follis

I am testing 2012. It's so weird-- when I first opened and sniffed from the bottle it had a fizzy soda pop quality, but sniffing it again it's less bubbly and more sweet with a bit more pumpkin and ginger beer. Wet this is soda pop, like their bon vivant champagne. Lemon juice from pre-bottled syrup. It has a less bubbly alcohol note which makes sense. Mostly citrus top note almost like Mountain Dew haha. Pumpkin isn't very clear here. I would have loved pumpkin but I'm not getting it. As I wear it there's a tiny hint of spice that *may* be the cinnamon OR just the bubbly quality of it. It definitely smells like a drink! At drydown it settles kinda sweet, slightly candy citrus, but less bubbly. Slightly gin, and enjoyable here, but not really for me. It dries down into their champagne note.

This is a creamy ylang ylang up front. I have a ylang essential oil and this smells a lot like that-- quite strong on the ylang ylang, and jasmine like, but the vanilla is making it slightly creamier which I like. It reads mostly as a ylang ylang SN at the moment though. As it absorbs there's a slightly dusty feel rather than smell (but it's not dry, it's definitely still creamy). On: It's quite strong on the ylang ylang and I guess that time the essential oil spilt is ruining this for me a little. I like it, but it's not the Love and Sleep fig milk dupe I was hoping for. Actually, no, the more I smell it the more it does kind of remind me of it. Just the ylang ylang is strong. I think once it dries down it might be okay. It's so heady though, and I think the dry sandalwood is starting to emerge. Later: Hmm still a creamy ylang ylang SN. It has a really good throw and I prefer smelling this from a distance. Hours later: it's kinda more fruity and less floral. Skin close. In the bottle, it smells more like a blend. Someone else mentioned ylang ylang amping on the skin and that this is better in a locket, so I might have to do that because in the bottle it does smell nice and comforting and similar to Love and Sleep.

Slightly grassy, soapy, and aquatic. It's nice! There's maple. As time passes it's less aquatic, more of a sweet mossy leaf note.

This one really surprised me. Not too much cherry or oud at all-- just there to highlight essentially making it fruity grass, which sounds odd but is actually really good. Goes amazingly well layered with Green Grass oil by Nur Creative Studio. Not at all medicinal. Very gourmandy start.

Woah, it's definitely got that autumn leaf, moss smell to it. Some fruitiness? Some sweetness... Cardamom is very much in the background so not forefront but a blend. Kinda becomes more green as it dries. It does make me think it has mandarin or something in it... Interesting. I did a small swatch, but the throw is fairly low, I think. The dry down is reminiscent of their aquatic notes-- slightly soap and salty but not at all in a bad way.

Patch and copal are prominent, with a hint of champaca and black tea. There is a dark edge to this which goes away. This is mostly a blend of patchouli, copal and black tea. As it dries *maybe* frank and agarwood.

I love the marshmallow and vanilla in this, but not the apricot which I initially misinterpreted as some kind of strawberry. In my hair it's a bit more marshmallow, but I couldn't get over the initial fruitiness. I think I've worked out I don't like fruit in my hair, basically! Although I would love LOVE if they released this scent as an oil ❤️

Fruity! It's dark and the pomegranate is bright. Not for me (I've worked out I don't like fruit in my hair) but lovely.

Wet: sweet hinoki, sandalwood and ambergris. On: it is slightly dark, very much a blend, actually quite nice here. Later: The sweetness starts to overpower the other scents for some reason. Salty ambergris but also smokey sweet wood. Much later, I could still smell this super skin close, more as a slightly red currant ambergris. It lasts a while which is nice but it's not for me.

At the time of reviewing this I had never tried real ambergris so it's nice to have an accord version. This starts off initially floral and musky, but soft, with a hint of ocean air. As it dries I get a slightly citrus smell. It's quite nice. It does have a warm quality to it. It begins unfortunately quite faint with a low throw, but after a bit more time it becomes more low-medium. Compared to real ambergris, it doesn't have the same quality at all, but it is a very lovely accord.

Let me just start by saying I am not a floral person so I am bias from the start! From the imp, this has that slightly rubbery smell, that some violets tend to have. Once on of course it transforms. I get violet/orris (more green than floral) with something dark lurking in the background-- possibly opopanax but I am just guessing. It's slightly resinous. The mint is well blended and not noticeable, thankfully. This is thankfully not medicinal at all on me. Osmanthus is also something I'm not familiar with, and from what I read it can be fruity? As this scent warms up, the florals do become slightly fruity. I actually quite like this for someone who does not like florals. As it dries, it is briefly powdery before turning quite creamy, sweet but still resinous-- possibly the opopanax coming to the foreground? I actually don't like powdery scents so I am so pleased this remains creamy on me. This scent has a brightness/coolness to it. This, is surprisingly nice and quite complex. I can see why people call opopanax sweet myrrh. Unfortunately it is a skin close scent, with low throw, but I can imagine someone slathering this on and wearing it with a knowing, secret smile, daring someone to get close enough to indulge in this cloud of sweet resin... Alright Brusque Violet, you've won me over. After 50 mins it's still there. It's still sweet with maybe a hint of violet still, slightly less creamy and becoming oh so slightly powdery, but thankfully not completely baby powder on me. This lightens considerably though, after an hour, and after 2 it is very just barely there/skin close. So unfortunate this is short lasting, because it's really quite lovely.

Initially this is very fruity, with a hint of oakmoss (kinda grassy to me). Quite strong but low throw. The oakmoss eventually blends itself in so it's predominantly fruity with a chypre feel. As it dries more I get some vanilla creaminess. It's such a shame it's low throw, because the dry down on this is lovely, and unfortunately short lived, disappearing on me after 2 hours.

Darn. I should have realised this would not go well on me but could not resist. I love the bottle art on this one and had to buy it, and it smells delicious in the bottle, but sadly I just cannot do almonds! It always smells fake and plasticity on me, and the buttercream just isn't able to hide it for me. Over time, I just get this toasted rice smell that for some reason I've been getting in some gourmand BPAL's /heartbreaking. It eventually settles into a cakey almond but not enough for me to wear it. *sob*

I bought this because I recently got into ouds and ambers and wanted to give BPAL's ambers and ouds another try. Sadly, it was not love. The amber is heady and resinous, and although the oudh is nicely dark and earthy, it has a low throw and the amber seems to over-power the oud.

Back story: I see why some people say this smells similar to Gluggagaegir. Gluggagaegir used to be one of my favourite scents but I got a got a full bottle of it, and surprisingly it smelt different to the decant (I had already passed on). I wasn't sure if it was being unlucky, but I hesitated from getting more for that reason. St Clare was kindly gifted to me, and I am glad because now I can compare. It's funny because I was interested in this bottle only recently, before I got into oudhs (very recent), which is a part of why I had passed on it initially. I also worry as tonka can sometimes go plastic on me. The Review: I get tobacco and mahogany to start, before it blends into a rum-tonka, almost wood-leather scent. The tobacco is short lived as it fades away. It's still there an hour and 40 minutes later! I can't pick the oudh specifically, but I think it is definitely helping this one last. Unfortunately it is not the original scent I lost with my Gluggagegir decant despite the similarities. I think I am just not a huge fan of the rum note that is in both.