Emma2403

Okay, half of the fragrances here are totally unknown to me, so, I’m afraid, it won’t be much of a review, but I’ll still try. In the bottle: it’s very, very green, quite sharp even… but there’s also a very floral smell… pink flower. On my skin: flowers. Familiar flowers but I’m unable to put a name on the smell. Maybe gardenia. And the green factor is still there, very present. It actually smells like springtime, and so far, I quite like it. After a couple of hours: light flowers. Most of the green factor is gone, unfortunately. It makes a pretty floral, but I’m not the floral girl… Verdict: I’ll try it again, because I really like the first 45 minutes when it was all green and spring-like.

In the bottle: caramel, sweet caramel, and more caramel. And benzoin too. I’m 98% sure it will, again, turn into burnt plastic on me. On my skin: burnt plastic, and, weirdly pepper. It’ so sad that whenever there is caramel (a smell I love), it always goes very very wrong on me. After a couple of hours: only some burnt caramel (yeah now, there’s some caramel back under the smell of burnt). Verdict: unfortunately, no.

Tobacco and vetiver!! I’m shaking in advance… but maybe mandarin and tangerine will make it wonderful. Time to try it on. In the bottle: ooh lovely citrus and warm, golden amber. Not a trace of the dreaded tobacco/vetiver combo! On my skin: yep, mandarin mostly, and something that spices it up… some pepper maybe and still amber. I’m a happy bunny!! After a couple of hours: my skin seems to eat it quite quickly, there’s only some amber left. Verdict: nice but it doesn’t last long enough.

In the bottle: bright, red, ripe, juicy apple comes first… the honey is there too (I hope it won’t amp up like crazy on me), and some sweet fruit that might be peach. On my skin: the apple is still very strong, but honey is growing and growing… arf, I’m afraid it gonna kill everything else as is often does on me. After a couple of hours: honey single note. And as usual it has a huge throw on me… Verdict: ah, the apple, peach and fig would have been so lovely, it’s a pity honey had to ruin it all.

In the bottle: ooh very fruity. I would have said ripe melon rather than peach if I didn’t know better. So far, so good. On my skin: sweet fruit (I still think of melon and not peach) only. It’s very pretty, but I was expecting something far more complex. After a couple of hours: it gets very green. The sweetness is fading away, and I smell leaves now… some moss, maybe too. I really like it. Then, even later I got sandalwood and I’m not really the president of sandalwood fan club. Verdict: a bit OTT for me.

I don’t know what agarwood is and the rest doesn’t sound exactly thrilling but let’s give it a try. In the bottle: a very sweet floral, I can recognize the gardenia very distinctively. On my skin: still very heavily floral. A bit too heavy for me. Very feminine though, but I’m afraid it could give me a headache in the long term. After a couple of hours: this doesn’t last long… I’ve got the faintest herbal fragrance now and nothing else. Verdict: it didn’t work for me.

Now I have no idea, for example, what daemonorops or hiba wood are, or even less what they smell like… In the bottle: hazelnut, lots of hazelnut… it’s so strong, it reminds me of cocoa a little. Then there’s some soapy flower in the background (I believe it is sweetpea). On my skin: still this weird mix of hazelnut and soapy floral. I don’t get any vanilla, unfortunately. After a couple of hours: it gets 100% soapy. Nice soap but still. Verdict: it’s unusual but still not right for me.

Again, there are quite a lot of notes I’ve never heard of (brandewijn, anyone?), but let’s go and sniff it! In the bottle: oh my god, that’s terrible and nauseating. The patchouli is so horribly overdominating. I also get saffron, lemon and incense (which would be nice), but the patchouli kills everything for me. There’s something boozey as well (bourbon, I suppose). On my skin: oooh, that’s funny. Not a trace of patchouli left… a spicy lemon. With maybe a hint (but the tiniest) of something floral. It’s a lovely spicy lemon, but I can get that with many other (and less expensive) blends. After a couple of hours: it morphs into something very sweet, like candied citrus. Verdict: I’ll have to try again.

