Magpie

I wrote a review of this yesterday but like a silly I deleted it by accident! My conclusions were that it starts out with the melon dominating and then gets more aquatic, reminding me of Body Shop 'sea' scented things without the bitterness underneath. It had a strong throw, which I didn't expect, and lasted for several hours at a fairly high strength. It didn't morph much once on me and my skin chemistry didn't do crazy weird things to it!

In imp Very sweet, with an almondy scent that isn't too obvious and the wine-and-honey scent from Athens, with its bite. Also, spices and florals, but over all this is a very foody scent. On, wet The nutty smell comes out more and it reminds me a bit of shea butter. There's a bit of spice still, but not much. The scents mix and change prominence quite a lot. Delicious. On, dry Warm, boozy, spicy and sweet, very heady. Indulgent! I really love this. It’s like Hellcat but doesn’t make me smell like I’ve been quaffing before midmorning. The musk means that despite an early strong throw, it stays close rather than giving everyone in the room headaches, but when it was fresh on, my significant other said he really liked it. My weird skin chemistry tried to play havock with this by making one wrist smell like nutty shea butter and the other all spicy, but the whole is so lovely it didn’t matter! It’s lasted for a good few hours now, which included a walk (which usually makes my perfumes go away as I get overheated). I keep catching a scent of it and it doesn’t smell like it’s going anywhere, which is great. Yummy! A new favourite! Hm...looking at the ingredients, I can't see where my idea of almonds or nuts came from. But it remains somewhat - the whole thing smells like delicious cake, but not in too obvious a foody way!

In imp Strong, sweet, spicy and incensey. Quite foody, but with the hyssopy smell of some of the more herbal scents (like Temple Viper and Mr Jacquel). There's a definite fruity undertone. On, wet Cinnamon, fruit, opium (as from something like Doctor Seward) with a bit of a soapy smell. Very distintive, despite having lots of notes I associate with other scents. As it warms up, the notes blend together better but also gets more herbal and medicinal. On, dry Becomes much less strong and the throw gets less wide quite quickly. But still rich and spicy, would be foody if it wasn't more incensey. However, it doesn't morph much after that point and sticks around fairly well.

In bottle Fresh, green, woodsy. A little bit of soil. Very fresh and full of possibilities! It does smell a little bit like furniture polish but not eniugh to distract. On, wet It warms to be quite velvety and fresh. Very nice. Not very like other scents I have, which is refreshing. It smells a little of pine and cedar but doesn't lose that freshness. On, dry It gets a lot warmer and softer, less fresh but still very outdoorsy and herbal. It's no longer so much like fresh, damp vegetation but more like the warm nature smell of an evening walk. It is quite soft and doesn't have much throw, to the extent that I can't smell it passively without smelling my wrists! It doesn't last very long, as far as I've seen. My skin either drinks it up or I've stopped being able to smell it!

In imp: Like pine or eucalyptus, quite sharp and herbal and fresh. Wet on: Soft almond emerges as it warms and the sharpness takes a back seat. It does get a bit soapy but still sweet. Smells like a less harsh coal tar soap. It gets a lot softer and warmer as it dries. Very comforting and calming, like a warm breeze that smells of sun-baked wheatfields and home. Dry: Gets sweeter and dies down a lot, where I would have expected it from the imp to be very overpowering. Actually, it fades to a sweet background scent, all soft and comforting. Very pleasant indeed. Fairly good last, as well.

In imp Strong, old-fashioned slightly cloying scent. It might end up a bit old ladyish if it continues like this - it definitely has the smell of a classic Victorian floral perfume. On wet I can smell wisteria and violets. It smells severe and formal with a distinct soapy edge that will hopefully fade. On the other hand, it isn't your typical lab floral. Dry As it dries, the severeness lessens a bit, though more on one wrist than the other, and some subtler florals come out underneath, like the rose. It is also blending better as it warms up and dries, without so much of single notes standing out. I'm always surprised how this scent starts out and then ends - it never fills me with confidence at the beginning, but by the end it is really nice sophisticated floral.

