ramblingrambler

2017 Release:

Wet, this is a dark, woodsy scent that fills the whole room. As it continues to dry, the woods fades and out comes the Pom, which is front and center for only a few minutes. To join it, the chypre makes its appearance and continues to feature strongly throughout drydown. Pretty, but absolutely a perfume-y fragrance, akin to Dragon with a Jaunty Cap, which I love for similar reasons, or possibly somewhat like this years Yule release with Cassiopeia, also loved.

If you're into fruity blends, you NEED this. Desperately. In the bottle I knew it would be glorious from the maraschino cherry, but on it becomes this spunky fruit punch blend (as mentioned above) with maybe some cream added? I don't know, but it is less a pumpkin floss and more a Beaver Moon blend to me. Yaaaaas.

Gnarly, glorious patchouli for daaaays. It's deep, dark, and... fuzzy (AND fizzy?!) almost. Patch lovers need this.

Not very foodiewhich is almost disappointing to me, but I can get behind it for what it is. More pumpkin than brownie, this fragrance is pretty understated and probably a good scent to wear to work around Halloween for juuuust enough pumpkin to be festive. Doesn't wear very long on me, and dries down to what a batch of cocoa and sugar smells like before being combined with other ingredients and baked to make brownies.

 

 

Edit: layered with Dead Leaves & Squished Candy Corn, this is MAGNIFICENT.

Totally digging this, but most Dead Leaves blends reads very masculine on me. Luckily, the black cherry and orange twist gives it just enough femininity for me to get away with wearing it with a short skirt and heels or even flamed up if I throw on a faux leather jacket to round it out. I'm going to see how it wears on my partner—may update soon!

LOVE. Citrusy candy corn with a hint of pumpkin. What's not to love? (Pumpkins don't always work for me, but this was totally wearable!) Dries into what the remnants of a candy corn bag smells like. Yum.

I was hoping this would work for me, but it's a big NOPE. Something in it goes off and turns almost sour—I think it's the Pom/eucalyptus combo. This could work on someone who can wear either of these alone, but if one doesn't typically work for you, I doubt it would go over well together.

I actually don't mind this in all stages. It's a bright, sharp lemon, somewhere between one of those lemon candies you find at Cracker Barrel coated in sugar to keep it from being too sour, and a lightly sweetened lemonade on a very hot day. I get almost no orange blossom from this, but that's okay—I'm Floridian . Dries the same way it opens: high, sharp, bright. Not a cleaner scent on me, thankfully!

I quite like this, but like Dorian and Antique Lace would wear it only in specific situations. It's both delicate and commanding–a beautiful blend meant to captivate, for sure. It is strongly Dorian with some Antique Lace components—but I think I also smell some minty lavender every once in a whiff. Who knows! I've smelled too many things today between the boardwalk on the beach and dinner and perfumes. I feel like a puppy whose nose is both happy but possibly overwhelmed. Therefore YMMV.

Honestly, this is a cacophony of scents to me. I smell each mentioned blend (ish) at some point if I'm searching for them, but they all somehow manage to make sense together and blend very well if I'm in it for the harmony. On me, it smells more masculine. I would probably wear this to a soccer match or other sporting event, but for a daily scent, though nice, it wouldn't be a go-to just because I think I prefer wearing a less... woody (but not what you usually think of when you think woody"wood" phoenix is more about the solid center or heart of wood than it being a woodsy fragrance, to me!)... scent on the day to day. It is strong (as in persevering!), powerful (as in having power underwing!), and daring (as in it would chance to be brave!), and those aren't typically traits I would ascribe to myself except in specific instances that are not part of my daily persona. Best saved for moments when I want to evoke those feelings, and hopefully for the winning team .

 

ETA (almost six months later): this has become an interesting scent I still cant place fully. I still dont see me wearing this every day, but I have worn it on several instancesmostly during soccer games, as I had thought, hah. Today it is rainy and gloomy, and I feel like it will fit in perfectly with the weather... not because it is gloomy, but because there is almost an aquatic undercurrent to this on me. Must be thesalt-slicked wood mentioned.

