zankoku_zen

I do get the rain and ozone, and mossy and wet rock. It's kind of amazing like that. I think this is more of a masculine scent, but I don't think it's the kind the husband goes for. Anyway, an olfactory experience ALL the way. Wet rock? CHECK (eat your heart out CB). Moss? Check! Rain and ozone? Yes.

I get the comparisons to Shanghai, since that is the GC this reminds me the most of. I do get a crisp tea scent, but unlike Shanghai, this one has a delicate wisteria/cherry blossom overlay. This one is fresh, crisp and definitely Asian. Of all the Asian scents (aside from Fire Pig), this is one of my favorite. Love the cherry blossom in this one.

The SN is interesting. I've had hits and misses with blends containing this note. At the very beginning, it struck me how this was the 'base' note for Ebisu - it's the sweaty, almost dirty, base. The SN is herbal, something slightly damp and mossy. Earth and dirt. Interesting.

This soap was smooth and creamy. I didn't get as much of the fragrance in the shower as I did when I unwrapped it - which was just a smooth, milky coffee, with perhaps a slight woodiness. No dust. Yeah! I had to give up my Misk U oil because the delicious caramel coffee dried to bone-dust and pledge. Very unhappy about that. But I have to say the soap is pretty nice. I wish it had more coffee in it, but overall, it was just a general pleasant smell. Moisturizing. I like.

Unfortunately, I don't have naeelah's luck. I get big dollops of sandalwood and patchouli, with some enticing spikes of honeyed carnations. But overall, still a dirty hippie.

*sigh* I do get some of the rootbeer and cream. Now. At the beginning, it smelled like sweet galvanized rubber. And now it smells of rootbeer and vanilla with a plastic lining underneath. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Where's the delicious creamy rootbeer of my dreams? Where?

I do get the dandelions from this - and something slightly sweet and hoppy. There must be dandelions in Szepasszony because it has that sharp, airy smell to it. Unfortunately, the dandelions dry down. And there's that overriding hoppy/barley kind of smell. *sigh*

Okay, for me I got this dark, and dirty, slightly chilly, mildly rose smell. Mainly it was this root-based, up-turned earth kind of smell that was going on. This, for me, is the smell of rich earth, you know the kind, deep dark brown, almost black, and you can just smell the water and moisture in it. Not a dirt girl, but this was like walking straight into a planting a garden experience.

I think of the things I smell the most is the black amber - it is smoky and powdery. I did get the scorched stems part, esp. when wet. But now, it's a generic green, with a powdery resinous base. Interesting.

Hmmm, I have no idea why I thought this would work other than hope ever springs eternal? This started out as sandalwood and red musk. And now has moved into peanut butter. I kid you not. It smell like peanut butter on my wrist. GAH!

Oh man, this was sweet melony watery goodness. But my skin eats it right up! Two hours later and its gone.

This was minty fresh and metallic, very cool and airy. I loved it in this stage, but the drydown turned into cool dryer sheets. Nuts.

This is a heady aquatic floral. The most dominant note for me is jasmine. It's potent and sweet. Alot of time, jasmine is sharp on me (and yes, occasionally we have the dreaded cat pee effect), but this one is lush, and like a hot house flower. Pretty.

Oh, Hod. I wish it had worked out between us. I really did. I love the idea of a sexed out Morocco. And you kind of are. The spicy creamy carnation is there, all pretty and well sexy, but there's this weird undertone of ... well, almost latex plastic. If this has BPAL's cream note, then that's where the 'off scent' is coming through. Most of the time, you smell like spicy creamy carnations. But I can't seem to forget that occasionally, you don't smell right to me. This is the smell of the girl that sounds perfect on paper, is sexy as all get out, but occasionally makes you think that makes she's not what you think of her, at all. *sigh* It was a doomed love affair.

Oh man, this so doesn't work on me. I get that weird banana floral smell. Ick. It's heady and sweet, and the honey is also pretty aggressive. If I liked honeyed bananas, this would be my go to scent. Nope. Not my kind of floral.

For me, this was bitter and woody and smoky. The cedar was very much in the forefront - and it had a golden resinous tone to it. I was mainly hoping for citrus, but got the woody/smoky thing going on instead. Not my kind of scent, sorry.

This is a sweet berry scent! I really enjoy the green notes and the berries. It has just a teensy hint of plastic, but overall, it's fresh, juicy and sweet. Very innocent. I think this would be a great scent for a little girl actually. Perhaps a little too sweet and innocent for the likes of me.

Tyche's Kiss does start off minty, but that quickly burns off and I'm left with a light herbally kinda smell. There's something a teeny bit powdery and I have to wonder if the base isn't slightly resinous. In any case, I will edit this review about the actual effects after the day has gone by. Effects: So when I put this on I asked for a little good luck for me and a little good luck for my boss, who was having a biopsy that day. The day itself was pretty uneventful. I had the next three days off because my BIL was in town and I was his official tour guide. Touristing was nice and fine - the weather was unbelieavable nice! Not too hot or humid, which was great since we were walking outdoors alot, and no rain! Yeah! On Friday, we went to pick up my stepson, arrived early, went to the mall, stopped by Gamestop and managed to find a WII, which we hadn't been able to find in FOREVER. And now, today, I found out from my boss that he got a call on Friday. He's fine and healthy. ... Coincidence? Maybe. In any case, I'll have to try this again since I found out over the weekend that my grandpa is not doing so hot. I'm going to see if Tyche's Kiss can help out a little? ETA: It was resolved quickly. (I'm afraid to make the actual minutes count in my head). I mainly asked that there be a quick resolution and that my grandfather be better off in general. I think it was time to go. I think it was for the best).

This one... was odd. It had a waxy Christmasy smell to it. It was berries and pine sap, but the pine sap was almost astringent. As it dried, it became this Christmas soap and now it's ended up in dried stick forest land. WTH? Yeah. I don't get it either.

Oh man, this was sugary lemony fruits and PINE. It's got this fizzy fruity citrus thing going on over this base of piney resin. As it dried down, the pine dropped off and now it's just sugary sweet fruits. Too sweet for me.

A buoyant, dulcet blend of vanilla, sunflower, carnation, honeydew, peach blossom, lychee, oakmoss and white tea. I only have a bottlecap sniffie --- but it was honey and melon that I could smell. Really, it was very melony.

Given the notes, I expected this to be some sort of BPAL gone wrong scent for me. It started off sweet - when I first opened up the vial, it was a sweet wine scent I got, very boozy. After I applied it, the sweetness started to burn off, and more of the florals started to creep in. Oddly enough, the jasmine is not too sharp nor is the rose overwhelming. It's like the other notes have colluded and kept them under lock and key. Oh and the black patchouli? Doesn't smell like BO on me. Huzzah! Really, this should be some horrible scent on me. Instead, it's dark and sexy and lightly floral without being too in your face, just whiffs really. The patchouli is at the base, grounding everything. It's shiny and glossy, with a hint of danger. Wonderful.

This is masculine smoke, but it's not too vetiver heavy. I like it better than Djinn. It's smoky and sexy and tasty (I get a faint root beer taste from it). The husband isn't into this kind of scent (he'll tell me it smells like Vick's vaporub, regardless) but on the right guy, ZOWHEE.

This one started out as a delicate violet blend and went straight into dirty hippie patchouli. Oh patchouli, why must you try to monopolize my attentions? Why?

This one reminds me to a classier Plunder. Whereas Plunder was straight up spices, this has enough of a floral component to smell more like a perfume. It was also smokier (ahhhh tobacco), and the coconut didn't make a headlock for the spotlight. Still, in my mind, it was a pretty masculine like scent. ARRR!