brilliantcat

All cherry in the imp. Once it on, it's still that juicy cherry with a hint of something floral. As it warms, I get the Dr. Pepper feel that others have reported. Oh, hi, rose. I see that you're having a rosey rose party to which only roses are invited. Yet again, rose trumps all.

In the imp, I get mostly wine and what smells like the lab's pomegranate note. On me, wine, less fruity than in the imp. Perhaps a smidge of incense and a bit of chill stone here and there. It's incredibly faint though, despite applying more. It fades really quickly on me as well.

In the imp, it smells like the world's best hot chocolate mix, rich and slightly powdery. On, it becomes much richer and fuller, no longer powdery at all. Just rich hot chocolate made with real milk.

This has a ton of notes I adore. In the vial, it smells like vanilla peach cream. On me, it's the same lovely vanilla-peach-creamy scent with the addition of very light florals. Sadly as time passes, it heads into plastic vanilla and overly floral. Ah man, it could have been so good, though I probably dodged a bullet trying to get a bottle Edit: Upon retesting, I do need a bottle It stays beautifully creamy vanilla-peach with touches of floral. No plastic vanilla here. Damn, now I need to hunt down more!

Ah, Aquanet, how I remember the giant, ozone-eating cans of hairspray required to get your bangs as sky-high as possible It starts developing a background of incense. I can picture getting ready to hit the club with incense burning in your room for atmosphere and spraying that Aquanet, maybe dancing around a bit in preparation. As it warms, the benzoin adds a nice waft of vanilla.

Incense, sweet fruit (plum?), and the ozone-charged atmosphere of lightning about to strike. Opium comes to fore as it warms, smoke-addled indeed! It's mainly opium + incense with a little shock of aquatic-feeling ozone.

Earthy, complex, elegant. A hint of burnt sugar, vanilla, and yes, there's a hint of citrus. I passed on this because tobacco can sometimes go sickly sweet caramel on me, but this is what I want every tobacco note to smell like. Luckily a little goes a long way so I may be able to survive with my decant. May.

As a huge gaming/RPG nerd, I needed to get my hands on this and thanks to a lovely person, I got ahold of a bottle In bottle, leather wafts over stone. My party is waiting in the dungeon to confront the enemies lurking in the dark. Wet on my skin, I can smell my tank's waraxe and the lichen creeping up the walls. The wizard's arcane incense wafts through the narrow corridors and the faint odor of blood from vanquished foes lurks on the air.

Very red musky in the bottle. On me, I get... buttery popcorn over a wash of light red musk. Ok, it's kettle corn, sweet and salty and buttery and delicious. I'm getting a slight dirt/earthy note that I would normally associate with patchouli but I think must be the pipeweed. This is the boardwalk at the CD, for sure. I haven't had the chance to try Midway so I can't say how it compares, but I love the playful feel this evokes!

In-bottle and wet on skin, I get a heavy hit of what smells like bubble gum o.O It's not BAD per se, just unexpected. On my skin, the incense blooms quickly and it's a lovely, surprisingly light incense (appropriate for "soft, golden incense") and it melds well with the sweet fruitiness. Bubblegum disappears pretty fast and now it's mostly incense with pear and soft florals. I catch a whiff of gorgeous coconut from time to time, but even though it read SO foody at first, it's not at all foody or even gourmand at this point. The smoky, sultry incense has backed off and leaves a ghost of its presence. It's a delightfully feminine, sophisticated, rich but not overbearing, intriguing blend of the incense remnants with creamy pear and florals taking center stage. The carnation adds just a touch of its signature spiciness. Quite a morpher this courtesan is! I was on the fence about this blend when it was fresh but now that it's aged, it's absolutely amazing and I need more than the half-bottle I have. I would love to see this incense make an appearance again in a different blend, it's so smooth and feels very expensive compared to the harsher, more headshoppy incense I'm used to (and also adore).

Tropical lime and coconut with the wood notes adding some depth. Wow, I don't find this masculine at all, it smells like a tropical drink! It becomes more salty/woody as it warms. I need more of this!

I'm a vanilla addict so of course I ordered a bottle of this unsniffed. I'm doing a deathmatch with Rum-Soaked French Tonka on the other arm so this should be interesting! MVR is buttery rummy vanilla-y goodness exploding out of the bottle. Mmmm! On my skin, it has the smoky heady richness of the molasses/rum backed by omgvanilla. Smoky, spicy, vanilla perfection. While MVR and RSFT are definitely sisters, they're more than different enough for me to love both. I find RSFT sticks closer to the skin and is more delicate, whereas MVR has that smoky hit.

There's been a lot of myrrh in blends I love but I never really knew what it smelled like on its own. It's resinous, slightly citrusy, almost reminiscent of leather. A bit musky, slightly dry/dusty, very sensual. I can see this only getting better with age and definitely something I could wear alone.

Aging has greatly improved this, to my delight! I adore The Last Unicorn so I had to have it and it's signed by Peter S. Beagle so there was no way I was giving up on this one without a fight. And it WAS a fight. I remember it being too floral and not at all to my taste. Now it has rich coconut swirled with rose in the bottle and wet on my skin but thus far the rose is playing kindly with the coconut. Feminine, innocent, lovely. It remains a pretty CocoRosaNut I very very rarely like rose, but it works here. I am amazed what aging has done to this blend

I know I reviewed this somewhere, it's probably on a slip of paper long forgotten. This was not one of the goths I thought I needed, it sounded too perfumey, too not-me. Until I smelled it In the bottle, it's an adult version of a creamsicle; orange and creamy and lightly spiced. Very similar on my skin. The creaminess is provided by the gardenia, which is one of the few florals I like. There's a golden warmth and muzziness from the amber, and it's orange pulp to me, not blossom. Just a touch, enough to lend a juicy sweetness without any bitterness. It just feels golden and glowing and beautiful and I wish I didn't feel I had to hoard it so I could wear it more often.

