Laughing Seagull

Delicious lemon Bundt cake and...  Something else.  I'm having trouble figuring out what the Something Else is.  Patchouli?  Vanilla going weird?  It reminds me of a component that I didn't like in Snake Oil, so I figure it must be one of those two things.

It's SO close to being highly enjoyable, but that "Something Else" is really bugging me.

Pretty, drowsy flowers.  I agree with the above observation that it seems to include wet cut stems.  Twilight isn't groundbreaking or complex; it's just a pretty, harmonic, dewy floral.  The honeysuckle lightly sweetens it up post-drydown.

I personally prefer Twilight over some of the other nighttime floral type scents such as Nyx, Darkness, and Fleurs du Mal.  I'd put it on par with Queen of Hearts, which I also enjoy.

As I constantly say, I enjoy scents that seem drinkable and refreshing, so a mint julep in a vial seemed right up my alley.

Unfortunately, this is not drink-like.  It begins as something like vetiver, which dissolves into a cup of moderately sweetly scented dust.  It lingers for a long time, but do I really want it to?

I really wanted to love this, but Dead Leaves and I don't get along.  Were it not for the cologne-y unpleasantness of the DL note, I'd dive into a swimming pool full of this stuff any day.

I recognize the pistachio note from How Doth the Little Crocodile, and the marshmallow registers in my brain as "whipped cream."  The overall impression is "yummy pistachio pudding plus that cologne your dad used to slather himself in."

It's fine, but the Dead Leaves part keeps me from going "omg it's amazing!!!!"

Take Bon Vivant, swap out the strawberry for apple jolly rancher, crank the volume up to max, and that's pretty much what you've got going on here.

This scent is AGGRESSIVE.  A little touch of it on my wrist apple-sploded my entire living room.  It may be a little too much.

This is one of my favorites of the 2020 Weenies so far.  I love cherries.  I am an absolute cherry fiend.  Every time cherries are in season I buy tons of them, and every time they're out of season I eat frozen ones.

This scent is primarily CHERRIES.  Delicious, juicy, sweet, dark cherries with a little bit of almond.  YUM.  There's something fuzzy in the background after it dries that I can't put my finger on (I suppose this is the "wallpaper").

The only thing I could possibly complain about is that I wish it had a bigger throw.

I expected this to be a hearty, screaming laugh with bright and chilly notes, but what I got was more like coughing up dust.  The wine grape is freeze dried.  The lemon is white because it has dried up and bleached in the sun.

It is so dry.  Someone pls leave a glass of water out for this malevolent spirit.

This one rubbed me the wrong way, which is not something you want in your smut.  To me it turned out to be less "candy apple smut" and more "burnt brown sugar and butter smut."

I have no idea why this happened.  It was not the kind of Halloween scare I wanted.

I'll let it sit around in my drawer and see if it improves over time.

I daresay I like candy corn smut more than regular smut.

Like others, my first impression is mocha + smut, but it does eventually evolve into a marshmallowy vanilla + smut.  I don't know if I'd associate it with candy corn without being told that it's candy corn, but the important thing is that it's pleasant, surprisingly subtle, and because it's a smut I'm sure the scent will linger forever because that's what smut does.

Baobhan Sith is like the livelier relative of Kumiho.  Unfortunately, like Kumiho, it doesn't stick around for very long.

It's nice while it lasts with a pleasant grapefruit-apple burst at the beginning.  White tea tends to go somewhat soapy on me, and it predictably did so here, but it's not the worst thing in the world.  The ginger is a fresh, non-foody variety which I am fond of.  It lingers ultra close to the skin for several minutes before it too vanishes.

I'll certainly use up the imp, but I don't like white tea enough to want to reapply this every hour and a half or so on a regular basis.

Feels more like apple blossom than apples.  The apple note has a dryness to it.  The herbs also strike me as dried herbs.  Really quite dry overall, like a powdered cider mix.  As others have mentioned, I could swear that there was a shampoo or something that smelled just like this but I don't remember what it was called.

Shampoo or no, the scent is warm and inviting, and I would go as far as to say it might make a better room scent than a perfume.  I'm a person who prefers to wear "juicier" scents though, so YMMV.

Initially, as it was wet on my skin, this was a straightforward aquatic, fresh with a touch of sweetness.

