brilliantcat

skekUng the Garthim-Master Brute force and destruction: vetiver, smoke, steel, and dragon's blood resin. Whoa, I'm first This smells fantastic in the decant! Smoky, slightly woodsy/grassy from the vetiver, a little sweet from the DBR. The steel comes out on my skin and blends with the other notes to create an evocative blend that smells like it should be part of the RPG series. The vetiver darkens it enough to make it just slightly unnerving. I really like this one. Even though leather isn't one of the notes, I get a hint of a leathery scent. This may be a bottle purchase!

I 100% agree with LittleBird. This stuff is ahhhmazing! I can't describe it any better. It's rich, complex, gourmand chocolate. The rum adds depth and it's not boozy/alcoholic at all. So glad I picked this up from the BPTP Etsy. I'm in love.

Almost purely honey on me, particularly wet and during early drydown. It's very similar to the honey in O, very sweet and cloying. O was a total mess on me and actually made me nauseous enough I thought I might throw up so this Bard is probably not for me. On the far drydown I can catch some of the other notes under the overbearing honey, but I doubt I'll wear this unless I layer with other RPG scents to tone down that brutish honey.

I blind-bottled this and sort of forgot about it until now. This was so melon-y in the bottle I was afraid it wasn't going to work for me. Not because it reminded me of BBW Cucumber Melon (it doesn't) but because that melon was *all* I could smell and I desperately wanted coconut and rum and pineapple too. I worried needlessly because shortly after application, the melon softened, allowing piña colada and a tiny hint of surf to hit my nose. I had been hoping for something that could have come from the Luau line, but the reality is even better. I get a sweet but not sickly melon, cantaloupe to my nose, blended with a hint of creamy coconut (no pineapple though), the tiniest dribble of spiced rum, and just a breath of wind and waves. Rather than screaming it's a delicate whisper and sits very close to the skin. I do get tantalizing whiffs of it and am huffing my wrists for more. It lacks staying power but I certainly won't mind reapplying and it's gentle beauty won't become overwhelming on sultry days and nights.

I am not a fan of dirt scents but I can't detect a whiff of it here. I get beautiful dark resins and I'm in love. My bedroom is officially an Unspeakably Evil Temple and I am the supreme lich who roams its halls. You must face me to recover the treasure! Which is more of this atmo tbh. Anything less than a natural 20 means I continue to hoard it MUAHAHAHA!

Vanilla mint is possibly my favorite combination of notes (tied with vanilla and patchouli) so I blind-bought a bottle of this, no-brainer. It's all mint mint mint in the bottle and once applied, it becomes a minty, slightly tangy cream cheese frosted cake. It's a delicate cake, not overpowering or play-doh or plastic. Mint is one of those notes that burns off quickly on me most of the time but this has serious staying power and lasts the entire drydown. I am soooo pleased! As it fades, the cake note drifts off somewhere and the minty vanilla frosting lasts a good while, though it sticks close to the skin at the end. Very glad I picked this up!

In the bottle and wet, I get a weird wintergreen rootbeer/cream soda mashup that I'm definitely kinda diggin'. A few moments on my skin and omg we have nostril searing not-quite Ben-Gay! If there was actual burning involved, I'd say Tiger Balm because it really does smell more like that, herbal instead of medicinal. I am a sad panda I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because none of these should be bad notes in any way on me and based on other reviews, this might take a bit to calm down. Nope. Nopenopenope. I gave it hours. It went play-doh, then rancid. I have NO idea why. Something just isn't meshing well when it really should be, like I said these are really REALLY good notes on me. I suspect the saffron isn't playing well with the cream because I've noticed it can be touchy. Ah well. At least I got to experience this blend which has been on my bucket list for awhile now

I picked this up as a blind swap because the notes, they appealed to me and are some of my favorite types (woods and vanilla and resin, benzoin being a particular favorite). The overwhelming comparisons to this being a lighter version of AM have also piqued my interest as I read the reviews from time while the bottle languished, forgotten aged purposefully in one of my boxes. I desperately wanted to love AM but it went all sorts of bad on me because I have come to the conclusion that while I love tobacco scents in the bottle, I amp them to screeching, super-sweet, tooth-achingly syrupy caramel that I cannot stomach. So I'm hoping that without the tobacco, this will fill that void that AM has left. In the bottle, it reminds me strongly of another blend (not AM) which of course I can't bring to mind and it's driving me crazy! AHA! I've got it! My Black Vanilla & Cardamom HG! That's what it reminds of, the black vanilla before the cardamom takes over. A bit cologne-y as mentioned, but in a good way, with a definite sweetness and the ice cream vanilla that benzoin can lend. On me, it's still got that cologne vibe and... soap? A very tiny hint of soap amongst the woods and sweetness. The vanilla is there but very much toned down. A deeper, less sweet, complex black vanilla to my nose versus the ice cream vanilla-ness of benzoin, the golden warmth of bourbon vanilla, or the light fluffiness of vanilla cream. I am a vanilla connoisseur, don't ya know?! The cologne-iness burns off quickly, leaving rich woods, deep vanilla, and a touch of that sweet benzoin. Glad I picked this one up and forgot about it set it aside to age like a boss!

