zankoku_zen

Watermelon pumpkin. The pineapple and prickly pear come out as fruity and juicy and I swear it smells like watermelon. So yeah, watermelon and a gourdy note of pumpkin. More summery than anticipated. Medium throw and wear length.

Creamy nicotine florals, whiff of ink and celluloid. Surprisingly wearable. Almost like an old cinema star. Medium throw and wear length.

Books, ink, and a whiff of a floral. But yeah, mainly smells like books and book ink. For those of you who remember India Ink, yeah, its that but with more book. Medium throw and wear length.

Caraway, green and a whiff of sandalwood. Caraway has a celery-like note to me, so this was a very green spice of blend. Good throw and wear length.

Fuzzy crisp champagne, with a lime note, and whiff of cheesecake. This was mainly all champagne on me. Good throw, but low wear length. My skin just ate it up.

Lush oudh (hello agarwood), red roses, and silk. This smells like red roses dragged through a swamp. Huge throw, great wear length.

Dried red fruits, red benzoin, poppy tar, and amontillado.

By now it was about midday and a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted until three in the afternoon; the suns light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus gave a loud cry and said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit; and with these words he died. Radiant golden amber suffused with holy incense smoke compounded from acacia, myrrh, cassia, balsam, frankincense, cinnamon, onycha accord, and galbanum. Cassia, cinnamon, galbanum, and amber and smoke. This one is a very spice-cassia heavy blend with amber and smoke. It's golden, and burning, and both a blinding shining sort of blend, and a dark smothering sort. I think its the heaviness of the spices that leads to an almost occlusive quality. Great throw and wear length.

Ted has a thing for cinnamon buns, so I’m loading up the perfume with cinnamon buns this year.

No additional scent description.

If we’d known sixteen years ago which direction the legislative wind would end up blowing, things might have gone very differently for BPAL. Stoned Griffin is like a distant cousin of Black Phoenix who never quit his college band, and tells you the same three stories at every Lunacy event (but they’re really good ones). Kush, fiery red patchouli, myrrh, and sweet black musk. Myrrh, musk, and a whiff of patchouli. This one is an earthy musky resin. Low throw on me but great wear length.

A flicker of beeswax and candle smoke casting distorted shadows on a blackened panel of vetiver.

No additional description provided.

Flushed with ardor, and vibrant with passion: rose-infused honey, radiant amber, pale myrrh, and golden jasmine enfolded in warm cardamom. Rosy honey and jasmine. This is a very warm, very sexy jasmine/rose honey blend. For me, rose, honey, and jasmine are very dominant notes. So I remember this one having a huge throw.

With a chocolate crust, a layer of pumpkin cream cheese, and chocolate ganache.

Not a scent of clay, but of creation: white sandalwood, tulsi, and Mitti attar.

You move towards the first stage on your right, and as you walk, you feel something brush across your cheek. Something about the softness of the phantom caress makes your skin crawl, and you flinch involuntarily. At that moment, the Spider Girl strides haughtily onto the platform, her stiletto heels clicking a strange staccato as she walks. Her body is wrapped in skin-tight strips of black PVC, and the gleaming vinyl glistens in stark contrast to the alabaster skin on her six pale, white arms. She gestures to the rafters above with a graceful flick of her blood-red nails. In dread, your eyes are drawn skyward: above her, in a gossamer snare, web-shrouded bodies twist and struggle. A swirling, hypnotic perfume of black currant, poppy, red and black musk, lilies, nicotiana, tobacco tar, and patchouli. Okay, I get black currant, lots of musk, a touch of tobacco. This one is muskier and fruitier than the original Arachnina. For me, it feels more gleaming shiny carapace than feral. The previous one definitely felt like a feral, hairy prickle. This is more the shiny dome of the abdomen of a black widow. Stays fairly close to the skin, medium wear length. There's something here that reminds me to red wine. I also had the serendipitous swab on a spot that I was re-testing Imperfect Enjoyment and it really smells fantastic to combine those two. IE brings out a different musk on Arachnina, tames some of the white floral aspects and brings out the patchouli. At the end it ends up like a more slinky type of blend. Sort of like when Black Widow is doing an incognito mission and is posing in a slinky Hollywood siren dress. You know she's deadly and can probably kill you with those thighs, but its just classy all the way.

Soporific and filthy.

This perfume does not smell like farts: buttercream-frosted sprinkle cupcakes and a sprig of lavender.

Tangy and sweet

We were exhausted, hungry, and batty from travel, but Lilith made herself right at home. She’s a born traveler, and takes just about everything that happens on a trip in stride; she’s as comfortable in a hotel, hostel, or airport floor as she is at home. Just before dawn on our first morning in Paris, I tried to talk Lilith into putting on a coat and watching the sun rise with me, but she’s didn’t bite. Burgundy oudh and crushed velvet musk with a misting of lavender.  OUDH OUDH OUDH. I got mainly oudh, and maybe a whiff of musk. But yes, OUDH OUDH OUDH. Great throw and wear length. Did I mention MONSTER OUDH?

No additional scent description.

Warmth, safety, and succor: soft leather, clove, and smoked cardamom with vanilla bean, roasted apples, dried cranberries, winter rosemary, dried figs, and gingered rum.

A pumpkin spiced spliff.

A month without you is far longer than a year: opal-gilded white rose petals, vanilla flower, and caramelized benzoin.