zankoku_zen

Orange blossom over some woodsy ashy background. This is mainly orange blossom, and as it dries, you get a whiff of ash on the background. Medium throw and wear length.

Hay, GRASS, and a swirl of vanilla tonka. This is mainly a grassy blend. If you like grass, give this a whirl. Medium throw, good wear length.

Coconut, patchouli, amber, and whiffs of khus and blackcurrant. This is mainly a coconut-patch-amber blend on me. It's sort of deep, brown, coconutty goodness. Good throw and wear length.

Son of Gaia, slain by Hephastus with red-hot iron, incinerated by Zeus lightning bolts. Not a lucky fellow at all. A thunderclap of ozone and red peppercorn slicing through sweet vetiver, black patchouli, and opoponax. Mimas had a very strong grassy note to it - I think it was the ozone combined with the opoponax. It stays in that grassy cool place for a while, but the ultimate drydown is much warmer. I get the vetiver with hints of patchouli coming through, and its like lava erupting underneath a sheet of ice. Oddly enough, this ends up as a gender neutral/masculine blend on me, and I can see it being killer on the right guy. You know, someone who is outwardly cool, but a raging volcano underneath. Medium throw and wear length.

Minty lavender with whiffs of something powdery and almost like a violet note to it. It's a very cool, breezy lavender. Medium throw and wear length.

Cacao and vetiver. Okay, so this one is a super dark sludgy chocolate oil. I get a smoky cacao. This is the pure, bitter, cacao. You know, the stuff without the additional sugar, not an ounce of milk. It's like 99% cacao bitters. If you like your chocolate bitter, give this a whirl.

Oak, roses, and a whiff of leather and beeswax. Smells like a Victorian spiritualist house - ton of wood, roses, and a whiff of other things happening. Very atmospheric for a nice haunted parlour.

Dried pink rose petals, and a whiff of cream. This is a very pink roses blend, but dried roses. Very rosy. ROSES.

You hear a tittering of laughter: high-pitched and discordant, like bent, cracked silver bells clattering onto sheets of rusted metal. In the gloom of a dilapidated tent, the glow of small red eyes reflects on shining steel blades. Dust and dead, dry flowers, ice-cold skin, the swish of a metal blade, and a memory of honey. On wet, this smells like clean kids shampoo and then dries down to metal, a light floral musk, and a touch of medicinal honey. The Urchins smell like proper Victorian children. You know the type, the kind that enunciate correctly, and then make the governess break down in tears and attempt to end her life through overdosing in laudanum because her charges are horrible. But not in the acting out way, but in the way that someone with great elocution is able to question your qualifications and make you doubt yourself into a crisis. While telling you that the appropriate temperature for tea is piping hot, and nothing less than that for their exacting presence. Good throw and wear length.

This smells like patchouli, oak, leather, and a whiff of vetiver. It smells powerful and martial. Good throw and wear length.

Ella’s best friend and Pickle’s nemesis! A voracious lover of food and all things foodlike: warm milk chocolate and Canadian maple syrup with amber and caramel. This smells like milk chocolate and caramel. It's soft, gooey, and chocolately.

I mainly get a vanilla sandalwood skin musk. Very faint. This reminds me to Amaterasu v3, but honestly, with less throw. Almost non-existent on me. But hey, if you loved the Amaterasu v3, here's a good nice stand in substitute. I am gonna try this again, just in case it's me today. Because I really really liked what I was able to smell of it.

I get honeyed plumeria and a whiff of vanilla. This is a very feminine, pink blend to me. It's giving me a strong Regina from Mean Girls. Oh, you know the type. The ultra popular mean girl in high school, with her straight shiny blonde hair, who dared to cut anyone, ANYONE, if it suited her. And sometimes just for fun to see you bleed. Anything to show that she had the ability to hurt those around her. But, if you ever wished you could, for once in your life, scream BITCH, GET IN THE CAR, WE'RE GOING SHOPPING, give this a whirl. Slap that Mean Girls on streaming, and have a fun night screeching like a harpy. No judgement here. Except those shoes. Maybe we'll judge those shoes.