It becomes more pleasing once it dries, with a musky something-or-other taking over.  I assume that this is the ambergris, but I'm not certain.  Y'ha-nthlei doesn't knock my socks off, but it's nice and it lasts for quite a long time.

This one's kinda sexy.

It reminds me very much of Demeter's "Riding Crop" fragrance, which I used to wear fairly often.  It's sexy AND nostalgic!  There's something else here that I thought was vetiver, but maybe that's just something that the metallic note does.

All that said, I don't know how often I'll actually wear this one because my tastes have changed.  I may try Wanda for something possibly similar but "girlier."

You may enjoy The Jersey Devil, which is a refreshing pine and berry scent.  Description is "Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf."

Personally for me it becomes sickeningly sweet if I put it on my skin, but if I put it on fabric (smear it on my bra, put a little bit on a plush animal, use it in a scent locket, etc) it remains a beautiful cranberry-and-pine scent.

ETA: You also may be interested in checking out the forest scents thread, though not all of the suggestions are evergreen types.

Take Persephone and make it a zillion times better and you get Blood Rose.

This is one of those rare oils where I enjoy every stage of it, nothing funky happens, and it never becomes overwhelming.  The rose and wine lightly sweetened by dragon's blood are perfectly balanced, making it neither too rosy nor too fruity.  It never goes powdery or soapy as roses and dragon's blood sometimes do.

I cannot praise this one enough.  

In my opinion, this is an ideal everyday scent as long as you don't live/work with anyone who's sensitive to it.

Another round of imps, another round of lists.  Cheshire Cat remains on top.

Great: Blood Rose

Good: Bon Vivant, Brisingamen

Meh: Aelopile, Juliet, Paris, Fighter, Carnal, Tlazolteotl, Event Horizon

????:  Centzon Totochtin, The Jersey Devil

Disaster: Oberon, Darkness, The Forest Reverie

Blood Rose is the winner of this round for being like an improved version of Persephone.  I have absolutely no complaints about this one.  I like it in all phases, nothing funky happens, it's well balanced.

Brisingamen and Bon Vivant are both lovely scents, but I would not want to wear them every day which is my criteria for the "great" category.  The wet phase of Brisingamen doesn't really do it for me but the dry phase is very enjoyable.

Aelopile, Le Lethe, and Event Horizon helped me figure out that I hate labdanum.  Paris is practically SN lotus.  Carnal's fine but I prefer Belle Epoque.  Tlazolteotl is interesting and worth trying, but it's not something I can see myself wearing often.  Fighter reminds me of the Demeter "Riding Crop" scent that I wore like 10 years ago.  It's not really my style anymore, but I probably will use the imp.  Juliet is far too meek and has something candy-like (I think the sweet pea but I'm not 100% sure) that I dislike.

Centzon and Jersey Devil are going to need re-tests.  Jersey Devil smelled SO GOOD while it was wet that I was ready to spring for a bottle immediately, but the drydown was horrible.  It became uncomfortably, cloyingly sweet.  I will try it again on a piece of fabric.  Centzon was...  There was a foreground of a really great choco-wine scent, but there was something that reminded me of vomit in the background?

Oberon smelled exactly like Dove Nutrium Moisture Body Wash for several hours.  Darkness was dominated by sneezy narcissus and by the time anything else emerged I was tired of it.  The Forest Reverie somehow smelled like pee for several minutes before transitioning to an okay-but-not-great woodsy scent.

New discoveries:  I hate labdanum.  Its only redeeming quality is that it seems to "burn off" relatively quickly.  Narcissus needs to stop.  Pine = good.

And from here...  

Might give something else pine-y a shot in addition to all the other stuff I intend to try but haven't gotten around to yet.  I also want to try Mad Hatter because someone said it smells like butter mints.

This one really should've been a no-brainer for me from the get-go.  I like lavender.  I like lotus.  I like spices (sometimes).

And, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, I like Paris.  It's exactly what you'd expect: herbal lavender, bubblegummy lotus, and I think primarily cardamom.

That said, I do prefer Black Lotus and Bastet as lotus scents because I feel like they're more balanced.  Lavender never really stood a chance in this blend.  It lasts a very long time on my skin, as all lotus scents do.

My experience was similar to the previous reviewer's.  I was ready to spring for a bottle as soon as I put this on, and then the berries attacked.

