zankoku_zen

Sasparilla and plastic cream. Unfortunately the BPAL note turns to plastic on me. It does smell like vanilla cream plastic though. I bet this smells delicious on the right skin chemistry.

Given the jasmine and gunpowder in the description, I was a little worried about this. However, OMG! Gun Moll to me smells like Voodoo Queen's little sister. They share the same base for me (smoky, skin musk, clove) but Gun Moll is a little 'springier' because of the jasmine and the swirl of fruit. The drydown actually turns into VQ + honey (but the honey isn't obnoxious because it's honeycomb - honey can be a totally aggrressive note on my skin). I've worn it for a few days at a time, and that's only happened rarely with scents that I really really enjoy. I really do believe I may be getting along with opium poppy, but I'd have to look at my spreadsheet of notes to double check. For me, the jasmine is pretty strong on wet, but it dissipates. I don't really get any gunpowder (which I got in spades with Agnes Nutter). I have a decant that I'm using at the minute, and have secured a bottle. Yes, I love it that much. The length of this review should also be an indication, since my reviews have become pretty short these days.

This one is fruity apricot. The apricot being the fruit that stands out the most. I get the tiniest hint of coconut. Very spring like.

I got LOADS of sugar cane from this (it actually smelled like caramel to me) and amber. Pretty and sweet.

A splash of bay rum, leather, dusty black wool, massoia bark, and opium residue. Rum, clove and leather. And something that smells like coconut. It's warm, masculine but there's a hint of danger and mystery there. In other words, what a guy should smell like.

Holy moley. So I get a TON of pomegranate from this. Huh, I am thinking that pom is one of those notes that likes to bloom on my skin. It doesn't last past the first hour though, and I get a woody dark base. Interesting. I have to say I am gratified by the lack of bubblegum despite lotus being there.

Loli.goth was a surprise to me - it's a BPAL strawberry that works! It's really strawberries and cream to me. It's young, girlish and delicious. It still ends up being too sweet to my liking, but it was more wearable and likeable on my skin chemistry than I expected.

GIN! It's a bright, bubbly note with fizz. But yes, GIN to the max with a hint of perfume. It's like Swank, minus the pomegranate.

Sweet, spicy resin that dries to sweet, spicy resin powder. On wet, there is a tiny bit of citrus but overall it s a sweet, resinous blend that is way less ominous that the description.

To me, Bette Noir is a more grown up, darker version of Bordello. Smoky plum, swirl of orange, and dark perfume. If you like Bordello, for me this had a kiss of Voodoo Queen or Gun Moll with the smokiness layered on top of it.

Ugh. Loads of leather. Not quite black leather, slightly more worn and not as chemically as say the leather in DeSade. I get a tiny hint of black musk and pepper. Yes, pretty much like leather SN if you ask me.

Oh man, I think this has tuberose in it because its got a very high pitched floral line to it. Hint of nectarine, green musk and metal. But yes, one of the florals is definitely tuberose.

I get no lime from this, which makes me sad. It smelled like fruity bananas to me, esp. on wet. As it dries, it is slightly more citrusy. But yeah, I get a TON of something that smells like bananas on me.

Hmm. Gypsy is much darker than I expected. Yes, I get the vanilla and musk but I also get a fair amount of cardamom, which adds a dark powdery spice to it. I really am amping up the cardamom in this, so to me this smells vaguely Indian. Warm, sweet, exotic.

Very Black Lace-ish. I get opium, tar, and resin. I was hoping for something more along the lines of... I don't know... Voodoo Queen, but I get a hint of plum and a ton of opium. Very heady, very dark, very femme fatale. I don't deal well typically with these types of blend, so pass. Ah, and on the drydown, I get a pretty good hit of sweetness from it... so yeah, no.

Unfortunately this has a type of vanilla that smells like plastic on me. Because I get the cherries and the vanilla plastic and I can't shake the 'Barbie doll' connotation in my mind. Made.of.fail

It starts off as men's soap and leather - fairly ruggedly masculine. As it dries both of them calm down a bit, and I get that gunpowder note which makes this blend much more interesting. It's less overwhelmingly masculine as it dries, and its more comforting. Sort of like hugging your guy and realizing that he's a GUY and while he's here hugging you, he'll also gladly bash some heads for you.

Definitely leather vs. honey smackdown. On wet, I can smell the honey more, and I agree that this is the white honey, sticks very close to the skin. The leather is definitely the same leather note as in DeSade - black shiny chemical leather. I amp up both honey and leather, and they are both notes of DOOM in my skin - however, this isn't quite so bad mixed together. Still not a leather fan, but this is surprisingly more wearable than alot of the other leather blends I've tried.

This one definitely has dragon's blood in it - because while it has some smoky aspects to it (perhaps a touch of menthol on wet, and a hint of vetiver afterwards) it also has a bright cherry/fruity floral tone to it. The color of the oil is somewhat rose-tinted, which definitely adds credence for dragon's blood being a component. Much more floral and sweet than I expected!

Yurei starts off as a white tea/white floral perfume. But it has a tendency to get more 'floral' and perfumey as it dries. It's very warm, Asian feeling - and I feel the white tea definitely adds a 'clean' edge to it. I get the sandalwood (maybe vetiver due to some smokiness?) grounding the blend a little more on the drydown after an hour or two.

This really is chamomile and honey for me. On wet, it is almost imperceptible. As it dries, I get more of the chamomile and at this stage it reminds me to Sachs. It's a sweet chamomile. After about an hour, the sweetness is revealed as honey and then it seems to transition into a honey-chamomile blend. I find it very soft, sweet, skin scent. I think if this were ever made into a lotion, it would be delicious - as it would be very subtle and yet sexy.

Rose... and my old nemesis, WISTERIA. It's like I get tag teamed by ROSE and WISTERIA. I do get whiffs of lavender, and something murkily green underneath. It makes me think of old rose gardens. But if they were planted... oh, I don't know. On top of an old witches' garden. You know it wasn't JUST a pretty garden...

Agreed that this is the same leather note in Dead Man's Hand. Although it actually makes me think more of Quincy Morris. In any case, I get LEATHER, and a hint of machine oil and a teensy bit of musk. Very manly. I amp up leather to high heaven, but I find this less scary than say.. the leather in DeSade.

Yes, it does smell like Sprite on wet. Unfortunately, the lemon-lime notes burn off as it dries, and what I'm left with is a fizzy sugary note. It definitely reminds me strongly to the champagne note in the Champagne blends that were available one WCWC. I loved it on wet, but that didn't last more than 10 minutes. Tres sad.

Whooohoo. This is the strong herbal lavender type, it smells almost 'salty' to me. It blooms like a maniac on wet, but as it dries, it calms down considerably and now I can pick out some rose geranium (about even, in rose vs geranium). In the end, I get wafts of lavender and rose geranium and it smells floral, clean, and like a garden. My skin totally eats this up. Damn.