Tamarinda

In the decant: A creamy, nutty vanilla.

Wet: Oh, that's an interesting non-food vanilla, pistachio is coming out a bit, and wh-- what's that? Pickles. Pickles??? Skin chemistry, why...

Dry 1: Nooooooooooooo... This is so awful on me but I'm a masochist so I'll see where this goes. My skin chemistry is changing again so in the interest of science/self-flaggelation, I'll stick it out. This is both savory and sweet. It is totally bizarre, irrational even, but not remotely appealing. After a few more minutes, it's a sweetish vanilla béchamel nuttiness with that outta-left-field pickle smell. I'm nearly at the scrubbing point. I will see this through.

Dry 2: An hour or so later, the pickle smell is almost gone. It's like the faint smell of electricity in the air near overactive power lines, but pickles. The savory/sweet vanilla has faded in volume, at least. I'm confident once I finish this review, I'll be able to wash it off. What a mercy the cacao never showed up.

In the decant: Nerds candy.

Wet: Vaguely fruit punch. My skin's gonna eat this up, isn't it?

Dry:  Fruit punch perfume. Quiet, but not bordering on invisible. No nutmeg, no booze. No specific fruits. At least the brown sugar doesn't come out swining like it normally does on me.

In the "my skin chemistry" vs "fruity perfume" match-up, my skin is undefeated this season. *sigh*

In the decant: Tomato plants with the merest hint of patchouli earth.

Wet: Tomato plants.

Dry: Tomato plants plus! I don't necessarily get any obvious patchouli, but there is an earth element to this that I'm going to assume is the patchouli. I don't get pepper, but that's a plus since pepper usually smells like pencils on me.

I actually really like this. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's the smell of summer, when the tomatoes are starting to fruit and the growing heat makes the plants fragrant. I almost want a bottle of this just to see how time brings out the patchouli. At the very least, I will leave my decant alone and see how it changes.

In the decant: Something bitter, something citrusy, and a cologne smell.

Wet: Fruity, smokey, cologney.

Dry: I hate that I don't really have words to describe this because I kinda love it. There's a hint of citrus from the galangal riding over some smokey cologne. It's just a touch sweet, from the fig I suppose. Everything is so well-blended in this perfume that it's hard to identify individual notes. I really like it when this happens. All my favorites have a touch of "what am I smelling?" to them. Really glad I can't smell any lilac.

In the decant: Slight booziness and a generally fruity, sweet smell.

Wet: No booziness, just a bowl of cut orchard fruits with a dash of lemon water to keep things from oxidizing.

Dry: A nice, perfumey fruitiness for all of half an hour and then my skin eats it. Bloody hell, these fruity cold-season scents don't stand a chance against my ravenous skin. It eats them all...

In the decant: Creamy something, cherries, and a swirl of chocolate.

Wet: Cream starting to go sour, chocolate, and just a little bit of that maraschino cherry/almond smell.

Dry: Sour cream, the impression of chocolate, some unidentifiable nuttiness, and only the vaguest whiff of cherry.

This is a sad miss on my skin. I love pistachio scents and am disappointed at how not good this smells. It fades around hour three to a very close skin scent and more of the pistachio comes out, but that sour cream scent continues to dominate. Will age improve this? We'll see.

In the decant: Olive oil and a syrupy sweetness. Is that the fig?

Wet: Oooo, a bit of fig, the sweet sufganiyot, and amber.

Dry, Stage 1: Low throw, subtly sweet sufganiyot, some amber, but the fig is gone. No pomegranate, no beeswax, invisible olive products. Still, this is nice.

Dry, Stage 2: Channukiya dropkicks "low throw" to the curb after 30 minutes, at which point it becomes a medium throw SUGAR scent that threatens to become cloying. Thankfully after another hour, it stays where it is and the amber comes out a bit more.

Kinda funny that my skin chemistry takes the "sweet" from "sweet sufganiyot" and runs with it. I'm glad the amber showed up, but I'm bummed to lose out on the other notes. Not sure if time will make this better seeing as how no matter how many times my skin chemistry shifts, I continue to amp sugar. We'll see!

In the bottle: Starwberry incense. This smells like Hot Topic in the 1990s and I am cuh-caw-ing in laughter.

Wet: Something strange is happening. Strawberries and... whut? The incense-ness is gone and I am smelling---  Am I smelling Gravity by Coty for men?

