Lunasariel

The scent of warm, glowing jack o’lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove. In the imp: A sweet, foody scent, about 60% peaches and 40% pumpkin. And I could even take a little more skewing, in that direction, since I love peaches, but I'm not crazy about pumpkin. The spices are also there (which may be a problem - I've gotten some icky-looking rashes/welts when wearing Voodoo, and I'm pretty sure clove was the culprit. Sure does smell nice, though!), as is an interesting note of warm pastry. I have no idea how Beth manages to bottle the scent of gentle, just-out-of-the-oven heat, but bottle it she does! Wet: Immediately, I notice that the peaches have amped way down and the pumpkin has amped way up. Oh, well. At least the pastry, which is fast becoming my favorite note in the blend, is still going strong. I'm definitely getting a pumpkin pie vibe (with peach pie/cobbler being a distant second), especially since the spices have decided to settle down into more of a faint supporting note than a dominant scent in their own right. Dry: Man, this one fades FAST. I checked after about an hour, and got a soft, creamy, fruity sweet scent. But then, a couple of hours later, GONE. Which was rather a surprise for me - spices, at least, usually last around six hours or so. But, nope, I'm going to have to agree with Yojenitan on this one; lasting power is pretty much zilch. Maybe it'll improve with age?

In the imp: Here's the thing: I can distinguish the sandalwood and the lemon rind (specifically, they smell like Meyer lemons to me), and definitely the woods, but the overall effect is of a fresh, woody floral. Similar to Elf, but with stronger woods and no honeycomb. Wet: The opening notes were rather unfortunate: the lemon is more definitively lemon, but in a cleaning fluid kind of way, and the vetiver also asserts itself in a way I wasn't crazy about. Thankfully, this stage didn't last long. The lemony cleaning fluid and skunky vetiver calm down gradually, so after ~15 minutes or so I'm left with a woody floral that's actually fairly true to ITI. I'm definitely getting DiesMali's comparison to The Lilac Wood. (Note: I've never smelled The Lilac Wood myself, but this is how I imagine it would smell.) Dry: Unsurprisingly, the lemon burns off fairly quickly, leaving mainly sandalwood. However, this is an unusually woody sandalwood - I like!

In the imp: Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: musky, sweet booze. However, the sweetness isn't directly identifiable as sugar, and boozy notes are always a little roulette-y for me. Anything dark and sweet, like rum, bourbon, or brandy, generally plays well with my skin chemistry, but lighter liquors, such as wine, champagne, or absinthe really, really don't. So I'm glad that here we seem to have the former! Wet: An unusually thick, orange-red oil that could potentially stain skin or clothes. But oil notes aside, this is still a sweet, musky booze scent, but a lighter, less overtly sultry form than ITI. Going with the bottle art theme of the 30s, ITI was lounging on a pile of pillows, smoking a hash pipe and blinking kohl-rimmed eyes at you. But now it's more of a get-up-and-dance-and-have-a-good-time kind of scent. I swear there's even a hint of citrus in there! Dry: It eventually settles down into a sweet boozy note - I believe the same one (or at least very similar to) as was in Juke Joint. And like JJ, this note LOVES my skin, and turns to a gentle, warm, delicious scent that I find myself constantly huffing.

In the imp: A sort of synthetic fruity scent, like decently nice shampoo. Actually, I'm 100% with Ishtar at this stage: clean, fruity, a little sweet, and just a touch metallic/acidic. Wet: Not at all what I was expecting! From the name & description, I was anticipating a sort of "your skin but better" thing - a bit animalic, but very organic and maybe a bit sexy. Nope, here I'm getting kids' shampoo. For me this is kind of comforting, as it reminds me of the ostensibly kiwi-strawberry-scented concoction my mom used to buy for me in elementary school. I agree with LiberAmoris here - this would be the perfect scent for those of us who work in an environment where smelling like Snake Oil is discouraged, but still want to wear *something*. Dry: Okay, THERE'S the "your skin but better"-ness! Just a hint of sweetness (whether floral or resinous or both, I can't quite tell), but mostly a dry and, yes, musky smell. Like with so many other RPG scents, I can already see the layering potential!

