cfrancesca

I'm mostly getting creamy cherry blossoms and some juicy, slightly tart tropical fruits. Though I find the over scent well-blended, as it settles I can make out the pink grapefruit, guava and a touch of lemongrass, the hibiscus also peeks through. Sadly, I don't smell any of the foody scent or vanilla others are getting.

I get a very crisp apple, fizzy, clean scent. It does have a slight detergent tinge to it, which gets stronger the longer it's on my skin.

I get scorched wood, smokey vetiver, spices (cloves?) and resins (almost cola-like), it has an overall gritty, ashy feeling. As it dries, the clove amps on my skin and there's a slight metallic tang to it, which must be the blood. Not something I would wear, but I definitively find it very evocative.

Opium and fizzy champagne, an odd combination to my nose. Though I like both notes separately, together they are not working for me. It's a sharp, powdery, fizzy, dry mess on my skin.

I get a light watery floral, a soft skin musk with a soft, almost toasty note in the back. As it settles the 'toasty note' almost completely goes away. I find this is in the same vein as The Unicorn, mostly ethereal, hazy, white florals. Unfortunately with time, this gets sharper and headier on me. This has strong throw.

I mostly get sandalwood, blue musk and soft florals (in that order), the other notes are well-blended but I do get the hints of tea and white peach.

This is a very fresh, airy, clean scent on me. I get tropical florals, a bit of green and soft tropical fruits? The fruit smells like fresh tropical fruit salad, like starfruit with a hint of fresh melon, something pulpy and fresh. I also get hints of soft linen as it dries.

There are very few bpals that I'm completely turned off by, this happens to be one of them. I get a cloying and nauseating chemical sugar powder, cream and dry sandalwood. This sounded like it would work based on the reviews since I normally like sugary, creamy scents but this was a disaster.

Super fizzy and citrussy. It smells like a lemon cleaner on me.

This started out as a flat and kind of an odd scent that is dusty, creamy, sweet, but also kind of sour and stinky, I wonder if my tester has gone bad? As it dries, I get a bit of chocolate and a flat cream scent. I might have to seek out another tester to compare.

I get creamy, slightly sweetened, roasted coffee. The creaminess goes slightly off on me, similar to what happened with Bah and Misk U, but not as bad. As it settles it starts to smell like roasted nuts.

This is gorgeous for red-musk lovers. I get lots of red musk, woods and smokey incense. It gets a little bit spicy as it dries.

Yummy sweet grape and an almost fizzy wine scent. As it dries it starts to smell more like grape candy.

This is complex and chilly. I get mint (with a touch of spearmint), soft vanilla, a bit of green and soft florals (slightly reminiscent of When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go) all blended together with that lovely soft creaminess from Snow White. As it dries, some pine and a slightly sweet musk emerge and the chilly mint, soft vanilla and green amp on my skin. Sadly, the vanilla is starting to get a plastic tinge on my skin.

I mostly get cake and orange, as it settles I also get a hint of strawberry, but it's very light.

From a fellow Pisces, may I recommend these- Tiki Princess (LE) - A frothy, cold coconut perfume, pure and sweet, with gentle wafts of plumeria, pikake, and ala ala wai. It was an LE forum exclusive blend that was sold last year, but I think it might not be too hard to find as I occasionally see it pop up in sales pages. It doesn't have the fruity drink aspect, but for that maybe something from the Atomic Luaua Lounge (Blue Fire or Red Tide are my personal favorites) or Coral Snake which is - Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia. Also, Enlightenment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu - Silken coconut, angelica, soft golden incense, tiare, carnation, and Asian pear. It's my new favorite coconut blend and it's still available from the lab. That has a bit of everything you described, the coconut, a drink (the pear is sweet and fruity, like a juicy refreshing cocktail), and the tiare (tropical flowers). Definitely Tiki Queen but that one is a little harder to find. I also love Obatala and Pele, especially for the summer. Some floral recs- For gardenia (my personal favorites): Swan Maiden (LE) - White gardenia, white iris, sandalwood, calla lily, French magnolia, muguet, jonquil, and orchid. Marae (LE) - Vanilla orchid, Monoi tiare, gardenia, and light incense. The Harp of Cnoc l'Chosagair (LE) - Gilded amber, tiare, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cardamom, tagetes Tissue (LE) - Rice paper, white gardenia, and raw honey. The Gaoler's Daughter (LE) - Gardenia, neroli, and white peach with vanilla amber, cream, and honey. Lady of Shalott (GC) - bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and white ginger. I've not tried Sweet Life (Retail Exclusive) but that one has gardenia, pikaki, ylang ylang, and Casablanca lily. I generally like jasmine, but the jasmine the lab uses usually doesn't work so good on my skin, I've only had a few winners. One that comes to mind you might look into is Monster Bait: biggerCritters (LE)- Five vanillas with Moroccan jasmine, white gardenia, and pink grapefruit. It's a bit hard to find, but I see it pop up sometimes. Tuberose: My favorite is Echo (LE) - vanilla orchid, amyris, white sandalwood, grey amber, and tuberose, but it is a bit difficult to find. One last one is In Winter in My Room (LE) - grapefruit, yuzu, tuberose, peony, violet leaf, pikaki, Indian frankincense, and tonka. A lot of these are LE's but if you create a Wanted post for any that sound good to you, it's likely you'll find at least a few.

