DiZZysTARdust

i was very intrigued by this note list and excited to test this. so it's only been a day out of the mail. i wasn't sure what vibe to expect. the only thing that was a potential no for me was the raw leather aspect, but for leather ampers like myself have no worries because the leather doesn't amp for me here. it's actually barely noticeable at all for me, i completely forgot it was in the note list until rechecking after application. 

in the bottle this smells like celery seed. i suspect this is the mushroom because once applied it goes from celery to like a yeasty greenness. it's definitely very green, but not fresh cut grass or leafy green. more like a green musk. to my nose, i would say this veers masculine in the sense that it's well blended and gives off more of a cologney vibe rather than a sweet perfume. i would guess that's the sandalwood or oak adding a little base but neither one is really detectable on their own. 

after an hour or so the yeastiness fades away leaving the musky green cologne and omg this scent is so good. it's got a moderate throw and it laaaasts all day on me, 6 hours before the throw starts to fade and by 8 hours it's fading but still faintly detectable on the skin (my skin eats perfume so this is a long last for me). another well-blended painting, 10/10

i received chellah v4 as a frottle. i am super intrigued by it and trying it on fresh from the mail, so it may need some resting time to fully come out. so far, other reviews are spot on about the dirt note. in the bottle this is fresh, crumbly dirt with streaks of something greenish/leafy. freshly applied the dirt stays very present, but as it dries there is definitely a sweetness of something else underneath the dirt, but the dirt note is so strong and fresh that it's really tough to ID. maddening, but in a pleasant way. the dirt note does fade somewhat as this dries to a more dusty top note at 10 minutes into the drydown, leaving a very warm, musky scent. really beautiful but well blended and hard to pin down. looking forward to retesting after some settling time

the orris is very strong in this initially. when i first received it in the mail it was all i could smell in the bottle. after some resting i still get a strong bloom of fresh orris upon application, which fades to a powdery, soft, gentle orris base backed by the other woods. i agree with other reviews that the sandalwood is probs the most prominent. it's a very golden and powdery sandalwood, with no real piney or balsamy-ness from the balsam and no headshop champa for me in the freshly applied drydown stage. light throw, but it makes it a very snuggly up-close skin scent. 

i get strong florals from this, heavy on the jasmine and honeysuckle at first. settles to a strong but well blended florally musk. more floral than green or graveyard dirt for me. as a floral lover this is lovely. 

I'm surprised this doesn't have more love in the reviews. This is super gorgeous. It's very well blended but I think the frankincense is the most prominent in the bottle. It's very syrupy, and the way it blends with the pines and mosses seems almost citrusy in a really delicious, almost foodie way without smelling like an actual food. The citrusy aspect fades as this dries down and it becomes more golden sandalwood and vanillic resins and greenery. Strong throw and good lasting power. 

ETA i think the amber silk come out for me as a thread of sweetness, almost floral-sweet but definitely not floral, that kind of ties the whole blend together and outlasts the other notes

i picked this up hoping it would be similar to mysterious garden, ie a perfumey scent. it is perfumey although there are definitely differences between the two blends. this strongly reminds me of mr. hex’s black cat, which is i believe a dupe of black opium? i’ve never tried black opium but this def reminds of black cat. maybe a little lighter and less cloying

i picked up this blend due to the reviews mentioning “crimson blossoms”= red musk. i don’t get much red musk, or even really anything like “crimson blossoms”, or even any lilac. this is all about the apple. it’s a really pretty apple blend, but i’ll be revisiting this sometime in the future to see if any red musk pops out 