Ladon In imp: Mmmmmm. Sweet, sweet apples. Fresh and delicious, with a touch of resins underneath. On: Probably even sweeter, but still with a nice depth of scent that means it isn't too sicky. Becomes a little more anchored as it warms. Truly smells like a soft, warm garden on a summer evening. Hyacinth begins to come out. What's nice is that the dragon's blood doesn't come out crazy overpowering - this is wonderfully well blended with complementary scents and the musk stops it from getting too floaty and sweet. Could be a bit too sweet for a lot of people, but I like how rich and warm it is. Drying: As it gets dryer, it loses some of the rich, juicy fruitiness and becomes a bit powdery dragons blood, which is a shame but it's still nice. There's still a freshness and richness to it that is very pleasant indeed and brighter than a lot of other perfumes. Throw: Pretty good, but not over the top. Lasting: Smells good for several hours.

In imp: Woody, floral and almost a bit licorice-like. On: Grows more herbal. Green and still quite woody. There's a breath of flowers underneath. Warming: Ugh, not sure I like how this is developing. It's lost some of the sharpness of the licorice smell (possibly the tea leaf or resins?) but I still can't smell the myrrh, lilac or honey wine. Dry: The woody scent softens and the lilac comes out more. Other than that, it doesn't really morph much. It's certainly nicer than it was initially.

Wet in imp Quite sharp and herbal, surprisingly. An almost piney scent underneath, morphing into sweet tobacco. I guess that might be the black narcissus. Warming up Kind of syrupy, still quite herbal but softer. It gets sweeter and less sharp. Drying Has an odd sort of undertone, almost slightly burnt-smelling. Gloopy and indulgent like opium but also on edge. As the description says, it is very warm and sensual, but it isn't particularly lustful to me. It had a decent last, a mid throw. Pleasant and a bit unusual but not absolutely stand out on me, alas!

Rumpelstilzchen Wet in imp: Vetiver. On wet: Smoke. I can still smell the vetiver distinctly. It's a bit soapy, as I find vetiver always has a slight soapiness to it on me. I can smell the peppercorns coming out more as it warms, and the the myrrh, nutmeg and cardamom. There's very little sweetness here, just smoke and ashes and spice. It's quite harsh on the note but not as harsh as Bengal. On dry: Fades down a little bit so it isn't as powerful, but still sticks around for a good long while. This scent, despite being smoky, seems somehow cold compared to something like Bengal or the Ifrit. Though that might be because it's snowing outside...

Wet, in bottle: Sweet and herbal, slightly foody. Gentle and green, with the creamy blackberry scent in Bewitched but with more spicy undertones. On: Warms to become more vanilla-focused and foody. Gets a little cloying but that passes and it becomes a nice creamy berry scent as time goes on. A lovely warm and comfortable scent with a touch of clean linen and unidentifiable foodiness, but also exotic herbal sweetness. Throw: It's quite soft and close to the skin but it's also strong enough not to just fade into nothingness or powder. I like this a lot but time will tell on how often I feel the need to wear it.

In the imp: Almondy and ambery. A bit foody, a bit cakey. Can't really smell the vanilla or honey but pretty. As it dries: Scratchy and vanilly, a little hollow but overall warm and pleasant. Doesn't seem to have much of a sense of obsession or sex, though. Innocence, sure. Slighty sweet but it's fading into something with more of an edge. Dry: It's gone a little plasticky, but that seems to go awar. Smells mostly of woody, dry golden amber but with a touch of vanilla and honey, and it seems a bit monotonal for a while but then I'll catch a scent of sweetness that reassures me. Throw: It seems to have medium throw. Lasting: Lasts a couple of hours fairly strongly and fades a little after that, but still stays quite pleasant, if a bit powdery. Conclusion: I like it, my partner likes it quite a lot, it's warm and just has an edge that gets under your skin (not literally). Sort of hangs like an atmosphere rather than a perfume, gives an aura of warm sexuality.