In the imp: A surprisingly complex scent: vegetal, woodsy, and herbal, more or less in that order. I found the woods especially interesting - most of BPAL's woods bring to mind either fresh-cut plywood or well-tended furniture, but this is more the smell of living wood itself. Wet: The wood is more definitely oak now. Specifically, oak wine barrels - my father is a winemaker, so I grew up around scents almost exactly like this one. (He also used old barrel staves as barbecue fuel, so I'm also getting some of that.) The green/herbal/vegetal notes are also resolving themselves into chamomile, or at least leaning more definitively herbal. There's also an unexpectedly sweet note, almost definitely vanilla - where did that come from??? Dry: It dries down into something herbal-sweet, with the oak hanging around in the background, providing some support but never really coming forward itself.

In the imp: A very sweet scent, but given the notes, I found it a little odd that it's more of a floral sweetness than a sugary sweetness. Otherwise, that's about it - surprisingly simple. Wet: Ah, there's the musk! It's still a rather simple scent, but now it's more of a floral musk than a straight-up floral. It does veer a little soapy, which could be the white musk (if that's what "shimmering celestial musk" is) - white musk and I occasionally don't get along as well as we could. Dry: A sweet skin musk; sort of "your skin but better." IDK if the sweetness is from the white musk itself, or from the honey and/or vanilla proving unexpectedly tenacious, but it's there. Like a lot of the RPG scents, this one is simple, but invites soooo much layering!

In the imp: I would call this a clean, fresh scent, but not like "industrial cleaning fluid" fresh. In fact, right now it's conjuring up a startlingly clear image of a stream of clear water in a forest, surrounded by very green grass and a few wildflowers. Wet: The floral and berry notes are more prominent, but the base of clean running water, grass, and trees remains, at least at first. Alas, this stage doesn't last long, and the honey shows up in a major way to turn this into a regular fruity-floral, although a hint of citrus stays around and keeps things interesting. At this point, I can kinda see it as an elvish scent, but more of the "tra-la-la-lally" elves of The Hobbit than the majestic and honestly kinda terrifying Firstborn. TBH, I was afraid of Elf going this way - sweet, light, and pleasant, but with very little real character to it. Dry: Amber swoops in to save the day! Amber generally makes my skin go "I LOVE EVERYBODY IN THIS BAR," so it settles down into an amber-based honey-floral, with some woods still hanging around, albeit much more subtly. I'm looking forward to layering the hell out of this - it has the basis to be the powerful, mysterious scent I want for an elf, but it needs the kick of, say, Mage or Ranger to give it that extra something.

In the imp: Primarily a fresh green scent - I'm almost tempted to say cucumber instead of fresh-cut grass. There's also a definite herbal note keeping things interesting, although I can't quite identify which herb(s). Finally, there's a very subtle woodsy base that I almost missed. But I tend to dislike entirely fresh scents without some sort of grounding (be it patchouli, amber, musk, woods, etc. - anything that would give it some weight), so after some determined sniffing, I think I can detect the "ancient trees" giving it some gravitas. Wet: If ITI was a druid walking through tall spring grasses, cutting herbs for a ritual, this is the ritual itself. It's a darker, earthier scent altogether, with the promised "burgundy pitch incense" becoming dominant, along with mint. What I believe to be wooly and soil notes are also present as backup. More confusingly, definite notes of mint and citrus are also present - the zing of mint is very noticeable from the first, while the citrus provides a subtle sweetness to the whole blend. After a few minutes, the mint fades, only to be replaced by...berries? Maybe there was a feast following the ritual. (Although, tbh, this new development actually has me a bit worried - Autumn Overlooked My Knitting was supposed to be all warm cuddly wool, but went straight "junior high girls' locker room" on me. So maybe my skin reads BPAL's wool note as EIGHTY TONS OF FRUITY-FLORAL BODY MIST? I hope not...) Dry: Spoilers: no EIGHTY TONS OF FRUITY-FLORAL BODY MIST. Instead, it settles into incense, but like the incense in Cleric - dry and herbal; burning sage rather than Churchy frankincense/myrrh. Unlike Cleric, though, there's an interestingly spicy edge hanging around. I like it!

In the imp: Mostly spices and honey, with perhaps just a hint of boozy backup. It's a very sweet, rather creamy scent, but with just enough bite to keep it interesting. Wet: First things first: the woods are now actually distinguishable, and the bay rum definitely becomes dominant. Overall, it feels drier and less sticky. There's still an almost-creamy sweetness hanging around, but now I'm tempted to say that this is as much the white musk (or even the rum itself, which often reads as rather sweet on me) as it is the honey. This is a scent that settles into your skin and makes itself right at home very quickly. Dry: It shifts woodier and woodier as time goes on, until it's pretty much a wood scent with some sweet accents (honey and/or white musk and/or bay rum - difficult to tell at this point). I kinda feel like there's still a musky note in there somewhere, but my nose is terrible at picking out musks. EDIT: After several hours, I'm really getting all the The Lights of Men's Lives comparisons. It's a bit spicier and woodier than TLoML, but it's definitely in the sweet-smoky-beeswax neighborhood. Maybe that's the lute strings coming into play?