ETA 1/23/24: retesting this, the apple is a little less dominant. It's very sweet and golden on application, as opposed to the more tart/fresh/green version of apple if that makes sense. After an hour or so the apple fades somewhat and the lilac comes more to the forefront. Still very fruity when I sniff it but there's definitely a hint of the sweeter base notes underneath

sexy indeed! i was sure there was red musk in this as i was trying to remember the notes because it’s almost fruity in the way some red musks can be for me. i think that must be the red peppercorn, which is not at all spicy to me, giving a little oomph to the sweetness of the myrrhs. i don’t get much patchouli until hours into the drydown. it seems like red patchouli, very light and sweet and blending well with the others notes. good throw and staying power. the patchouli-dominance in the dry down is something i hope ages to be more present

ETA this has crazy strong lasting power, i woke up still smelling it 12+ hours after application. this is unusual for me as my skin eats the bpals up but a very pleasant way to wake up

i wasn’t sure about this scent because of white tea and the “lightning-struck amber”, however when these were coming down the yellow champa called to me so I jumped on a bottle. Glad i did because neither of those notes make this too astringent or soapy.

In the bottle it seems like the champa and white tea are fighting for dominance, with the result being that this DOES seem like it might be astringent or soapy. freshly applied though they both settle, with the white tea only slightly in the lead. overall this is pretty well blended. i’m not getting any strong honey and if there is frankincense it’s not the strong, syrupy, almost piney variety but def more subtle. 

in the drydown this does start to become very golden and powdery. but the tea keeps it somewhat bright and almost watery in a way. rains of good indeed

this is absolutely gorgeous. it's hard to say which floral is the strongest. there is a vaguely herbal-lavender note in the bottle but once applied and into the drydown no one flower stands out in particular. this is super pink to me, like in the way of a high-end perfume. not much of a resinous feel from the labdanum. my past experience with this note is either somewhat medicinal or almost fizzy-cola. In this blend it's not coming out strongly but rather seems to be more giving everything else something to stick to and definitely adding to the pink vibe.

the lavender is def present in the bottle and freshly applied. i do not detect rose at all, and i usually amp it. lavender milk is a good description, to me this is almost like a pink lavender. like it's there in a delicate and sweet way as opposed to aggressively herbal. not getting any champa or cypress either.

Almost an hour into the drydown, the lavender loses some of its dominance of this blend. The other notes are still not coming out strongly for me, but the lavender dissolves into a well-blended pool of milky floral sweetness. After an hour and a half, the lavender is gone and I can detect a hint of pink roses coming out, definitely very subtle and powdery.

in the bottle the orchid seems to be peeking out around the tuberose. wet on the skin the tuberose really blooms and dominates, although the sandalwood and orchid seem to be giving the tuberose a very clean vibe, so this is a very pink and frilly tuberose as opposed to the rich floral tuberose of some other bpals with this note. not to say this is not floral, it def is but a very light (tho not high pitched, soapy) floral.

as it dries the tuberose REALLY comes out more, and this does indeed become a richer heavy tuberose note. The sandalwood is more present for me; this is almost like a tuberose incense. light throw.

totally agree with the other reviews, this smells like straight sandalwood when freshly applied! reminds me of al azif or challenege of the ascetic. 

this does not change much through the drydown, still staying very reminiscent of sandalwood.

low throw on this one. up close to the skin it’s an elegant blend of resins. the throw and what sticks to my clothing is more reminiscent of the “blackened, burnt” qualities but in a gentle charry way, no bonfire smoke here

i was nervous about this one with blackened lavender as the first note in the description. indeed, other reviews are spot on that this is predominantly lavender in the bottle and freshly applied when wet.

once applied, there is a few minutes of morphing phase on me where the lavender tried to stay dominant while the other notes begin to peek out. after 10 minutes the lavender is much less present. the other notes blend together seamlessly, so this becomes a resinous floral closer to the skin with a cloud of herbal lavender lingering in the throw.

i don’t get strong champaca- or patchouli-head shop vibes from this while wet. it’s more of a rich resinous floral. initially the frankincense seems to be coming out the strongest of the notes, giving the other notes a golden base to stick to and complimenting the lavender. 

