zankoku_zen

Herbal piney resin that dries down to a smooth, sandalwood-type powder. It sort of makes me think of cedar at times. Very intense. Woody, sandalwood, powdery.

So this starts of as a strong cucumber/basil oil (and it even smells oily) as opposed to water. There's something that smells almost bitter to me. On wet however, the cucumber/basil aspect of it is amazing.

Cinnamon powder. That's what this smells like. Cinnamon + baby powder.

Bay rum, honey, hints of wood and vanilla. You know, I think this one you could ACTUALLY wear without need of any other thing layered on it. It's got a touch of spice, slightly foodie, and a nice slightly masculine base.

Ah, this one does really make me think Ice Queen, the male version. It's got that same slushy sweet snow note that Monastery in the Mountains, Cloister Graveyard in the Snow and Ice Queen have. It's got pine, and menthol (esp. on wet) and berries. It smells like a male ice forest fairy. ... OR in Game of Thrones references... this smells like the Others. Icy, snowy, stark landscapes, brittle, frozen pine forests, and blood red berries. Winter is coming. ... (in both senses...) Ohhhhhhh yeahhhhhhh.

I used this on my hair over Thanksgiving Break (wore it to Thanksgiving) and it was FANTASTIC. Fresh almost floral fig, and hints of delicate sandalwood. It's very understated, and has a tremendous STAYING power. Hands down, my favorite hair gloss.

So on wet, there's this sweet caramel scent with a shot of rum in it. It dries to a soft, almond/vanilla with just a splash of rum. Sweet, slightly foodie, slightly boozy.

#17 Buttery cookie, a la Sugar Cookie. If you had asked me to test this without giving me a scent name/description, I would have said that this was Sugar Cookie.

CLERIC Rose amber, frankincense, myrrh, champaca flower, Peru balsam, cistus, palisander, cananga, hyssop, and narcissus absolute. This review is for the prototype of Cleric. Still resinous, and this one has a slight peppery edge which actually turns out to be cedar on the drydown. I think there's also some dragon's blood resin in it, since the color of the oil is slightly reddish. But yeah, resinous, slightly woody, and kinda spicy. Very different from the released version. I actually enjoy both types of Cleric - released and unreleased. And uhh... that just sounded dirty.

LEATHER! For me, this is a softer black leather than DeSade, (black rather than brown because of the 'steel'/metallic component to it), and slight spicyness which I imagine is the 'blood' component. Warmer than DeSade, a little harder edged than Mastermind (whichever the Grendel blend is that is ultra-leather). Not my type of blend at all, but if you enjoy leather...

Texture: hard candies, made the old fashioned way. Meaning: you have to suck on these. ALOT. Autumn Cider: Apple cider, hints of cinnamon and allspice, light citrus blush. I found this pleasant, but the flavor was a little muted. Ghoulish: Very strong almond/amaretto and coconut, and then cherries. It's sweet, but with a hint of saffron. Enjoyed this much more than Autumn Cider. Blue Pumpkin Floss: Pumpkin, cotton candy and blackberry. Complex, sweet without being too sweet, and pretty strong. Out of the three, I have to say that Ghoulish was the strongest in flavor, but none of the candies were so sweet that you were sick of the taste before they were gone.

Sand, bamboo, opium tar, oudh. This is a warm, woody base that contrasts with some cool wispy top notes. Odd, warm, cool.

Spice, tea, amber and a hint of leather. The tea note is pretty strong, and its very well blend and unusual. Tiny hint of licorice. Warm, spicy, tea.

Lavender, tobacco, and ozone. This sort of smells like Mysterious Warning on me, minus the leather note. It's more like Mysterious Warning Lite, and I can see the ozone note being problematic for a few people. The drydown is a little different, with the tobacco and ozone sort of sticking around. But, for those of you that miss Mysterious Warning, Behemoth may be a suitable replacement.

Plum, currant and pumpkin. I seem to amp up plum, so it balances the pumpkin very well. It's fruity, foodie, sweet.

On wet, this smells like some amazing orange cookies that I used to eat when I was little. It's foodie, orangey, and cakey. As it dries, the citrus recedes and I get more of the pumpkin/petitgrain. But for the first few minutes, I can virtually picture the little orange cookie, with its artificial coloring and the sugar cookie texture.

Dark chocolate, amber, patchouli, and dragon's blood. The chocolate note is soft and cocoa-like, a la Gelt, and smells sweet, with a touch of amber and patchouli to ground it. It definitely smells sweeter on wet, and almost like there is a light cherry note to it. To me, it really does smell like amazing dark chocolate, particularly on the drydown. It's a very soft, chocolate blend after about an hour. At this point, its almost if I got cocoa powder on my wrist.

Heavy on the black cherry, fruit gums, and a whiff of vetiver and patchouli. Jasmine is thankfully a no show. Fun, fruity, rooty.

Vetiver, pepper, tumeric and cinnamon. On a bed of sandalwood. Indian spices + sandalwood = Indian spice market. Savory, spicy, fiery.

Hints of lettuce, watery pale green musk, and a hint of moonflower. This is one is an ethereal, pale, and watery musky blend. It's a bit citrusy on me, and very fresh. For those gals out there that are a fan of aquatic cologne's (it sort of reminds me to Dolce and Gabbana's Light Blue, more in vibe than anything else, really). It does evoke deep, watery blue Mediterranean waters. Light, pale, ethereal.

Crisp green aquatic men's cologne. I swear I've smelled the commercial equivalent of this, but I can't put my finger on the name. Definitely a men's cologne though. On me its mainly the oudh and zdravetz, and my guess the sandalwood is grounding both of these components. Fresh, green, manly.

Green, pulpy vines, hint of water, soil and maybe pumpkin? This smells like watery, rooty greenery with touches of ivy. Green, aquatic, vines.

Pumpkin, coffee, and patchouli. All very strong and fighting for dominance. So much so that sniffing this actually brings out the sneezes. So I'm going to say that this is a PASS for me.

UNFFFFFFFF. Badgers. You are a mystery to me. On wet, you smell like a citrusy patchouli and the sweetness of the vanilla and honeysuckle makes me reminisce fondly of Jingo-Kogo. As you dry down, the leather and patchouli mix more together, the citrus note disappears but you remain a sweet, sexy blend. Very sexy. I don't think however I'll need more than a half bottle of it. But hot damn, this is fabulous. ETA: Who am I kidding? Badgers quickly turned into an obsession and something I reach for. Compulsively. Executing my previous Queens from the top. And one of the few bottles I hoard.

Haitian Vetiver starts as the scary bacon smoky vetiver, and then dries down to a green, smoky, vetiver (you know scorched grass type). I'd be very interested to see how this ages. By itself this is WAY too overwhelming on me, but I can totally see using this to make something smokier and more interesting.