Shollin

First sniff: Of the four listed notes, two are definitely awful on me, one could go either way depending on which variety it is, and one tends to be swoonworthy. From the vial, the overwhelming note is vetiver, which does not bode well. Wearing: Vetiver and black musk. The hellnotes. Of course.

First sniff: Unsurprisingly, this is a dark and murky aquatic, with just the faintest hint of sunlight filtering down from above. Wearing: It’s lighter and fresher on me, one of the pretty wind-and-rain scents. I’m surprised by how much I like this one, actually, given how dark it was in the imp; it stuck to me all day and still smells very fresh and nice. A keeper.

First sniff: This is pretty much straight leather. I get a tiny hint of fruit around the edges, but it can’t quite get through. Wearing: The vanilla warms up and emerges more on my skin, but the leather is still a very strong presence.

First sniff: A distant, cool, minty floral, and a tiny hint of apple. Wearing: The immediate skin-scent is dead gorgeous. But I fear violet. And for good reason; within ten minutes it’s gone powdery. Blast.

First sniff: I think this is the first musk scent I’ve ever encountered that I’d describe as “cute.” It’s soft honey powdery musk with a little giggle of effervescent florals. Wearing: Powdery milky honey fur.

First sniff: Pine needles, frozen earth, sun on snow. Fresh, green, cold, and just a little bit resiny-sweet. Wearing: Evergreen and incense and subtle sweetness. And then the frankincense does the frankincense thing and becomes far too sharp-sweet for me to enjoy wearing it. Ah well.

First sniff: Darkness, resin and wood and musk and darkness. Wearing: Still very dark, a deep brown sort of scent, dry wood and deep resins and dark earth. Not for me.

First sniff: Very wet and green, pale leaf-shoots and clear running water. It smells like Spring. Wearing: The honeysuckle explodes off my skin in a fantastic burst of cool green sweetness. Oh so much love.

First sniff: Dark, earthy, woody and maybe a little bit nutty. The vanilla sneaks into the afterscent just before the inhale fades. Wearing: Hello, Spanish moss! My, you’re looking green today. Also, PATCHOULIPATCHOULIPATCHOULI.

First sniff: Shiny and metallic and green. Wearing: Sort of a cologney metallic. It didn’t last very long on my skin.

First sniff: I do get Snake Oil underneath, but wisping around it is a very pretty fresh, clean, pale-blue scent. It’s an interesting contrast. Wearing: Oh, wow. If I could find fabric softener that smelled like this, I would be a happy happy woman. Fresh and clean and deep and rich all at once. …I would also be a happy woman if the fresh part lasted longer than an hour, but after that, it’s straight Snake Oil.

First sniff: Much less sharply piney than I expected. It’s soft and blurry, and it smells faraway rather than getting up my nose. There’s a lingering afterscent of soap, which I’m hoping is just a fluke. Wearing: Still that soft, farway pine – and yes, unfortunately, the afterscent is pure soap. Dang.

First sniff: This is really, really nice. A light fruity sweetness over a deeper core of something I can’t quite pin down. Wearing: It’s a gorgeous pale sticky honey-sweet that lasts all day long without ever being cloying. Very much love.

First sniff: LIQUOR and candied fruit, with a good dose of buttery cake underneath. Nothing subtle about this one! Wearing: On my skin it’s mostly butter and candied fruit; that bourbon note goes away quickly, which is good because I’m headed to work… Actually, the whole thing fades away surprisingly fast. Darn.

First sniff: Flame and shadow. Priala smells like the Balrog’s wings. Wearing: Hugely spicy and very very dark. Red on black.

First sniff: Citrus and lavender and… cocoa? It’s like men’s cologne rolled in melted chocolate. Nice, but weird! Wearing: Really flippin’ gorgeous. The cocoa is wonderfully warm and rich, and the men’s-cologne part adds a lighter note without being too strange. That cologney scent fades away very quickly, leaving warm gorgeous cocoa-vanilla hanging on for hours. Excellent.

First sniff: Ooh, minty! Very pretty white mint with soft edges. Wearing: I seem to remember “mint and geranium” was the verdict when this first came out, and I was wondering where the geraniums were. I found them as soon as this hit my skin. It shifts from a soft-edged candy mint to a soft-edged flower mint, and the flowers quickly take over.

First sniff: Mossy green and gold. It’s a big scent, not loud but big, round and wet and enveloping. Wearing: Fresher than in the bottle, very very green, with a sparkling hint of ginger around the edges.

First sniff: Tea and fruit and soft spices and yay. Wearing: This is just beyond gorgeous. Tea, honey, fruit, fresh green happiness. So much love.

First sniff: A very dark Snake Oil with plenty of incense behind it. Wearing: Oh dear. I forgot how strong Snake Oil is when it first goes on. I think I’ve just been whomped over the head with a vanilla 2x4. There’s a deep, dark burned-sugar note underneath, and a background of soft incense.

First sniff: Very soft white tea, very soft citrus, and very soft, slightly powdery flowers. It’s a much more gentle and ladylike scent than I was expecting from the description. Wearing: This reminds me of Maiden, my very favorite tea-and-flowers scent. The violet made it very powdery for a while, which made me sad because all the other notes are so perfect… but by the time I got to work it settled into a glorious tea-and-flowers-and-vanilla, and by lunchtime it smelled very much like Antique Lace with a hint of tea. LOVE.

First sniff: From the bottle I just get darkness. Earthy darkness. Wearing: Oh hello spicy. But not burny-spicy, thankfully. I smell rather like the not-sweet version of chai.

First sniff: Spicy-sweet, dark and warm and very sexy! I think the tobacco must be what’s reading as “spice” to my nose, because there’s really nothing in here that should be spicy. Wearing: Musky and warm and maybe a little bit fruity. It’s very round and inviting. Voluptuous, even.

First sniff: It’s a clean, soft floral. Very fresh and green. It’s just on the very edge of soapy… I’m hoping my skin doesn’t amplify that problem. Wearing: Oh, this is pretty. Gently floral and green. It reminded me throughout its wearing of Asphodel, though it’s fresh and green where Asphodel is deeper and richer. It stuck to my wrists all day, which is unusual for a clean floral. Just lovely.

First sniff: Earthy green incense, smoke and seawater. Near the beach house my family rents every summer, there’s a brick fireplace-and-chimney standing by itself where the house burned down around it, standing in a clearing between the woods and the sea. Forest-smoke-sea all together, that’s this scent. Wearing: Dark, foresty, resiny, and a few hours in it developed a really interesting dark-honey sort of sweetness. Nice.