nineveh

This one needs a lot of adjectives: warm, complex, sweet, spicy, creamy, earthy, dark. It's definitely gourmand, yet unmistakeably perfume. There's a slightly caramelized vanilla above deep semi-sweet chocolate, but the scent as a whole never reads as thick or overwhelming. Maybe the tequila's thinning it out. The jalapenos (the only note to worry me) give it a mild spice, though I'd never be able to identify them. All the contrasting elements are balanced just right. This was what I wanted from Dia de Los Reyes (which ultimately only gave me cinnamon brownie batter). As a bonus, it has great wear length; I could still smell it clearly after nearly 24 hours. I'll definitely enjoy this one frequently as long as the cold weather lasts.

I live on the edge of San Diego, right where things start to get rural and where wildfires have an impact. Objectively, I like the smell of burning brush, but in context of the huge fires a few years ago, it now holds only negative associations. Thankfully, the little smokiness that existed in the bottle never manifested on my skin. Instead I get a vibrant green scent with the slightly spicy bite of sage. It's warm and sweet, maybe with a touch of rain in the background. To me, this is the scent of life on the hillsides after the fires. My skin might be doing something weird with it, but I'm glad I risked a bottle because it's such a wonderful, natural scent.

CCXCIX This is almost entirely a cool, watery orchid, which is one of the very few florals that I can wear or enjoy. In the wet stage, a fresh pine is also present, but it burns off quickly. I can detect the faintest shadow of Snake Oil way in the background only if I search for it. I'm reminded of Dark Delicacies stripped down to its essentials, or the Premature Burial without the smoldering earth aspects. I just wish that Snake Oil had a stronger presence, but that's an easy fix.

I'm getting lots of dry, hot amber with a high perfumy note. The walnut bark is very nutty, which is offputting for me. This reminds me of the Lion, but with an herbal/nut note instead of hay. There's also something sweet and dusty going on. I'm having a hard time describing this. I think I like it but the nutty thing is confusing me. I'll try this again later, but wanted to submit my initial impressions. edit: As it dries down more, the amber starts to vanish and all I can smell is powdered soap. Can I blame the chamomile? I don't like how it smells in tea, and I don't think it's working for me here.

In the bottle, this smelled like burning wood and chocolate. Once I put it on my skin, however, it changed into the best parts of King of Clubs and Priala, plus a little orange thrown in. It's sweet, dark, earthy, and smoky, but still oddly light in feeling despite its shadowy nature. Ever hold your hand in incense smoke and feel the soft film it leaves behind on your skin? That's what the smoke note is doing to my nose, which gives the whole blend a velvety, airy quality that's just gorgeous. This ends up being unusually sweet and pretty given the subject of the painting, but it definitely fits the colors.

I'm so glad I ordered a bottle of this unsniffed! I'm also glad to finally have an Egyptian-themed scent that works for me; none of the others have been that great on me, which always made me sad since I love Egypt. But anyway. On me, this is like a less spicy Sin with the unsweet aspects of Luperci. Sin was too strong on the cinnamon for me, but this has just the right amount of spice. This scent has a thick, soft quality in addition to being dry and a tad smoky. The patchouli is subdued, with the amber and spices coming to forefront on my skin. This is definitely one to try if you dig warm, earthy, gender neutral scents. It's exotic, evocative, and so worth the extra money.

I got this for my mom, but I couldn't resist sneaking a little test drop before I gave it to her. I don't really like scents with that many florals and fruits (especially not jasmine, gardenia, or blackberry), but I know she likes spicy and fruity blends, so this sounded good for her. At first, it smells very much like Chrysanthemum Moon without the red musk, so I'm guessing that's ginger at the forefront. There's also a dark but hollow green scent here, which is intriguing. After a while, the ginger receeds and the honey comes out. Usually I have problems with honey going sour, but this one stayed true. That's basically how it ended for me: warm, golden honey with a hint of spices. It's so well-blended that I can't pick out anything else, but it's certainly more complex than just honey. This one turned out to be surprisingly nice. I probably would have kept it myself if it weren't a gift!

On me, Habu is damp green with a very prominent bamboo note. At first, it's almost all I can smell. There is a bit of darkness from the resinous oils underneath, but mostly this is all clean and fresh. After it's been dry for a while, the bamboo receeds slightly and lets some of the other notes come forth. They still feel like accent notes to me, however. There doesn't seem to be much Snake Oil here. If you're looking for something rather traditionally masculine, smooth, and clean, give this one a try.

During the long wet stage of this, I kept thinking that it was too sweet. I'm pretty sure, based on my experiences with John Seward and Khajuraho, that champaca really goes sweet and amps up on me. When it finally dries, that sweetness tones down somewhat and the smokiness of the incense comes through. Like Tramp, I get a grape note, but it's not like Kool Aid or anything; it's too complex and sophisticated for that. Instead it smells like someone's been burning a dark, fruit-tinged incense. It is a cousin of Hellion, but whereas Hellion seemed brash, this is more smooth and calculating. It's really starting to grow on me.

