torischroeder9

16 minutes ago, alterosen said:

I'm sure people will chime in with others!

I agree with your list and would add Rapture, which is basically rose and mandarin on me. I find that the citrus note helps the rose to smell fresh on me, more like I'm smelling a living flower. 

Thank you!

13 hours ago, Lucchesa said:

How about a summer solstice art swap?  There were so many fabulous things in the Halloween art swap last year!  

As someone who didn't participate in the Halloween art swap last year, can you tell me more about how this would work?

In the bottle: Very patchouli with some vanilla softening it. Calling it "Unspiced Snake Oil" wouldn't be too far off. 

On my skin:

Wet, it's patchouli and a note I'd classify as smokey rather than bitter. It's dark but not at all offputting. Dry, it's patch, enhanced -- sharpened by the hemp note, smoothed and sweetened by the vanilla. It's lovely on me, but I get that it's a very particular fragrance. If you love patch, though... 

In the bottle: Honey with a fresh, green plant note. 

On my skin:

Wet, the green plant note dominates. It's almost woody. On the drydown, the woody element fades, but the sharp green plantness remains, almost more dominant than the honey. At this stage, the scent's throw is actually light and refreshing; it's just when I smell close to my skin that the sharpness becomes overly dominant (to the point where it's hard to think of this as a honey scent). As it settles, the super-sharpness fades, but the overall green quality of the blend does not. 

It's a very green honey -- though sharp at first, it mellows on me. I think it will be very nice for spring and maybe even summer. 

8 hours ago, tmichele said:

I am bumping this thread back from the dead!

 

Any recommendations for red musk blends you find wearable in the spring & summer? I am in Virginia and it can get quite hot in the summer (90s, 100+) and extremely humid.  I find most of my favorite red musk blends just don't "feel" right in that kind of weather.

It's listed as blood musk instead of red musk, but it wears like red musk on me -- But I'm super impressed by Chordae Tendineae in this year's Lupers. On me, the orange blossom especially keeps the scent nice and airy. I could definitely see myself wearing it in summer in Tucson. (Hi, I'm another hot-weather-living, red-musk-loving person.)

In terms of other true red musk scents, I've recently tried Anteros (GC). I reviewed it as being a little less sweet than I would like but still very wearable in general. I could see it being a workable warm weather red musk perfume. 

If you get red musk from The Dodo (it dries down to sugared lemon on me), that's probably friendly to warm weather. 

In the imp: Almost nothing. It's a soft close smell. Olive blossom and sweet smoke. 

On my skin:

Wet, it's olive blossom, honey, and just a touch of smoke (I'm not sure if my skin is eating the vanilla portion of that note). As it dries, the honey emerges, underscored by the smoky vanilla. The cinnamon also makes an appearance, adding a touch of spice. As it settles, the olive blossom fades a bit, and the champaca flower starts to grace the edges of the scent. The jasmine remains blessedly well behaved. 

This is nice. Really nice. Maybe-I-need-a-bottle nice. The olive blossom, honey, and smoke note combine to give a feeling that's almost like beeswax. The cinnamon adds gentle spice, and the rest of the floral notes are accents rather than main players. The throw is relatively low on me, but the wear length is pretty good, so I'm thinking this might be another workable workday honey blend. 

In the imp: Predominantly honey and orange blossom. 

On my skin:

Wet, honey and rose dominate. It's very, very sweet, with an almost bubble-gum quality. As it dries, it goes through a powdery phase -- which on me could be rose, honey, or both -- before the sandalwood starts to emerge. The sandalwood grounds the scent and cuts its sweetness, keeping it from being cloying. 

Sadly, about thirty minutes after application, the powder combination has made a resurgence, blocking out sandalwood and orange blossom entirely. Thirty minutes after that, however, it settles down to be a honey-backed rose on me, grounded by a touch of sandalwood. It's back to being very sweet. 

This is very sweet and very strong on me. It might work as a very hot summertime scent if I apply it very, very sparingly. 

In the imp: Fig and palm. 

On my skin:

Yup, wet, it's figgy goodness with an undercurrent of soft palm. On the dry down, the rest of the woods start to come out, causing the fig to become a little less prominent. (I love fig, but it's a soft scent on me, so don't be surprised if this review turns into a Fig Tracker.) Given some time to develop on my skin, however, the fig does come back a bit. I'd say the woods are still the prominent scent, but the fig is still very much present in the background. 

Sadly, about an hour after application, the fig has faded so much as to not be detectable as a distinct note. It's a dark, soft, woodsy blend -- perfectly nice in itself, but I miss the fig. 

