zankoku_zen

I get the foody almond and cake goodness.... and then rose comes out in the drydown. And it dries to ROSE with a hint of almond. GRRR.

Mmmkay, bear in mind that my skin chemistry eats citrus in like.... seconds. I think. In any case, on wet, I get this giant burst of tangerine which is pretty and lovely, but as it dries, I think the cream kinda goes funky on me and I get this bubblegum + strong salty aquatic, which I think is the ambergris amping on my skin (as it got some of the same commonalities as Ebisu). It actually makes me think of an aquarium. I might retest in a few days, as this is right out of a swap package and I tend to give oils at least three days to settle down before I test them. On the whole however, I'm not sure this blend is for me. Which is sad, since I really enjoyed the tangerine at the beginning and would have loved to have it stick around. And I freaking wish I had gotten the orange creamsicle that everyone is talking about. Oh skin chemistry, you are made of LOSE.

So this is very much violet. On wet, the opoponax gave it a really sharp quality to my nose. And it dries to a very delicate, green sort of violet. There is a slightly earthy whiff to it at the end. Very light on me, very short throw.

Definitely red roses. It actually reminds me to Rose Red (you know the rose blend that we tend to get around Yule time) in that deep, red fragrant rose blend. The sandalwood adds a whiff of dryness, and the bergamot shows up on the drydown with a touch of juicyness. Not a giant rose fan, and this one veers into the soap territory a bit, but overall, not a bad rose blend. Medium throw on me.

Oh god, this is a bit of a mess.... and yes, the blend gives the impression of 'sluggish', like it just drags on. So on me, the frankincense and gardenia tag team this into some sort of dirty, resinous blend. There might have been the hint of pear here, sometime. Not now. Perhaps a whiff of lavender. Guh. If you like slight fruity frankincense, give this a whirl.

On wet, it definitely reminded me to Pink Moon 05 - there was a certain sugaryness against a sharp carnation note. As it dries, I got more of the 'daisy' note, which again, is a little green and sharp and kinda reminds me to dandelions. Fortunately, that sort of calms down and just dries to a very soft, sugary sort of daisy. It's like if the daisy had some sort of nervous high pitch conniption, fainted, and now she's fine. I'm not sure this is bottle worthy, but part of me really really wants to keep the imp because there aren't enough BPAL blends out there with a strong 'daisy' component.

#9 I got a sniffie of this - and hmmm, I have to say I get the sugared vanilla tea of Dorian, but there's something else there... balsam I think? It smells a little spicier than usual. And slightly more manly.

Ahhh... Orange. In theory, I should love you. Really. You are supposed to be the pinnacle of all ORANGE. The orange so perfect and rare, you MUST work. In the vial, you are deep, orangey, the kind of just squeezed orange smell you love. On wet, you pretty much are that. On the drydown, the orange zest comes out.... and it's bitter. Perhaps a touch of ginger in there as well? No mind. I think I may sill love you. But really, you drydown to some sort of bitter orange flavored PEZ candy. The kind that is powdery, sugary and FAKE. Oh, and dismal throw. My skin eats this up. Crunches you down like some sort of Pez candy pellet. Which you smell like to me. Orange PEZ. Another EPIC fail. But yeah for dodging a bullet?

Okay, so yes, this is indeed musky, and there's resin and smoke, and in the vial it does smell like a wooded forest with a hint of green. It's masculine and musky, and then it turns a bit powdery on the drydown on me, again, slightly woodsy. I think the musk might be brown musk because.... It truly smells like unwashed b.o. on me. Like it smells like a$$. I kid you not. The person that generously allowed me to test a bit of concurred that it smelled positively rank. And like MANLY b.o. mind you. The only other time I've had this happen to me was in Smut. Having tested both red and white musk SNs, I can only think it was either black and or brown musk as the culpit. I am beginning to suspect brown musk, as this did not go to POWDERY DOOM on me. EPIC FAIL. On the other hand, yeah for dodging a bullet?

Strength on me was a very bright, very floral blend. And it must have a trace of jasmine, because I could definitely smell that on the drydown. I think there also might be lilies in there. To me this was a giant bouquet of sunny flowers.

Yum. This one is a lemon/orange sugary blend. On wet, it smells more like lemon, but as it dries it actually smells more like an orange, but given that orange just about dies on my skin, I'm beginning to suspect it's either satsuma or even tangerine instead of regular orange. It's pretty faint on me after a while, but nice while it lasts.