In the imp: Largely dried herbs, like what a cleric would carry around for healing and blessing. There's also a hint of soft florals (maybe some dried flowers in with the dried herbs?) and resins adding sweetness. Overall, this somehow feels like it's in the neighborhood of incense, without actually *being* incense, if that makes any sense. Wet: It's shifted from primarily dried herbs to primarily incense - maybe the cleric has stopped traveling, and is now in a temple? The soft florals are still there as backup, although they're settling down from "omnidirectional soft florals" into "almost definitely rose." The resins are now much more notable, and blend very well with the incense. I'm actually a little worried at this stage, as lovely as it is - both incense and rose notes sometimes go sour on me after a few hours, and when they're together, the effect is both hastened and amplified (see: Hymn), so I hope that doesn't happen here. So I'll keep an eye (nose?) out for that, while still enjoying the lovely floral incense while I've got it. Dry: It swings back towards dried herbs, although still definitely in the neighborhood of incense. So it's not quite like the Catholic incense I grew up with, but, say, burning sage or something in that vein? It stays notably sweet, but the sweetness comes less from the florals and more from the resins at this stage. And finally, huzzah, the sourness never develops! Okay, maybe just a liiiiittle bit, but it's less of a sour note and more of an interesting take on skin musk - it smells very much like it's something that would originate naturally from my skin, in a sort of "I've been working hard and sweating a bit, but I still smell good" way.

In the imp: Yup, that's new, slightly stiff leather right there. There's a sort of tang to it that reminds me of Paladin, so it's probably the steel. There's also a lovely sweet-ish undertone to complicate things, which could be either the leather itself or the blood. Wet: The sharpness of the steel amps way down, and it settles in as a lovely accent to the dominant leather note. In fact, "settles in" is a good way to describe it - there was a definite feeling of "ahhhhh" as it sank into my skin, something like sinking into a hot bath on a cold day. Like several people on here are saying, there's a definite feeling here of department stores/fancy shoe stores/etc. For me, it's my paternal grandmother's closet, who wore designer everything until the end of her life and had a huge walk-in closet that my cousins and I sometimes commandeered for hide-and-seek, but mostly we weren't allowed into it. On that note, there's also a faintly, ineffably feminine edge hanging around that makes the whole thing veer more unisex than straight-up masculine. Dry: A slightly drier, almost powdery take on the same - leather dominant, with steel providing an accent, and a sweet, faintly feminine note hanging around somewhere. The only big difference is that the musk very definitely comes out to play, but never to the point where it overpowers the leather.

In the imp: At first whiff, there's a definite note of dragon's blood resin. Under that, there's incense, but a sort of "dusty" incense, if that makes sense. The whole thing is made more interesting by a woodsy/evergreen note. This is more notable from afar than up close, but I do get a definite sense-memory of Christmas tree-generated excitement. Wet: The evergreen note immediately steps forward, even in front of the dragon's blood, but overall, the feeling is still of woodsy, dusty incense. I'm not crazy about incense blends in general (myrrh and/or frankincense tend to go sour on my skin, and my memories of church aren't always the best), so I'm surprised that this blend is making me smile as much as it is. I know it's supposed to be "all mystique and thrumming power," but it really feels more like a rather young mage who hasn't quite gotten there yet, but really wants to appear like he has. The first character that comes to my mind is Schmendrick from The Last Unicorn, followed closely by Thero from the Nightrunner series. Dry: A softer, drier version of the same. The dragon's blood calms down, but it's also, conversely, sweeter and more noticeable. The incense is also more notable as such, if only because it goes a bit sour on my skin (see above), but this isn't an entirely bad thing, just interesting.