In imp: This is a scent I could never work out. Pretty, but like some kind of household cleaner. There's a mossy undertone I hadn't noticed before, like ivy, so it kind of smells like Robin Goodfellow. There's also a lemony zesty freshness that is, as other people say it's acrid or sharp, perhaps with a touch of lime underneath for uber-sharpness. On: Wahh, farmyard. That's weird. Not that it smells like animals or anything, just reminds me of farmyards. Or a Calippo ice lolly. With an undertone of Refreshers sweets. I'm really not sure this is for me. It's very floral but not accessible enough - I like spicey, aquatic or soft florals, but this is a bit sharp for me. I agree with the neroli thing, but it is tempered as it warms and dries by the florals. Over time, a soft rose scent emerges underneath, reminiscent of The Lady of Shalott, but this doesn't have the melancholy fragility that just makes me want to read Keats and moon about like a romantic heroine. 'm not getting forcefulness, surprisingly, but the self-confidence to be otherwordly. There's violet there too, and the way it always goes powdery on me, but the other florals means it isn't monotonal, as violet just tends to end up dominating on me. My boyfriend loves the smell of this, and that's what made me try it. It's pretty on me, but not something that's particularly 'me', like Lucy's Kiss. Over time, it fades a lot. It's sort of still there, but after a couple of hours, it becomes powdery.

In imp: Whoaaaaa sandalwood (or maybe vetiver, judging by the other reviews? Smells like sandalwood to me, but substitute whichever one is correct). Not terribly promising, but it's a nice sandalwood, the same one I think is quite like paper and leather. It's in Aziraphale, so this is like a more one-note Aziraphale. On wet: Still sandalwood. Not as horribly strong as expected, quite light actually. Quite sharp, like sandalwood always is on me. This is warming up to be a kind of creeping round-the-edges scent. It's nice, if it evens out. Not so much the dusty pages of an individual text, this is more like a library - I get tones of wood in there too. Uh...OK...my famously weird skin chemistry is making a appearance. On my left wrist, I have muted sandalwood tones which if I squint and pretend I don't recognise could be book-smell. My right wrist is kind of...acrid? But not in a really awful way, just kind of weird. It evens out as it goes, though. I think it might be the tobacco coming out on my right, but it's a bit nicer now. I actually like this so far. It's very Aziraphale, but also nice. It becomes a velvety sandalwood scent with a bit more oomph to it underneath than plain sandalwood, which is a bit high and ethereal on me. The incense and tobacco really balance this. Overall, it turned into a dusty, soft smell that feels undeniably old and nostalgic, perfect for Aziraphale's bookshop. I'm still a little worried that I might just have hit a fluke good day with it, but the original scent has rounded out and warmed up. I can live with this. It clings close to the skin, but is just kind of there in the background, without intruding. I do worry that my skin is going to swallow it, however, so I'm not sure what the staying power will be like.

In imp: Mmm, sweet chai almondy goodness. Smells a bit like a cake flavoured with cardamom and almonds and...flowers...yeah, that's where the simile ends. But really good and really edible. If this is a place, it's somewhere I want to go. It's like Bengal, which i got at the same time, but less aggressively 'CINNAMON!!' and more soft and delicious. On: Nutmeg...cardamom...a bit of cinnamon...very much getting the 'baked goods' vibe right now and less of the florals. It's like Mama-Ji and Bengal had a baby that's right between the two of them. MMMmmmmmmm. It's quite gentle - I may have slathered a bit too much on because it's so soft. Limited throw, I'd guess, but I'm notoriously bad for judging throw. Hm, I agree with some other reviewers that there may well be some sandalwood in here...I get the kind of flatness I get from sandalwood on me, but the ickiness that sometimes results in blends like Aziraphale and The Buggre Alle This Bible melts into the yummy cardamom. After a while, it is less obsessed with baking and more a lovely soft waft of scent, as on the dry breeze along a desert path. It seems to bruise my nose a little in the way that strong scents, especially those with vetiver and sometimes cinnamon do, so my perceptions of its strength are limited.