Honey

Sounds lovely! Imp: Interesting. Smells like bitter almond with a dash of cinnamon and.. stale bread? Wet: Very yeasty, bread-like. Odd. Dry: Better. Still bitter almond and cinnamon (reminds me very much of a tame, non-fiery version of Inferno) plus something.. fresh and green, a floral note (must be the heliotrope then). Vanilla and frankincense appear after a while. But the blend.. well, it doesn't really work for me.

Finally - lilac! Imp: A lovely, sweet, light and creamy floral note. Lily of the Valley and lilac with a soft creamy undertone are prominent in this scent. Wet: Lilac with a sour undertone to it. Dry: There is something sharp and sour like pee that clouds the lovely lilac! Very soapy.. and, I think dragon's blood just does not work for me. Oh, OH... the pee note goes away, and a creamy soapy lilac remains.. it is not so bad, might keep this and see if there are occasions for which this scent is quite right.

Let's see if we can find the hazelnut.. Imp: Dark, sweet cypress and moss. Wet: Men's cologne. Dry: Dusty and nutty in the dry-down. The sweetness comes from the frankincense I think, the dark quality from cypress and moss. It's OK, but doesn't really give me a kick (not even for the bf).

Butter - behave! Imp: Toasted bread with weak tea. Wet: Buttered toast, weak tea and celery (butter notes do that to me). Dry: Smells just like freshly toasted bread with anise tea. Interesting smell but not really something I want to wear.

Yay, coffee! No, roses! Imp: It's roses and roses! Maybe a hint of vanilla and coffee. Wet: More roses, fruity and sweet. Dry: Roses. Sadface. But, hey, what did I expect from the notes in this scent?

Still trying to widen my smell horizon.. Imp: Creamy florals (gardenia) with a salty/sour undertone. Wet: Sweet floral. Dry: Hmm.. gardenia which reminds me of rose. Nice but not really my thing.

Hmmm.. will that butter like me? Imp: Bitter almond (like the flavor oil you use for baking cake) with a slightly sour undertone. Wet: Bitter almond - not sickly sweet bit.. somewhat green and fresh. Dry: Hmmm.. spicy and herbal bitter almond. Not too heavy. I need to give this a 24h trial.

Summer! Imp: Fruity, sweet apricot. Much stronger (and more yummy) than the apricot in March Hare Wet: Lovely! Fruity sweet apricot. Doesn't smell like peach hand soap (yay!). Dry: Still mainly apricot. Beautiful summer scent, I can only echo that statement.

Can I please love this rose for once? Imp: Cedar or teak. Very sharp, acrid, wooden, strong. Also sour and tart, perhaps bergamot and nutmeg. Wet: Bergamot, rose and sandalwood - three key ingredients of Nivea lotion. And it really smells like it. It's more fruity, though, because of the mandarin and more tart because of the nutmeg and/or saffron. Dry: Sandelwood is very prominent in this scent. It's spicy, creamy bur doesn't have a strong throw. Rose shines through faintly.. but, all in all, a light scent that seems a bit imbalanced.

Tamarind.. ohh, exciting! Imp: Wow.. this smells.. really foody. As if.. there were a caramel note faintly in the background that held together juicy grape, fig, pomegranate and apple. With a dash of cinnamon. Wet: Somewhat.. boozy and juicy. Sweet and still.. like caramel or cake. A bit fizzy. Reminds me of rum raisins.. but that's just not it. I think the almonds add to the sickly sweet & foody appeal of this scent. Dry: This one goes really.. sharp, acrid and bitter on my skin. Fennel/celery plus burned sugar plus fish oil. Wow.. as if something has gone really bad and stayed on my skin for days. Must wash off!

My bet is this one was supposed to go or will go into the Yule selection. Bottle: Butter vanilla and rum raisins. Smells like Christmas, smells like stollen. VERY foody and strong. Wet: OK, this IS stollen. Buttery dough with almonds, rum raisins and the lightest hint of lemon peel. Has a sugary caramel note as well. A dash of cinnamon, orange peel, perhaps nutmeg and/or allspice and clove in the background. Dry: Oh well.. turns to leek and/or celery on my skin. I also get some burned sugar. Drat.. I hate when those things happen.