In the imp: Mostly smooth, pleasant woods, especially pine. But there's a slightly synthetic fruity note (cherry???), as well as an odd sort of herbaceous-floral, woozy note that I wouldn't call strictly pleasant, but isn't *un*pleasant, if you know what I mean. Interesting. Wet: After an initial strong blast of woods (mostly pine/cypress), it mellows out into a blend of springtime florals over a wood base. The fruity/berry note also softens up, becomes less synthetic, and mixes with the florals in a way that makes me smile. This is certainly nothing that's going in my "power bitch" scent category, but very possibly in the "princess dancing through field of wildflowers" category. It's a very light scent, a very young scent, and what I would describe as carefree. Dry: It fades to a skin-scent remarkably quickly. But even more than that, it just feels faint - faint florals, fainter woods.

In the imp: A slightly aquatic, very green floral. The orris is an interesting addition here - it lends the whole thing a powdery, slightly bitter tone. Wet: Fairly true to ITI, although the florals amp up and the aquatic/green notes amp down. I admit I was hoping for something more like La Belle Au Bois Dormant, which is literally the smell of a princess who's just come in from picking wildflowers, but this feels...haughty? Distant? It has this commercial perfume-y aspect where it's pleasant enough, but nothing really makes an impression. This may be good for those of us who work in an atmosphere where smelling like Snake Oil or something is discouraged, but we still want to have SOME sort of scent on. It's inoffensive, I'll give it that; it just doesn't have any gumption to it. Dry: This stage was actually my favorite, with a good balance between the florals and the green/aquatic notes. There was even a dash of something with a little more substance (proper rose? Musk? Amber? Who knows) riiiight at the very end, about eight hours along. Alas, this one failed to wow me overall. It definitely feels like something I that could be found at Sephora, formulated for very young women or those who want something "office-appropriate" and overall inoffensive. But for me, it just didn't have enough personality to really be interesting.

Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth. In the imp: Primarily rose, but a kind of rose that reminds me of English Rose, a drugstore perfume my mom got me for christmas when I was about eleven - it was cheap (which was good, because at eleven I didn't know good perfume from a hole in the wall) and inoffensive (which was also good, because I pretty much doused myself in it for like a week), but slightly synthetic-smelling. There may be some hints of moss, dirt, or something salty way deep down at the base, but I have a sneaking suspicion that's me just trying to smell the listed notes rather than what's actually there. Wet: Like lady_pandora said: sour roses, but not necessarily in a bad way. I mean, the roses themselves are okay, but there's a hint of something kind of unsettling/off-putting at the back...which turns out to be probably the dirt. At this stage, my boyfriend said that this smells like Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which...given the listed notes, is actually pretty spot-on! Dry: Fairly linear - the rose goes drier and drier, taking on a sort of musty, preserved quality. But it does stay rose as far as I can tell - the dirt note never does develop, at least to my nose. (Although my boyfriend said he could smell it distinctly.) It's unusually short-lasting, too, with maybe 4-5 hours' worth of wear time.

In the imp: Like so many people here are saying: Snake Oil with a floral, orange blossom-y edge. I'm even getting the sweet, almost syrupy vanilla edge! There's also some patchouli evident, but this is a much sweeter, mellower, sexier patchouli than I'm used to. Wet: Ironically, less like Snake Oil now, but no less lovely. It's sharper, brighter, and sweeter, with the patchouli coming on stronger and the ginger actually a distinct note of its own. There's less of the languorous, sensual, boudoir feel of SO, but this is still so very much "a true heartbreaker's perfume." After a few minutes, it settles down into about equal measures floral-citrus orange blossom and zingy ginger, over a lovely smooth patchouli base. Dry: Gets more boudoir-y over time, with what I SWEAR is Snake Oil's vanilla note creeping in. The ginger softens way up, but the orange blossom note stays dominant, making the whole thing sort of floral-citrus-sweet, rather than dominantly spicy-vanilla-sweet. The patchouli is also a bit more noticeable, so if patchouli has a tendency to go dirty-hippie on you then you may want to be careful of this one, but patchouli tends to A) amp a little bit and smell awesome on me, so this is a big plus in my opinion.

In the imp: Mostly the "zing" of mint and eucalyptus, although perhaps a little more of the latter than the former. I'm not getting much of the florals, unless the sort of indolic taint way deep down is the neroli. (But I usually like neroli, so I'm thinking not.) Wet: Eurgh, that indolic edge takes a big step forward - now it's almost exactly the scent of my guinea pig's cage, or perhaps a stable, that's in need of a good mucking-out. The sharp, cool edge of eucalyptus-and-mint-in-that-order is still there. After a few minutes, it settles down into something more recognizably like the violet pastilles that I adore. In fact, it's now almost pleasant, in an earthy sort of way. This is my first violet scent, so I gotta admit I didn't really know what to expect. I had kinda anticipated something like the above-mentioned violet pastilles, which are very light, floral, and girly-scented, but this is something almost unisex. Dry: It leans more and more powdery, and then poof! it's gone. I went to test it at the four-hour mark, and nothing. It was like I hadn't even applied perfume. Can't say this one particularly wowed me.