So on wet, I definitely smell the buttery, sconey aspect of it. Positively flakey. As it dries, I get more of the blackberry coming out. It dries almost entirely to a blackberry jam on me, with that slight 'baked' quality to it, which in my mind cuts down on the sugar. Pretty tasty.

Leather can be a problem note on this. On wet, this one does remind me to Quincy Morris. A 'rugged' yet 'soft' kind of leather (ie - its not overpowering or overwhelming). I can smell some of the pine and dirt on the drydown. It's masculine, sexy and very comfy. I can totally see this being absolutely stunning on the right male chemistry. Not mine. But perhaps I can lure Mr. zee_zee into trying this! ETA: EPIC FAIL on mr. zee_zee. It somehow ended up smelling like pine with a hint of leather. Yeah. PINE.

CCCXXII Hmmm. This one is odd. On wet, its got a sweet amber like edge, but it dries to something slightly fruity and sweet. And then, on further drydown the amber really comes out, and I think the sweetness is coming from tonka, but it ends up in a sort of 'clean' smelling land. Unisex. Not unpleasant, but not my cup of tea. Previously reviewed by fairnymph

280 Okay, despite previous reviews, I don't get a geranium/petit grain top note to this. Yes, there is a slightly green overlay to this but really, it dries down to Dorian. And that's it folks. Previously reviewed by cuervosueno

The chamomile is very present for me at least in this blend. It makes the vanilla blend much more masculine. I don't find the vanilla to be too cloying, I am enjoying the smokiness. I would be interested to see how this ages... I bet this will age beautifully. Torn between being happy with a decant or searching for a partial bottle. Decisions, decisions.

This one is a true morpher. In the vial, it actually smells like cheese to me. On wet, I get a blast of mint and a hint of dirt. As it dries, the mint burns off and I get a fruity/dirt scent. More fruit than dirt though. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

On wet, it actually makes me think of lilies. As it dries, it goes to soap.... and then I recognize the floral as WISTERIA. And now, that's all I get. Wisteria. Possibly wisteria soap. Ah yes, you evil fiend you. ETA: BTW, GIANT throw. And GIANT wear length. Did I mention GIANT? And if you haven't guessed, wisteria and I are not friends.

Hm. I have to say that the word 'gritty' is very apropos, esp. on the drydown. On wet, it's almost peppery and I dare think that black pepper is a component, as it dries, I got something that smelled very strongly of bay (it put me in mind of Azazel actually) and sharp pencil shaving notes.... which means it has cedar. It's quite possible this also has a touch of vetiver. Overall, it dries to a very heavy earthy kind of blend, masculine, gritty. It's not unpleasant, but it's not a scent I'd wear for the scent alone.

I like citrus blends, so I fairly enjoy this one. This has that tangerine/satsuma citrus note that I love in Velvet Tiger, but its got some spice at the bottom. I'm guessing some clove and maybe a touch of ginger. Freaking love this. Seriously. Need more. Now.

Definitely coconut and lemongrass. I thought that it smelled like lime, and oddly enough when I first put it on it reminded me to the BBW Coconut Lime Verbena scent line they have. It basically smells like that to me. But I think its definitely lemongrass, as lime has a tendency to fade fast and this lemony citrus smell is sticking around. But yeah, smells like lemon grass, watery coconut, and overall makes me think THAI food and the beach. But that's because coconut always makes me think of the beach.

Yum! This is indeed lemon vanilla frosting. Its got the same cake/frosting vibe as Closet, but this one is lemon and vanilla as opposed to strawberries and red velvet. This kind of stuff tends not to work on me, so I'm pretty pleased that this one did!

Oh god, this is like a chemical nuclear meltdown on me. It's very similar to Pollution in my mind, except more 'limey' and more 'citrusy' than Pollution. But it's got that same chemical/manly cologne fume on it. Insane throw. It actually makes me a little queasy.

Milky and herby is right! I get the pale watery kind of milk as I did in Milk Moon 2007, sans the fruit. It's got more of the herbs to it, and oddly enough, something that smells like dryer sheets to me. Pass.

Wow. On me this had lime with a little sugar. As it dries, I get a hint of bay. And oddly enough, this just ends up smelling like some sort of plastic doll. FEH.