zankoku_zen

Oh Blue Phoenix. You are one odd blend. You start off as blueberry sweet tarts - blueberries, candy powder and sweetness. But as you dry, you get spicier and spicier. Definitely clove and cinnamon. In fact, the drydown evokes Mabon-like comparisons to me. In that spicy + fruit intersection.

Okay, the rose note I get in this blend on wet is almost an apple + rose, very green, a la Red Rose 2005. As it dries, it gets a mildly spicy edge to it, which I do think might be the carnation. Unfortunately, the drydown is almost entirely rose soap on me, very creamy though. I however, after about two hours, detect something else and I swear it smells almost like a Lush bathbomb, but I can't place my finger on it. In fact, I know I've smelt it before. I am also beginning to think it might have some clary sage in this blend.

On me, this is definitely primarily a red musk + patchouli base. There might be a hint of vanilla to sweeten this entire deal, but pretty much red musk + patchouli - from on wet, to drydown. Yes, this is a surprisingly clean musk sort of smell. Sexy in the not obvious, overtly sexual way.

Lilac does such strange things to me. It smelled oddly like celery + dragon's blood. Now on the drydown, it just smells like... SOAP.

DCCCXXXVIII (837): Dunno if this has ever been reviewed. This smells like amber, something floral, and slightly sweet. I even want to say that there's a trace of chocolate in there, but I see no dark oil. I also get a whiff of cardamom, possibly cassia. I swear I've smelled this before.. ETA: I got it! This smells like Lush's Karma. Yup. Definitely Lush's Karma.

Ohh... AHHH. GAH. I mean, this smells like hot smoky leather. The kind of leather that has recently been set on fire. Debauchery my foot. This smells like arson.

This makes me sad, it started as a great lavender blend with some verbena thrown in. Nice and herbal. And it dries down to CYPRESS. Just this woodsy powder. GRRR.

I kinda enjoy this one. I agree that this patchouli has a hard edge, but I find the pomegranate + blackberry combo is quite nice. I get a little more of the heliotrope on the drydown. But yeah, definitely fruit, with a warm, hard dirty patchouli as a base. If the patchouli were just a teensy bit softer on me, I think I could swing this.

Okay, so the misty flowers totally don't work for me. The citrus and the misty flowers combine to smell like some sort of industrial cleanser on wet, and as it dries, the misty part turns musty. And kinda like... naphthalene. So... yeah. PASS.

This definitely is like a fresh, very sweet, strawberry. On wet, it almost has a watermelon candy aspect to it. As it dries however, the strawberry starts to get the faintest edge of plastic. Enough to turn it from a real strawberry to strawberry bubblicious gum. Yes, definitely more GUM than, say, freshness. Ah well.

Okay... maybe I'm odd but I don't think I got the strawberry, unless it was there for like one hot minute. On application, this was a buttery, apple spice like cake. It kinda reminded me of Fearful Pleasure, but more akin to Mabon. Honestly, what it brings to mind is some sort of apple/honey spice cake that you'd use during Mabon. It's that kind of blend. Definitely has a 'Weenie/Autumn feel to it. I sort of wish I had gotten strawberry shortcake... but I'm not complaining about what showed up!

Hmmm, this on application is a salty musky blend with something that smells like a raisin. As it dries, I get clove, sarsaparilla and just a hint of tobacco. I'm very on the fence on whether I like this or dislike this.

This one was a very strong cherry cough syrup when I first applied it. And then, I had a mild intersection with cherry and something spicy that reminded me to Ho Ho Ho. Now on the drydown, it's almost entirely almonds and cherries. In fact, it kinda reminds me to that Jergen's lotion scent.

Oh man, I got a masculine green musk cologne on wet. As it dried, I definitely got hit with a slap of leather... like the leather in Hessian. In fact, this blend kinda reminds me to Hessian of the Hollow. As it dries a little, I get more of the cedar. But yeah, this is a masculine leather + musk + cedar.

On wet, this really made me think of carrot cake. As it dries, I get a dark musk (probably black musk), a hint of raisin, a hint of ginger, and yes, the notion of something 'glazed'. That's more of a vibe than anything else. I can see the comparisons to gingerbread, but it puts me more in the mind of Shub-Niggurath (and they are really distant cousins, but that's the closest GC association I have). And Shub, the gingerbread kind, as opposed to the other kind as I know there are two very distinct version of Shub. Same kind of vibe - EVIL cake.

Wow, this is a very fruity floral with a touch of spice. It's sweet and while it makes me think of apples, it also brings pineapples to my mind. Perhaps its the fact that I can smell almonds. It has a very strong almond component, and a VERY creamy drydown. Perhaps also a touch of wood.

On me this was a sweet, fizzy sort of Sweet Tarts scent. I do believe the fizz comes from champagne, as it has that light/bubbly feeling. However, it basically dries down to soap. Really nice, fruity soap. But still soap.

Hmm. I can see the Glowing Vulva compraison. It's kinda musky, but with a lemon/clary sage bit going on. Underneath, I wanna say I get something almost sandy, kinda dry woody... and yes, hints of vanilla. I'm thinking the wood might be teak.

This one reminds me strongly of Marshmallow Poof --- although it has more butter and more vanilla in it. Unfortunately, again, this vanilla turns to plastic, except it's almost Play-Doh like on me. Fortunately it fades fast on my skin chemistry. Ah well.

This one is a fresh, ozone aquatic with a hint of peppermint. It's got a strong citrus component, and it does make me think 'Embalming Fluid' or 'Dirty'. Its that clean linen sort of feel. Unfortunately, some of this blends tend to go to 'industrial cleanser'... which this does. SAD.

Wooo. Definitely buttery lemon cake. It's pretty damn tasty. Unfortunately, the vanilla is the kind that goes to plastic on me. Other than that, this would be uber yum.

Oh man, this definitely has a 'red clay' dirt smell. I would guess dirt, sandalwood and some black patchouli. It's a spicy, kinda stinky, dirt blend.

Phosphorous does kinda remind me to Embalming Fluid - I get more of a lemon balm as opposed to lemon/lime. And there is something green in the background, and hints of aloe and green tea. I don't really get the metal hints on it. This dries to a dry, soft lemon blend. My skin totally ate this up.

Astraphobia opens up with a giant blast of menthol, which quickly burns off. There is definitely peppermint and spearmint in this blend, and I'm guessing lemon and eucalyptus. It dries to a slight lemon herbal background.

Hmmm. This definitely has beeswax in it - as it got a slightly waxy feel to the honey and it isn't quite as aggressive as honey is on my skin. It's definitely got vanilla and a light musk to it. Slightly incensey. On the drydown, I definitely get the vanilla + beeswax making sweet, sweet, sweet SWEET love to each other. Slightly creamy and not at all powdery. If you can hack beeswax/honey, I would definitely give this a whirl. From what I can recall of O, it's less sexually aggressive and more sensual. More of the come hither, as opposed to the ravishing kind.