zankoku_zen

Creamy rose. On wet, the smell was actually kinda overwhelming. Afterwards it lingers like a light creamy vanilla with a touch of rose.

Patchouli, dark musk, hint of sweetness. I don't really get cacao out of this. Dark, musky, patchouli.

Ginger, saffron and vanilla cream. It's fizzy, spicy, sour and creamy all at the same time. Especially on wet. The ginger on me is particularly predominant. It's like it comes out and bats you in the nose and face. (Hee. Puns.) I find it much more wearable on the drydown. Ginger, creamy, spicy.

Sweet orchid, hint of melon sweetness and incense. My skin eats this up.

Heavy, aggressive dirty patchouli and sandalwood. It's an odd mix - the sandalwood gives it a clean edge, the patchouli smells dirty and kinda furry. Masculine, heavy, aggressive.

Fig, vanilla, pear, and a hint of quince. This is a very figgy/fruity blend. It's a little odd, and I think that may be the chocolate coming through. I'm very torn on this being too sweet, or actually kinda wearable.

Tangerine and vanilla cream. This is citrusy and super sweet. It's got a creamy vanilla to edge. Like a Dreamsicle candy.

Hrm, having tried all of the Salon at some point, the ones that stand out in my mind are: Lantern Ghost of Oiwa Bat Garden Path with Chickens I enjoyed both Bat-Woman and Silence, but both were discontinued.... I've been meaning to re-try the Cup of Death, as I remember that being an excellent peach/sandalwood blend. Oh, decisions.

Pink pepper, honey and beeswax. On wet, it had a highly aggressive, dry heat, slightly spicy hot desert quality like Sunbird and one of the other Egyptian protos (Set, Sekhmet?). As it dries, I can smell some of the components more distinctively. Hot, aggressive, sweet honey. Honey with a bite.

Cucumber, ozone and a tinge of smoke. As it dries, it gets warmer and the musk comes out more, the cucumber recedes, and I get a more musky sweet blend, with hints of melon and ozone. It's an odd mix of warm musk, smoke, and sweet. I really don't know what to do with it.

Lemon, plus hints of iris and currant. As it dries, the iris and white musk become more predominant but there is still a wisp of berry sweetness. I am beginning to suspect that my skin does NOT like iris, even though I have an intellectual predilection for it. Lemon Scented Sticky Bat - but more floral, and less lemon.

Jasmine + swampy moss. On wet, there's a hint of orange but then it becomes a GIANT jasmine monster, which seems to grab you and drag your skin through a swamp to get to its EVIL jasmine lair. Fortunately, after a few hours, the monster calms down, and its almost tolerable (if you can forget/forgive the entire skin hijacking experience. If you do, you have a more forgiving heart than I do). Verdict: Southern Belle with a perchance for jasmine perfume dragged through the Bayou in need of rescue. I'll take a pass on it.

This one is an effervescent, sort of furry, blend. It's got tendrils of violet and bergamot, anchored by patchouli and ambrette seed. I get a whisp of tobacco and chocolate peppermint. On wet, it's much lovelier and cuddly, but that sort of burns off quickly. Sadly, this sticks close to the skin and two hours later, I can't even tell that I applied any as my skin just eat this up.

Smoky, incensey blend with a splash of citrus. It dries down to a dirty, smoky amber and sandalwood blend. Dark, smoky, dirty.

I get ylang yland and myrrh, the patchouli is a softer, and there's a whiff of citrus, esp. at the beginning. Summery, floral.

On wet, I get a hit of grapefruit and rice wine, with muted lilies. As it dries, it's definitely a lily blend - but much more delicate and ethereal, with a hint of vanilla. This is a delicate, feminine blend. It is evocatively Asian, and it reminds me to some of the more ethereal Asian Salons like Spirit of the Komachi Tree. Very lovely.

Oakmoss and black musk. This one smells kinda salty, kinda earthy, kinda musky. Slightly masculine. It's subtle, earthy and smooth.

White musk, neroli and just a hint of apricot. This one is a lighter, more girly incarnation. The apricot in the released version gives it a certain fruity robustness. The prototype is more ethereal in feel. I definitely amp up the neroli/orange blossom, which means it goes a teensy bit soapy. Soft, shimmering, ethereal.

So, this one caught me off guard. To me, it has a dark, planty banana smell especially on wet, and as it dries I get more apple booziness like in Autumn Cider, but its more mellow like apple MASH cider from Lamb's Wool. Throughout all this ginger is MIA. On the other hand, it totally has that fall/autumn apple thing going on. And if you have a hankering for that and it's not autumn, there's GC equivalent ready to fulfill those needs.

2012 version Heavier on the bay rum, chypre and amber musk. The chypre and a hint of roses is sniffed on wet, but as it dries its a woody, musky, bay rum sort of blend. In fact, it's quite masculine and sexy. Mmmm, I like this pirate.

APDAY3 is probably the Amanda Palmer "Daylilies at the Bottom of the Stairs" prototype. It starts out with a big lily blend, and dries down to a stemmy, almost gone, floral note. If there is WOOD in this, I definitely can't smell it. If you like lilies, give this a whirl.

Loads of pine, mint and a hint of holly. Totally smells like Christmas, snow and cool. Which is perfect on those ultra hot summer days to trick yourself into feeling cooler.

Heavy lavender and geranium, hints of tobacco. Heady, somnolent, lavender. This is the lavender blend that forces you to sleep. TKO cuddles you into blissful oblivion, Sleep just lavenders you to close your eyes.

Strong licorice/anise note, hints of herbalness, tobacco and sugar. If you love absinthe and absinthe-notes, give this a whirl!

Giant blast of citrus, which then becomes mandarin, with creamy amber and copal, and a bit of petitgrain coming through with some herbal freshness. Sadly, I don't think the petitgrain is working for me.