I'm getting Nepalese amber (it reminds me of a Nepalese Amber SN I have, though this one is stronger), vanilla musk, soft leather and a bit of smokiness. I like this much better than Amaterasu v2 and it kind of reminds of Celeste and a bit like CC Female. The amber is just a bit too strong for my liking (especially if I'm feeling headachy), but for the days I can tolerate it, it's a lovely golden blend. I'm also surprised with how long lasting it is.

To me, this smells like a less spicy, softer version of Spanked with added red musk and a bit of smokiness. It starts out strong on the smokey leather, with some red musk and a bit of patchouli. For a while, the red musk amps, but it finally settles into equal parts soft Spanked-like leather, red musk and a bit of patchouli.

This smells like a softer, less sugary TKO with a bit of Morocco (mostly the spices). I get fluffy, sweet vanilla and lavender, soft spices, a bit of musk and amber. To me, this is more of a complex, better for daytime use, version of TKO.

To me, this smells like a softer, creamier, sugared version of the released Hod. I'm mostly getting cream, sweet vanilla, soft spicy carnations, and a bit of amber and creamy sandalwood. eta: hm..I got a bottle of this one recently and it's different from my tester, it must be due to aging (unless there are batch differences). I get hardly any sweetness from my bottle and it's not as creamy either, the amber is also more pronounced and the carnation has a metallic tinge that I didn't get from my tester, overall it's a bit sharper and not as well-blended or smooth.

This is mostly strong, slightly worn leather with a chemical tinge. I can use only apply a little bit at a time because it's so strong and a little sharp at first, but it thankfully does get softer and warmer (almost musky) with time. I've been mainly using it to layer with other scents since this is really close to being a leather SN.

When first applied, I got mostly resins with a backdrop of soft bay, black pepper and a really nice amber. As it dried, the brown musk emerged, but it's not as strong as I'd hoped. I find all notes in here are well-blended, soft and pleasant and a bit masculine, the overall scent is softly spicy, musky and a bit smokey on my skin.

I get everything listed, the leather and dry woods are the main players, followed by the porter and tonka. This reminds me of a cross between Enkhespalos and Olisbos. The mix of well-worn leather, woods, and a splash of booze makes this one a very sexy gentleman scent.

I get strong, oiled worn leather, some woods and something smokey and little peppery to my nose. It dries down to mostly smokey leather.

I find this one complex and a morpher, it was difficult for me to try to pin down. When first applied, I got creamy almond and a little sandalwood, it reminds me of the scent of a luxurious lotion. As soon as it begins to dry, I get very soft hints of warm baking vanilla, soft spices (almost foody) and something slightly cooling. I can't pin down the fresh, cool scent I'm getting, it's kind of like soft balsam, maybe a little sap-like, with something slightly herbal and lemony (almost like light tea with a hint of lemon), but it's soft at this stage. As it settles, the almond scent fades some and the balsam-like note and spices starts to amp. The soft spices (I mostly get saffron and maybe a few others) have created a warm, soft musky scent that kind of remind me a bit of the spices in Storyville. After about an hour, only the soft, warm spices remain. The scent is soft and has a low throw.