zankoku_zen

Every leaf tells a story. Cognac, iris, hint of leather and dead leaves. For me, iris always ends up powdery, so I get cognac powder and dead leaves with a hint of leather. Medium throw and wear length.

Strawberry and pink roses. If you have ever tried the Renpure Plant Based Rose Water shampoo, it smells like a stronger version of that. The shampoo also lists citrus, wild strawberry and turkish rose in its formulation. So yeah, more strawberry and more rose, but like that shampoo. Good throw and wear length.

On wet, its mainly a red juicy sweet pom, and then it dries and the vetiver comes to lash it out like its doing its best De Sade impersonation. So yeah, now its a red sweet pom with a leather background? Vetiver, what are you doing? Medium throw and wear length.

Pungent orange blossom and whiffs of nag champa. This one is a hell of a thrower. There's almost a mentholic quality to the combination. Strange.

Sweet herbal lavender, but you get the patch on the drydown. Starts off lavender and ends up patch. It's if you laid down in a lavender field, so you get both the lavender and the dirt smell. Medium throw and wear length.

Yup, smells like lemongrass. Strong throw. All the lemongrass.

Deep furry musk, warm air, forest herbs. This one is a feral, wild, sort of musk. Very gender neutral. It smells like outside, and being doused in whiskey. Medium throw and wear length.

Labdanum with whiffs of cacao and vanilla. This is a resinous blend with enough cacao and vanilla for me to keep it from just being a resin. Good throw and wear length.

Sugary white blossom, touch of cinnamon and tobacco. This reminds me to white florals with enough spice to keep it interesting. Sugary, cinnamony, delicate. Good throw and wear length.

There's a hint of coffee on wet that dissipates and I'm left with salty agarwood, cedar and a whiff of nutmeg. It does sort of veer into gender neutral category for me as well. Actually, it sort of reminds me to Pirates of Penzanze and Frederic? Clearly some well-brought up idealistic young man has just gathered himself into much rougher territory for adventures. For those of you that like to show that being refined doesn't mean you can't throw down with the best of them. Medium throw and wear length.

White magnolia, oudh, and smoky champaca. Honestly, this should be some sort of godless abomination on me. Magnolia never smells like magnolia on me, more like wet wool. Oudh ends up being a cloying mess that just smells unpleasant like a body function. Color me surprised. This is gloriously lushly white magnolia petals, with the oudh coming in and the champaca almost acting like a mystical incense. Frankly, I keep getting a big picture of Mary, mother of Jesus. But as a genteel Southern lady, with the steel backbone. The one that with her pearls and her gloves marches up to the big bullies and puts them into their place. Just because you're nice means you don't have a backbone. For those that appreciate that vituperative language isn't just about four letter words. Go bless some hearts with this.

So the basmati rice and vanilla husk end up smelling like popcorn to me, with whiffs of both citrus and green tea. So japanese style popcorn? Yup. The basmati rice is a nice toasted rice note, which is what is smelling like popcorn to me. Fun, yellow, and foodier than I expected. Medium throw and wear length. ETA: Mouse Circus goes to Japan, drinks alot of green tea, writes bad carny haikus.

Honey cakes and oat stout! This smells like dessert in an English pub. Gloriously honey and oat cakes, and stout. So British. Perfect for those of you that are both foodies and anglophiles. Good throw and wear length.

Powdery pink rose, vanilla chypre. Honestly, this is a vanilla-rose powder. Sweetly feminine. Like just came out of a bath. Floral, feminine, flirty. Great throw and wear length.

Orange blossom woven with patchouli and sandalwood. It's earthier, grittier, than say some of the Shunga scents. Not as delicate. But its that same sort of yuxtaposition. Full of contraditions. Medium throw and wear length.

