zankoku_zen

Not made of win. This is way more powdery than I expected. The honey is not as aggressive as it normally tends to be and it's not really creamy. Just powdery. Slightly sweet. Meh.

Oh Sunbird. You do not fare well on my skin. Yes, you do have that dusty, hot air and desert thing going on with the sandalwood and a hint of cinnamon. Your promise of resin never really is fulfilled, at least on my skin. An hour later, you are gone. Like some sort of dream. Try the Ifrit if you have a hankering for this.

I got a testable sniffie of this rarity. I WUB YOU. You know who you are. Okay, I do get the red musk, perhaps a touch of melon, lilies. In general its got that white/floral lily top note, red musk as the base (possibly some other musk). On wet, I definitely got a fruity vibe to the floral, and it made me think melon. Overall, it's a 'cleaner', 'sweeter' and 'fruitier' version of the red musk SN. The words that come to mind, are clean and sophisticated. Very well blended. However, on my skin, its got an almost 'fake plastic baby doll' smell to it. ETA: The prototype of this is definitely lily, musky, and with light green stems. Doesn't go the plastic, but stays sweet, true and beautiful. I much more enjoyed the prototype.

Hrm, I am guessing this has violets, mint and sassafras. It's got that violet/mint edge, on top... but as it dries, I get a 'root beer' quality coming out. And that means sassafras. It's an odd mix really. The minty/violet top notes and the heart of root beer. Like dropping Altoids into your root beer soda.

On wet, this was an herbally aquatic. I don't really get a 'rock' impression, other than perhaps 'wet rock'. And then it goes to soap. Nice, clean, aquatic soap. More like soap bubbles. Boo.

Very aquatic. It reminds me to a couple of blends in PiA with the strong aquatic note. It also reminds me heavily of Tempest, as its got that same aquatic/ozone note that my skin loves. It definitely dominates my skin. If there is wood in there, I would have no clue. Great throw and great wear length (which I also got from Tempest).

This is definitely vanilla cream. Unfortunately, the BPAL's cream note tends to go to plastic on me, so I have this really nice vanilla plastic baby doll smell on me. That if I were a plastic doll, I'd adore. Moderate throw, it kinda stays close to my skin. Alas, I am but a flesh and blood woman.

Definitely fruitier, juicier, and very sexy. Deep, rich, musky. Red musk hasn't always been my friend, but I'm beginning to think its the OTHER elements in some of those blends as opposed to the red musk itself.

Redwood smells like a tree. Like a dusty tree bark. Dry, slightly warm (probably from the sun), woody. It's one of those trees that is so big, and old, but when you put your arms around it, you know that it's alive. Despite the age, and the dust, and the weather, and the fact that it might not be pretty. It's there.

Okay, the one time I smelled Noir it was shelldoo's lab mixing bottle 4 oz, and that thing stunk to star jasmine to high heaven. It smelled like cat pee to me. I finally got a testable sniffie of this - and I have to say that the jasmine is less aggressive and definitely not cat pee like (slight tinge, which is really mild for me). This is a misty floral, sensual and a bit powdery. But elegant powdery. Sophisticated almost. My skin eats this up. If you're into the silver screen, 1940s and Casablanca, I think you'd love this blend. It's a sophisticated perfume, reminiscent of older times (I think its the powdery aspect of it). Not in love, but I can see why some people are crazy for this.

Smushed green herbs and melon. Its quite fresh and pretty. And my skin eats this up. SAD.

Containing nary a neutron of meaning: rum-quince-cassis with prune and a bit of black ginger. This smells like Christmas plums if you ask me. Rollicking, cinnamon boozy plums. The kind that have been soaking in a punch bowl. But it's so sugary sweet and oh so delectable, you don't mind. Even if they might drive you a little mad.

Definitely incense, but there was this 'clean linen' note on me... esp. on wet. It dries to a much 'drier' blend. I think this has a bit of amber, but it doesn't turn powdery and just remains resinous. My skin eats this up. Like fast.

