Amoraexcena

Bottle: berry flavoured cough syrup. Wet on Skin: sun-warmed blueberries and raspberries over musk, and that delicious orange blossom honey drizzled all over. Sweet and tart! Drydown: mmm berries, staying quite true on me from the wet stage.

Grapefruit, red currant, dark musk, Roman chamomile, delphinium, and lavender. Imp: grapefruit! mmm Wet on Skin: herbs… why, chamomile, why… No more grapefruit. Drydown: sweet… cat pee? Something a bit nauseating in there… fermenting fruit? Oh and… lavender. I don’t like lavender 99% of the time (TKO is the 1%) and unfortunately this is no exception.

Bottle: vanilla cupcake! Less overpoweringly sickly sweet than Beaver Moon ’07. Wet on Skin: a softer, realistic vanilla cupcake, with cream cheese frosting. Drydown: a nice, sweet, comforting bakery scent. A keeper!

Imp: pine needles, chocolate and coffee grinds. Wet on Skin: it smells like molasses! Definitely reminiscent of gingerbread, dusted with cacao and drizzled with caramel for good measure. Drydown: warm spiced crème brulee gingerbread mocha. Sweet, yummy foodie that reminds me a bit of Misk-U.

Bottle: Almost straight-up Snow White, with a breath of rose. No vanilla, sadly…. Wet on Skin: Ok, wow. The same rose in Persephone, tea rose maybe?? It’s taking over. Drydown: The powdery rose has pretty much taken over. I’m going to pop this into my Aging Box and see if the vanilla comes out a bit…

'04 version Bottle: a light, cold, slightly medicinal scent. Wet on Skin: a winter-greens scent. Apple blossoms, and lily musk…. A touch of pine? Drydown: stays very true and very close to the skin. It’s reminding me of The Girl, maybe because it smells so elusive.

Imp: dried red fruit and play-doh. Wet on Skin: suddenly alcoholic, I think it’s port. Some lovely juicy red fruit in that port! Definitely red musk and maybe some skin musk. And sex! The feel is very similar to O, very sexy, dirty and did I mention SEXY? Drydown: it mellows to a sweet fruity nectar, sex-kissed vanilla and musk.

Imp: Quite floral, with a splash of unsweetened white grapefruit. Wet on Skin: A no-nonsense floral blend, the bright citrus dies off quite quickly, to be replaced with a pale green scent which I think is neroli. Drydown: wisteria, jasmine, iris, ginger, neroli and a touch of tonka. It’s a bit perfume-y, not much throw or staying power.

Imp: a fun blast of tropical fruit! with a faint whiff of white tea. That mango, kiwi, pomegranate and pineapple is just juicy, dripping deliciousness. Wet on Skin: almost immediate floral amping. I love jasmine and peony, but where did all they juicy fruit go??? It's now a pale floral with a hint of soft musk and a touch of pink pepper. Drydown: The pink pepper and ginger give this a bit of bite, while the florals bloom happily on my skin. An echo of the initial fruit keep this sweet and fun, although they're all but overgrown with florals and drowned in musk. The tea keeps this a bit adult, but all in all it reminds me of those sweet Escada scents.

Bottle: I love that star jasmine. And musk. Wet on skin: Initially jasmine, ylang ylang, birch and amber. That amber is not gold, it’s really crystalline-white-grey, like quartz. It’s not a warm, come-hither scent, it’s a seductive, come-if-you-dare scent. Drydown: It’s quite sweet and vanilla-like, the pale musk is gorgeous. The staying power is great, though the throw is average, it’s persistant while being an elusive silver serpent...... ahh it’s so lovely. I don't know what davana and immortelle smell like, but this is a blend that has its notes all so well blended it's hard to pick out any one scent anyway. Definitely glad one of the literary vampires work on me!

Imp: Pretty, very light florals. Wet on Skin: Gets a little juicier with the aquatic notes. Hmm I don’t know what rhododendron is like but I’m reminded of a lilac/jasmine/lily-of-the-valley. Drydown: Sigh.... unfortunately, quite soapy at this stage and fades quite quickly. Maybe a scent locket oil.

Imp: unsweetened lemon green tea. Wet on Skin: sparkling crystalline pale green scent. Drydown: a nice, light, fresh citrus-aquatic similar to CK1. Not much staying power but a fun summer scent!

Imp: dark, strongly alcoholic red wine, patchouli. Wet on Skin: suddenly the alcohol disperses and we’re left with a lovely aged strawberry dessert wine, perfect for sipping. There is a whiff of smoke of some forbidden opium-like drug- nicotiana? The red musk and sandalwood to ground it all but not to overpower. Lovely. Drydown: Lovely lightly tart red juices, sweet musk, a warm amber and the grounding sandalwood. This is absolutely stunning, with good throw and decent staying power.