In the imp: Resiny copal and a brightness that, yes, smells like generic conventional cologne. 

On my skin:

Wet, the cologne note takes over. It remains well and truly cologne a half hour after application, when the copal becomes detectable on the skin. The throw, however, is resolutely cologne. Another hour later, and it's much the same. 

It certainly smells nice and clean for what it is, but it's not what I'm looking for from a BPAL. 

In the imp: It's like I'm breathing in incense. 

On my skin:

Wet, it's still heavily incense smoke. As it dries, the incense dissipates a bit, and I can make out the leather and musk. After more time, I can also make out a bit of ambergris, but so far, it's behaving itself on me. Then the tobacco makes itself known, tying together the incense smoke and the musk, leather, and ambergris. Soon after that, the incense note -- my favorite in the blend -- fades rapidly, leaving mainly tobacco and leather. 

It's a sexy, slightly sweet, very rugged scent. Debating if this is really what I want to smell like, though -- but I'll probably try this at least one more time to see if I can coax out that incense note again. 

In the imp: Smokey vetiver. 

On my skin:

Wet, it's the same smokey vetiver. As it dries, there is something with a sharper smoke note than I get from the vetiver. It keeps making me want to sneeze whenever I sniff it. 

Once it dries, it stays steadily smoke and ash, almost acrid. Does well at what its scent description conjures though I'm not sure that it's a wearable perfume on me. 

In the imp: Fir, cumin, clove, and a myriad of other notes I can't pick out. 

On my skin:

Wet, fir and clove are still prominent. The musk comes out on the drydown, so it's a musky, clovey fir. The cumin is also present in the background, ensuring that this scent is dry and bitter. Once it has time to develop on my skin, the tobacco comes out -- and strongly. At this point, it's enough to mask all but hints of the fir and clove. Over the course of the next half hour, the scent does a complet one-eighty from its original manifestation. This is all sticky, sweet tobacco on me, deepened by the musk and perhaps still spiced a bit my clove. 

I probably do not need another The Tobacco Show perfume. 

In the imp: A very gentle lemon drop scent. By "gentle," I mean that the lemon isn't overly tart, but it's also not super sugary. 

On my skin:

Wet, the sweet citrus continues, except now I can pick out that it's lime. I can also pick out peony, water lily, and wisteria. As it dries, some of the coconut meat comes out, and I wonder if that creaminess is what's contributing to my impression of this as a "soft" citrus candy scent. Given time to develop on my skin, the amber also surfaces. The resin isn't bad, but its smell is somewhat incongruous with the mostly foody vibe Shoggoth has had so far. 

Approximately an hour after application, the amber strengthens to become the main note, so it's an amber base wrapped in coconut lime. And I'm not really sure about this. On the one hand, while I like both amber and coconut-lime, I am not certain these are two great tastes that taste great together. On the other, the amber is a super great fixative on me; any other coconut-lime blend would have disappeared on me by now. 

I'll probably end up swapping this -- it's just too different for me to see myself using it regularly -- but I'm glad I got to try it. 

So, this will be fun. I don't know what 40% of the notes in this blend smell like. 

In the imp: Gently sweet and resinous. I can pick out the frankincense. 

On my skin:

Frankincense and another sweet note, with something classically bitter in the background. As it dries, the bitter, herbal note increases until it becomes the main note on my skin. 

Ultimately, this is thick and herbal and somber and almost oppressive. I do feel the "suffering" evocation from this scent, but I am missing the grace. 

In the imp: Opium, with vetiver underneath, tinged by honeysuckle. 

On my skin:

Wet, the vetiver dominates, though the opium remains detectable behind it. As it dries, the vetiver dials back to become a base, and opium shines as a centerpiece. Honeysuckle comes back to rest on top of the scent. Once it's had time to develop, however, the honeysuckle fades to a faint whisper, leaving the scent as smoky opium. 

This scent is thick and dark. It's well done, and I like it a lot -- but it's definitely too powerful for any kind of daily wear that I do. 

In the imp: Wine, grapes, and something that comes out like eucalyptus. I was already curious about some love notes and some iffy notes. I'm properly wary now. 

On my skin:

Wet, the eucalyptus smell definitely throws high and fast, with the early skin scent dominated by the wine. I can also get hints of what I think is the honey but could possibly be the sugar cane. As it dries, the wine fades -- and so does the eucalyptus -- and the honey becomes much more prominent, grounded by oakmoss and benzoin. In this phase, I can also pick out the feel of the blood musk, though it's not a distinct note to my nose. Once it has time to start to unfold on my skin, I get a note that's almost spicy, which I'm guessing is the carnation, hiding underneath the honey. 