In the bottle: the first reaction is “eeek”. Then, if I sniff again and try to analyze a little bit, I get very heavy leather, and something a little bit acid that could be lilac maybe. On my skin: oh it gets very lovely… the leather is not that sharp anymore, it’s comfy and warm, and there’s my beloved coconut showing. Maybe some tobacco too, but it’s not cloying. The lilac’s gone. After a couple of hours: very sexy, a bit powdery (but that’s a good thing!), a bit boozy, still some leather, and something I don’t recognize that makes it a very comfortable, cosy scent. Verdict: I’m keeping the decant and might consider the purchase of a bottle.

In the bottle: oh, it’s very foody. I get caramel and nuts. Then, there’s a kind of a citrus smell as well, I reckon it must be soft mandarin. Now I’m a bit afraid of what it gonna smell like on me, because usually, caramel turns to burnt plastic on my skin. On my skin: yep! Burnt plastic and mandarin. It’s a pity because the mandarin seems very lovely, and I’d adore that alone, or with something that doesn’t go all wrong on me. After a couple of hours: the burnt smell is totally gone, but so is the mandarin, dammit!! It’s all floral now (lily of the valley, more than magnolia, I think). Verdict: doesn’t work for me.

In the bottle: very floral. Very white… lily of the valley, mostly. On my skin: ouch, it’s too heavily floral for me… white flowers dominate. Mostly lily and well, I suspect some jasmine, but maybe I see jasmine everywhere now. I wonder where people smell pepper in there, because I’m usually very sensitive to pepper and here I don’t get any. After a couple of hours: it lasts very long on me. Doesn’t morph much, still heavy white floral. Verdict: no.

Okay I can’t say I have huge expectations about this one, as vetiver and patchouli are two absolute no-no… while I love pomegranate, I’m not too keen on ginger and carnation. In the bottle: yuk patchouli… patchouli is killing me. And there’s vetiver in the background plus a hint of ginger. On my skin: applied very carefully. It’s dark, heavy and very masculine. It makes me think of schwarzer mond a little (and yep, I couldn’t stand schwarzer mond!). There’s something sensual, I must admit, but this kind of slighty nauseating sensuality… if I make any sense. After a couple of hours: it softens; the vetiver and patchouli settle down… I get some of the carnation but still not a hint of pomegranate, sadly. Verdict: far too intense and heavily earthy for my liking.

In the bottle: hard to say, many things jump to my nose at the very same time. I’d say I can mostly recognize calla and cherry blossom. On my skin: it’s still very floral. I can recognize a hint of mint, but I was hoping for stronger mint, and for a snow-scent as well. After a couple of hours: it fades away quite quickly. I can only get the faintest smell of sugar cane, now. Verdict: it’s a very delicate fragrance, probably very pretty but I was expecting something closer to Snow Maiden and I’m a bit disappointed.

In the bottle: strong, nearly cloying floral. On my skin: eek, soapy floral plus honey. It doesn’t make a very nice mix. After a couple of hours: still heavy floral. Very perfumey. Verdict: not me at all.

In the bottle: sweet, fruity (plum) with a little bit of booze (but it's not cloying). On my skin: still very sweet but the florals show themselves. I don't really recognize violet so far. After a couple of hours: boy does it fade fast, there's hardly anything left. Verdict: it's very purple indeed but I'm afraid it's not for me. Too sweet.

In the bottle: fruity bubblegum… if I go on sniffing really hard, I get some wine from time to time. On my skin: sparkling fruit… I can't really explain, it makes me think of glitter (indeed) and champagne (although it doesn't smell like champagne). It's quite refreshing and very joyful. It makes me think of Stardust, there's the same seventies and festive feel in both of them. After a couple of hours: still fruity, pear is distinctively showing up at last. Verdict: thumbs up!