Dark sexy orchid. It is reminiscent of Our Lady of Pain, but its a deep dark orchid blend. I mainly get plum, orchid, and opium tar. Dark, slinky, lady of the night orchid. Medium throw and wear length.

I get tangerine, neroli, a whiff of woods and white musk. And then this DIES ON ME. Like dies. I get no throw, nothing. If I shove my nose against my wrist, I get whiffs of tobacco and neroli. *cries*

Crushed fig and white mint, white sandalwood, and black pepper. For me, this is mainly a fig with a peppery edge on wet. As it dries, I get more of a fig/sandalwood combination, and the pepperyness of the blend recedes to the background. It's a very rich blend, but I find fig blends to be very rich in general. Average throw and wear length.

So while not my first CB, this is the easiest to review. It's like sunshine in your pocket. Carry around some solar energy with you. You ever wanted to have a mini-sun in your pocket or cradle in your hand? Yup. That's what you get. It's like the physical manifestation of the TAL Sol oil. I actually feed it occasionally in the summer by putting it out to catch some rays. Bright, happy, expansive.

I get mainly daisies, sugar, and whiffs of pink pepper. This smells like a bouquet of daisies. Light, floral, pretty.

Smoke and gunpowder, leather and blackened daggers coated in a mixture of pitch and coal. The fact that there is no reviews from all of you BPAL leather lovers is criminal to me. This smells like a luxurious black leather, with enough of a chrome note and a touch of coal to keep it from being one dimensional. This smells like the aforementioned black leather coat that bad boy boyfriend that your parents are always warning you about - smoky, leathery, dangerous but 100% male. Sexy, masculine. All of my black leather lovers out there, holla at this one. Thank me later.

A "warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot." Tomoe Gozen was a fierce, noble, and courageous samurai, first captain, as well as a renowned beauty. She was an excellent swordswoman, famed for her riding ability and her skill at archery. She fought for Minamoto no Yoshinaka at Battle of Awazu, and her forces were defeated. Legend says she was seen holding the severed head of one of her foes on the battlefield, and vanished, never to be seen again. Red currant, golden amber, blackberry, honey, and pink pepper. Red currant, black berries, honey and a whiff of amber. This is a red fruit heavy blend. If you enjoy juicy red berries, give this a whirl.

Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. This smells like brandy, cream and a dash of spices. I got a tealight of this, so some of the scent is obviously dissipated due to the melting process but enough to give me an idea.

Copaiba balsam, black oudh, Ceylon cinnamon, vegetal musk, and ambrette seed. Oudh, greenish musk, and a touch of cinnamon and balsam. This one has a greener edge than I expected. It's actually a fairly gender neutral/masculine cologne type and I'm surprised at the number of scents this update has had for the fellas. This one is nice and soft, and very pleasant. I'm actually going to try this on mr. zee_zee. Good throw and wear length.

Venom smells like poisoned berry fruit with a whiff of jasmine and lime. I can tell that this is going to age gloriously and just get darker and smoother as it ages and everything sort of melds together. This smells sophisticated, dangerous, and totally femme fatale seductive. Dark sirens that sing you to your doom. This is like the perfume equivalent of "Remember that when you ask for dreams to come true, nightmares are dreams too." DANGEROUS PERFUME FOR DANGEROUS WOMEN.

Pumpkin, creamy vanilla, and a dash of nutmeg. It's a very non-buttery pumpkin and it makes me think of the rich darkness of pumpkin butter vs the sweet creamy flesh of pumpkin pie. I get some vanilla creaminess coming through. Delicious.

Cedar, sandalwood, with a resinous background. This smells like summer woods, cedar, and I get a fair bit of sandalwood. Smooth and gorgeous. Good throw and wear length,