Dry: Strawberry-laced Gravity. I must be hallucinating because the scent notes for Gravity are as follows: "Top notes are Sage, Lime, White Pepper, and Mandarin Orange; middle notes are Cloves and Freesia; base notes are Leather, Vanilla, and Woodsy Notes."

Maybe the "woodsy notes" in Gravity are from sandalwood? None of my other perfumes with sandalwood smell like this, nor does my bottle of sandalwood essential oil. This is cuh-raaay-zeee. It's strong stuff and it lasts forever, at least ten hours.

Jesus Jiminey Cricket Christ, BPAL. This isn't perfume, this is an olfactory time machine. I am having *all* the feelings.

In the bottle: Strawberries and dirty patchouli.

Wet: Now I'm getting the juice in "strawberry juice" supported by a slightly less dirt-smelling patchouli.

Dry: Syrupy strawberry juice, patchouli, and a bit of spicy carnation. I have other strawberry BPALs but this is the only one that smells like the farmer's-market-fresh macerated strawberries my Tia makes as the base for her strawberry lemonade. This is ridiculous, I love it! Bane would approve.

In the bottle: ... Uh, a watery floral? Like the inside of the skin of a mango.

Wet: Ok, that floral is now turning into a peachy smell. But not the usual BPAL peach note that smells like sweaty armpits on me. This smells like overripe Saturn peaches with a bit of spice.

Dry: Cinnamon sugar with just a hint of fried dough and the memory of peaches. Alas, no mango. I am a fan of the cinnamon suger though. Normally, perfumes with cinnamon are very loud and overpowering on my skin, so this makes for a nice change. It's like being just outside a donut shop right when they open and the donuts are fresh. Glad I took the gamble! This will make for a nice layering note for my cloyingly sweet foodies.

In the decant: Indeterminate spices.

Wet: Very Quiet. Citrusy. Spicy.

Dry: It's a pleasant, citrus peel-based holiday tea. But like, if the cup of tea was in one room and you were in another. It's very faint on my skin and fades to nearlly nothing in about 30 minutes. My skin seems to hunger for fruity perfume since it eats them all up in short order. Curses.

In the decant: Nothing.

Wet: Something? A bit of smoke? Let's rub it in and give it a minute.

Dry: There you are! Ok! I'm getting a subtle, warm, woody, smokey scent. I've only had water chestnuts and I do not smell them in this. I don't notice anything nutty at all, which is a bit of a bummer since I like food smells.

This is a low-key but pleasant, curl-up-on-an-overstuffed-armchair-to-read-a-book kinda perfume. I won't need more than my decant, but I will enjoy it during this neverending rainy season.

In the bottle: Holy shit. Like a watermelon jolly rancher, only better.

Wet: This is like a Ten Ran watermelon juice green tea boba I am dying.

Dry: Ok, it settles down a bit and becomes a surprisingly sophisticated sugared scent with a whisper of watermelon. I'm getting some vanilla, or rather, when I jam my nose to my arm, I'm getting that metallic undertone that vanilla forward scents leave on my skin. I could do with more watermelon but as it is, this is delicious. I'll have to check in on it in a few weeks to see how the watermelon does. This is another blind bottle win.. 

In the bottle: Light cherries. It reminds me of the cherry note in Hollywood Babylon.

Wet: Bright candided cherries. Not cherry candy, but not quite the almond extractness of maraschino cherries. Crystalized cherries along with a blast of red musk. A dash of spice? Cinammon? Clove? I can't tell, it's shy and possibly some sort of olfactory hallucination.

Dry: A beautiful blend of crystalized cherries and red musk with just a hint of that something spicy that is probably just my skin chemsitry doing weird things. 

This was a very loud red musk with a faint cherry jolly rancher when I first got it, but the scent notes promised me cherries and sugar and I banked on time bringing these qualities out. Time has done its work and the red musk has calmed down enough to give the cherries and sugar their rightful place. Very strange to get the spice note on my last test. It's never shown itself before. Another unexpected thing is that the bottle is a little cloudy. It still smells great so it hasn't gone bad, but I've never had a bottle turn cloudy on me before. Odd.

In the bottle: Powdered sugar and something floral.

Wet: Hello, patchouli! Then comes a hit of sweet floral that unfurls into something recognizably honeysuckle and actual vanilla ice cream? No way!

Dry: An earthy sweet patchouli haze with wafts of honeysuckle and a subtle artisinal vanilla ice cream smell. Have mercy! This is gorgeous. This is a perfume to wear when you're really feeling yourself cuz I cannot help but sniff my arms and bask in the self-gratification of smelling awesome. Bonus points for a little going a loooong way.