It's finally summer in Germany, so this scent is more than fitting! Imp: Wow! Boozy, fizzy tangerine and.. ginger? No.. must be the fruity/spicy appeal of this scent. Very exotic! Wet: Tangerine, guava, passion fruit.. all there! Not too sweet, not soapy.. just.. fizzy and boozy and tiki! Dry: Passion fruit and guava are the strongest notes to me when dry. Not too boozy for my taste and has a decent throw. Hmm.. will wear this when it's hot outside (because I wish I had a tiki bar)! 2021 update: This is a different imp I am testing than 10 years ago. It smells like fruity toilet cleaner to me, I'm sorry! It's very alcoholic, fresh, fruity and fizzy. Very heavy on the fizzy tangerine. It smells very orange, cannot make out any individual fruit notes. It's a bit flat by itself, but it could still be nice as a fun layering note with some light musks, ambers and/or strong vanillas.

Please, no violet.. Imp: Sweet warm herbs, green notes, interesting floral notes I cannot pin down. Wet: Purple floral notes and sharp, sweet spices. Smells very much like a soap. Nice - but not for me. Dry: Citrus notes appear. Green, sharp, tart.. and a bit like sweat.. erk.

So excited to give this a try! Imp: The notes that strike me first are grapefruit (juicy, tart, fresh), aloe (light, green, fresh) and rice wine (sweet and sour). Yum, good. Wet: Fresh, light, yellow/green/white. Similar to but much stronger than Kumiho, similar to but less lemon-y than Embalming Fluid (and I was disappointed by both). Dry: Light and fresh. Could need a stronger throw. After a wile, the creamy and spicy candied ginger & sugarcane come through. Oh, this is yummy and JUST.MY.THING. Vanilla adds to the creamy texture. I am sure the musk and sandalwood will appear later and make this long-lasting and nice. Oh, darn, I so want a bottle of this!!

Yay! Frimp I never would have picked for myself but.. Imp: Wow! Spicy orange vanilla with a floral undertone. Smells like.. Snake Oil mixed with dripping sweet orange juice and a waft of intoxicating flowers. Wet: Omg, LOVE! Fruity Snake Oil!? So good! I hope it stays like this when it dries down. Dry: Hmm, it has some sort of.. eggy note that appears now. Still spicy orange & dark vanilla, though, which smells yummy. Have to wait for a while and have to see how the scent morphs on me.

A twisted teatime tart: apricot and sweet clove. Finally!! @ Usagi Imp: Sweet apricot and spicy sweet clove! Very light throw in the vial. Wet: Sweet, thick, waxy, condensed apricot. Not fresh, fruity and juicy like peach. Just.. sweet apricot (like dried apricots that are very condensed in their flavor). And a lovely clove. Dry: Sweet and spicy. The more it dries, the more the clove gets through. Smells almost like.. black tea with apricot flavor. Has only medium throw but a long staying power i.e. I can still smell the soapy and sweet apricot-clove mix on my wrist after 12+ hours. Lovely scent but nothing I see myself wearing on a regular basis as I don't have that much oil and I need to bathe in something in order to smell scented right.

Dark and juicy... Imp: Very dark and sensual, yet.. somewhat medicinal and fruity. I can definitely smell the musks and the fig % black current. Wet: Smells.. dark, sweet and juicy. and a bit spicy. I cannot make out the single notes, it just comes across as decent blend. Dry: Warm, spicy, a wee bit soapy. Nice.. but nothing special.

Oh, creamy goodness! Imp: Smells creamy and yummy. Shea, definitely. Could also be some light chocolate. Really delicious. There are already herbal notes striking my nose. Wet: This is awesome!! Creamy shea and fragrant spruce. Oh, that is so NOT generic but soft and green and lovely. Dry: More wooden now then before. Creamy wood, slightly spicy. Not as herbal as in the wet stage. Alas.

