zankoku_zen

Dark, sharp, and smells like musky cedar. Yup, musky cedar. PASS.

Blueberry and the same slushy snow note from Monastery in the Mountains and Ice Queen that I love. Ultimately, it dries down to Monastery in the Mountains - meaning ALL snow, no fruit. Cold, snowy, ozoney.

2012 version This smells very similar to 2009 - in that I again get plum, guava and violet. The caramel note is a little stronger this time, and I get whiffs of the pimento berry. Spicy, fruity, violet.

2012 version This one smells more like red currant and booze. So in essence, this smells like red wine/merlot to me, except fruitier and sweeter. Red, fruity, wine.

2012 version Lemon, yuzu, hints of basil that turn into a really CLEAN laundry detergent. I mean, seriously, your clothes would smell awesome if this was a detergent. .... Or a soap! It would smell awesome as a soap. No lie. Perhaps hyperdimensional holiday hits end with a nice shower?

Oooh, the perfect evil kitty tamer. (Please see my Yule cat review.) This smells like a happier Yule Cat - its got that cedar/civet musk going on, but it's gentler and nicer this time around. Hints of citrus. So, this is the feral kitty that peed on your couch. Except THIS YEAR, he/she/it (because does evil have a gender?) it decided that it's going to be NICE to you, instead of scaring the living daylights out of you.... because it's an even bigger mind f*ck. So, yes, this is the smell of evil kitties being nice. Except you know that the nice won't last. But you can't help yourself. The kitty smells nice, and is being nice, and you know it's feral and will probably chew your hand off, but you pet it anyway. .... Evil, sneaky bastard.

Ozone citrus candy. This smells like lemon candy, with an airy quality that smells fruity that you get from a scent like 51. In some ways it makes me think of Tempest + Batty.

Orange Fruitcake. This smells like the 2007 Fruitcake, with an orange overlay to it. It smells almond marzipan cake with oranges. Foodie, christmassy, orange.

2012 version Egg nog, egg, cherry pink candy. And something that I think smells almost floral --- which I think is pink carnation. It's got a spice/floral edge to it and it smells like carnations, but not like the Spanish Red Carnation SN. Eggy, floral, spicy. If you like carnations, give this a whirl. It took me a moment to recognize this note, but I have to say that this smells sweet and makes the carnation note more wearable.

Lavender, almond and thyme. This is a creamy, lavender. Very soft, very comforting with just a touch of sweetness.

Ginger, resin and honey. That's what this smells like. If you like honey or ginger give this a whirl. It pitches slightly floral on me during the drydown. Soft, spicy, ginger.

Brown sugar, bread pudding, custard, and cinnamon. This is foodie, dark with maple overtones and very toothsome. Fantastic drydown. It's a little strong on wet, but very cuddly on the drydown.

Tamarind and tonka dries down to an amber, tonka and patchouli blend. Resinous, warm, amber.

So I get creamy bananas on wet, with a hint of a white honeyed floral (I swear, at some point I actually thought VIOLETS), and then it dries down to a smoky beeswax and resins, still with a tinge of bananas... which makes me think there's something combining with the beeswax. Makes me think of Light of Men's Lives.

I have been extremely fortunate in receiving a tester of this single note, which was offered as a prize from a contest run by Chumley the Ogre circa 2005. I have to say that the SN has aged well. It smells like a date, but more floral and it actually brings to mind 'figs' to me. It's not necessarily fruity or foodie, but more of the fruit-floral variety. Kinda sweet, and very wearable.

Honey, pom, myrrh and plum. This is a fruity honey scent that mellows to a honey and myrrh scent. Very close to the skin, very sexy. For all you honey lovers, don't miss out on this one!

Chamomile, something green, hints of something that occasionally smells like freesia, and perhaps a touch of honeysuckle (which means on me this sort of smells like hair spray). Underneath, there is perhaps a hint of coconut skin, as I get a mild suntan lotion vibe underneath.

