zankoku_zen

Hay and soft resins. This one is mainly golden hay with a touch of soft sweet resins. Medium throw and wear length. Golden, comfy, and hay.

Fresh, powdery green chypre. The powderiness for me is the violet note coming out. This is actually very gender neutral and depending on the chemistry, this could be smashing on a guy that isn't afraid of a floral note in their cologne. Average throw, good wear length.

Lilac, pink pepper, and a touch of lemon peel. This one is a fresh lilac, with the pink pepper lending a hint of spice to it, and with a fresh citrus zest note at the very top. Low throw and average wear length though. Pity, since I was really enjoying the lilac in this.

Pink sugary rose cotton candy. It smells both powdery and rosy to me. Medium throw and wear length.

Sticky tart lemon (like from Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat!) and orange and strawberry candy. If you're into candy blends, this one is a straight up sugar rush in lemon, orange, and a touch of strawberry. Fun, fun, fun. Good throw and wear length.

Ginseng, ginger, woody, and citrussy. There's a weird rootiness to it. Good throw and wear length.

Sugary cherry/strawberry with musky redness. Sweet, playful, candy. Good throw and wear length.

Creamy beeswaxy vanilla and spice... and OMG ARE YOU A SNAKE OIL BLEND I CAN WEAR? So far, I am 15 minutes in and by this point, SO has turned to a flaming plastic funk of death on me. I was expecting this to be worse even because BPAL's cream note also ends up being some sort of horrible flaming episode of plastic funk on me. .... Jesus, is this what Snake Oil is supposed to smell like? Or a reasonable facsimile of it? Because I didn't get it before. .... I get it now. HOLY SHIT.

Pink honeyed rose powder. On me, this pretty much almost disappears into a cloud of rose baby powder. Soft, feminine, rose powder. Low throw and wear length.

Blue musk, amber and oudh. On wet, I got a hit of tobacco and pine, but then the musk, amber and oudh make their presence known. Sort of dreamy wintery blend. I would peg this as a slightly pine-y blue musk and amber blend mainly. Medium throw and wear length.

Strong spruce, sleet and a touch of berry. As it dries, I get way way more of the berry note in it. This reminds me to a more masculine Skadi. Very Yule-ish. Gender-neutral. Great throw and wear length.

Lavender, sandalwood, touch of vanilla and jasmine. I really get a most herbal vanilla lavender with a sandalwood backdrop. Oddly Victorian somnolent. I really enjoy BPAL's lavender atmosphere blends and this is no exception. I may have to get a full one of this!

Pink tea roses and buttery shortbread cookies. Rosy, buttery, cookie. Medium throw and wear length.

This reminds me a lot to Whip. Black Leather, red roses, and a sly whiff of almond. Good throw and wear length.

A ton of cacao with a curl of red roses around it. This one is very foodie, ever so slightly rosy. More like a Box of Chocolate scent. Medium throw, average wear length.

White roses and ambergris. Slightly salty, musky rose. Medium throw and wear length.

Yellow rose with tinges of spice, honey, and patchouli. This one is a complex rose and like if Plunder and Spellbound had a rose love child. Good throw and wear length.

Red jammy roses with a whiff of cherry. This is definitely a red rose with cherry elements. Lush, big, female. Good throw and wear length.

Pink rock candy, strawberry cream, and splashes of gin, vermouth, and grenadine. The atmosphere spray is boozier in my opinion than the hairgloss. I get the gin, vermouth, grenadine and a touch of pink sugariness. It's definitely more of a cleaner smell, with maybe a hint of strawberry sugar, but I get mostly pink gin. I think I honestly prefer it as a hair gloss. Average throw and wear length.

The Fortunes of Those Who Protect the Defenseless A hymn to give strength and good luck to those who safeguard others: black peppercorn, bitter almond, patchouli, and benzoin. Patchouli, sweetened by almond and benzoin, kicked up with black pepper. This is a dark, spicy patchouli to me. Good throw and wear length. If you enjoyed Nasty Woman, this is a more golden but no less fierce patchouli.

Plum oudh and wine. Honestly, it makes me think of a super floral plum sake. But more plummy and perfumey. Good throw and wear length.

This one is for the lads! Leather, fig, and cardamom. This has the same brown leather note that I tend to associate with Quincy Morris blends, but honestly the closest approximation that I can think of right now might be the male version of Ms. Fanny Phippany. Kinda dirty, leathery, and rolling around in pleasure. Medium throw and wear length.

Almond, rose, myrrh, touch of honey, wool, and musk. This smells mainly of almond-rose, but as you sniff closer you realize how incredibly complex the background is. It smells female, redolent, and comforting. Good throw and wear length.

Cobwebby prototype. Last seen available via etsy. No scent description given. All LU starting prototypes are for the Last Unicorn series. My guess is that AT stands for Amorous Tree. This one is a slightly different version. It's got mist, citrus, a touch of florals, some menthol or camphor, and underneath a woodsy/cedary note. I'm mainly smelling the mist-lemon-menthol on wet though. It's a soft, pleasant, sort of sunshiney blend though. Good throw and wear length.

Oh god, I can't believe I didn't update this. I've owned a previous bottle of this and then let it go. According to my notes, this one is a foodie/dough version, more almond and cinnamon than the original. It was soft and gourmand vanilla, with just a smidge of cocoa.