I love vetiver and I love Death Adder! Nice gritty vetiver is at the forefront with this blend. Under that is a sort of dry, smoky coconut. It doesn't smell like the suntan lotion kind, which I am thankful for. The vanilla is there, but it's only adding a slight sweetness to the background. I think I can pick out the richness of the opoponax, but it's hard to tell since the Snake Oil base is similar. I can definitely smell the SO in this one a lot more plainly than in Banded Sea Snake. I'm happy that this smells basically like I thought it would from the note list. The only "problem" is that the Snake Oil is doing that weird plasticky thing that fresh Snake Oil is wont to do, but a little aging will easily fix that.

This is kind of a strange one, and when I sniff it, sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't. This is a very green scent with a shadow of Snake Oil in the background. I get no mint, thankfully, but I do detect a rather astringent green (the sea moss?), the dark fuzzy green/brown of oakmoss, and the creamy green of olive leaf that I love in Haloa and Lycaon. I can't do aquatics, and while this isn't a watery blend, there is something oceanic and salty here that I don't enjoy when it peeks out. So, I guess the bottom line is that I like the oakmoss and olive leaf, but not so much the sea moss. It's similar enough to Haloa on me that if I kept it, I know I'd keep passing it over for that one. I would recommend this to fans of salty sea blends like Jolly Roger and Port Royal, or maybe someone who liked the olive leaf of Haloa but thought it was too sweet a blend overall.

I've never tried OM, but the reviews on Makeup Alley call to mind these two: Morocco - The intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes. Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia. Baghdad - Amber, saffron and bergamot with mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood. Even if they end up not being similar to OM, you may still like them on their own merits. OM is still plentiful on ebay, too.

When I tried this at will call, I thought that the tangerine was too strong for the first hour or so of the scent. After that, I really liked it, and ordered a bottle with the hope that the tangerine would fade with aging. Happily, my bottle turned out to be weaker on the tangerine, so all the other notes come through right away. The amber, which is nice and dark, mixes well with the damp, sweet aspect of the fruit notes. Under that, the pepper, tobacco, and vetiver join together to provide a suitably deep, smoky base. Overall, this reminds me of a citrusy Ambre Sultan, or a darker and more sultry Jacob's Ladder. Very golden and sexy!

Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. A fragrance that stargazer lily doesn't outright ruin for me? Wow. This is so pretty! A warm, pale golden scent with sweet vanilla. Kind of what I hoped Three Brides would be (which turned too floral on me). The stargazer lily does emerge on the drydown, but it doesn't conquer the whole scent or turn cloying. To me, this is a cross between Jacob's Ladder and Ava Luxe's Love's True Bluish Light (a white musk, vanilla, amber, and milk scent). I would buy a bottle of this if I didn't already have bottles of those two. However, I'll definitely get this when I run out of JL.

I ordered this with trepidation due to the red musk, which only works on me on rare occasions. It turns out that Krampus isn't one of them. Caveat lector! This starts off with all the listed notes in about equal proportion. I can smell the musk, leather, linen, and wood distinctly. The linen gives a cool, crisp feel to this, which is countered by the spiciness of the woods. The leather is dark, smooth, and aloof. This reminds me of Sin, minus the foody cinnamon, with Loviatar lurking in the background. I felt rather neutral towards those blends even though they had notes that I like, and I currently feel the same way towards Krampus. About an hour later, it smells less like Sin and more like Loviatar, and that's when the red musk ruins things for me by smelling like lipstick. I think that fans of red musk will love this one, though. It seems gender neutral to me, and is probably very sexy with the right chemistry.

Dark, smoky, spicy (I can really smell the nutmeg), a bit murky/dusty, and unsweet. It's warm, but it's not a friendly scent. Verging on traditionally masculine with an aura of power. I like it except for the note that smells like bay leaves or something else used for cooking. It subsides somewhat as it dries, but it's still making me think of various seasonings. I think that it really fits the title. Hm, actually now it's starting to resemble King of Clubs, one of my favorite BPALs. It still has that bay leaf thing though. Go away, bay leaf! I will hang onto my bottle for now to see if it grows on me or changes for the better over a little time. edit: Just tried it again and now it smells like clove cigarettes over various dark herbs. Yum!

