Loligo

This... is my new favorite perfume. I guess I'm learning that over-the-top scents are the ones for me! I smell gardenias and vanilla mostly, but also hints of cinnamon, something toasty/nutty, and something a little fruity, but I can't tell which fruit -- sometimes kind of like banana, sometimes like melon, or maybe even cherry. There is absolutely no downside to this perfume, so that makes me doubt that there's any jasmine in it. Overall the effect is indescribably luscious, plus it lasts a long time without changing too much. Wow, wow, wow.

Grey? Gritty? Not unless barbecued chicken is grey and gritty. That's what I smelled like at first -- a barbecued chicken. Spicy, sweet, smoky... and oddly juicy. Like, in a fleshy, meaty way. (And this is the second time in a week that I've used the word "meaty" on this forum, which I find kinda disturbing! ;-) ) I expected to hate this, but it's actually a very sexy, liveable smell on me. Like a party at a camp-out.

A houdoun recipe dating back almost 150 years. This blend is favored by prostitutes, exotic dancers and others in the sex industry for its power to attract, seduce, and enthrall. Ensures financial gain and increased profits. Not contemplating a career move to the sex trade -- but I really like this perfume. It reminds me of my grandmother, who was emphatically NOT a prostitute or exotic dancer, but neither was she a white-haired little old lady baking cookies. She was earthy, free-spirited, adventuresome, and quite young, only 43 when I was born. Her sense of style crystalized in the 1950's and didn't budge much from there. She favored bright red lipstick, miniature poodles, and beaded curtains. And she often smelled like this perfume. It smelled like some undefinable green, herbal scent when it first went on, but as the herbal note faded, a rose + baby powder scent took over. I waited for it to turn soapy as rose always does, and I did eventually get a bit of nose-prickle, but the ratio of rose to soap was far better in this than in any other scent I've tried. I wonder if there's something else in this that fixes the rose, or if it's not really rose at all? Or if I've been wrongly blaming rose all this time? Whatever. I'm keeping it. I wonder if this is sort of how Rose Milk hand lotion used to smell? I know that's the brand she always used, and I used to love smelling it, but I can't make a mental connection between this smell and the familiar Rose Milk bottle, only between the smell and Oma. Because of the associations with her, this perfume has a very 1950's vibe for me, of course; I can imagine Anita from West Side Story wearing this. Both of the voodoo oils I've tried have turned out great -- I may need to start intentionally ordering from that category instead of just waiting for them to randomly appear.

I occasionally have really weird perfume reactions, but usually when I come read the Forum I can find at least one other person who reacted similarly. Not this time. Szepasszony gives me a strong STRONG immediate burst of fake fruit scents, first fruity bubblegum, then one of those sour candies that were so popular for a while. Then it disappears. Half an hour later I couldn't even find where I'd applied it. Bizarre. And I don't react that way to all light scents -- I can still find a trace of Empyreal Mist on the other arm, and I applied that nine hours ago.

For the first hour, this smelled like I was drinking a glass of chardonnay while wearing a leather jacket -- not a bad smell, but not something I would go out of my way to smell like, and not especially sexy. Then the wine receded while the rum and tonka finally came out. With hints of leather still in the background, this was a much better, and sexier, combo. Half an hour later, it's starting to get a whiff of pipe tobacco, too. A little is fine, but if the tobacco gets much stronger, it's going to put an end to this particular scent experiment, alas.

At first, this was a strongly smoky incense -- the top note was very much like the smell of the temples I visited in China, although there was an underlying spiciness that was different. As it dried, it went through sort of a sweet and sweaty stage, a bit too "unwashed hippie" for me, but then that note faded and some of the woods came out more prominently. Now it's mostly a sweet and spicy scent, with incense and sunny redwood groves drifting through occasionally. Very nice!!

Dragon's Blood itself smells like resinous lilacs on me, so I can't pick out a separate lilac note in this. In the bottle and at first, it smells like D.B. only with a fresh green note to it, too. A nice subtle variation, but then it starts to fade quickly and gets a soapy (nose-prickly) cast to it. I never picked up any hint of lily-of-the-valley, and come to think of it, I didn't in Hymn, either, so that must be a note that completely doesn't work on me. I love straight-up D.B., and I was hoping this would be "D.B., only better", but it's quite the opposite, alas.

In the bottle and on first applying: it smells the way that Pier One used to smell 20 years ago when it was a funky import store: candles, sweet incense, and woods & dry grasses mixed all together. The chocolate gets stronger, later, and so does the fruit. I know it's supposed to be "fig", but like someone else said, the overall effect is like raspberry hot cocoa. *Very* strongly so. After an hour, I was really surprised when the incense & woods came back, which made me very happy. The hot cocoa stage was just too sweet and simple. Overall, it's not something I'd wear every day, but it's definitely worth keeping.

Bittersweet yet powerful: salty aquatic notes and bursting with dragon's blood. At first, I get the resiny lilac smell of Dragon's Blood, muted with a dry sort of herbal smell. It *does* smell like the beach, but I don't get the smell of water at all -- I get the smell of hot sand and dry beach grass. Then things start turning powdery and soapy. At first in a cool way -- for a while it smells like I'm sitting at the beach with a bunch of other people, and I get a whiff of that person's perfume, and that person's shampoo, and maybe a little healthy, salty sweat. But eventually, the nose-prickling soapy scent just gets too strong. Argh! Soap! The bane of my BPAL existence.

I always wished I attended a church that used incense -- as far as I'm concerned, the more senses you can engage during worship, the better. Several years ago I went through a phase where I burned incense during meditation every day, and rose was my favorite scent, followed by frankincense. So I was prepared to like this scent a lot. In the bottle, it smells absolutely perfect, with a clear floral top note rounded out by the resins. It smelled the same way upon first applying it, except for there was a sharp, soapy after-smell that prickled my nose. Then the soapiness faded, and I got a nice hour of rose&resin -- the two smells were completely entwined. I never did smell any lily of the valley, which is too bad, because that's another smell I love. Alas, an hour later, the floral notes faded away, and I was left with a soapy incense smell.

In the bottle, it smells like generic department store perfume, but with undercurrents of wet stone and herbs. Upon first applying it, that department store smell was strongest, but then the air around me started smelling strongly of lilacs. It's weird, if I put my nose right by my wrist, all I pick up is that dusty, powdery "perfume" smell and maybe some cedar, but the lilac is the scent that carries at a distance. I like lilac quite a bit, but there's something about this perfume that's old-fashioned and fussy. "Classy old lady", I think someone else said. Wearing this perfume would be like wearing a whole outfit of vintage clothes -- fun for special occasions, and very evocative, but not really *me*. I'll have to wear it again before I decide whether to keep it or not. It also faded very fast.

I'm so jealous of all the people who loved this scent! It sounded fascinating, but alas, it hates me. In the bottle, it smells like a liqueur: some unidentified fruit turned into something rich and also a little harsh. On first applying it: Yuck, the first obvious note smells like cotton candy or something else fake and sweet. Then it turns into a complicated but generally unpleasant scent, fruity and floral, but with notes of must, rot, and acid. Seriously, it smells like someone ate a fruit salad and then vomited. (I can definitely see what another reviewer meant about "cat pee"). After fading, it turns into a warm and not-unpleasant incense scent (that would be the frankincense, I guess, which I love and which generally smells great on me), with occasional faint whiffs of nursing-home stink. Maybe that's the part about "the joy of suffering with grace". Will definitely be looking to trade this.