around the 2 hour mark the lavender and frankincense have burned away. there is still a rich dark floral. the champaca is coming out more but still not in a head shop type of way, just sweetening the scent now that the herbaceous lavender has mostly faded. 

i wore this both on my wrists to test and on my torso to scent myself, and my clothes where they touched the scent still have a more strong throw of lavender also at the two hour mark.

i really expected to love this. i’m a huge fan of tuberose, beeswax, cardamom, cedar, incense… the whole thing sounded like a win. in the bottle it was surprisingly more aquatic than i expected. on the skin, this is mostly about the tuberose, but it’s more like tuberose cologne than the heady floral i expected. it’s very light and sheer, i don’t get much beeswax, cardamom, or cedar on their own. it’s definitely a beautiful scent although on me cologne tends to veer toward soapy. this isn’t pure dove soap but definitely smells like an expensive soap in a fancy bathroom

the caraway is strong af when first applied. i agree with the celery comparison, definitely a very fresh greenness. once the celery vibe wears away after about ten minutes, the caraway takes a back seat. this becomes a delicious herbaceous spiced sandalwood. almost like a sandalwood tea. weirdly addictive, i can’t stop huffing my arm

i picked this up secondhand because the notes sounded really beautiful and this is indeed a beautiful combination. in the bottle it’s not exactly “piney” but somewhat camphoraceous, i think it’s the frankincense coming through.

freshly applied this is all about the frankincense and sandalwood, in a really warm, golden, resinous way. the pine and chestnut are definitely not prominent at this phase. i’m not fully confident about my chestnut identification abilities but they seem to be blending in with the other notes rather than giving this blend a nutty or foodie vibe. 

the throw is moderate and decreases as the sandalwood and frankincense fade from prominence (around the 2 hour mark for my small test patch). they are still in the background but the pine comes out a little more strongly for me at this point. 

i absolutely adore humanite. i’ve worn it many times but reviewing for the first time because i’m committing myself to reviewing all my scents. 

absolute love from the bottle. the notes blend together really well. i am a huge tuberose fan and this note definitely doesn’t come out strongly to me. it also doesn’t come across as a very “fruit” forward scent despite all the fruit notes. the one aspect that is the most notable for me is the “caramelized” aspect. it smells like caramelized flowers to me. strangely edible although not exactly foodie or floral. very unique and delicious. does not morph much from the wet to dry phase, with a strong throw. my little test patch lasted 2+ hours before decreasing in strength, although still smelled very much the same closer to the skin

vetiver and myrrh fan here. i was excited to see which one dominates. i agree that in the bottle and freshly on this is like straight peanut butter. not even sweet  or powdery peanut butter for me, just pure nutty peanut butter. i will be tracking to see how it morphs.

freshly on: PB! very foody,

around 10 minutes: i feel like the peanut butter is starting to turn to vetiver.

20 minutes: omg, the peanut butter has disappeared, no vetiver, but there is something powdery and sweet now. there is a slight, slight woodiness under the powder which i think supports very well. 

30+ minutes: the woodiness, which i think is actually the vetiver, and powderiness of the myrrh are more evenly balanced. low throw on the small test patch i applied but this is a really nice warm woody unisex scent. i agree the vetiver is not the typical aggressive vetiver, this might be why the myrrh is able to come through so much

i was luckily able to scoop a bottle of this secondhand. so glad i did because it is absolutely delicious. i love champaca. many times when it is blended with a lot of resins/spices it becomes very head shop. the champaca is definitely a main player in this from the get go but the head shop vibe is definitely muted and well blended with the other ingredients.

the cumin, patchouli, and vetiver are all notes i tend to pick out of blends because they're so recognizable, but here they aren't main players for me. neither is the teakwood as, which i was hoping for more of as it's a note i love, but doesn't come out on its own so much here. everything blends together to create a beautiful, warm, lightly spiced background for the champaca. i agree with the above review, the champaca becomes less strong into the drydown but leaves behind the other notes which are still just as beautiful and well-blended without it. decent throw. definitely a win, can't wait to see how it ages

i'm not a cherry person so i avoided this scent when it was released. i recently saw it for sale on a secondhand post and picked it up out of burning curiosity/FOMO because i really love red musk. sniffing straight out of the mailbox because i couldn't wait.

