Vaudenilla

I am obsessed with this. It’s so bright and happy and clean and sweet. It’s pillowy, freshly spun lemon cotton candy floating on top of recently laundered cotton napkins. This smells so incredible and I wear it any time I need a boost of Happiness. Wear time: 7 ish hours Sillage: Pretty impressive!

This is complex. Slightly effervescent and almost… citronella-esque silk. This must be heavy on some kind of musk. It smells almost…. chemical. I understand the cleaning fluid comparison. Maybe there’s a bitter sweetness somewhere in the depths, if you sniff hard enough. The rose is definitely clean and soapy, almost aldehydic. I‘m confused because I don’t get any blackcurrant, but something that smells like lemon… or cherry….? My nose is slightly overwhelmed, which fits the vibe of Carmilla, I think. It stays pretty strong until around the 9 hours mark where it fades into something slightly sugary and musky, then dies out around the 13 hour mark. Wear time: 9+ hours full strength. Sillage: Hefty.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a gourmand girlie, something I figured out about myself rather recently. That being said, this is just wonderful. I am very impressed by the hot-chocolate note, which is very smooth and almost airy in a way I’d never expect from something I usually find rather cloying. I’m not sure I pick up on any metallic or tangy notes, so I assume the “blood” aspect is the spicy, incensey notes of the drydown, which other reviewers identified as dragon’s blood. I wore this to church (because incense based fragrances feel apropos!) and was very pleased with how long the fragrance lasted, I smelled it hanging around on my skin for a long, long time. Wear time: 10+ hours Sillage: Intense.

Disclaimer: I loathe alcohol. Not due to any moral qualms, no, it is the wretched smell and taste of the stuff which makes me clutch my pearls. (Yes, even on my twenty-first birthday, I forwent any drunken shenanigans… I have a very delicate constitution. ) This very old imp is effervescent and pine forward. Thankfully my stomach agrees with it more than other “alcoholic” perfumes I’ve smelled. After some time on my skin, It does almost smell…. a little dusty. I am mostly chalking that up to the age of this thing, but that is something I’ve also picked up in perfumes with aldehydes (chanel no.5 is a great nemesis of mine) - something I do suspect is in this blend. I don’t hate it, but I’m happy I only have an imp. I do wonder if this would layer well. Wear time: 6 hours of full-blast, but it is still detectable close to skin about 8 hours later. Sillage: Close to skin.

This is quite aged (so do be aware that newer versions may smell different.) On my skin, Kill-devil is caramel left on a burner just a touch too long. There’s something woodsy, certainly, but I think the honey in this is really making the oak note lean plasticky or burnt on me. This really works on my mom, however, and on her it smells sweet and sandal-woody. Wear time: about 7 hours (it is always the ones we don’t love that linger, no?) Sillage: Strong.

To my nose, this is a lovely delicate violet. Reminiscent of vintage parfums, Faustus exudes an air of sophistication and class. The frankincense and violet do err a touch powdery- a quality I quite enjoy in perfumes. Blessedly I do not pick up any cinnamon, as usually it leans towards craft-store for me. Wear time: 5 hours maximum. Sillage: Delicate.