Fruity Gods? Imp: Ohhh, lovely sweet grapefruit! Plus aquatic notes. Wet: Still yummy sweet grapefruit. Slightly marine notes Dry: Grapefruit and spices.. ginger and anise? Still fresh and aquatic like a cologne.. but.. hey, this ain't bad at all. To me this is rather fruity fresh than really something salty from the sea. Will be kept and tried for a full day.

Wow, scent rollercoaster! Imp: Sprite! This totally smells like sprite. I think there is lemon and lime in there. Sweet not sour. But maybe it's also vanilla and ginger, so.. yes, it also reminds me of ginger ale and coca cola. I guess that means we have a good deal of sweet sugared citrus fruits, some heavy orchid and/or lily floral notes.. and ginger, maybe sweet clove as spices. Wet: That's.. coke with lime! Sorry, it just smells like exactly that. Ohh, it turns creamy after a couple of seconds. Yes, ginger and almond, that makes it spicy and nutty. OK, dare I say someone dunked their ginger cookies into cake with lime? Yes, that's what it is. Dry: Not quite sure what to think of it.. such a strange, strange scent. It's.. bubbly and full of joy, very sweet and bright. I might give it a try and wear this one all day and see how it goes. ETA: Cassia! There must be some of that in there as well. And tonka appears on the dry-down after a while.

Rose overkill! Imp: Sweet, sweet roses. Very strong. Myrrh and jasmine tune into the mix, too. Wet: Multi-layered rose with fruity mandarin and spicy myrrh. A really lovely blend although I am not much of a rose lover. Dry: Soapy, fruity floral notes, strongest of all is rose. Might be jasmine in there as well, but I usually have a hard time detecting that as a single note in a mix. Hmm, not really my thing I guess.

Honey on honey, purr! Imp: Omg, so good! Freshly peeled oranges, sweet honey and a floral undertone, I think this must be the ash manna. Wet: This is way more fruity than like honey. It could be orange but also passion fruit or some other yellow-orange and exotic fruit. There is a herbal and rich note to this scent. Dry: It smells what I have always wanted orange blossom honey to taste like! Very sweet and fruity with a herbal and spicy undertone. The citrus note is a bit too sharp for me, though, and the scent takes on slight toilet cleaner attributes after dry.down (maybe a bit heavy on the bitter lemon that could be in there after all).

I really hope this won't burn my skin too badly.. Imp: Patchouli! Very strong, dark and intense scent. Behind the patchouli, I can detect bitter orange, cinnamon and bitter clove. Wet: Smells... smokey. Incense is stronger than the patchouli now. Still rather dark, earthy and bitter. Not really any orange or cinnamon detectable. Dry: Very earthy, fragrant and tart. Patchouli and incense are the notes that come out the strongest on my skin. Cinnamon and clove give the scent and nice texture but are not too overpowering. I cannot detect any orange at this state on my skin. Hmm.. bit too dark and tart for my taste.

Something light, something bright.. Imp: Grape, pear and sweet pea jump right at me! I think that these notes harmonize well with one another. It's sweet and juicy yet also floral (but rather yellow & pink floral notes, not white & green ones). Wet: Oh, yummy! This scent turns into something.. silver golden for me. Fresh, slightly sweet yet something green shines through. Floral notes get stronger in this scent on my skin. This is mainly green juicy pear with a hint of white grape and sweet pea on me now. Dry: It's very bubblegum-like on my skin. Sweet and juicy. Mainly grape and pear. I don't know what moonflower and snapdragon smell like, but the floral notes in this scent blend really well to a yellow-whitish mix. A light scent for spring, but somehow this is a bit too sweet for me.

Discon or not, this one is lovely! Imp: Wood, herbs and pickle water. Wet: Strong wooden notes, slightly sharp. Green, herbal and slightly floral (maybe calla lily and/or lily of the valley). Dry: Dry sandalwood and other wooden notes. A creamy greenness, slightly sweet and herbal. I wore this on my wrists today and had Van Van in my scent locket. Those two (because they share the sweet grass I assume) fit together very well.