zankoku_zen

Musky chewy tobacco, amber and a just a touch of hay sugar. Honestly, this is what I wished Miss Fanny Phippany would have been like. I feel like they have the same vibe. Mr. zee_zee likened it to a high end tobacco shop. I like it, but very on the fence on how much I like it.

Provenance: Ebay Auction Win. Label: White prototype label, handwritten. "Pledged to the Dead, Pickman", with the not for sale. Description: This one is a lovely fougere with blonde woods in the background. I would put this more along the lines of Wilde, but slightly more smokiness and woodiness. I'm going to slather this on mr. zee_zee and see if he loves it (and given his picky skin chemistry, I can only hope it doesn't work for him). Vibe: darkly sophisticated. Actually I can see Dorian from Penny Dreadful wearing this. It seems light and clean, but sexy, and then you realize that is has some really dark undertones.

Bergamot, white sandalwood, touch of sage and a ton of white musk. It was white musk floral for us, and not really something we're enjoying.

Musk, amber, frankincense. I get a whiff of orange once I put it on, and I agree with Liber that this has a golden orange-red feel to it. This one is a very heavy/sophisticated oriental smell. It's elegant, sophisticated, and very amber/gourmand.

Strong honey and yellow cake. This one was foodier than I expected! Love the label though!

Black currant, peach, and a dab of sandalwood. This is a purple juicy fruity blend. Good throw and wear length.

Peach, amber and narcissus. Floral peachy amber. Good throw and wear length.

Sugary lemon candy and a touch of peach. Very cheery and happy. Low throw and wear length. Perfect for those of you that love candy blends.

Peach and oudh. I get a subtle peach, and a ton of oudh. Good throw and wear length.

Peach skin, teak and a touch of patchouli. The peach does a fair job of balancing book the wood notes and the patchouli. Making this super wearable. I'm very surprised. Low throw and good wear length.

Oh man, so this is mainly a warm saffron, frankincense with a dab of patchouli and amber. On wet, I get tinges of the chypre and ylang ylang, but they burn off to an warm ambery-frankincense blend. Super well blended. Medium throw and wear length.

Alright, I wasn't entirely sure that I would like this, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I do. Neither gardenia nor white musk are good notes on me. So for me, this is a slightly lavender, gardenia and iris with a tinge of white tea. It smells like clean white florals, but the lavender gives it a nice dreamy edge. It smells nice and sophisticated, like you just had a blow out at a salon. Very appropriate for the office/work.

Lavender microglitter with flecks of larger teal blue glitter and a magenta sheen. This one I needed three coats and daylight to appreciate how gorgeous this is. Honestly, I can see an Unseelie fairy princess being totally into this claw polish.

Okay, so this may be my favorite of the Dragon*Con claw polishes. In the bottle, its this copper with a holo green glimmer on the edges. I put on three coats to get a full effect. The second one came out with the copper tone which in some lights looks brown like the October claw polish in the deepest shades but more golden and with enough of green shimmer in it with gold flecks. Occasionally, you get a red flare. For me, this is the bastard child of Butter London's Scuppered and ILNP's Electric Carnival (Electric Carnival is that red to green shift, as opposed to a copper to green shift). It's all very fine micro-gillter

Dark woods, burgundy pitch (which I am assuming means WINE SAP), touch of berries. This is if someone dumped a ton of red wine on a forest floor before they just flung themselves down for a drunken nap. Woodsy, foresty and red wine for everyone. DRUNK PARTY IN THE WOODS, ANYONE? Great throw and wear length.

Roses, sandalwood, and moss. This one is an odd one for me. It smells like a slightly masculine Shunga sandalwood blend. Light, rosy sandalwood. Low throw and wear length.

This patchouli reminds me to the note in Silkybat. It's soft and woody, and the wildflowers are dusted on. So it reminds me to a fresh, floral patchouli. Very feminine and wearable. Low throw and wear length on me though. It sticks very close to the skin.

Cashmere, leather, and a hint of cardamom. Honestly, this makes me think of Ren Faires, with wool and leather abounding. It's soft, cozy, with decent throw and wear length. I do get a soft brown impression as a color association.

Musky rose, touch of amber and leather. If you were looking for a feminine leather, and liked Whip but wished it were softer, give this a whirl. Good throw and wear length.

This one is a nice grassy blend. Very summery, fresh and idealic. It actually makes me think of the green stem sap smell you get in some Rose Red blends. The drydown goes a teensy bit of a dryer sheet on me.

Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry. It smells like fruity sherbet or Jolly Rancher flavors. If you love sugary and fruity, this is for you. Good throw and wear length.

Lemony chypre, and a touch of smoke, and something that is grounding and earthy. And hell, I shouldn't like this as much as I do, but I do. And I'm off to slather this on mr. zee_zee because he's a Virgo, and hopefully it will work wonders on him. *fingers crossed*

Dry aldehyde, root beer tinged sweet resins. This one is a little odd. It smells sort of masculine, and like a dark starry night came crashing on your rootbeer float. So space floats? Literally.

Sweet foodie custardy vanilla with a tinge of plastic. Good throw and wear length.

The Sea of Crises. A discordant, clashing shock of petitgrain, rosemary, and fir needle, roiling with fiery mandarin and acerbic lime. Bright pop of lime, hits of mandarin and drops of petitgrain and rosemary. So this is discordant. It's a clash of lime, mandarin and other herbally smelling things. It's sharp, and stabs your nose and in general I'd say that this is the perfume equivalent of being roiled by sea waves. You know, when you dive your head down and suddenly you don't know which way is up anymore. On wet, it was almost unpleasant because of how strident it is. After it's dried for about 45 minutes, it calms down a lot but not enough that it doesn't just hit you. It just doesn't punch your daylights out.