Imp: a shot of sweet Malibu coconut rum. Wet on Skin: the coconut threatens to go a little plasticky, but otherwise it’s lovely... the tobacco is more discernable now, adding a bit of bite to this blend. Drydown: staying quite true. Medium throw, a bit above average staying power. It reminds me of Captain Morgan’s rum and Malibu coconut, if those two rums were blended perfectly... this would be the result.

Imp: Very much smells like a christmas tree.... Pine needles, warm cinnamon sugar. Wet on Skin: the cinnamon really warms up and rounds out and it’s beautiful. I wish all cinnamon notes were like this. Drydown: mulled cinnamon apple cider and that lovely pine tree.... I now can’t wait for it to be Christmas again. I wish I had tried this earlier, it would have been perfect for my Christmas down in Cancun.

(res. version) Bottle: oh wow, mint chocolate candies! I don't usually like mint, but like this... mmmm. Wet on Skin: instantly transforms into a cookie scent, incredible. There's the rum! It's a tad similar to Sugar Cookie now, with a bit of mint. Drydown: very different discernable stages to this one. The mint reappears after drying, and stands in front of the butter cookies protectively. The coconut definitely shows up now, sweet and reminding me of Obatala except a bit creamier. It hugs the skin.

Bottle: I get a big blast of herbs and clove. Wet on Skin: a bit of red musk, but still predominantly smokey herbs and spice. It’s a bit medicinal, very strange for a scent dedicated to a bloody sexy vampire. Where’s the vanilla!? Drydown: sadly, it stays quite true and I get none of the sweet sexy fire I was hoping for.

Imp: fresh shiso. I get a bit of lemon zest, and the salty aquatic note. Wet on Skin: it mellows a little. It reminds me a little of a saltier version of Davidoff Cool Water. Drydown: I think I’m getting a bit of jasmine coming out as well as a light musk. Beautiful layers of notes, a nice gender-neutral fresh aquatic.

Imp: swedish berries and twizzlers made into the stickiest syrup ever. Wet on Skin: ok Lolita now your innocent mask is coming off and I’m getting a seductive edge to that all sweet candy. Drydown: what a morpher. I’m getting some florals now with an undertone of cherry-orange-cinnamon bubblegum. It’s disappearing fast but it’s an interesting experience.

Bottle: a bit too herby and green- the hyssop and root maybe? I can taste the bay rum. Wet on Skin: turns a little smokey, a bit sweeter: hello bourbon vanilla, great to see you! Drydown: sweet bourbon vanilla further alcohol-ed by the bay rum, which also spices things up a bit, with a bit of smoke. Very nice drydown! Edit to add: this doggie has certainly aged beautifully. The herbaceous, green edge has all but diappeared. It's rounded out, gotten sweeter in a non-cloying way, and the spices of brimstone are divine (I'm guessing clove and nutmeg). I get tons of compliments on this one. Too bad it's so hard to come by!

Hmm my review is quite different from everyone else....I don't know if it's skin chemistry, ageing, or batch variation but... Bottle: tootsie rolls, nutmeg, allspice, and a touch of sandalwood. Strong. Wet on skin: the spices take over, with a slightly herbaceous background and just a hint of cacao and honeysuckle. Kind of cloying.... Drydown: Allspice and tootsie rolls. I’ll pass.

Bottle: deliciously mouthwatering candied violets. Wet on Skin: powdered violets and spun cotton candy. I really understand now the comparison to Pink Sugar. It’s a slightly more adult version of that popular Aquolina confection. Drydown: it’s so nice and smooth and creamy and yummy.

Imp: a dark, think oil that smells quite intense. The patchouli is so strong... it seems tinged with eucalyptus and spicey ginger. Wet on Skin: it’s staying quite true. It’s a warm, heavy patchouli scent still although the musty orange blossom is peeking out now. Drydown: it’s sweeter but otherwise no morphing. Great throw. Best stage of this blend, it’s a warm sweet glow now. It’s tingling on my wrist though...

Imp: phew, that’s a lot of spice- saffron and others. It somehow reminds me of allspice. Wet on Skin: licorice... and spices. Some amber is showing up too, and something sweet- almond? Drydown: Still a lot of heavy spices. I have a feeling it will age really well so I’ll keep the imp for a while I guess. Quite a bit later into drydown it turns sweeter, quite similar to Al-Azif.

Imp: strangely, I'm getting peony. Mowed grass dotted with peony. Wet on Skin: something herbaceous is showing up, as well as CUCUMBER! Very juicy and fresh, perfect for a nice clear sunny summer day. I'm still somehow getting peony...??? Drydown: it's all settled down into a nice big english cucumber dark green and thick with juice.