In the imp: Like Tweedledum (which I tested yesterday), this is a fun, silly, fruity, child-like scent. But whereas Tweedledum was all Juicy Fruit gum, this is an orange creamsicle (which I remember being the height of sophistication when I was seven, for what it's worth). Wet: And the Tweedledum similarities continue (to the surprise of none)! Like its twin, Tweedledee isn't anything like grown-up enough to wear to, like, class (I'm a grad student) or a job interview, or anything where I want to be taken seriously at all, but for, say a day at the beach, or for helping to oversee my cousin's 12th birthday party that's coming up, then sure. Also like Tweedledum, Tweedledee has a nice solid grounding of tea (white here, but green in Tweedledum) to keep it from floating away. The more I think about it, the more of a masterstroke on Beth's part this is - as I lean more towards light summer scents, I find that too many of them (Embalming Fluid case in point) are just a waft of lovely light top notes, but without anything to anchor them. But the tea here makes sure that the light burst of citrus has something to grab onto, if that makes any sense. Dry: Alas, here is where it really begins to distinguish itself from its twin. Tweedledum had a fairly linear drydown, while here, the effervescent citrus goes a little flat, and a mildly soapy edge emerges. Nothing disastrous, but less enjoyable all the same.

In the imp: I have really bad scent associations with mango (my elementary school/middle school/high school/some of college BFF was deathly allergic to them) and figs (...dead wasps. Dead wasps inside figs. Say no more), so I when I read the description (this was a frimp), I was a little worried. But what I'm actually getting is a fun, fruity, silly child-like smell - gum and Froot Loops and Starburst and Lifesavers and everything else I wasn't allowed to have as a kid. If there is any patchouli or green tea here, it's buried too far under the fruit for me to detect it. Wet: Still predominantly fruit, but now the green tea is much more visible, giving it a nice fresh base to rest on. Maaaaaybe a bare hint of patchouli is working its way in too, but the overall effect is of a less child-like scent, but still a very young, fun one. This isn't something I would wear to class (I'm a grad student) or to a job interview or anything, but for a summer day out with friends, this may be just the ticket. Dry: Very linear - the same clean, fruity scent, only less so. Alas, the patchouli never did show up for me...

In the imp: Um, wow. This is lavender, but real, earthy lavender, straight out of the ground. There's also jasmine, but it's softer and father away. I may be feeling more kindly towards this than usual because, add in the scent of grass, rain, and slightly malodorous pets, and this IS the smell of my childhood home, which had an enormous and aggressive lavender bush out front that I adored, and a climbing jasmine plant that only bloomed for two weeks out of the year, but man, those were two beautiful weeks. No honeysuckle so far. Wet: Right off the bat, I'm getting more honeysuckle and less lavender. I guess the amount of jasmine is technically about the same, but the lavender backing off means that it's more noticeable. Unfortunately, the honeysuckle quickly develops into a soapy note, as it is wont to do on me. Dammit, honeysuckle, just give me my lavender and jasmine already! Dry: A surprisingly quick fade. It stays mostly honeysuckle soap all the way through, but a note of genuine jasmine does emerge after awhile. It's still soap-dominant, but the real jasmine makes me feel more kindly towards it.

In the imp: Woooo, that's a noseful! I'm not getting any of the notes individually, just a strange, heavy soporific thing with astringent/antiseptic overtones. Maybe hints of rubber and nutmeg, but that's about as concrete as I can get. Wet: I had a major imp spill as I applied this one, so everything is probably going to be amped waaaaaay up. My boyfriend says that he can smell the nutmeg from 2-3 feet away, and it's almost headache-inducingly strong right up close. Other than that, though, I'm getting a strange, fresh scent, like IceBreakers or any of the really strong breath mints. (I'm tempted to put this down to the sassafras.) Luckily, the rubber/burning tires don't transfer over, which I was afraid of. Now, it's obviously very strong, since I got about 20 times my usual dose, but actually kinda pleasant. I'm even getting whiffs of something floral/herbal/incense-y that may be the poppy and/or myrrh, but the aromatic breath mints are so strong that I'm having difficulty discerning anything else. Dry: The fresh mintiness dries down over time, and the poppy becomes dominant. However, when I say "poppy", it really does smell more like jasmine - I blame the addition of sassafras to the poppy itself. The strength is still a little headache-inducing, but that's almost definitely due to the spillage.

