zankoku_zen

Red musk, honey and patchouli. Which aren't really three of my favorite elements. The combination is lovely, and if you're a fan of any of the three components then this is a winner. Rich, dark, sultry.

Frakincense, oudh and myrrh. This is a dark, deep, animalistic resin blend with a hint of beeswax. It does sort of remind me to Sin, but deeper and darker. Not my type of blend at all, and slightly too masculine for me. It's like unleashing a predator.

2012 version Smooth, resinous patchouli with hints of vanilla and nutmeg. It's inky, spicy, and dark. I actually find it very wearable. Dark, resinous, mysterious.

Lavender, mango and oakmoss. The oakmoss gives it a very watery quality, but I find the lavender/mango mix to be a little odd. Fruity, sweet, watery.

Jasmine, leather and a teensy amount of fig. The jasmine is overwhelming, sharp... and the leather is very present. *sigh* PASS. 2021 Review of the Iole I prototype: So the prototype version is a huge hit of jasmine, with a whiff of fig. Thankfully, in this version I get no leather. The jasmine is still there, but this smells much more appropriate for a young girl. Just a BOAT LOAD of jasmine and then some.

Mango, spicy pumpkin and allspice. It's sweet, foodie, and kinda noms on me. I find that the allspice note is overwhelming on me, and I wish the mango was more prevalent. Tasty, spicy, mango.

Cigarettes, hazelnut, hints of coffee and wood. This definitely smells like that handsome guy in the library with the beat up leather jacket that smokes clove cigarettes outside. You've never really talked, but you know you'd love to.

Om nom nom nom. OMG. I think I love a blend with coconut in it. I get giant hits of lime, some coconut wafting in the breeze, ginger and mint. This is fruity, coconutty, fresh, and limey. Seriously, I'd get the cephalopod BO, and layer it with this and be this awesome coconut tropical drink. SO AWESOME.

Grave leaves, moss and wine. This to me smells like a creepy old house. No joke. There's no dust, rot, dirt or anything like that. But its more like the foliage has taken over the house. ... Spooky!

Nutty pumpkin, woods, maple syrup and a papery note. This one is a foodie, festive blend. Very happy. It's sort of in the same vein as Trick or Treat and Devil's Night, with the cheeky implicit notion of fun.

Hit of black pepper on wet, but it dissipates into pumpkin, frankincense and carnation. This is a resinous, slighly spicy pumpkin. Can definitely smell the carnation, and its the same spicy note as the recent Spanish Carnation SN. So yeah, carnations and pumpkins having spicy floral babies together.

Pumpkin, cinnamon and huge swirls of vanilla. Pumpkin can be kinda buttery on me, but the cinnamon keeps that in check, and the vanilla adds the necessary sweetness. It makes me think of the Starbucks seasonal pumpkin latte they have, minus the coffee. Fortunately on me, this is a very close skin scent, so I find it much more wearable. If the throw were bigger, I'd worry that is overly sweet or spicy. Spicy, sweet, vanilla pumpkin. I may need more of this in my life.

Soft roses and soft sandalwood. It's a delicate, rose skin scent. Simple, sweet, and kinda soapy.

Green grass, kinda sweet, and just... grassy. As it dries, I get more of a basil/green stem sort of whiff to it. The vibe is slightly aquatic, and I can see it when it ends up in a few Voodoo Blends. Absolutely lovely.

Dark aquatic, mysterious flowers, light opium and lotus swirling about. Hints of water and stone swirling about. Waters of Oblivion is a very hard scent to describe as its not overly aquatic or floral. It's got both aspects, but not in the way that we usually think of them. This is definitely a pool of water in the middle of the night, with the flowers opening up to the darkness (as opposed to the light of the moon). It's still, and kinda creepy and desolate in its very stillness. There's nothing soft or comforting about this blend. If the overarching vibe of the discontinued Salon blend Silence was the pristine moment of silence, then Waters of Oblivion is its sister in the sense that this is about the absolute lack of movement. Wow. Bravo - Beth, Brian and Labbies. This has been truly a scent experience.

Rich, dark musk, inky and spicy amber. This smells like an Alchemical Workshop. Its got spices, its got amber, its musk, its golden, hot, and full of ink. There's a certain quality to it that does remind me to India Ink SN in it. Spicy, inky, amber.

Cayenne, ginger, frankincense and amber. This is a spicy resin/amber blend. Red-hot, and spicy! Spicy, red, resinous.

Honey musk, cologne, hints of wine, leather and rose. The cologne is mostly present on wet, and dissipates in the drydown. This is a sophisticated, perfumey honey musk. Very sexy. Unisex, but a teensy bit more on the masculine side for me.

Tobacco, coconut, chamomile and white musk. Slighly powdery tobacco and coconut blend. Sort of tropical, sort of dusty, sort of cuddly. If you don't mind your cuddles to have a bit of a bite. If you dig tobacco AND coconut, give this a whirl.

Fig, rose and honey. This is a very honey and fig blend, kinda foody, and very rich. Tasty, but not for me.

Gardenia, jasmine and vanilla. This is a very rich, opulent gardenia/vanilla blend. The gardenia, as it tends to, gets the barest wet wool smell on me. Other than that, its a gorgeous blend.

Kelpy, salty incense. It smells watery and very silty, like Hatmehit, with a very rich incense background. Odd fish, this one.

Fig, orchid, tobacco honey. This is heady, sexy, and honey. It's like a skin scent... on sex.

Pimento, bitter clove and whiffs of caramel. This smells spicy and sweet at the same time, and it kinda breaks my head. It's sort of smoky, spicy, bitter.

Red musk, incense and autumn leaves. The red musk in this one is very different from Tears of Lilith. This one is a autumn red musk , bonfire smoke and dry leaves in the wind. It would actually be a fantastic room scent.