this is really like the perfect cherry for no-cherry people like myself. i don't mind the scent of that almond extract/maraschino note that i typically associate with "cherry" notes, however once on me it tends to go full bathroom cleaner/urinal cake. despite all the cherriness of the note list, this scent does not smell like almond extract to me either in the bottle or freshly applied. i agree with some above reviewers- cherry lollipop is the perfect description for this scent in the bottle. freshly applied it's still very candy sweet. as it dries the musk comes out more, becoming a seamlessly blended, almost boozy sweet, cherry red musk. still no almond extract in the drydown, and definitely not fresh fruit, this is all about the cherry candy. 

really nice addition to my collection of red musks and def agree with other reviews that this seems like it will age beautifully. one sad part for me is that my skin ate up the small test patch

ETA def seems to wear quickly, after 2+ hours on me this is a sweetish musk with much less cherry and then quickly dissipated not long after. decent throw

i was hesitant about this one because of the muguet, aka lily of the valley. while i love florals esp lily of the valley, they often go pure soap on me. ambers can be hit or miss for me as well, although it tends to be white ambers that go powdery/soapy on me so this golden amber intrigued me along with the oak. omg i am so glad i did because this is all about that amazing golden amber-oak combo on my skin with no trace of lily soap anywhere. literally gorgeous. the oak adds a bit of nuttiness rather than a woodsy quality to me, so this scent is pure chewy golden amber. maybe it's the amber, maybe it's lilies peeking through but there seems to be a slight fizzy quality to this scent that reminds me of what labdanum can sometimes do. this scent reminds me somewhat of an oakier, nuttier mary magdalene (from the july 22 paintings)
 

ETA still present after 2 hours of wear without much morphing. i feel like the lilies came out somewhat giving the scent a sort of green vibe but not in a floral, soapy, or grassy way. the oak definitely comes out more into the drydown, giving some dark woody definition. great throw

this.is.GORGEOUS. i don’t know what possessed me to buy this as i am not a huge fan of leather scents. they don’t smell bad to me it just tends to dominate everything else. i’m in the midst of reorganizing and i found this bottle and decided to test for the first time. 

in the bottle this smells like straight leather, i would say more like the black variety because the white variety seems a little higher pitched to me but could be wrong. still intimidating. i put on just one test splash and OMG, this is somehow a total morpher right off the bat and yet somehow stays very similar to the bottle scent. 

the leather stays very present but doesn’t dominate, if that makes sense. the other notes are coming out more (not sure if it’s the myrrh or black amber i’m smelling, although myrrh tends to go sweet-powdery on me and that isn’t what i’m getting) and they blend amazingly with the leather. it’s like the scent of a leathery-black amber/myrrh, not just leather and black amber and myrrh. really well blended and really gorgeous.

2-3 hours after the drydown the powderiness of the myrrh does come out more although the leatheriness definitely lingers. great throw from just the small test patch. i’m not sure if it would be different if i put more on but this is definitely a very wearable leather. this is absolutely a going out scent

adding to the oudh detectors. that's mainly all i get in the bottle and on well into the dry down, very agressive and animalic oudh, although this is just a day fresh from the mailbox so i''m determined to retest at a later point in time.

I am so glad to have gotten ahold of a bottle of Mary Magdalene. I was super excited for the notes, very happy that frankincense is very strong for me in this one. A gorgeous melange of resins going on that stays very much the same throughout the drydown. I was smelling myself and kept getting reminded of something but couldn't place it, and finally halfway through my shift it hit me that this is extremely similar to bath and body work's Smoked Old Fashioned. I love this one even more, and this has amazing throw. 10/10