zankoku_zen

Delicious bay and musky amber. It's a little aggressive on wet, but it dries to a soft, delicious manly bay rum and amber. Smooth. So smooth. This is the smell of a debonair, sophisticated man. Who is dangerous enough for you to stay away from, but smooth enough that you're willing to throw caution to the wind.

Sweet coconut and asian pear! As it dries down, the sweetness becomes tempered by peppery carnation. This is a kissing cousin to Tiki Princess or Snow White. Sweet, feminine, fruity - slight Asian vibe.

I get the dreaded Sea Breeze comparison... This is a heady aquatic with a definite Asian spice going on. I get big aquatic and incense hits, and its an interesting dichotomy. Definitely more masculine than anything else.

Minamoto is definitely in the same vein as Gun Moll and Black Lace. Sophisticated, smoky perfume. On me, it flip flops between masculine and feminine. On wet, it's feminine. Drydown more masculine, and then after about an hour, it switches back to female. I definitely get sandalwood, tobacco flower, some musk and patchouli. It's very interesting, very wearable in my opinion. I might have to find a partial...

Lemon meringue, crust and blueberry... The marshmallow note is odd - waffling between foodie and fake/plastic. If this was straight up foodie, I think I could really go for more of it. Sadly, the marshmallow note does not play well with my skin...

On wet it smells like lemon meringue and vanilla! Actually quite delicious. It dries to a very faint lemon meringue and absinthe. It smells yummy and foodie, and if it had a greater throw and longer life I would definitely get more. YUM!

On wet, I got grass and lemon candy with a whiff of leather. Actually, it sort of smelled like a rugged cowboy cologne. And it dries almost entirely to leather and dirt. Again, a very cowboy leather - sort of like the warm leather of Dead Man's Hand but there is a slight overlay of blood over it.

On wet, tis definitely lemony/limey rose with a hint of dandelion greens. As it dries, it becomes a soft rose, still with a citrus brush and a very woody background. Very light and refreshing. Interesting, but not for me.

Elli's Song is definitely dark and bitter... It smells like smoke, with a slight sweetness. I don't find it as off putting as edensixthday does but it's definitely a smoky scent. There's a slight aquatic base and I think that might actually be the moss. Fairly masculine. Actually, on the right guy, he'd smell like smoke and water.... and uh... deliciously evil? .... YES!

Figgy pastry! I get a ton of figs and cooking spices, and clove is definitely one of them. It's pretty, delicious and... makes me think of fig newtons. EPIC. WIN. I think I need a bottle of it.

Oh Harpy, you are like a more orangey blossom form type of Gun Moll on me. It's smoky, slightly floral (hello orange blossom), slight citrus and slight metal. This is a strong female scent. And after 15 minutes... its' GONE.

Leather. Soft, worn leather. Definitely the same leather note as in Dead Man's Hand. Slight hints of porter, soft worn leather. Very masculine. And did I mention rugged?

Kitty is definitely very strongly scented. It's mostly a strawberries and cream scent, very sweet. It's like Beaver Moon 05, but in the bath. I had to use LESS of the bath salts then when I took a bath with Virginia. In fact, half way through the bath I added a little scoop of Virginia to make the bath less sweet.

Smells like nice manly cologne. I think it's the tobacco and clary sage. And yes, on wet I got more of the caramel and sultana.... but essentially, this smells like nice, clean male. This is what nice guys smell like.

Purple fruits and frankincense. This dries down to a sweet, resinous blend. Not a fan of frankincense, but all of you incense lovers, take this out for a spin.

CBBOB1 is a very wearable, feminine leather. I get mostly fruity red musk, soft leather and a hint of patchouli. It is a softer, more delicate version of Spanked. I find this leather very wearable, and it reminds me to Whip, the only other leather scent that doesn't immediately explode all over my skin (although the roses do!) Both red musk and leather are highly dominant notes on my skin, so I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't amp up both of them to high heaven. Still not a leather fan, but if I ever wanted to wear leather... I'd wear this!

Smoky vanilla sandalwood. It's grown up, sophisticated woman. Heady. I agree that it doesn't seem as strongly scented as perhaps some of the other bath oils (Kitty comes to mind). I got a 2 oz sample from a decant circle, and I'd say there is enough for three baths. Once I toweled off the scent lingered only mildly, which is okay for me, since I've got lotion and BPAL I like to put on and aren't necessarily adept at the layering business...

This is the Piper prototype... Apparently, I found the released version to be a medicinal, piney amber. The prototype shares the same golden quality - but is less herbal and there is definitely no pine in this one. I think there's something almost citrusy/effervescent in this blend and it might be tangerine, as opposed to the blood orange in the released version. I find it neutral/masculine and very wearable. Definitely dynamite on the guys that prefer lighter, golden scents.

Ranger v5 is aptly named. It sort of disappears on my skin on the drydown. On wet, I get hints of leather, resin and some black amber. And perhaps patchouli, which explains all the dirt. And then, it just sort of .... fades on me. Damnit.

This one is definitely more like strawberry leaves than the fruit. I have to say neither version of Strawberry Moon (05 or 09) worked for me, and BPAL's strawberry note turns to plastic. This one is about strawberry stems, strawberry leaves and the plant itself. I get a green stem, dandelion florals and a whiff of strawberry fruit. Not quite as fake as the previous Strawberry Moon prototype, or the released types but again, the strawberry note smells fake. Not plastic fake, but still fake.

I find this to be more along the lines of MB Closet, which is of course, a kissing cousin to Beaver Moon 2005. Yes, there's cake but really this is all about the frosting. And spices. This has a good bit of cinnamon and all spice in it. In that sense it makes me think more of Closet. Too foodie for me.

#313 This one has the same vanilla base that Dorian does, in fact there's also lemon in it. The original owner told me that it smelled like 'sweet fruity candy'. I think a comparison to Dorian is much more apt. There is a dollop of sweetness to it, and some fruity freshness as well but overall, yes, very much like Dorian. TASTY.

MCCCXCII Definitely smoky coffee. The smoke note has a bitter edge to it, more akin to the kind you find in Agnes Nutter. I think it might be the gunpowder. The coffee note is rich. There is a whiff of vanilla on wet that becomes much more prominent on wet, and its slightly musky. At this point, I would almost compare this to a grittier version of Miskatonic University - coffee, slight sweetness, hint of gritty smoke. Not for me, but if you were into layering, I think perhaps the Good scent from the RPG line would layer nicely with this. Previously reviewed by myth

Springtime Playfulness should be something of an epic failure for me. Coconut, wisteria and brown musk are all notes that don't play well with me. Imagine my surprise at the fresh, fruity floral explosion on wet. Definitely the lemongrass and the cranberry. As it dries some of the musk comes out, and the cranberry tempers whatever floral edge there is. Bright, fresh, fruits with whiffs of sandalwood and musk. Seems like a winner for the summer months.

Review for the 2011 version. I find the 2011 version to be a softer variation on the original Bony Moon 2011. Meaning to say that the cedar is there, but not as strong and I get more herbal and sandalwood whiffs. It's still a dry scent, but much more wearable and definitely toward the masculine edge. The stronger presence of the sandalwood in this incarnation has an almost clean, lemon edge to it.