I have to say, I prefer this to the released version. The released version, the 'polished woods' component came to dominate my skin, esp. on the drydown. Here this is BLACK coffee, very bitter and it almost has a 'salty' tinge to it on my skin. There's something else lurking there, and I want to say cinnamon except I'm not convinced it IS cinnamon. This is like drinking BLACK coffee and reading a book. Coffee lovers, take note.

Ah clove. Unfortunately, you lose the battle. I wish you had carried the day... as you smell like sweet clove kind. I get balsam and patchouli and a hint of orris mixed in with the clove. SAD. Oh clove.

Yeah, for me this was sweetly powdery (Violet, is that you?) musk, but there was a touch of spice to it that did smell like curry. And I thought I was going crazy. Oddly enough, it keeps the blend from being too sweet or powdery, and in my mind, makes it wearable. Unfortunately, it makes me hungry for curry. ETA: Prototype: Oddly enough, just violet powder, sweet and innocent.

I'm very torn on this. So I get the amazing citrus (esp. on wet - smells like zesty grapefruit, lime, yuzu) cocktail. And its by far the best zestry citrus blend ever (51 is a pale cousin by comparison). As it dries, it does get more musky and with a touch of clove, and yes, I can see the comparison to the Vampire from Planet X, but without the leather, if I recall correctly which ended up making this smell like... way too manly on me. And this verges on that. I can already tell that this isn't the kind of blend that Mr. zee zee enjoys.... Ah well.

Straight up baby powder. There is a slight hint of brimstone on wet, which stops it from being too boring. As it dries, I think parrot_suspect nailed it best that it sort of dries to resemble Chanel No. 5, in that it smells clean, sophisticated, grown up. It's a powdery floral, but I do believe there is honey in it. Very golden in the drydown. I guess the best approximation is Claudia from the Interview with a Vampire, a woman trapped inside a child's body. That's what it makes me think of - seductive, inappropriate and unnerving.

Again, this one smelled of ham, something sweet, and rusty metal. Actually, as it dried, I got a creamy condensed milk thing going on top of the ham. The metal is still there, in the background. Rusted. My husband thinks it smells like garbage. Part of me really wants to wash it off. Part of me wonders where the 'condensed' milk vive is coming from.

This blend proves that citrus does NOT age well. There's faint whiffs of orange on this but I get mostly juniper, heliotrope and sandalwood as the base. On wet, the orange was a bit stronger and perhaps its my imagination but lime made an appearance for one HOT second? It's sort of got an orange Pez candy feel to it. I wish I had bought some when this was fresh though.

I got a drop or two from a very generous forumite. They know they are! SENK YOU! Erm... this is pretty much vetiver on me wet - smoky (no bacon though) and kinda dirty. As it dries its pretty much BAY leaf. Dirty bay leaf. You know, the bay leaf that you pick up from the damp, forest floor. That's what it smells like.

I had hopes for the clove, even the bitter kind, but this is too resinous/incensey for me. It's got a great 'Church', 'dark' and 'gothic' feel to it - and if you like incense/resinous blends, give this a whirl.

Honestly, the biggest thing I get out of this blend is the brown sugar/caramel/maple syrup sugar --- and maybe at the beginning, a hint of red berry menthol. Other than that, it's pretty much been a sugar blend with a tiny hint of cake as it dries. Meh.

This one is definitely a sharp, herbally lavender. On wet, when first applied, it's almost salty. As it dries, more similarities with the released version come out with hints of marshmallow vanilla. Honestly, I really adore the released version. I love how it evokes to me large pillowy marshmallow clouds of SLEEP. The lavender in this is a little too sharp for me to handle.

GAH. Okay this one has got like vanilla, cream, sugar and maybe a hint of leather plus something floral, and I do think it might be narcissus. I don't know if it's the vanilla or the cream, but both of them end up as a scorched kind of plastic, sweet because of the sugar, and kinda industrial with the hints of leather wafting about. EPIC FAIL. If your skin chemistry can handle all vanillas (mine can't), or cream (mine can't) and doesn't amp up leather to high heaven (mine does), I think you can swing this.