zankoku_zen

Dragon's blood with a pinch of coconut and vanilla. So perhaps like a coconutty version of Dragon's Milk? That's sort of what it makes me think of. Comforting, warm, dragon's blood.

Dandelions, violets, and darker notes of stone, clay and sage. This one has a fresh green edge, but as you sniff it more you realize that there's good bit of stone and clay underneath. You get the sense that the greens and wild flowers have had a chance to grow wild and nature being nature has taken some of the stone and just started to sort of tear it apart. It's good, fresh, and violets. Honestly, this would make a fantastic room scent.

Peach IX is more of a traditional peachy/rose blend that I suspected. This smells like peach-scented roses. With a fair amount of vanilla body powder thrown in. It's old-fashioned, pink, and very girlie. Honestly, there's something here that reminds me to a Victoria's Secret scent... I think it was Body? It was big for a while. I think it's the vanilla cream + rose that is making it seem like that. So totally better than that, but it's got a very feminine commercial vibe to it. So, I'd say that this is a great started BPAL to introduce anyone who is afraid of going indie. Meaning, it's comfortable enough to be recognizable but of a much higher quality than the other stuff they were wearing.

So, again love the smell of peach, don't ever actually wear it. This one smells amazing. Snowy peaches plus a touch of green tea. Ugh, its so fresh. On wet, I got a slap of grapefruit which just added to the citrus bright freshness. This smells like the freshest peach. Ever. Just fresh. Peachy. Bright. So torn. I don't wear peaches, but maybe for this one I would? I know, you'd think that a sultry sexy peach like Peach XIV would turn my head, but its this peach I want to just permaglue to my nose and keep inhaling.

This smells mainly of apricot, touch of vanilla, red pepper and amber. It's more of a dry, sophisticated fruity blend. I get only a touch of juicy peach on wet. On dry, it really just smells like apricots with the other elements. I don't really get lime or cistus.

I want to echo so much of Ina Garten Davita's review. I don't really do foodie, chocolate or cream blends. They typically don't work for my skin chemistry. Candy Butcher 2015 is a dark chocolate/cocoa blend, with enough cream to make it creamy and bring a hint of sweetness to it. It's toothsome, gourmand, and delicious. It's like being covered in the most delicious and delectable cocoa powder. In feel, it reminds me a lot to Lump of Coal. It just feels luxurious. UGH. Delicious.

UGH. Event Horizon. I really picked this up because I love the name. Also, mr. zee_zee is obsessed with black holes. No joke. Event Horizon is a true inky black. The first coat went on a little purpley. The second coat brought out the true black and the supertiny silver microglitter. I am really digging the silver microglitter in this black polish. Not enough to draw attention to itself, but enough to sort of perk up the black and keep it from being one-dimensional. The formula was thinner, almost watery, compared to the formula of Temple of Dreams. It covered and spread great though.

Oddly enough, I found the formula for Temple of Dreams to be much more thick than say Event Horizon, which was watery to me. Temple of Dreams is a nice deep slate blue/deep navy blue with blue microglitter. To me, Temple of Dreams is the nail polish equivalent of dark wash jeans. You know they are blue, but its super duper dark blue. I'm actually surprised at how much it looks like a black nail polish. If I didn't have Event Horizon on for comparison purposes, I would say its a black nail polish with blue glitter. I used two coats and the coverage was fine. I am loving the microglitter in this polish, its spectacular. ETA: On a color perspective, it sort of reminds me to the blue in eletric eel's skin. There's somethingly deeply marine/oceany about this color.

So I dabbed some Sol on because I felt like I needed a burst of solar energy, and I didn't have Sunlight around, so... why not go to the source? The vibe is very different. Sol feels more robust and forceful. Sort of like doing core exercises. Sunlight, while full of solar energy, is much more gentle. Definitely expansive, but in a different way from Jupiter. Jupiter has a bit of swagger, whereas Sol is simply... big. Part of me likens Sol to shotgunning an energy drink. Suddenly you're very here, you're very awake, and you're very present.

Sugary lemon, rose, orange blossom. Touch of honey. It's a honey-touched lemony orange blossom. I get a whiff of mint as well. I think this one smells very similar to the Gennivre version. Sweet, feminine, floral.

2015 version Antonino returns mostly the same to me. I get a plummy/figgy coconut and a touch of citrusy white musk and some smoky vetiver to round it out. It's essentially a very fig/plum/coconut, which makes it toggle between deep purple and white in my mind. It's fresh, fruity, and refreshing. Sort of the same way that being clean shaven is refreshing. I'm always torn on Antonino. I really enjoy some of the notes, but if I recall correctly, I never really actually wore this. So I think, alas, this time I will also pass on it.

Oh god, I wish mr. zee_zee had my skin chemistry because he would smell amazing. AMAZING. So yeah, combined together this smells like a sophisticated musky cologne. I get musk, sandalwood and just enough vanilla to sweeten it up at the top but enough tobacco to pitch this straight into masculine territory. This is like discovering that sweet, adorably cute geeky boy is hung like a porn star. It's that transition between "cute and cuddly" and "do me on the kitchen table, now."