In the bottle: at first, it's quite bitter… I recognize kumquat and something a bit earthy (although I could not say what). On my skin: grapefruit and kumquat, very "real", very strong and I really like that. It's unusual and pretty. There's still something bitter (and herbal). After a couple of hours: in the drydown phase, I get soft flowers, and a hint of citrus. Verdict: very beautiful, especially the initial kumquat phase.

In the bottle: lovely, delicate lilac… and some rose. On my skin: tea rose, lily of the valley and still some lilac. I'm not usually a big fan of floral scents but this one is very pretty. After a couple of hours: lovely pink rose… creamy and light. Verdict: I'm not much one for florals but this one is a very beautiful one indeed. I'll have to try it again and decide whether I need a bottle or not.

In the bottle: jasmine and bubblegum. On my skin: jasmine, jasmine, jasmine, and the tiniest hint of lotus. I really don't like jasmine, and lotus makes it a little watery, which I don't really appreciate either. It could even induce headaches, I'm afraid. After a couple of hours: jasmine and soap. Bleh. Verdict: the usual jasmine curse.

I've been waiting for this one for a looong time. I was dreaming of bright green, fresh apple, spiced by some dragon's blood. Let's see. In the bottle: oooh, lovely, very green apple. And some bubblegum! On my skin: apple and apple blossom. Strong, ripe, juicy. I love this! After a couple of hours: it gets a little more floral and musky. Verdict: quite nice. I'm not sure I need a bottle but the juicy apple I got at first was one of the best scents ever. It's a pity it has to morph into something more floral.

In the bottle: tobacco's jumping on me right away, along with something I would think is bourbon or any similar alcohol. Sickening (kinda makes me think of Death of Sardanapal, which is a very bad omen). On my skin: patchouli (yuk!) and pepper. It actually made me cough (but well, I must admit I have a little cold)… It's really very peppery. Verdict: certainly not for me.

In the bottle: Musk, leather and honeysuckle On my skin: honeysuckle and some others flowers, plus lots of musk. It's a very nice way to be tricked. Verdict: not totally indispensable but very nice indeed.

I ordered this one on a whim, really… and I was quite sure I'd ended up feeling sorry (as often when I don't think a long time before ordering), but no, I'm so totally in love. In the bottle: rose and honeysuckle with maybe some amber. On my skin: rose, lily and honeysuckle. It's such a beautiful floral. Rich but not cloying or too heady. After a couple of hours: vanilla and tons of flowers. Very beautiful. Verdict: I'm really surprised to like all that much a scent containing jasmine (my nemesis!), lily and rose (both can be killers combined with my skin chemistry)… it's lovely, really!

I've first tried Freak Show when it was released, but didn't write a proper review of it. I remember I kinda liked it (which is unusual for anything with cocoa as far as I'm concerned), but ended up swapping it. As I've won another decant now, let's try and review it. In the bottle: strong cocoa with orange (maybe it's the mix pomegranate/lemon that makes me think of orange). On my skin: cocoa, honeyed vanilla and behind… tonka. Tonka is bothering me (think: nausea!) as usual, but it's not too strong here. All in all, it's a very rich scent… After a couple of hours: fruity cocoa… chocolate covered pomegranate or something. And still a hint of honeyed vanilla! The tonka disappeared and it's pretty yummy, really. Verdict: I'm not one to wear cocoa-scents but I must admit it's the most gorgeous one I've ever tried. I might end up keeping the decant and wearing it once in a while, when I want something different.

In the bottle: rose, incense and musk. On my skin: smoky rose, with bergamot. The rose's both creamy and smoky. There's some bergamot coming from time to time, unexpectedly. After a couple of hours: it goes back to encensy rose, exactly like the first sniff out of the bottle. Verdict: I'm rather indifferent. It doesn't happen often, Bpal, for me, is more a "I hate" or "I love" experience, but Gypsy Queen just leaves me blah and uninterested.