zankoku_zen

Oh man, this one definitely has the fizzy pop of champagne when you first smell it. On me, the champagne is there but it lasts maybe 30 minutes. The roses develop over time and completely dominate the scent. On the other hand, it totally smells like an expensive rose.

This is one in which I wish my husband's skin chemistry was exactly like mine. On me, it smells like a rich, complex, slightly sweet musky incense. GUH. So good. I'd jump on a guy like this. I might go and sneak off to go hump my wrist.... TMI. On my husband, it smells nothing like this. It's woodier and muskier, but the musk just smells dirty. SAD.

Okay, finally a gardenia that doesn't smell like wet wool. So, it's a nice juicy floral with huge honey and roses overtones. Still not a win on me, but at least it doesn't smell like wet wool. It does smell like a nice girl. Maybe I'm not a nice girl afterall.

I enjoyed Ra more than anticipated. It was a dirty, sandy, gritty kind of citrus and warm woodiness. In a good way. It smelled old, golden and like ancient sandstone.

This one started as a sweet, root beer-like resinous blend, and end up in straight up sweet rose. Again, not a winner in my book.

Oh man, this started as a sweet, spicy resinous melon and ended up as a combination of melon and roses. Yeah, not great for me.

I definitely get the fruity pineapple on wet... however as ti dries, it gets more of a resinous sweet coconut blend. Yeah, not for me.

I find this to be a great substitute to Rose Red. It kinda reminds me to Rose Red, but greener and younger. More innocent. I think it might also have some apple blossom in it, because I get an almost green apple overtone to it. Very pretty, and I don't like roses. Normally. I'd definitely recommend this one as a rose blend though!

This one started as a dark herbally green scent, and dried into a green soapy floral sort of scent. Still very green. Very clean, soapy green. Ah well.

Agreed with hackess --- this wasn't uberscrubby, but I use a pumice stone anyway, but it was moisturizing as all get out. I really enjoyed that part. It was more of a 'finishing' move on my feet --- after the pumice, the soap, and then the foot scrub to moisturize and make my feet smell good. It had a faint cookie/spice smell to it, but not much. I enjoyed it immensely and now have to sample the other scrubs!

This is a sweet, yellow rose. It does remind me to the GC Unicorn. I seem to really amp up the sweetness in this blend, which is disappointing, since I had high hopes for it. Ah well.

I definitely get the mild soapy/clean edge in this blend. It's a cool, green and fresh. It kinda reminds me to the GC Dirty. It had the same sort of 'clean laundry' smell to it.

Honestly, I get a very strong apple note from this one, and yes, it does put me in mind of a fall version of Mabon. In fact, I'd say this one is more of a Mabon like scent than Fearful Pleasure. And out of all the Harvest Moon versions, this has got to be my favorite. Take Mabon and add L'Autunno and this is what you get.

*sigh* Such promise disintegrates into nothing. It started out as a bright perfume sort of floral/aquatic, and has debased itself to something peppery. Boo.

*sigh* Such promise disintegrates into nothing. It started out as a bright perfume sort of floral, and has debased itself to roses and pencil shavings (damn you cedar).

Okay, so for me, I'm always looking for an Ice Queen dupe. This one comes pretty close on my skin. At the beginning, this is very aggresively piney, but then on the drydown it calms down and I can smell the snowy flowers. I think IQ must have a berry component, because this is lacking in sweetness. It's also 'muskier' than IQ, with an almost 'peppery/spicy' tone to the musk. This is IQ's wilder cousin - still out trampling in the forests and cavorting with furry animals. It doesn't have the sophisticated feel of IQ, but it's got a more animalistic presence. I think as it ages, the pine won't be as aggressive... but the only thing that gives me pause is whether the musk would become more prominent.

The apple + spice notes reminded me to Fearful Pleasure when it was on wet, but it has more of the 'fallen leaves' than FP does. As it dries however, the patchouli goes powdery on me. At least, I think it's the patch. Ah well, at least I love the room spray!

I did get something very green and citrusy when I applied, and perhaps some of the clove. As it dried, the clove and I'm guessing frankincense really came out. Nice manly cologne. I'd even think about swabbing this on the hubby... except given it's rarity, I rather not get him hooked.

Oh god, this is licorice and leather. It's like a giant licorice whip. The kind that makes you want to lick it! For me, the leather is too much. But I find this to be the sweetest leather I've ever tried.

Oddly enough, I get that 'fallen leaves' autumn smell from the L'Autunno room spray (my fave from the 4 Seasons Inquest) mixed with grape wine/juice. It sweetens up the blend, but it makes it an odd combination in my head. Oddly enough, it's like the Samhain room spray, but with grape instead of apple. Ah well.

This one shares similarities with Stardust, which ended up as a more sophisticated Charlie on me. Again, there's that high pitched 'hair spray' note as in Stardust, and it does sort of smell like Charlie, but fruitier. Glam as all get out.

Oh, this is pancakes, maple and the goat butter. I can definitely smell something that kinda smells like feta in contrast to the sugary syrup and the cakey-ness of the pancake batter. If it weren't for the goat butter.... *sigh*

This is for the original Beaver Moon 2005. On wet, there was a strong strawberry cupcake scent, but the strawberry went away quickly and I was left with vanilla cake. Yummy, but I wish strawberry had stuck around longer. As it has dried, I get more of the 'graham' cracker thing going and it smells a bit fake for me. BM05 is a no go for me. If the 2008 version is the same, I think I will stick to Closet for all of my cake love needs.

Okay, last year's Lick It (One More Time) was a horrible disaster on me - the vanilla went all plasticky on me. (I had the same problem with Tokyo Stomp). This one is more like Lick It Again --- the peppermint is very present on wet, and the drydown is more sugary than LiA. I have a partial of LiA and don't wear it as much, so I doubt I'll pick up this year's incarnation. It's very lovely and I love smelling like a peppermint candy, but I know that I don't reach for LiA as much as I should!

Oh god, this is pumpkin goodness - with just a hint of cheesecake and graham crackers. I would never wear this scent because it's so realistic, I'd crave cheesecake all the time. ... I'm so hungry right now...