Beautiful but very light wear—mostly frankincense wet, but then it meets cinnamon shortly after as it begins to dry... and then there's some clove that starts to sneak its way in to the picture. Lovely, light, and evocative. Glad to have a bottle.

I was so, so generously frimped a full-size, one mL vial of this for the holidays from a Madness member (thank you, Alexis!). I cannot even begin to describe how good this blend is. It has its hype, of course, and for very good reason. Storyville is utterly delectable: a warm, rich, skin scent that whispers your deepest fantasy so you have to lean in closer and closer and closer. I pick up hints of cocoa, coffee, perhaps tobacco?, and the lightest touch of a sweet musk. Whatever this is made of is damn delicious. Though it's a bazillion dollars when it appears on market, I highly recommend getting your nose a whiff of this beauty.

Yule 2017

 

In bottle - woods

 

Wet - woody woody woody woods

 

Drydown - woods.

 

If you're a fan of woods (but not the foresty kind), this will be right up your alley. I can smell almost nothing else unless I'm practically touching my nose to my skin, and then there's a lovely smokey muskiness (likely hemp) that hits me.

 

Nice but extremely linear and not what I was expecting.

Hmmm. I get nothing else but carnation from application through drydown. Not one hint of any other notes. I was really looking forward to this one, too. Short wear. Off to swap.

Very much a Luper/Shunga as mentioned above–sexy, close to the skin, and very much a scene out of Ghost. There's a fuzzy warmth to it, almost musky, like some of the "fur" scents have to them... but this isn't that alone. There's a touch of sweetness to it somehow, at least on me, that makes it complex and forces me to keep sniffing to figure out just what is going on here. Lovely!

On me, this is quite the masculine fragrance, but it works so well as a refreshing wake-up scent to get my day going. This is more a scent locket bottle for me, but it's staying in my collection as a pick-me-up for those mornings I'm dragging at work. Minty (eucalyptus-y, I suppose!), fresh, and green.

I got this for the patchouli, but I'm not in love. Letting it age to see if the cedar and tobacco calm down some and the oakmoss stops screaming "look at me!"—the patch is nice and tries hard for the spotlight, but it doesn't quite succeed in being the starring role. This is fresh out of the mail, so YMMV. I'll probably come back to it in six or eight months.

Extremely woodsy and herbal: stopping by the woods on a snowy evening. Evocative of stillness—moves from a snow blanketed woods to an evening inside by the fireplace (no smokiness, just cozy).

Very much a sleep scent; lavender and gardenia, for sure, but very "fluffy," like down blankets. Pretty linear, lending itself to a nice wind-down fragrance.

I get no cardamom from this, which is fine by me since I tend to amp spices. To me, this is a dark night standing at the neck of the woods beckoning for exploration. Patchouli heavy, as I like my blends to be... Amber and vetiver follow, giving it almost a wispy, hazy smokiness. Similar to Owl Moon and Lydia, but more mellow. I love all my BloodMilk blends patch-forward, so if you're not a fan of deep, earthy patchouli, it's probably not for you.

Mmmm. Though I love Peacock Queen, I cannot wear it because it goes sharp on my skin. This is a supremely wearable rose, remniscient of the regal Peacock Queen, but tempered with the addition of ambrette, I believe. Gorgeous, gorgeous.

Damnedest thing, y'all: Aluminum Phoenix smells like Trix sans milk (thank the lawd! Every "cereal scent" I was stoked about was ruined by the creamy notes). I am ALL about it. Buy this if you wanted to love Liliths with "junk food" but they didn't work out for you!

Mmmmm, this is delectable—even freshly out of the mail. Wet, it smelled like perfume and a night out drinking good wine. As it began to dry, it morphed into almost a honeyed tobacco and merlot... and continued to morph into some darkly delicious scent I simply cannot place. It is gorgeous–so rich and deep—and I can't imagine letting this one go. I think with aging, like fine wine, it will only get better.

Predominantly a masculine snow note like Nuclear Winter—wears linearly and offers a nice frosty crispness. May use for layering or offer to my boyfriend.

I was certainly intrigued by the name of this scent and took a chance despite knowing rose geranium stinks to high heavens on me. Alas, that's all I get with this one...loads and loads of rose geranium with a tart, bitter background.