roseus

 This is *salty* but doesn't push unpleasant on my skin. It is very chocolatey and marshmallowy in the imp, I was afraid it was going to be cloying on my skin. Fresh on, the wave does indeed swell, and it was more aquatic than gourmand initially. A big fresh, salty wave with a bit of marshmallow-y white chocolate foam sweetening it and softening it. Dry it is more balanced. The marshmallow and white chocolate form a sweet base that is cut by the salt, keeping it in check. 

More grapefruit in the decant, but very peachy on my skin initially. Super juicy. It settles into a gorgeous sun drenched peach-amber base, brightened by the zest of grapefruit and lime.

In the imp I get juicy ginger and I *think* blue musk. Something that recalls sweet, fresh 'watery' scents without being straight up aquatic. All backed up by that beautiful silky vanilla. The ginger gets a tiny bit more fiery and herbal on my skin, help breaking up the airy sweetness. Absolutely beautiful.

Something about the combination of almond and coconut (and maybe the fig too?) read as 'banana' on me initially. But as it settles it is nutty warm almond and rice. A delicious rice pudding scent.

Lots of opium in the imp/fresh on. A bit of bergamot brightness and a slightly bitter fruitiness I'm interpretating as the berries. As it settles on my skin it becomes incense-forward, with the opium and jasmine trailing behind.

I agree that this is deep but not heavy. An airy-sweet lavender (as opposed to herbal), darkened and deepened by labdanum and tea. A gorgeous, mysterious swirly sort of scent.

This one is hard for me to summarise. Dusky is a great word for it, as it's a low, rumbly sort of scent. Initially I get mostly resins, a bit of sandalwood and some sweetness from the dates. As it settles on my skin it gets muskier, and I get the slightest bit of fruity dragon's blood (it doesn't take over which is unusual for my skin!).

Oooey gooey marshmallow and grapefruit! The grapefruit is entirely sweetened by the marshmallow, no tartness or bitterness. This smells so nostalgic to me and I can't put my finger on what it is reminding me of.

Sweet cinnamon bread and a bit of coffee in the decant. On my skin I get a milky note underneath. The coffee fades back on my skin and I get mostly cinnamon bread and milk. Homey and comforting.

Pitch and snappy black leather in the imp. Rugged, medicinal. This assassin means business. On my skin the leather becomes more worn, still rugged and not at all sweet, but definitely not headache-y for me. I get lots woodsy, piney greenness. 

Musky floral in the imp, surprising as I was expecting to be slapped with wasabi. On my skin I get a lot of fruity red musk, I do get a grape-y note as well. I don't get any hint of spice or heat or resin. Just a sweet fruity musky floral. Pretty!

Comparing the two in the bottle Visiting the Sumida River with a Geisha is very close with the combo of jasmine and orange blossom -  Crystalline azure musk, orange blossom, water lily, hinoki wood, Texas cedar, and night-blooming jasmine. Probably a difficult find if you don't have it already though. 

I've not tried it but I'm wondering if Who Would Not Tremble, Too? from 2024 Yules would work:  sweet orange blossom, white honey, jasmine tea, white sandalwood, green apple, and lily of the valley.  I think it would be sweeter but could fill a similar niche if the jasmine is strong enough.

Crisp, slightly bitter lettuce and cool cucumber at the forefront. Breezy white tea and cherry blossom rounding it out. Great springtime soak!

Snappy black leather and DBR in the imp made me think this wasn't going to work at all, but the leather is surprisingly soft on my skin. Could be because I amp the DBR like crazy, which is all you can smell at a distance. Sweet and smoky up close, but with my skin I am a cloud of fruity candy.

First on I get a bitter neroli backed by soft powdery iris. I expected for the violet to take over from this point, but it stays green and sort of sappy. I can still detect the iris and the violet in the background, sweet and powdery.

The almond in this when first spritzed is so sweet to be almost fruity, and something about the combination of notes read as 'banana' for a moment. However it settles to a rich, nutty slightly sweet (but no longer fruity) almond atop rich cream and cozy sandalwood.

2025.

Sweet red apple with the slight bitterness of the peel. Fruity red musk melds into it, and a gorgeous dark vanilla amber underneath. I don't pick out the fig specifically, but I think it is adding to the fruity sweetness. To me this doesn't come off as juicy-fruity, it has a more dry incense-y quality.

So buttery-creamy in the bottle! On my skin it is more musky, with that gorgeous fuzzy suede. It brings the sweetness down somewhat. A lot of gorgeous vanilla on my skin as well. Wet I wasn't sure there was any actual rose in this, but dry I can find it. Soft pink rose that melds into the creamy notes. A cozy, creamy gourmand-ish.

Yes crisp mountain forest air! I get mostly juniper and pine, and when freshly spritzed heady, slightly funky jasmine. Settled the jasmine is deep, somewhat dark and gives a mysterious, enchanted quality to this forest.

Gorgeous cool, airy scent. It comes across cool and crisp from the mint and eucalyptus blossom but not overly *minty* or in anyway astringent in the way eucalyptus bath products can be. I get more spruce in the bottle than I do on my skin, it is still there but softer and a bit sweeter. This leans aquatic with the blue musk, and every so slightly salty. It's very much a wash of scent, not faint but sheer. The ambergris gives a nice body and halo to the scent, sort of blurring everything together. I swear I get a bit of lime or bergamot as well. It makes me think of looking at the sun glittering on the sea in the distance on a cool, crisp day.

This is much fresher and brighter in the imp than I had anticipated. On the skin I get the darker green mossy and woody notes I expected, shot through with just a bit of brightness like sun-dappled woods. As it settles I get the gorgeous creamy vanilla and incense rounding everything out.

2024.

For some reason I am nearly completely nose-blind to this (just this- I checked!) once on my skin. In the imp I get dry red musk and incense, and on my skin I get just a hint of caramel and red musk. My wife could smell it at distance however, and gave a positive review (musky-spicy-caramel).

Fruity red musk and sticky fig are the main notes on my skin initially. As it dries the tuberose peaks out, heady and rich. I thought the neroli was missing for a while but I think it is blending somewhat into the musk and fig, it doesn't have the bitterness it sometimes has.

Initially on my skin this is all thick, sweet vanillic beeswax with soft leather and patchouli. As it settles this remains the heart of the scent, surrounded by a cloud of incense. Very much a dark library scent.

A gorgeous jasmine, slightly heady but no sharpness or funk. Creamy but with a faint greeness. Champaca has a tendency to be really sharp on me, but here it is just adding a incense-y quality to the jasmine.