In the decant: Ooooo, buttery shortbread!

Wet: Very buttery shortbread! But... something bad is happening...

Dry: Oh, hell. I'm discovering that my skin morphs carmelized/brown sugar notes into the smell of that bottle of cheap pancake syrup you've had in your fridge for years. Goodbye, lovely shortbread smell. Hello, EPA-violation-grade, high-octane trash syrup. = (

It reminds me of Vanilla Husk, Nutmeg, & Hay Absolute.

In the bottle: Very sweet pears. Something else that is nice but not obvious.

Wet: Glorious pears, the sweetness of honey, and a touch of powder from the orris.

Dry: This leads with a wonderfully ripe Bartlett pear backed by the honey. Underneath that is the powdery beauty that is orris, a hint of vanilla, and the sharpness of unaged musk. That sharpness does not put me off especially since a bit of time will cause it to settle.

Pearl Necklace is one of those "I'm buying it on priciple" perfumes since I work with pearls and love the artwork. I did have high hopes for it since orris tends to work for me and I love pears so much I eat them whole, seeds and all. I'm really thrilled to have my expectations exceeded and can't wait to see how it ages. This is backup worthy.

On my skin, this is a Bonnie & Clyde pairing of red musk and saffron. No other notes to speak of. Just a reckless pair of well-matched lovers coming to singe your nose-hairs. This would be nice if it wasn't so ridiculously overpowering.

In the decant: Fresh apples. A whiff of Smut.

Wet: Loud, fresh apple juice from the juicer. The Smut becomes more apparent.

Dry: Sexy, apple-y Smut. Like wearing Smut while oh-so-pornographically showering your naked body with artisinal apple juice. Padon my french but this is fucking good. It was mostly apples when my decants landed so I let it sit around before trying again. I expected it to be loudly Smut-y on landing, but I'm glad it's apple-forward since I'm a musk amper. This is a for-sure upgrade.

In the bottle: Apples and a vague haze of spicy cherries.

Wet: Bright, crisp apples, a bit of something reminiscent of Blood Kiss.

Dry: After an hour, this is definitely noticeable as Blood Kiss. It's not very strong, but I do get some musky cherry with a dash of clove. The fresh, crisp apple smell sticks around for a few hours but does burn off before the Blood Kiss factor.

I blind-bottled this perfume expecting age to make it awesome and my gamble paid off. It is so, so beautiful. It needs time to age, but so does regular Blood Kiss. I expect this to blow my socks off by next Halloween.

In the Imp: Sweet and boozy!

Wet: Still sweet, still boozy, a bit of spice is starting to come out.

Dry: The pecans are definitely caramelized. This is sweet and mildly spicy. The booze has burned off mostly, leaving just an edge. Kinda like how vodka sauce doesn't actually taste like vodka, but it adds that *something* that makes it so palatable.

This perfume is a butterscotch dream. It makes me want to buy pecans so I can make pecan lacies. It's beautifully foodie and not at all cloying on my skin.

In the bottle: Sparkly champagne and a sweet vanilla that I have never experienced before this.

Wet: Beautiful champagne, that interesting sugared vanilla, and... leather? Ok, skin chemistry. If you say so.

Dry: The champagne and sugared vanilla read more like cream soda and yes, I'm definitely getting what smells like leather. It's like a very muted version of Three Pairs of Shoes. No idea what's up with that but I don't care, I bloody love this perfume. It is glorious and it lasts Squints from The Sandlot "FOR. EH. VER." Hours and hours of wear time. 12 at least. Normally this would bother me but I love this perfume so much that I'm cool with still smelling like vaguely leather cream soda in the morning.

In the bottle: Pistachio extract.

Wet: A quiet vanilla and a loud pistachio extract.

Dry: Still a whole lotta pistachio extract. There's a subtle vanilla and something kinda fatty. Not sure if that's the cream of "vanilla cream" or if it's the macadamia. I get why people are getting "cherry" from this. That's extract for you. Not exactly cherry, but cherry adjascent. Anyway, this is really nice and makes a great sleep scent.

In the bottle: A bit of cologney hay, a bit of vanilla.

Wet: Hay and a dry vanilla.

Dry: More of that dry vanilla supported by hay. No nutmeg to speak of.

This took a lot of aging before it actually smelled like anything on me. It's very nice now, it has a medium throw and lasts at least six hours. But the lack of nutmeg is super disappointing. I was really hoping time would bring it out.