So this was peachy, fruity, and I get a fair bit of vanilla and sandalwood. This is bright, fruity, and sexy. Very playful. So very torn. I don't typically wear peach blends although I like them, strawberry is typically a non-starter but works on this blend, and I love me some vanilla and sandalwood. This really does smell amazing. I am having to balance that with how much I'd actually wear this. I tend to prefer my sexy blends to have a darker edge (hallo, Voodoo Queen).

I thought I would never say this but... OMG VANILLA YOU ARE RUINING EVERYTHING. On wet, I got a big splash of coffee and coffee beans, and it has dried down to a pillowy foamy vanilla with caramel and just a whiff of coffee. Despite not having a cotton/linen note listed, I get a very strong impression of that. I smell like the best pillow ever. Which would be great except for the fact that I wanted to smell like the best coffee ever. This may amerit more testing. I refuse to give up after one try. I'll let it rest today and tomorrow, swirl it around some more and test it again.

Clove, smattering of patchouli, peach and walnuts. It sort of smells woody, peachy, and with a touch of wine. It was smokier, woodier, and sexier than I expected. Very sophisticated. Remember how Pele is like a clean sophisticated hair gloss in my review? This is like Pele's sister. The kind that smokes clove cigarettes and has sex in the sitting room prior to having guests over for dinner.

For me this was mostly lemon on the first second after the spritz, and then it dried to a slightly herbal, touch of grapefruit and touch of rosemary lemongrass. It was citrusy and clean, but something in the combination moved too close to dryer sheets. Really nice dryer sheets, but still. Smells like clean laundry. Honestly, I'd spray the zee_zee kid's room with this after football practice if I thought I could get away with it.

This totally smells like TKO. Which means sugary lavender marshmallows. In my particular opinion, I think I prefer First Love Fades Too because while also a heavy lavender blend, it is less sugary. But if you love TKO, and wanted a TKO spray, well, there you go.

I am really digging the new claw polishes. Formula-wise - easy to deal with, great coverage. I only used two coats. Good texture, and pretty resilient. Color wise: Definitely a lilac, with the little blue glitter giving it some sparkle. I paired this up with Butter London's Sunbaker nail polish (which looks like Samhain) for a very autumnal/Weenie nail polish look.

#13 This one is a nice manly fougere, and I think it has a bit of brown leather in it. It smells warm, slightly rough as opposed to a polished and cool man's cologne, and I definitely think there's brown leather in it. It's soft, and kinda cuddly. It makes me think of suede. Overall, it's masculine veering toward gender neutral but a woman could pull this off. Low throw. This isn't to mr. zee_zee's cup of tea, so sadly its off to the swap pile.

The Moonjim was a prototype from Pickman Gallery, that was available to sniff during Willcall back in 2011. So on wet, the most prominent note to me is like a mandarin zest/satsuma note. It smells orangey, citrusy, and with a slight 'Pez' feel. As it dries, I get more of a sugared candy/sugared violet note that combines in. It dries down to a sugary/candy with what I do believe is violet, and a touch of something 'fresh'. In my mind, this sort of reminds me to Candy Phoenix, and Faith because of the sugared violets component. It also feels vibe-wise to the Ta-ta which I think was the Pickman with the roasted marshmallow note in it. Previous will call reviews noted either bergamot or grape, neither of which I really get. I'm surprised at how much I like this blend given that I'm not into candy blends, and definitely not a fan of sugared violets. I really hope something similar gets released at some point.

Milky carnation, with a hint of bergamot. Yup, this is Alice. There's something really comforting about Alice as a hair gloss. I sort of wish it was either a lotion or bath oil, that way I could slather it on.

I wasn't actually expecting to like Florentine Iris. I agree its a classic white floral - it's a slightly powdery, watery blue, classic without being old ladyish. It sort of reminds you to violets - but much more delicate, slightly more aquatic, and with just enough powderiness. It's slightly sweet, cool, and sticks close to the skin.

CDLXI Watermelon pink spun sugar cotton candy plastic. My guess is either the sugar/vanilla note is the type that goes plasticky on me. Previous reviewed by Ina Garten Davita

XCIII This one smells kinda like a cross between wine and the stem of a wine sap apple. There's something green in this blend, and a dash of spice. Previously reviewed by OdetteOdile

Scrooge's Apartment is one of the more atmospheric blends I've ever smelled. It's cool, somewhat dark, and smells fancy. It smells like a fancy Edwardian house that no one has lived in for a while. It smells like dark, formal woods, a light layer of dust, rich velvet trappings. "Like, here, I have this super old summer house that I inherited that I only rarely visit even if it looks like Downtown Abbey. Sorry about the super old furniture and the dark wood ambiance, I've been meaning to remodel into something more contemporary but my great grandfather brought it over with William the Conqueror and honestly, not sure if its worth the bother" - sort of vibe. Honestly, if you have a SO and ever want to spruce up their place, I would spray this. It smells like wealth, class, and manly.