On wet, it's a deep, dark chocolate. Not the creamy chocolate of The Candy Butcher or the dusty cocoa of Gelt but like those disks of unsweetened Mexican chocolate. The rum warms it up and sweetens it, and it's absolutely delectable. No wine or blood at this point. After a bit this beautiful dusky, smoky chocolate incense develops. This stage is amazing! On the far drydown something herbal or floral peeks out and fades after a bit. I'm left with soft chocolate. The cocoa incense is my favorite stage and it has good throw and longevity. I need a bottle!

Buttery, delicious vanilla mint. There's really nothing more to say The vanilla is a rich, foody, buttery type and the mint manages to hang on for a bit before it burns away. I just love this so much.

My review of this HAD to have been eaten by forum goblins because this is absolutely one of my very favorite scents. I have two of the original cobalt bottles plus a backup from Etsy that claims it's a vintage 2005 version. I love every single note and the second I tested this from a decant, I bought bottles and backups. I almost never buy backups! That's how dang good this is. It smells rummy, buttery, and coconutty in the bottle and that's mostly what I get on my skin. A hint of cocoa perhaps, that is fleeting at best. The vanilla is a very subtle player. Minty rum blasts start us off and slowly the coconut peeks out. Mint tends to burn off quickly on my skin and it does so here. The boozy rum also disappears, mostly, leaving me with a gorgeous coconut cloud of scent wafting around me. It's not a suntan lotion coconut, but a more meaty coconut, as if someone scooped out the flesh, sliced open a vanilla pod, crushed mint leaves over it, added a dash of rum, and put just a few cocoa beans with it. I get the sense of the other notes, but coconut is front and center. The throw is moderate. It can be smelled from a decent distance but is faint, not knock your socks off, nose-hair searing. Just a nice haze of coconut.

I had to buy this as soon as I saw the notes. First, because I'm a vanilla slut and love every note but also because it's very similar to Formula 72 massage oil from a few years back. I tested a bit on dry skin before bed side by side and they are definitely closely related. I don't get straight up sticky marshmallow from this the way I do from Stekk but it's definitely lending some sugar. The vanilla cream is TO DIE FOR and I'm falling hard and fast for this particular vanilla note. The cocoa butter just melts into my skin, wrapping up everything into the perfect soft, sweet scent. No one note is shouty or discordant, this is coziness in a bottle. I doubt I can bring myself to actually pour this in the bath!

Another blind purchase, both because I love the combination of notes and to support a good cause. In the bottle, I get a soft blend of resins and just a titch of cinnamon. On my skin, it starts fiery and bright and I get a bit of caramelly tobacco as some others have. It settles to a mix of soft resins and the tobacco note I thought I smelled is gone. No cinnamon or leather to be found on my skin. I feel like I should put this one away and see what some aging does to it.

An olfactory guide, created to assist you in locating nearby hippies: patchouli, hemp, smoky vanilla bean, and cannabis accord.(No, there is no actual weed in this perfume, silly.) I'm definitely in the Stinky Patchouli Lovers club so this was instant blind bottle purchase. In the bottle, I am definitely reminded of my beloved Banshee Beat. Freshly applied, it's quite different though, very green and herbal. Oddly I don't get pot or patch or vanilla but more like growing garden herbs, fresh and bright. I could definitely wear this out of the house without being branded a stoner. It's more hemp than pot. The impression is of herbs and plants growing in the deep forest with a few shafts of sunlight penetrating the canopy of leaves. Very lovely and very different than I expected. It morphs so smoothly I don't even notice when the vanilla pops out along with patch to create a smoky sweetness layered over the, ahem, greener aspects. Very well-blended and if related to BB/RR/FMaFMwP, it's a distant cousin and not part of the immediate family. Love.

In the bottle, it's very resin-forward. On me, the cocoa (definitely cocoa, not chocolate) blooms but is quickly overtaken by pepper and cedar. It's more than a little discordant but I have faith. For most of the drydown, it's heavily cedar and resin. Finally, on the far drydown I get soft vanilla and resin with a hint of cedar. No cocoa at any point. I'm not super fond of the middle stage but I think I'll put this away for aging to see if the cedar calms down.

