fiddledragon

I would recommend Succor, from the Panacea line...on me at least, it's a strong bay laurel and olive oil scent, with something spicy backing it up. Maybe a bit of myrrh or something like that, or just a hint of cinnamon.

Ronin + Bezoar is remarkably similar to U. It still needs that dash of spice that the leather gives U. Ronin + Bezoar + Chimera, maybe?

It's actually not all that uncommon to be allergic to tropical woods.

Grassy green scents don't work for me, either; they go all fake-smelling. For evergreens, I'd suggest: Nocnitsa, Black Forest, Loup Garou, Slobbering Pine, Jabberwocky, The Jersey Devil, Thanatopsis, Yew-Trees, and Bayou. The three scents you list all have pine and nothing else evergreen -- more pine-centric scents might be a good place to start.

So, had anyone else ever had a set of those fruit-scented eraser caps? This smells exactly like the green ones. Sadness. At least it looks like it works on everyone else, so someone should want it!

2010 Version This is mostly daemonorops and musk, with a nice light amber base. It's surprisingly faint on me given the notes, but I actually like that. Often dragon's blood and the darker musks (which this definitely is) go all hot and heavy on me, and while they're not bad, per se, they're just not really the sort of scent atmosphere I'm looking for. This is a softer, close-to-the-skin version...sort of like Dragon's Musk through about four layers of quilt batting. It should age beautifully :-)

This is mostly juniper, oakmoss, and patchouli on me, with maybe a hint of balsam at first. I amp juniper and was hoping I'd get away with it this time given the other heavy-hitters. Nope. It's a lovely juniper, granted, but I might as well just get one of the GC ones and save myself the expense. If you amp evergreens, this might be one to avoid.

Warm, dry, round, golden, tart, hay, cardamom, balsam. I tried Bezoar to see if it had the same balsam note that I love in U, and I was not disappointed :-) It doesn't have U's sweet sexy leather-vanilla thing going on, but Bezoar is a lighter, more focused version. And with cardamom! Normally my skin eats cardamom, but in this blend it comes out beautifully. The camphorous tone of the cardamom blends nicely with the hay and balsam. Fresh, it's almost exactly like wet pine resin with cardamom, then the balsam deepens and some hay and a touch of wood comes out. I can see this being a luscious layering blend to dry out something overly-sweet or add depth to a floral. Bottle for sure :-)

Wet this one is fruity and alcoholic, lots of cognac and quince and a touch of vanilla. As it dries, the tobacco comes on strong and harsh. I was worried that it would ruin this one like it did Black Temple Burlesque Troupe, but this tobacco is a bit more restrained. The effect is actually not unlike a strong black tea. The drydown is like some sort of very nice fruit and spice flavored black tea with a little bit of vanilla and honey sweetening it up. Only a little, though; this is a very "dry" scent. On me it's surprisingly masculine given the notes. I'm getting a mental image of some sweet older 19th century gentleman relaxing in his smoking lounge with a nice cup of tea and a pipe of fruity tobacco. Verdict: I'm not sure it's bottle-worthy, but I'd certainly use this imp and might consider getting another one.

Mmmm....lilac. This is a wonderful true cool petaly lilac. It's like a fresh breeze on a warm late spring day sitting among lilac bushes. I get a touch of lavendar, some musk, and what might be wisteria, but it's mostly lilac on me. White/clear/crystal/sheer musks often go all department-store on me, but this just has a touch of musk that deepens the scent nicely. I'll be reaching for this one a lot as the weather warms up!

This is very well-blended. The lilac, vanilla, tonka, and woods combine to a warm, furry, sweet scent where none of the notes sticks out as something distinct. I tried this one yesterday to compare with today's Needlework, and this is definitely a warm, winter lilac as compared to Neelework's fresh floral spring/summer scent. The vanilla lushes out the lilac such that it goes almost jasmine-like.

On me, Okayaki is as light, creamy floral-vanilla with a hint of bergamot and a very green cardamom. Fellow mint-haters, relax: this is the vanilla-coconut-creamy sort of snow, not the chilly mint kind. It's surprisingly warm and sweet for the notes listed. This would be a great all-seasons scent...it's not too heavy for summer, but not to fresh and light for winter. Both the cardamom and lily go very green and stem-y, but not the grassy green scent that tends to go fake on me. It's like snowballs made of squished-up lilies! I may need a bottle of this one.

These four notes are almost perfectly balanced on my skin. Sweet, juicy orange, pungent clove, anise, and cumin. It's a very mulled-cider effect. The cumin adds a savory note that makes it smell sort of...North African, maybe? It's a more grown-up version of March Hare or Al-Shairan. This is just too foody for me, though, especially with that cumin. I feel like I should be stewing my wrist with chicken!

All the notes in this are incredibly well-blended on me. The coconut milk leaves a creamy note almost at the back of my throat as I sniff. Together it is a cool, creamy, floral blend. It actually smells almost exactly like really good lotion. I'm not likely to wear it, but it's a beautiful blend.

Sadly, this leather was one that doesn't work on me. It was a very sharp, polished, black shoe leather scent. The wood went very dry and the olive oil almost disappeared, so on me is was Essence of Shoe Store, complete with cardboard boxes for extra authenticity!