carrioncupid

the paperwhite and narcissus combo is very... prominent let's say in the vial. so much so it actually veers into indole territory which very seldomly happens for me. but nonetheless i applied a bit of it anyway. thankfully the indolic qualities of the aforementioned florals melt away quickly with skin contact, and i'm left with lazy florals of lily and the very prominent note of opium. someone had asked me to describe what opium smells like, but it's simply one of those notes where you know when you smell it. it's indescribable in my opinion, like if you said "this smells like chocolate" or "this smells like apples" then everyone would immediately know what you're talking about. well, eventually it turns into opium opium opium and lily on my skin. it's not bad on the drydown but i much prefer my florals to be "awake".

i got this as a frimp with my order! it's been resting for about a week now, and wow-- this vial cap is refusing to budge! but when i finally manage to pry the lid off it's like dark hot cocoa mix! aw, it smells like childhood i had this one on my iso so i really lucked out with being sent this one! hm, creamy and slightly powdery hot cocoa mix, it's astounding how it smells exactly like huffing the swiss miss powder. on dry down the poor cocoa gets obliterated by the myrrh... for some reason the myrrh veers into... stank? territory on my skin? hm, sad if only it stayed as hot cocoa powder, i'll have to pass on this one.

so good! it's immediately reminiscent of sweetened almond milk to me. i also bought nava's eternal bastet in the same order, and EB to me was all frangipane, and this is almond milk. PB is delicately sweet, and it's mainly almond, cream and vanilla on me with just a slight hint of toastiness from the oats and the barest kiss of white fig. it doesn't have much projection from the back of my hand but that's not a problem for me (i apply it on the base of my neck usually) THIS is exactly what i wanted from arcana's isolde but never got and i'm so glad that precious beauty fills my delicate almond dreams, well... beautifully!

like others have mentioned it's a very lovely and surprisingly full bodied creamy floral. to me, it's not all that cold because the mint almost instantaneously dissipates on skin contact for me, leaving behind a strong, yet delicate creamy florals. it has just the right amount of projection for me, it's not too loud but whenever i move my neck the scent blossoms on my skin again and i'm in a wonderful cloud of it. (i apply scents on my suprasternal notch) it's a lovely sleep scent, although i'd like to try TKO and its variations as well. it's been a little bit, and i've just had an epiphany: nui cobalt's twilight spidersilk (slender strands of cotton flower hung with trembling dewdrops, cobalt blue musk, vanilla orchid, imperial iris, white lilac and a whisper of lavender) smells exactly like the dry down of lady amalthea to me. comparing the two, the only thing they seemingly have in similar is the lilac. and it's such a lovely and heady lilac too, it's positively stunning on me! it's so beautiful, i never knew i loved the scent of lilac before these two scents came into my life. i think lilac might be vying with jasmine for my #1 favorite floral scent to be honest..

so lovely, i found a sample in a destash and i fell in love immediately. was so sad to see that it was an LE and i wrote off being able to find it for a while but i was so so lucky enough to have my ISO fulfilled by a kind person in the arae decantery discord! and so i have a FS of mouse otw to me, i don't get any of the carnation which i don't mind at all. mouse is a toasty and cozy scent, and it's very hazelnut, hay and vanilla forward scent on my skin. it reminds me of golden rolling fields of wheat in early autumn, of the slightest chilling kiss of what's to come later in the year. it's so comforting, it's like a hot shower and your favorite sweater at the end of a long day, so soothing. i'm so SO glad i have an FS of this beauty!

my first foray into bpal's shungas and it's one that i've finally decided that i liked enough to fs! in my little decant it at first reminded me of this specific body lotion? i think it might be nivea? and i was a little thrown off by it but it really grew on me since then. it's super well blended, and no one note really sticks out to me. but if i had to say, i think it's amber, lotus and cream heavy on my skin. on dry down the ink comes out to play and it really reminds me of the calligraphy ink i used to use for drawing a few years ago. i don't get any, i guess, sharp ink used for ballpoint pen or anything like that. the calligraphy ink was slightly sweet, a teensy bit herbal and it had a very distinct smell that i can't describe well (the last time i used it was well over 8 years ago) and it's present in here! over time on the dry down the toasted aspect of the almond blossom cream blooms (haha) on my skin too. it's lovely and fluffy and creamy, it's a golden ivory color in my mind and i'm glad that i have an FS on the way!