In the imp: Mmmmm. ^.^ Red musk, amber, and roses, in precisely that order. But, oddly enough, it's a light, fresh scent - not at all as dark or slinky as the notes make it sound. (Also, I think I picked up sandalwood somewhere in there??? Maybe I'm getting a false positive from the red musk or something.) Wet: Oh, now that's just lovely. Amber-rose, with the rose coming out more strongly over time. But at first I get the distinct impression that the amber is acting as a veil for the rose - not obscuring it per se, but making it more mysterious, seductive, and difficult to describe. The red musk is still there, but more as a reliable anchor for the other notes than something notable in itself. Dry: After a few hours, it takes a sharp turn towards red musk and amber (in that order), and the rose does a surprisingly quick fade. The amber does head in a faintly powdery direction on me, but nothing too dire. It should be noted that my boyfriend, who very rarely comments on my perfume, says that this one smells like "vanilla and a shot of bourbon to the face", but apparently in a good way.

Inconsolable: lily of the valley, hyacinth, calamus, muguet, hydrangea, and elemi. In the imp: Soft florals, dominated by what I believe to be lily of the valley, but I'm not sure - the florals are rather omnidirectional. It feels like a soap or air freshener that was designed to be pleasant, yet inoffensive and unobtrusive. Or maybe I'm just getting a soapy vibe because that's where I've mostly encountered lily of the valley before? Wet: At first it's about the same as ITI - a soft, inoffensive floral soap - but now with an interesting aquatic element. But after only a minute or so, the soap comes out in force. Alas! Dry: It softens up a bit over time, and the soap does dissipate eventually, but it never reaches anything other than "soft inoffensive floral." To top it off, the wear time is also far from impressive - five hours tops, and my skin usually hangs onto florals for 6-8. Meh.

In the imp: Simple but pleasant: I would say this is the exact scent of the color green: grass and cucumber, in about a 60/40 proportion. The only surprise here is the amount of throw it has - if the imp is uncorked, I can easily smell it a foot away, which is rare for me. Wet: Now it's more like 60% cucumber and 40% grass, but this is still a very WYSIWYG* scent - grass and cucumber we were promised, and grass and cucumber we get. I could see this being a wonderful cooling summer scent; I especially like JuliskaMarie's idea of mixing it with water in a spray bottle! Dry: Unsurprisingly for a light, fresh scent like this, lasting power is pretty much nil. My skin holds perfumes fairly well, but this one didn't last beyond 2-3 hours. Fairly linear all the way down. This one reminds me strongly of Embalming Fluid, both in its light/fresh/clean properties, and in its (lack of) longevity. However, I like this one a bit better than EF, so I'll be hanging on to it until some unbearably muggy summer day comes around, when this will be exactly the refresher I need. * What You See Is What You Get. Sorry for the flashback, fellow 90s kids.

In the imp: A dry, warm, spicy scent. I'm definitely getting the sharpness of the cedar and spiciness of the balsam, but the vanilla softens things up and rounds them out beautifully. This is an unfrivolous scent, the scent of someone who knows how to get shit done and doesn't waste their time. But he's still a fundamentally pleasant dude, because this is definitely a masculine scent. Wet: Much sharper right off the bat, with the cedar and probably sassafras taking a big step forward. Thankfully, though, it avoids veering into either pencil shavings/plywood or foody/root beer territory. However, the vanilla and balsam start to creep back in, both to my delight. The vanilla takes the unpleasant edge off of the cedar's sharpness, and the balsam adds a wonderful spicy note that's almost cinnamon, but not quite. But then, after only a few minutes, disaster! It's gone straight to the pencil shavings/plywood that I was afraid of. Dammit, cedar, this is why we can't have nice things. Dry: Thankfully, cedar eventually decides to start playing nice with everyone else, and it settles down into something sweeter, warmer, and less austere altogether, but still masculine. However, the sassafras and vanilla combine into an unfortunate (at least for me - I've never been a big fan of gourmands) sweet root beer scent right at the very end, but hopefully some proper aging will take care of this, and the rest of it is so lovely I don't even mind.