On wet, its mainly this soft lemon peel and strawberry, and then you get the marshmallow coming through, sweetening it considerably. This is like going from a five, and slowly turning it up to 10, and actually pushing the dial over 10, and you realized you may have broken the knob, and now you're sort of stuck inside this frenetic sugary strawberry marshmallow. If that's where you want to end up, give High-Pitched Shriek a whirl. I'm gonna go try and get myself unstuck now.

On wet, this is a high strung scream of neroli and orange blossom, and it dries down to a sugary almond blossom. But on wet, this was electric and expectant. It was the pent up moment of energy from a teenage girl before they see the star of dreams start walking, then the neroli wails for a while, before it spends itself into a sugary almond blossom. Perfect for a teenage girl, or anyone wanting to capture that frenetic energy. Good throw, and wear length.

On wet, this was mainly a very sophisticated bergamot aftershave-based perfume and a touch of suede. The aftershave dissipates as it dries, and you get more musk coming out. This is a very clean, classy men's cologne with both tinges of suede and sandalwood. Honestly, it does smell like something a Beatle would smell like. Medium throw, good wear length.

So who were the guys that grabbed me in the parking lot? Mister Wood and Mister Stone? Who were they? The lights of the car illuminated the winter landscape. Wednesday had announced that they were not to take freeways because he didnt know whose side the freeways were on, so Shadow was sticking to back roads. He didnt mind. He wasnt even sure that Wednesday was crazy. Wednesday grunted. Just spooks. Members of the opposition. Black hats. I think, said Shadow, that they think theyre the white hats. Of course they do. Theres never been a true war that wasnt fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right. The really dangerous people believe that they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous. And you? asked Shadow. Why are you doing what youre doing? Because I want to, said Wednesday. And then he grinned. So thats all right. Gunpowder residue, patent leather, pomade, and aftershave. I mainly get gunpowder and whiffs of both pomade and aftershave. The gunpowder seems heavy on the vetiver, but as it dries, I get more of the leather coming through and it dries down to a smoky leather blend. Actually, this smells just like a men's black leather jacket. The gunpowder on wet could probably scare off a number of people, but if you like leather, I'd suggest giving this puppy a whirl. Leather isn't a friend of mine, or mr. zee_zee's but this could be a potential replacement for DeSade, as its a straight up black leather sort of smell.

Brazilian vetiver, dark myrrh, peru balsam, laurel leaf, white sage, and cedar. Myrrh, balsam, cedar and a touch of vetiver. This one is a very resinous blend with enough whiffs of cedar and smoky vetiver. There's a curl of sage coming through in the drydown. Slightly masculine, but definitely a mainly myrrh and balsam blend. Good throw and wear length.

Another experimental blend. This one is a dark amber color by now. On wet, it smelled sort of citrusy - but more like citrus pith over some Snake Oil, and something that vaguely smells like nail polish. On the drydown, I think it may have been ylang ylang actually.

Lime-tinged cologne. Touch of blood. It's this weird detergent clean mixed with fear-ridden musk.

Pecan, skin musk, sandalwood and shea. This smells like a womanly pecan shea roll. Strong, clean, feminine. Good throw and wear length.

Creamy and salty almond and coconut. This smells like salt-crusted suntan lotion. As if you had been at the beach all day covered in Hawaiian Tropic. Good throw and wear length.

Hello, ladies. Look at yourself. Now back to me. Now back at yourself. Now back to me. Sadly, you're not me. But if you stopped using lady scented body wash....and switched to Non-Compliant, you could smell like me. Look down. Back up. Where are you? You're on a motorcycle. You own a leather jacket. You own combat boots. Your face is painted in black ash, because its war. What's in your hand? Back at me. I have it. It's a lime that isn't a lime. You bite it and it tastes like licorice and herbs. Look again. It's a rum bottle that isn't rum or a bottle. You take a swig, and it has the metallic taste of blood and the tang of cigarettes. You smell like death and life, and everything in between. You are the wolf that howls and the bird that sings. You are vengeance and righteousness. Anything is possible when you smell like Non-Compliant and not like a lady.