My bottle has been happily aging away since I got it when released. In-bottle, it's... hard to explain. I get whiffs of the chocolate peppermint and patchouli, but I'm having difficulty picking out separate notes. It smells dark and cozy and delicious. On me, whoa! Dirty, earthy patchouli and cola. Surprisingly, the red musk isn't even detectable, I usually amp it like crazy. There's no bite, it's snuggly and warm and dark. After a while, the woods start to emerge and add another layer of depth. Oh hai there red musk. It's not stomping all over everything though, it's just adding to the whole amazing blend.

In the bottle, I can smell grapes with something darker curled beneath. On me, the grape is significantly reduced, I get mostly a smoky floral. I have a very hard time picking out individual notes, this is so well-blended. Slightly fruity, smoky, incensey. Beautiful.

In-bottle, it's herbally leather with a whiff of SO. Once on me, it's much dustier, drier, and more reminiscent of men's cologne. I definitely get a sharp bite of sage in there but it is no way Thanksgiving dinner. It's earthy and beautiful. The men's cologne feel disappears quickly leaving a dusty leather with sage and hints of the SO peeking through. I picture the desert at twilight, with the beautiful but deadly snake sinuously twisting through the dust. Muzzy fuzzy leather with the sweetness of vanilla. Winner!

So. In the bottle it scares me. It smells like cough syrup that a witch would make. Alcohol and dark fruit but not overly medicinal like commercial cough syrup, but still not very attractive. On me, urgh, it's worse if anything. It blasted up my sinuses and I got that feeling/smell from snorting pool water accidentally. It burns. Oof. The actual scent is rather pretty, plummy and dark fruits and a bit of booze, but the nostril burning, I can't handle. Swaps.

2010 version Something cool and sweet-smelling emerges from the bottle. On me, oh boy. Sweet, vanillic benzoin and tonka with something that reminds me a dry sandalwood, but very faint. I don't get woodsy in my face, it's just a slight hint that gives it depth. The amber doesn't turn to baby powder, THANK YOU. I want to coat myself in this! It doesn't strike me as a winter scent, I could wear this all the time. Edit: Aging has made this even more magnificent! Smooth and resiny, I would describe this as warm and golden and glowing. It's candlelight in a bottle. The vanillic tones of the benzoin/tonka have deepened and are rich but not overly sweet. The galbanum adds a nice woodsy hint, but just a hint and the amber is that perfect type that never turns to powder. There's finally a hint of muskiness from the ambrette. All in all, this has shot into my top 10 and I hope it returns in the future so I can get backups as my only complaint is that it's just a bit too soft and fades too quickly so I have to slather.

I was lucky enough to get a tester and then I managed to find a bottle, because holy hell this is GOOD. On both the husband and me. Opening the bottle is like releasing an exotic, incredibly fragrant genie. Smoky, spicy, everything good and right in the world. GingergingergingerCLOVE on my wrist. So spicy and so good. I get a slight chai vibe but it's not CHAI. The brown sugar is more smoky than sticky sweet and underneath is the bloom of vanilla. Smoky, spicy, amazing.

I don't immediately get a "male" vibe in the bottle. I get leather and more leather, a dry, soft leather. The clove blooms immediately on my skin and I can smell the iron/rust that's similar to Rivet.Goth, but the rusty metal is the only thing they have in common. This has more depth and complexity. I find it to be more "masculine" on my skin, but is wearable on any gender. The iron gives it a slightly aquatic tone but the clove really shines along with the leather. Very steampunky in feel. I get little patchouli if at all and the sandalwood hovers beneath the clove and leather providing a hint of dryness. I miss a bit of sweetness with this and I think it would be really amazing layered with vanilla/tonka perhaps, but then I think everything needs vanilla! So glad I have a bottle of this!

In-bottle, green and herbally balsam, maybe a smidge of vanilla. On me, it's very green planty with very little of the leather or vanilla. It stays fairly stable and I can see the comparison someone made to aloe, it's a wet live plant smell that is made slightly creamy by the addition of vanilla but I never get a "vanilla" sweetness or scent. It's nothing like I expected but I can't stop sniffing it. It feels like it would be lovely during the spring and I may try layering it with my vanilla or tonka SNs for a bit more depth.

I also purchased this from the original DD run and have just let it age (I forgot about it tbh >_>) In-bottle it's charred wood and dark wine with a distinctly masculine feel. Not that I let a little thing like masculine/feminine stop me! On, it's dark, dark, inky smoke. Wow! I totally agree with the above reviewer, this definitely reads as gothy to me. Still masculine-ish in tone, but definitely not unwearable by anyone of any sex if you like these type of notes. They are aggressive though, and not for the faint of heart. Very evocative as well, I feel as if I'm in a ruin surrounded by charred timbers from the roof, sitting on a plush maroon velvet couch, sipping bloodred wine while the earth tries to reclaim the ruins. I get a definite opium vibe as well as it warms. It dries to a very cold-feeling almost stone scent.

In the bottle, it's an amazing blend of chocolate and aquatic, which sounds awful quite frankly, but it smells divine! Praise the Old Gods! On me, it smells like dark chocolate, not sweet, with salt and resins. Deep, dark, unmoving ocean water with a hint of chocolate. I love when C'thulu is feeling snuggly!