Mainly sweet pea. Something behind it almost smells like dandelion, which is strange. Wet: Sweet pea and lily. Reminds me a lot of Desdemona at this stage. <3 Dry: Smelling a little bit soapy, but not overly so. Some sweet pea and musk in the background, with pear in front? Quite pretty. Definitely lighter than Desdemona.

Imp: Smells like yuck sour wine. Almost wondering if the imp is rancid, though it shouldn't be. It might just be my hate of wine, and unsureness of dragon's blood. Really don't want to put this on my skin, as it smells horrible, but alas, science calls. Wet: Oh, good. The horrible note has mostly disappeared right away. Nevertheless, it smells... like dirty soap. Dry: Dirty, sour wine soap. Definitely not rancid, but not something I find pleasant at all.

Imp: Nothing stands out at all. It just smells warm. Wet: Still mostly just warmth. I guess it's mainly gardenia, because it doesn't smell like vanilla or violet. Dry: Powder (dammit, violet) tempered by sweet, nice vanilla. Changes again later on to mostly vanilla, with a very sweet, heated floral on the very edge of it. Wasn't a fan of this until the proper dry down. Now it's quite pretty, though not exactly "me:". Will keep my imp.

Imp: A perfumey lime. The lime stays in the nose more than the light floral does. So far, so good. Wet: Sharp lime, which quickly falls behind tuberose and jasmine, though you can still smell it. It almost smells medicinal. Dry: Most of the medicinal sharpness has gone, leaving a light floral backed by a softer lime. Quite pretty, but seems to be getting faint pretty quickly. Lime stays longer than the florals do, making it change later to a lime with a soft floral background. Very light and pretty.

Imp: Powdery lavender. Wet: Soap. I'm having difficulty making it out. My wrist smells like freshly washed hand. Not much throw. Dry: Slightly sharp soap. Maybe a tiny bit of the lavender coming back? This really doesn't have much scent at all. I guess it's soft and comforting in a way, in the same sort of way as curling up in clean, soap and backyard air scented sheets are.

Imp: Salt water. Surprised how easily I can pick out the salt note. It sorta hits you in the face going "Hey, remember me? " Bunch of lavender underneath. Doesn't smell very floral at all. Strangely nice. Wet: The lavender heightens. It's a very sharp, spicy lavender. I wouldn't describe it as light. It is very sharp, between the lavender and the salt. Dry: Salty lavender. That's abouttttt it.

Imp: I don't know how to identify most of the notes in this scent. Nonetheless, it smells lush and wet. Not like a tropical cocktail, but a deep, wet, damp rainforesty sort. It honestly smells a bit evil to me. Wet: The deep, dirty, damp evil smell has moved back a step, and there's something almost fruity moving forward. Smells like an orange fruit. This scent is definitely split into two distinctive halves. The first is still lush and wet, slightly green and earthy, and then it suddenly cuts to the almost fruity part. Dry: The last dampy evil smell has left. It's now mainly pretty tropical fruits and flowers. It does, however, seem to be disappearing pretty quickly, which is a pity, because I'm pretty sure I like it now. It's an intriguing scent. I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan, but I can't stop sniffing it to try and figure it out.