It started as fresh pine and tart cranberry, which was really, really good.  I was like, "Wow, I think I like this even better than Nocnitsa!"

Then it dried and turned into overwhelming blackberry candy, similar to the thing Maenad did to me (except Maenad was strawberry candy).  Cry.  

I'll have to see if a locket can save this one.

I get one note from this over several hours, and that one note is "The extremely specific smell of Dove Nutrium Moisture Body Wash."

Unfortunately, I do not like the extremely specific smell of Dove Nutrium Moisture Body Wash.

I think that the imp of this I have is very aged since it was a little separated, but I shook the bajeezus out of it before trying it on.  Or maybe it's just like that.  I don't know.  I was too intrigued by the prospect of a perfume containing a corn note to pass this one up.

In vial and initial application, this smells a lot like Brimstone.  It has that ashen, burnt sort of smell.  The corn joins in not long after.  It's not a sweet corn, but a savory one that reminds me of tamales.  It's extremely edible smelling.  What I assume is the cotton blossom adds a clean, breezy scent after it dries with the extremely edible corn still lingering in the background mingling with lightly sweet, resinous copal.

Without reading the list of notes, I wouldn't have guessed that honey or cacao were in this.

I don't know how often I'll wear this, but it's worth trying in my opinion.  Very unusual but not unpleasant.

I was worried, initially, because my last experience with strawberry scents was Maenad, which ended up being so sweet that I can't stand to have it too close to my face.  This concern was completely unwarranted with Bon Vivant.

As others have mentioned, this gives the impression of ginger ale.  I like that.  Strawberry makes its move late in the game, but it doesn't ever become like the overwhelming candy scent in Maenad.  It becomes slightly more wine-like over time.

This one is very pleasing to my nose and appropriately celebratory, like a bottled New Years Eve party.  Bubbly and fun.  I don't have anything else like this and nothing goes funky with it, so it's a likely bottle purchase from me.

In the wet phase of this I get watery pear while the smell of sweet pea dominates the dry phase.  It's a light and pleasing scent with a sort of candy-like aspect from the sweet pea.  It's more of a suggestion of candy than an actual candy - it's not nearly sweet or strong enough to resemble an actual candy.

Juliet is a light, innocent, sweet scent.  "Watery" keeps coming to mind despite it not containing any aquatic notes - maybe "diluted" is a better word.  Every note is so delicate until the very end of its life on my skin, when it becomes an ultra powdery heliotrope.

It's not bad by any means, but I prefer Queen of Hearts which feels vaguely related.

I normally do well with cocoa.  I normally do well with wine.  I normally do well with "blood" notes.  I'm not wild about rum, but whatever.

In the vial and on application, I was met with an overwhelming wave of chocolate, red berries, and...  Vomit?

It seems that the rabbits have partied a little too hard.  Were it not for the "vomit" note, this would be a gorgeous scent. Unfortunately, even as I get the wonderful "coffee ice cream" that some people have mentioned, something acrid and unpleasant remains in the background and makes me feel somewhat nauseated.  I'll try it again later to see if I can have a vomitless experience, but I'm not counting on it.

When wet, this is a radioactive orange lollipop.  As it dries...  That's an orange pomander ball!  How festive!  It takes a while for the fig to come out and I really have to shove my nose against my skin to smell it.  Fades quickly, as citrus sometimes does.

This definitely strikes me as more "Christmas" than "Carnal."  It's enjoyable and I have no doubt that I'll use up the imp, but I prefer Belle Epoque as a mandarin scent.

This was recommended to me several times.  After receiving it and trying it on, I can understand why.

I'm always nervous about trying scents that are described as "five whatevers and some other stuff" because my expectation is that I'll get an offensive blast of the "whatever."  This is extremely not the case with Brisingamen.  Yes, it is amber-y, but despite there being five of them it's quite gentle.

The oil begins slightly sweet with something earthy/verrrrry slightly herbal grounding it.  I assume that the earthiness is coming from the myrtle.

After it dries, it becomes more interesting.  At a distance I smell sweet, juicy apple.  Up close, it smells like amber and rich spices.  Unlike many people, I don't get any powderiness from this at all.  It's sweet but not too sweet, and I'm a big fan of the surprising difference between smelling it at a distance and smelling it up close - both scents I get from it are really pleasing.

This is just fantastic.  To the several people who recommended this one to me:  GOOD CALL!