monocainsheresy

Opens with strong pine and cranberry, mellowing down to pine-tinged, sweet, tart cranberry and blackberry, grounded by a faint cedar background and a hint of bitterness from the tomato leaf. Much cleaner than I expected - a bright summer forest, rather than a scary night-time one.

Overwhelmingly vanilla mint, with a little bit of the mallow. I'm getting a slight hint of fruitiness, but I'm unsure if it's the red currant or something lemony from the frankincense. It's very nice, but as this is a new bottle I'm hoping aging will give it a bit of depth.

I've been trying to find a non-aquatic aquatic (yes I know that's a bit stupid) and I think this is it! This is mostly honeysuckle on me, followed by green-ness (definitely the moss, but it's not reading specifically as moss), and a sharp edge which I think is the combo of the musk, oakmoss, and jasmine. The orris is in there somewhere making this super smooth. As it dries the benzoin adds sweet depth and the jasmine comes out a little more, but the honeysuckle is definitely the star. It's is definitely a slightly soapy, spa-like scent, but I'm glad I took the chance on a bottle in the hopes that the benzoin would make it more warm and interesting, because it definitely does! I have no other soap/spa scents in my collection for a reason, and Parthenope shakes it up just enough to happily fill that hole. Excited to see how this ages. Also, in the bottle I swear I kept getting whiffs of Chanel No. 5? Parthenope retains the slightest hint of that on the skin - more of a vibe or a thought than anything else. A non-problematic, spa-owning distant cousin, perhaps.

Oh voyeuristic vetiver, where are you? This is mostly sweet and clean on me, which is nice, but not what I wanted! Surprisingly, the sugar is the strongest note on my skin, followed by meaty, ripe coconut, then something vaguely green (is that the vetiver?), and... orris? Maybe?? Gonna have to age this one.

A subtler, sweeter version of Dead Leaves and Vanilla Incense. Mostly the dead leaves note, a little warm and dry in this blend (maybe from the nuttiness of the praline), with a veil of lightly sugared vanilla. Very pretty.

I agree with the "fresh clean hay" and "body butter" assessments above. This is cleaner and smoother than I expected - creamy and cloudy rather than warm and fuzzy. Tonka is definitely the dominant note, followed by the beeswax and almond lending a certain polish. I can't smell the sandalwood or oak outright, but I can sense they're doing some heavy lifting keeping the rest of the scent grounded. There is a slight suggestion of green from the vetiver. Unisex, but leaning ever so slightly masculine in my opinion. It's like if you set Smug Yale Alchemy Lab out in the sun to dry. This is the coumaric hay scent I have always wanted.

This is reading as strong, sharp, rose(?)-carnation-peach on me, with a touch of raspberry leaf. Given that there are two bourbon notes in this, I'm surprised by the lack of booziness. A sour-sweet fruity floral with borderline medicinal undertones.

Strong herbal, but unlike any herbal I've ever smelled. I concur with the many reviews that say gingerbread, but somehow it's not foodie gingerbread, if that makes sense? Gingerbread if it was an herb? Also strongly incense-y, but not an incense scent. Overall I get a strong impression of coffee beans and perhaps even raw cocoa powder. I'm not sure what's happening, but I'm definitely very intrigued!

This is all floral on me, mostly jasmine with a cloud of generic creamy whites. My skin completely eats all the other notes, though there is the barest hint of a tickle from the dirt and incense that are allegedly in there somewhere.

I'm not well versed in identifying most of the listed notes, but I don't that really matters here because this reads as sugared lemon tea! As it dries the lemon backs off and something warm and musky comes out (definitely the "russet fur" from the description), along with a cozy astringency from the chamomile tea. Not nearly as herbal as I was expecting - hardly herbal at all, in fact. It's like if Embalming Fluid and Cheshire Cat had a baby.

Oh wow - I don't tend to like florals, but this smells exactly like a real lily! Wet, pollen-y, creamy. Dries down with the pollen note coming to the fore and a slight powdery musk.

A pale gold scent. Mostly amber and herbal myrtle, with a surprisingly strong creamy floral note from the apple blossom. The carnation lends a hint of spice when wet but disappears on me during the drydown. A happy medium between wet spa and dry forest.

This is pretty good general catalogue dupe for Practical Occultism. Fruity tobacco, ambergris, and a bit of leather and incense with some sort of booze. Masculine side of neutral, and not as heavy as one would expect from the description. Nails the fancy-old-timey-occultist vibe. Very nice.

Extremely similar to Lush Karma. Sniffing them side by side Masquerade is definitely heavier on the patchouli, making it earthier and almost fruity. The ambergris adds a bit of muskiness. Basically what it says on the tin. Lush's Karma but in a head shop.

I've never really liked GC Cathedral because I think it smells like wood polish, but I love foodie/sweet incense scents, so I went for this. The sugar cookie note is the main part of the scent, and the frankincense in Cathedral comes through with a little bit of wood. The effect of the sugar cookie sweetness with the notes in Cathedral gives this a hint of worn leather. A bit incensey, a bit more sweet, moderately warm and almost vintage vibes. Very nice, and deceptively simple. Reminds me of a lighter, watered-down The Other Miss Forcible.

Opens up with creamy coconut, with a hint of warm frankincense. As it dries the frankincense dominates, ending up as a wee bit of coconut cream under a lemony, sugar-crusted, raw frankincense. Medium throw, could probably work at any time of year. Sweet without being foody, incensey without being smokey.

2021 version Yup. That's dirt! Like opening up a fresh bag of potting soil.

Starts very strong on the motor oil, which is similar to the oils/lubricants notes in the Steamworks collections and presents like fancy, sharp cologne. As it dries the leather (black, I think), comes forward a bit, carrying soapy lavender and a hint of oakiness. Settled, it's a slightly dirty herbal soap. The motor oil and soapiness dominate. Was hoping for everything else to be stronger than the motor oil, which was probably silly of me, but I'm very curious to see how this ages and will be keeping it for that purpose.

Smells like banana Laffy Taffy when wet (I'm weirdly into that??) but dries down to a very light creamy vanilla and a big dollop of juicy green pear. I agree with zanzoku - this one does smell synthetic and bit plasticky. This works as simple springtime scent, if you're okay with taking a chance on that inside-of-a-candy-bucket smell. Same family as Game Over, and a happy addition to the "weird candy" side of my collection.

Sweet, herbal, powdery, little bit of Snake Oil. Very nicely balanced, so much so that it doesn't read as a Snake Oil blend unless you get really close. Oddly enough this reminds me a lot of Lush's Twilight/Sleepy, even though I don't consciously notice the tonka. Fresh, sweet, and slightly warm. Extremely similar to Dee.

Super strong smoke note which is very vetiver-like, a touch of sandalwood and a base of sweet cinnamon and unburnt myrrh. The smoke dissipates as it dries and leaves a nice, gentle, warm incense. It's lovely, but I have so many general catalogue scents that smell similar to this that a bottle isn't worth it to me.

Pink bubblegum covered in rust (was skeptical about the rust note, but yes, it does smell exactly like rust), and dusty leather which takes over as it dries. Weird!

2021 This smells way more like Dorian than I expected! The base is almost dead on for un-aged Dorian, and the rest of the scent is super sugary lemon, which reminds me of lemonade mixed with black tea. The musk comes out as it dries.

Sweet violet, warm tonka bean, and a wee bit of clove spice. The incense comes out as it dries, and it's reading as frankincense to my nose, with an almost aquatic tone. Very nice - I think I'll like it a lot more after aging.

Very sharp and powdery, mostly frankincense. A dusting of violet, and the slightest hint of cinnamon.