Ultimately, however, not much comes from the carnation spice, and this scent remains very syrupy sweet. Honey lover that I am, it's still too sweet for me. 

In the imp: Frankincense and myrrh. They're blended, but I can pick out each note distinctly. 

On my skin:

Yep. Still the light, powdery resinous-ness (resinence? no, spell check does not like that) of frankincense and myrrh. Dry, it's powdery myrrh first with a slight hint of lemon -- I'm guessing from the frankincense -- just a beat afterward. This settles down to be a top note of bright frankincense with a base of powdery myrrh.

I'm amazed by this blend. I have a few blends where the myrrh is prominent on my skin and where the myrrh is one note that helps make it a "sexy" perfume. While this blend isn't demure or chaste on me, necessarily, it is more subdued and cerebral. It might make a nice meditation blend. And while I'm not sure how much I love it for a perfume, it definitely is a nice scent on me. I'll probably keep this imp but won't feel the need to purchase additional quantities. 

In the imp: Dirt, a dry note I read as orris, and the floral of angel's trumpet. 

On my skin:

Wet, the angel's trumpet takes center stage; the dirt and bone are only detectable in the background. As it dries, the floral fades, and the dirt and bone become much more prominent. On me, the dirt is deep and rich but dry. It develops, and it's nice dirt -- and strong-throw dirt -- but as I am not really a fan of dirt scents, I do not have a highly developed olfactory sense for them. 

In the imp: White musk and peach, brightened by bergamot and grounded by oakmoss. 

On my skin:

Wet, it's faint peach and bergamot. It also tingles and burns a little on my skin although nothing in this combination of notes is a usual trigger for this. As it dries, peach becomes the main note, though the white musk is also detectable, keeping the peach from oversweetness. The oakmoss also reemerges as a grounding note. Given time to develop, the white musk amps up, becoming a very tickly note in my nose. 

Ultimately, this ends up smelling very much like Katharina on me -- only I think I prefer Katharina's slightly sharper apricot and orange blossom. 

In the imp: Red musk, citrus, currant, and patchouli. It's not unlike a lighter, brighter Mme. Moriarty might be. 

On my skin:

Wet, the red musk is the first note I smell, with the bergamot becoming distinguishable and a nice top note. The patchouli also asserts itself as a grounding note. As it dries, the kick of the red musk fades, and patchouli becomes the dominant note, with currant and bergamot brightening it. 

It's a fairly dry perfume on me. I must be getting the saffron somewhere -- though I can't overtly detect it -- and I'm definitely not getting any of the vanilla. Probably because of this dryness, it reads as more traditionally masculine on me than I tend to like my perfumes. Even for that, it's balanced, nicely blended, and very wearable. 

In the imp: A slightly warm, softly woody scent. 

On my skin:

Wet, more of the warmth pokes out, though it's still gentle. It reminds me of a very soft version of Strangler Fig. As it dries, I get a dirt note. It's nice dirt -- soft dirt at the cool base of a shady tree. Hrm. As it develops, the dirt becomes the prominent note on me. Much as it's a nice dirt, I am not so much a fan of dirt perfumes. 

In the imp: Deep, green, and complex. Herbal, bitter, dirt, and mint. 

In the imp: A slightly soapy floral, possibly jasmine or gardenia, with some type of grounding note like sandalwood or patchouli (but not necessarily those). 

On my skin:

Spice and a very sweet flower, like wisteria or honeysuckle. As it dries, it's a bit of soap and spice and sweetness and soft wood. The skin on my arm also gets tingly and irritated, common with me and cinnamon, clove, and ginger -- but known to happen with other notes as well. Given time to warm and develop, the soap note fades to a gentle powder that could be amber or myrrh; the other notes make it difficult to discern. The floral comes back as well, jasmine, I think. 

Over time, the powder fades a bit, and the jasmine becomes stronger. Jasmine-dominant scents are just not my kind of people. 

In the bottle: Honey and orange blossom with a grounding note that I can't readily identify. I mean, I know it's Snake Oil because of the description, but it doesn't leap out of the bottle with that characteristic Snake Oil smell. 

On my skin:

Wet, it's a glorious mix of scents -- first honey, then orange blossom, then honey, then cinnamon, then the characteristic pungency I get from fresh Snake Oil. As it dries, the throw is predominantly honey and orange blossom with a touch of cinnamon. If I stick my nose closer to my skin, I do get the sharpness of fresh Snake Oil patchouli. Up close, that note is less than amazing, but I hope that as it mellows, it will provide a complex grounding scent for the fabulous throw. 

Throw on this is medium on me, but the wear length is just about forever.