zankoku_zen

This one I found to be a bright, male cologne. Cypress, sharp yellow florals, sandalwood. Delicate is an apropos adjective.

I definitely get the blood orange, a hint of cherry and loads of red musk. Very sexy.

This one was one I had the most conflicted feelings about. I do get loads of cucumber on wet, and then it totally morphs. I get a sage, slight bit of coconut and then woods. My skin eats this up. But oh, if the cucumber had ONLY stayed around...

Actually, this kinda reminds me to strawberry gum. More specifically, Trident's layers "wild strawberry with tangy citrus", which I happen to have in my purse. The strawberry is sort of fake and plasticky, and the citrus is bright at the beginning and then fades. BPAL's strawberry note just doesn't seem to want to work with me. Ever.

This one was warm, musky, male cologne that went to warm, musky powder. Ah amber. On wet, it was definitely sharp, which lead me to think 'cologne like', and it was ever so slightly boozy. Meh.

This is such an odd blend to me. It starts out with a blast of mint, followed up by a strong green tea note and lubricant, with swirls of wormwood and star anise. It is overall boozy. I feel like this is slightly sweet, somewhat savory and may be too 'masculine' for me.

Tea, honey and that same marshmallow note in Boo and Marshmallow Poof. It ends up being too plasticky and sweet on me. :/

Agreed. This sort of starts with a blast of citrus and sugary grape with carnation lurking in the background, but it dries to a green carnation sort of blend. Kinda warm, slightly sugary. Meh.

This starts out as dirt and cocoa, with a hit of coconut. And dries to a basically, dusty coconut and woods blend. Meh.

Orris so doesn't work for me. This smelled like sharp dusty powder on me. Warm, slightly musk, sharp powder.

I really get the fig in this one. It's sweet, with a hint of vanilla. I do get a trace of patchouli, which prevents this from being overly sweet. But yes, overall, sexy fruit.

This is fuzzy. I get a slightly musky honey, sweet and with white flowers. More than anything, there was the impression of 'plush'. It really does give off a fuzzy vibe. Odd, and yet kinda incredible. I am also amazed that rose hasn't dominated this blend.

This one was very dusty licorice/anise smelling. If there is coconut, it is coconut cream and BPAL cream note tends to be 'off' on me. I do get a hint of coconut on the drydown. But again, its like dusty coconut + licorice. Not for me, this is.

I get mostly a burst of red currant and orange flower at the beginning. And then leather on the bottom. It is slightly chemically, but on me, this kinda works. As it dries, I get a hint of clove and fig. I think this would smell delicious on the right man. In fact, I am going to see how it works out on mr. zee_zee....

I get buttery dough, berries, a trace of chocolate. I find this pretty tasty, and for once the cream doesn't go to plastic on me! On the drydown, I get a fair amount of musk. It's slightly masculine. It's very light on me. I am not sure how much I would reach for this blend, but I do like it. Perhaps I'll track down another decant. ETA: Okay, so I lied. I totally need this blend. On drydown its vanilla cake, with a hint of berries and this delicious golden musk. YUM Like golden cake. Yes, I smell like golden cake. TASTY. Who doesn't want to smell tasty?

I am amping the patchouli and clary sage, so this smells very earthy with a hint of green. Very apropos, but I don't find the scent enticing.

I have to say that I get the eucalyptus and tons of orange, so it's this nice minty herbal orange in fragrance. MMMmmm. Love the scent!

For me, my skin brings out all the elements from Iron Phoenix that I wish sort of stayed away. I get a basically spicy (touch of clove but not enough for my tastes, slight pepper on the aftertaste), sweetly resinous (hello myrrh!) DRAGON'S BLOOD. Where is the ginger? The metal? Basil!?? Yeah, this blend did not work out for me.

I can't get over how pretty this is. It's a bright raspberry with loads of silver shimmer. I have to admit that it might just be a tad too bright for me. It's kinda girly, but I feel more like the kind of girl that wears pink a la punk rocker style. You know, with fishnets, instead of pearls. My nail polish colors tend to be pretty subtle/conservative (unless you think about Destroying Angel... but that's more like a fall color). This isn't. At all.

I was generously frimped a decant of this, and I admit basically trying it for what it smells like. Lavender, a decent bit of geranium (yeah!) and sandalwood. There is a very cool aquatic feel to it (probably from the salty lavender).... And in general, I get lots of geranium. Yeah!

Ditto with the reviews. This is TKO, a hint sweeter, a hint of other florals. I agree that it is not as 'versatile' a room spray, but I can see it being used for 'calming'/meditation purposes... that is unless the TKO association is so strong that you go to sleep upon smelling it. But why would you ever want to spray your bed so that it smells like it's been washed in TKO? Perhaps you have a love affair with your bed, and desire to spend as much time there as possible? It is but winter time, and hibernation seems to lovely this time of year.....

I love the 'oiled' bronze look - its like rich metallic caramel. The gold glint is very subtle. Great consistency, dries quickly and is easy to apply. I love BPTP polishes.

Smells resinous, a hint of rosy geranium (more rose than geranium) and very smooth. It smells 'old' but not in the old people way, but rather the way that old buildings with lots of gorgeous dark wood, mysterious pasts and stone smell old. ... Yup. Spray this in your room and have yourself your very own gothic novel a la House of the Seven Gables...

I think this has black plum, a hint of smoke and some anise seed/licorice. There's a cotton/linen note to this, as well as some incense... which was more prominent on the wet stage, almost spicy at this point.

I originally posted my review in the Galvanic Goggles review thread. The prototype to me was much more cologne like (more florals), with sharper musk and a hint of leather in it. Agreed with the vetiver, and how this is more of a 'sketch', as opposed to the released version.