This is so not me but I really like it so far! It starts out very chocolate and orange. Then that perfumy aspect emerges that others have mentioned, along with a buttery note. It smells like something from Bath and Body Works at this point. Once it's totally dry, the mysore sandalwood really comes out, and now it reminds me so much of Santal de Mysore by Serge Lutens (one of the Paris exclusives). It's warm, woody, sweet, and still a little perfumy. For those of you concerned about the florals, I am averse to them too, and thankfully nothing in here is striking me as "I'm a floral scent!" It dries down to mostly the sandalwood and vanilla. Everything else is so well-blended that I can't even begin to pick them out. It's beautiful! edit: After this has been on for many hours, the sandalwood has faded and a somewhat bitter herbal smell is all that's left. It reminds me of vitamins, and I got the same scent from Madrid, so I think it's the mimosa.

The scent of abandoned places, of desolation and emptiness: heavy woods and thin dusty herbs touched by the wafting incense of a nearby chapel. Wet, this is very fresh and green-smelling to my nose, and reminds me of the tree/herb parts of Odin. Upon the drydown, a soft, dry incense pops out. Then this starts to resemble a light version of Doc Constantine. On me, this isn't dark or heavy; it's soft, dusty, and comforting. If this is an abandoned abbey, it's full of sunlight and new plants growing through the stones. This turned out to be the one keeper for me from Order of the Dragon, and I'm so glad it works. It's one of those very evocative creations that's also perfectly wearable. Oh, and for me, this didn't smell like Pit & the Pendulum at all, but that one smelled like cookies to me.

I tried Samhain last year, but it ended up being too sweet and fruity for me. Samhainophobia is what I wanted Samhain to be. They're definitely similar blends, but Samhainophobia is less sweet, darker, and smokier. It really does smell like nighttime with dried leaves and damp earth. At the same time, it's soft and kind of fuzzy-smelling, which is probably the oakmoss. Although it does smell dark, I certainly wouldn't call it heavy. I find it rather subtle and mysterious.

I was expecting a lot of earthy elements from this scent, but instead it's dry wood, salt, and some spice. Kind of like a spicy Jolly Roger or a more subtle Anne Bonny. On me, it's pretty sweet and wearable; it smells like an herbal/woody men's light cologne. As it dries, the cumin fades, leaving a very soft, natural scent that's still reminding me of the ocean without smelling like it. It's not love at first sniff for me, but I like it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to let this one grow on me, as it keeps making me want to sneeze when I sniff it.

I think it just takes some practice getting to know what the notes smell like, which can be done by comparison. Try testing blends at the same time with a shared note; if one blend works while the other doesn't, the shared note can probably be ruled out as the culprit. Simpler blends (like 2-4 notes listed) are probably best for doing this. The downfall here is that sometimes, a blend with a problem note can turn out to work. So yes, you should try everything. At least that's affordable with the swap forum!

In the bottle: Total opoponax. On me, wet: Opoponax and a wonderful patchouli with a subtle spiciness and touch of booze. As it dries, the spice, which is clove-like, comes out more. When it's finally dry, I can pick out a dark, smooth musk. I'm having problems describing this (I can't think of any other scent to compare it to--maybe a shallow similarity to Montale Patchouli Leaves), so I'll just say that it's a warm, resinous, sweet, nuanced patchouli blend. It strikes me as mysterious and sexy. I can't wait to wear this in the winter. Excellent job, Brian!

I bought this hoping that I'd get the golden parts from this scent; typically, it's mostly the white parts that come through on me. I can definitely pick out the carnation and calla lily, which usually turns to soap, but not here. I guess all the other things are keeping it from taking over and going soapy. This feels very well-blended. As it dries, the amber starts to barely peek out, along with the vanilla and/or tonka. I'm not getting the orange or rose or anything sweet or spicy, like the other reviewers did. On me, it's mostly a cool, powdery scent that's very feminine and romantic, but also hard for me to smell. I don't know if it's hitting an olfactory blind spot or if it just needs a little aging (I could barely smell Snake Charmer when it was really fresh from the lab), but either way, I don't feel like I'm getting the whole experience. I'll tuck my bottle away for a few months and see how it is then. edit: Okay, I tried this again today and I can smell it better. It reminds me of a more innocent, incense-free Gypsy Queen (guessing because of the carnation and rose). I'm still hoping that the resins will come out more with some aging, but it's still a keeper.

In the bottle, this reminds me of Rakshasa, which I used to really like until the rose got too fruity-smelling for me. First on, this is a lot of dry wood with just a faint bit of rose in the background. The woods are a little sharp, and something's threatening to go pickly on me. It doesn't change much as it dries. This is rich and dark, but also kind of harsh-smelling. This is like a much darker version of Parlement of Foules. Ultimately, I like it, and I imagine that it will become better with age.

I have no idea what chrysanthemums smell like, but apparently they are one of the rare florals that work on me. This starts out as an unsweet, herbal incense with a damp green floral aspect that reminds me of the bouquet section at the grocery store. After a few hours, the smoky part becomes a dark, musty smell, and the floral part fades somewhat and blends in. I never picked up any ginger or opium, but that's okay. I like this!