tinyvulture

Strong herbal blend. Bay leaves, olive oil, and pine sap. It feels like a high quality milled soap but it's not really "me" as a perfume.

A thick, red oil. So lovely -- warm, woodsy -- cedar and mahogany! I do love mahogany. It's warmed by amber. There's also a bitter, dark, inky note. If you love woodsy incense blends, this is a must! It's been compared to Antikythera, but that just smells like flat root beer on me. This, on the other hand, I adore.

What a yummy coffee scent! Warm, nutty, herbal (the chicory), sweet, creamy. I never got to try Bah, so I'm happy to have this lovely coffee blend. I also recently made my first visit to New Orleans and Cafe du Monde, so it was really perfect timing.

First impression: the most mouthwatering cherry-almond, butter cookie. So sweet, with tons of vanilla. No incense at all. Foodies, get on this! Dry down: Wow, it really smells exactly like a fortune cookie. So glad I got a bottle!

Patchouli and weed! Hee hee. But, my husband insists he can't smell the weed, just "general greenery." Really, the perfume is so carefully blended that it does end up smelling mostly of patchouli with a green, earthy background, plus some nutty, earthy hemp thrown in. I love it!

I never tried this the first time around, but it ended up being one of my favorites and I had to get a bottle. It's a soft, powdery lemon scent. Like Lemon Scented Sticky Bat's gentle, sleepy little cousin. Soft hints of coconut, black musk, and incense mingle charmingly with the lemon. It seems to morph as I wear it, subtly alternating between sweet and sexy. I'm tremendously picky about citrus blends, but I adore this.

First impression, a dark, sexy blast of wet plum and hippie patchouli. The vetiver soon appears and it's the only other note I can really pick out. And it kind of smothers and lessens the plum and patchouli notes. Darn. Still nice, but I liked it best before the vetiver showed up.

The perfect balance of tartness and sweetness. Much less spicy than Autumn Cider or Lambs-Wool, and I prefer it over them. Really reminds me of visiting the cider mill every fall when I was a kid. Now I need a single note Cinnamon Sugar Donut to layer with it!

VANILLA MUSK. (And the teensiest bit of amber.) Edith has stolen my heart. Warm, sweet, feminine. A classic, simple, elegant fragrance. Picturing a Victorian lady, high collar, white lace. Someday I will need a bottle.

Dry, powdery floral incense. I wouldn't use it as a room spray, but I'll use it to scent my sheets, unless it makes my husband sneeze!

Yummmm. Warm melted chocolate with just a hint of cinnamon. Not as spicy as Dia de los Reyes, and the chocolate note is more intense and concentrated... this is the dregs, for real! The chocolate is so rich, and not overly sweet. There's also a bit of a ricemilk/horchata thing going on. Love it.

Orange, cranberry, spices. I wonder if maybe it's meant to smell sort of...stale. It does...it smells like a fake, bathroom air freshener. (Sorry!)

So festive, so home-for-the-holidays cozy. I want it as an atmosphere spray. Cheery mandarin with sweet, buttered, yeasty rolls. More rolls than toast, I think. Then the apricot note slowly replaces the mandarin. It's like a bakery selling rolls and flaky apricot pastries. So great, just a lovely, comforting, happy blend. No fizziness, no Pez.

First impression, sharp, dry, dark, woodsy incense. It's all ash bark and kashmir wood. 1 minute later, here's the mandarin! Bright and cheery as always. And there's something earthy, like vetiver but not quite. The galangal? I'm not getting any cocoa, matcha, or tonka. 5 minutes later, super sweet citrus WOW! And vanilla? And woods and moss. I like it for the most part, except I'm not big on moss.

Pinkish-brown oil in the vial. Thick and viscous. First impression: Full on amber, warm and powerful. The lavender that makes it a fougere is playing a soft second fiddle. I love amber and I love lavender, so I'm like, "How was there not already an amber/lavender scent for me to fall in love with?" Well, there is one now.

SARAH (The Tomb of Sarah, F.G. Loring) By half-past ten we were both getting very tired, and I began to think that perhaps after all we should see nothing that night. However, soon after eleven we observed a light mist rising from the 'Sarah Tomb'. It seemed to scintillate and sparkle as it rose, and curled in a sort of pillar or spiral. I said nothing, but I heard the Rector give a sort of gasp as he clutched my arm feverishly. 'Great Heaven!' he whispered, 'it is taking shape.' And, true enough, in a very few moments we saw standing erect by the tomb the ghastly figure of the Countess Sarah! She looked thin and haggard still, and her face was deadly white; but the crimson lips looked like a hideous gash in the pale cheeks, and her eyes glared like red coals in the gloom of the church. Unholy mist congealing into soft, white flesh, with black marble, remnants of liturgical incense, wolf's fur, and black flecks of froth. I've never been the first to review a scent... here goes! I had to try Sarah because of our shared name, and also because of the intriguing description. Black froth???! For me, Sarah calls to mind an old, abandoned church. The windows have been broken out, rot and mildew have set in, and the only visitors are wild beasts foraging for food. The marble altar is cold and wet with a layer of fuzz growing on it. The incense smoke was so thick in previous years that it became embedded into the pews and wall hangings, never to fade away completely, but now it is combined with the dusty, funky scent of thick animal fur. It's not an instant favorite. The mildew/mist note is kind of a turn-off, and the marble, incense, and fur notes are subtle and, at times, barely discernable. It's not a powerful enough scent, overall, for me to love it.

Coconut milk single note, almost. There's the tiniest suggestion of cinnamon. I'm gonna try layering it with other blends that I think would pair nicely with coconut.

Teak, my goodness, I've always had a thing for you, but you're even more darkly elegant than usual here, mixed with sultry blood musk which is all sweet, resinous warmth. It's a dope pairing and also somehow reminds me of Indian restaurant incense. Ha!

The green lotus is amazing. It's got that heady, candy-sweetness of lotus, plus a honeydew melon quality. Fresh and tropical. What an interesting contrast with the dry, raspy orris. This is one of the few blends where I'm really appreciating orris. I have no idea what ivory smells like so I can't pick it out, but I'm noticing a little bit of smooth sandalwood. Very nice!

A true lady's rose perfume, expertly blended. Very sweet and warm thanks to the vanilla and amber. And I always appreciate ambergris. I'm not picking up any champagne fizz, though. I took a break from rose scents for awhile but this one's brought me back into the fold.

Sharp green notes hit my nose all at once. Herbal sage. Weed? And a bed of pine needles. Oh and also...a bar of soap. I really love sage smudging, and wanted a nice clean, clarifying scent. But this clean in a bad way. Off to swaps, since I know it won't be soapy for everyone.

MARSHMALLOWS! Creamy, vanilla-scented, diabetes-sweet marshmallows rolled in powdered sugar and crunchy sugar crystals for extra sugary sugar! Basically, single note Marshmallow. Need to order backup.

Blind bottle, no regrets! Have you had carrot halwa, the grated carrot dessert served at Indian restaurants? That's what this smells like. The carrot note is fresh, juicy, and sweet. At first it smells appley. There's also sweet cream and heavenly cooking spices like cinnamon and cardamom. I don't smell anything nutty or crust-like. It's so awesome! Foodie dream come true.

Meditation in Autumn is my go-to rainy day scent.

That glowing copal note always reminds me of Dia de los Muertos, as copal incense figures heavily in the various local DDLM celebrations. Copal plus crisp, dry leaves is wonderful, if a bit green and cologne-ish at first. After a few minutes, the sweetness of frankincense comes out and the cologne aspect is less. The copal is the star here, though. A warm, woodsy/mineral incense, spiritual and glorious.