This does have vetiver in it, not the same kind that dark as the Haitian Vetiver SN 2012. It has hints of cedar... and sandalwood. There's a hint of floral menthol to it. This actually reminds me a little to the original Capricorn 2004. Although the reason that I love Capricorn 2004 is vetiver smells like grapefruit for me. I actually sort of enjoy this. Vetiver lovers, take note. I find this to be a very soft, kinda cuddly vetiver that smells dark and woody. No crazy smoke. Or bacon.

I think I may have to try this again since it was very faint and light on me. I got neroli, apple blossom, and then it dissipated. There's slight sandalwood left... But yeah, my skin just ate this up. ETA: Okay, so this time, I put a little more on. On wet, I get the neroli, apple blossom and the vanilla orchid. It's sweet, slightly sour and an odd combination on my skin. It dries to a vanilla orchid with a hint of sandalwood to it. The drydown I find almost makes up for the weirdness on wet, but not quite. The vibe however reminds me to Miss Jenny or Miss Ida, from the NYCC blends.

I have to say Frank Burns to me, has the same vibe as Badgers. It's a splash of rum, and lots of sweet tobacco. This is the masculine version of Badgers. Fabulous.

For Limited Editions, see HERE General Catalogue Ars Amatoria - 61/61 Aperetos Eros Ave Maria Gratia Plena Bathsheba Bien Loin D'Ici Bordello Brinsingamen Carnal Casanova Debauchery Defutata Delight Depraved Desire Endymion Fascinum Forbidden Fruit Golden Priapus Harlot Hetairae Hunger Jezebel Kabuki La Bella Au Bois Dormant Lady of Shallot Le Petit Mort Le Serpent Qui Danse L'Ecole des Filles Les Bijoux Libertine Lilium Inter Spinas Lolita Loralei Love's Torment Lucy's Kiss Maiden Muse Nefertiti O Perversion Prurience Psyche Queen Of Sheba Rapture Ravenous Salome Saturnalia Satyr Sen Non Satiata Seraglio Siren Snake Oil Spellbound Suspiro Temptation To a Woman Vicomte De Valmont Vixen Wanda Wanton Whip Whoso List to Hunt Ars Draconis - 11/11 Dragon's Blood Dragon's Bone Dragon's Claw Dragon's Eye Dragon's Heart Dragon's Hide Dragon's Milk Dragon's Musk Dragon's Reverie Dragon's Tears Ladon Ars Moriendi - 21/21 Dance of Death Danse Macabre Darkness Deep in Earth Embalming Fluid Epitaph Eternal Ghost Haunted House of Night Jazz Funeral Les Fleurs Du Mal Midnight Nocturne Phantom Wooer Reaper and the Flowers Sheol Thanatopsis Twilight Wings Of Azrael Zombi Atomic Luau Lounge - 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Autumn Lace, you are such a conundrum. I barely get, if at all, any linen notes. So you smell like spilled tea, leaves, and some sort of musk. ... Yeah, that's it. Tea, leaves and some smoky sweetness. Utterly bland, and very forgettable on me.

Dark pine, hints of amber, citrus, menthol and men's cologne. In some ways, this smells like a darker Snow Moon (less snow, more pine forest, crank up the evil in the dead of a winter's night a few notches). Pine, masculine, dark.

Warm, buttery pumpkin that dries down to a sweet vanilla with hints of pumpkin, and touches of sweet clove. I can see WHY so many people love this. This is nice, in a sweet, foodie sort of way.

Wool, dark resins and pitch. It smells sort of like FOREST, FIRE, EARTH, MAN. (yes, all in capslock). There's something almost 'sweet' to the smoky aspect of it all. In fact, this is one awesome smelling Druid. The kind that you wouldn't mind having sex with during some pagan holiday, outside by a fire, in the middle of a forest, against an oak tree. Because you know he's magic. And it's going to be a magical time. So, resinously dark, slight wool (like the faint wool smell of a REAL wool sweater) comfiness, and smoky sweetness.