Karaline08

I get maraschino cherries, light fizzy floral, and subtle muskiness, it smells pink. It reminds me a tiny bit of elf and fae, if it were cherry instead of peach. After some time: the honey comes forward and now it's a mostly honey and this lovely light floral (almost fizzy) musk. The cherry is mostly gone, so the floral notes really get to shine with the musk and honey. It's lovely, super soft and sweet and feminine. It also has surprising longevity!

This opens with a big ginger kick, it's a very sweet/almost fruity ginger (possibly the tea note making it more fruity). It's similar to Kumiho at this point, but with a warmer/deeper background. After drydown, the ginger is mostly gone and it's a very bright spiced woody scent. I think the tea and pepper add just enough brightness to make this feel more like a warm weather scent than a cold weather one. It reminds me a bit of a men's fragrance, but in an androgynous way if that makes any sense haha. It's lovely, it fits the spring days where it's just starting to be sunny, but the air is still cool, a good seasonal transition scent.

in the bottle: cherry cough syrup on the skin: the cherry chills out almost immediately, and it's mixed with an almost syrupy, herbal, woody scent. This reminds me a little of Death on a Pale Horse (possibly bc they have the same white sandalwood, but also ylang ylang and yuzu might smell similar). It doesn't change much after this, the cherry fades more and it's still dark syrupy woods. I’m not super wowed by this, I think I was hoping for a lighter scent? The dark golden syrupy-ness from the sandalwood + honey (I realized later that I'm likely smelling the ylang ylang more than the sandalwood) weighs this down a little too much for my tastes. (And I think I'd just reach for Death on a Pale Horse if I wanted this vibe).

In the bottle: lilacs! lilacs! On the skin: lilacs are at the front, and there is something very plush and almost green smelling behind them, it conjures images of thick, crisp flower petals, like plumeria or jasmine. There is also something sweet and slightly warm in the background (likely the golden amber, BPAL amber usually disagrees with me but this is very nice). I don't know what wisteria smells like, so I can't really discern whether I'm smelling the lilac or the wisteria/tell them apart. After some time: Warm sweet amber, and a soft musky floral. Very pretty. I'm not usually super into lilac (I mostly got this because I think Taki from Maiden Rose would smell like wisteria and that was enough to get me to buy a decant haha...), but this might be one of my faves out of the shungas I tried! I'm pleasantly surprised. I bet that as the weather warms up this scent will really shine.

In the bottle: this scent smells like a creamy, spicy fall scented candle. First applied: I think there's something animalic(?), powdery(?), it reminds me of a bathroom. There is a lot going on and it's also very strong, it's too much for me. It's like someone set up a new age shop in a public restroom. After 30 minutes: it chills out a little and the red musk becomes recognizable. It has this musky + fruity + creamy + spicy thing happening and it is going SO WRONG on my skin. WHY. I can tell that it has potential, it's rich and creamy and sweet (kinda reminds me of Snake Oil) BUT the bathroom is lurking at the edges, I can't escape it. After an hour: it's no longer bathroom, and it feels similar to the Pumpkin Snake Latte scent from the weenies this year (which also has something that initially goes wrong on my skin, I suspect cream/milk + red musk is not for me). It's nice at this point. Red musk and something rich and slightly spicy. Ultimately, I am not sure if this is worth holding onto, if it takes a whole hour to become pleasant. I really wanted to like this ;_; but realistically I have other things in my collection with similar vibes and way more pleasant openings that I would reach for over this.

This scent is incredible, the longer I've had it the more I love it. First applied, there is a little bit of a root-beery aspect, then it's all leathery spicy musky goodness, with a sweet earthy vanilla patchouli backing it all up. It has a kind of "body" to it (perhaps from the cardamom + musks), it's not quite funky, but it's not freshly showered either. Viiinylflowers above puts it perfectly, "lived in". It just instantly melds so well with my skin, while other perfumes might take hours to get that way. It feels simultaneously powerful, incredibly inviting, and a bit mysterious. It doesn't smell at all like smut to me, and I don't remember what snake oil smells like (I smelled it once in a shop years ago but it wasn't my style at the time), it's a unique beast to me. There is decent throw when first applied, after two or three hours it's mostly a skin scent. The longevity on me is incredible, after 12-24 hours later I can still smell earthy vanilla musk on my wrists. Mmmmm

Initially I get a lot of ginger from this for the first 10-20mins, it has a bite and depth to it that I just love, and then the ginger bite disappears as it dries down into an almost-floral white tea and, musk? There's sooomething sort of sweetening/deepening it that may be ginger, but I can't tell. I want more of that initial ginger bite, please come back! It does remind me a little of the drydown of Embalming Fluid. I really like this, going to try it in my hair to see if that extends the ginger kick.

Starts out with nothing but juniper, but in a few minutes it's got a nice ginger and woods backing it. Very green and natural smelling, I really like it at this stage! Towards the end... soap. Not unpleasant soap, it actually smells a lot like a bar of sandalwood soap i've got stashed in my bathroom cupboard. Still, this is disappointing after all the wonderful green, and not what I was hoping for/want to wear as a perfume. Also not what I'd expect a werewolf to smell like (perhaps a werewolf after a very soapy bath LOL).