This is quite odd at first. I smell a hefty amount of Dorian in the bottle, which augurs well, however it gains an odd musty quality once applied to my skin. It does take patience as this stage lasts an hour or so, but suddenly the dusty musty note hies off to lands forgotten. Now it's a delightfully cotton candy sweet version of Dorian sans any hint of Snake Oil or the other notes. I do like it at this stage as I love Dorian, but I don't know how often I'd have the patience to make it through that initial stage, especially with chronic stomach issues that cause vomiting and nausea. Maybe I'll keep a decant and swap the bottle off to a good home. Edit: After aging that mustiness has disappeared and I get a hit of cotton candy and Dorian early on instead! Oh joyous day!

I am so, so disappointed. All of these notes should have been perfect on me but instead as soon as it hits my skin, I get slightly sweet powder. No morphing over time either. The oak and patch ran off to be amazing and deep and smoky together leaving me with powder. NUTS. To swaps with ye!

I'm powerless in the face of patchouli blends especially if there's vanilla in the mix so this was a blind bottle purchase for me. It smells delectable in the bottle, cuddly patch melded with vanilla and a drop of honey. Once applied, the patch betrays me! What is this madness?! It's very earthy and woodsy and I'm thisclose to the pencil shaving stink. I would believe there was a dirt note in this. I can smell the other notes far, far down. The dirty patch threw them down a well and I can hear faint cries for help. About half an hour later though, magic happens! The patch backs up, perhaps calmed (or more likely arm wrestled into submission) by the oudh. It's a gorgeous, well-blended scent comprised primarily of woodsy patchouli, smoky oudh, and softly sweet vanilla. As woodbourne says, it's sweet, smoky, and filthy in such a good way! Edit: After aging the honey amps up to 11. It's still woodsy patch and sweet vanilla honey but it's gone a bit too cloying for me. To swaps with ye

Rich vanilla sandalwood elegantly distorted by oudh, labdanum, scarlet saffron, and pink pepper. Color me shocked! I should really have adored every single note here and in theory (and separately), I do. But somehow, together, they do bad things. At first it's just itchiness from the pepper (MY EYES! ZEY ARE BURNING! ZE GOGGLES DO NUZZINK!) but eventually on the drydown, some combination of notes causes a burnt rubber type of scent to come roaring out. Bad, bad, bad, and certainly what I would consider a strangeness in the proportion. Fie on me for buying this one unsniffed for now I have to rehome her!

Lilac and happily for me, not much lemon or tea for me at all. I get very mild hints of tea that deepen the lilac and give it some depth and quality of character but don't really change the actual lilac. If you've read my profile or other reviews, it's pretty obvious that I'm a foodie/gourmand for the most part, verging on darkly resinous scents as my other favorites. Florals and traditionally "innocent" or "pretty" notes are not really my thing. Except for lilac. It's been one of my favorite actual flowers since I was a child. My great-grandmother had a huge lilac bush in her yard that had grown so big as to have branched off and created what my brother and I referred to as our "fort", and played in with each other and our cousins. You could literally crawl around inside there and not be visible from outside or from other parts of the inside of the bush. After my great-grandmother passed away, though it was my father's grandmother and not her's, my mother took a cutting of that bush for our yard. When my mother passed away, both my brother and I took cuttings for our own new yards; that's how much that plant had meant to all of us. That lilac bush was such an integral part (and scent) of my childhood, and then my teenage years, and then my twenties as I tried to grow that plant in my own, very first house's yard. Lilac is one of the few scent notes that will mean I will almost always try a scent untested, barring any death notes, and this scent actually has beeswax/candle wax which is another "almost always test" as it's a scent I love that also reminds me of my mom and her love for candles. The way the lilac and beeswax combine in this create a delicate, soft floral blend with a sweet note from the beeswax that becomes so much more than the sum of its parts. It's not just a floral, but it's not just a waxy, candle scent either.

Roses and I don't usually get along but all the other notes are ones I love and that made this a must-try. It smells like a softer Whip in the vial. On my skin, the leather backs off and rose is trying to do her thing and stomp out all the other notes but I can still make out the coconut under there. Go coconut, go! Sadly though I do get some coconut, leather, and red musk, the rose muddles everything into a jumble of scents and not something cohesive. I blame my chemistry and its neverending battle with rose notes

In the decant I get the most amazingly realistic, syrupy strawberry I have ever smelled. Remember those scented Strawberry Shortcake dolls? Well this is the complete opposite. Wet, the sweet, doughy pastry note begins to emerge and blends with that fantastic strawberry and I think I might actually be salivating. As it dries down, the doughnut to strawberry ratio changes in favor of the pastry and it smells SO real. My husband walked in and asked if I was trying a perfume because he suddenly smelled doughnuts and wanted Krispy Kreme Definitely a hit for me!

Wet and in the vial, this smells very plummy/fruity. I get a distinct whiff of apple, like a fresh green apple. It just smells like realistic fruit and I don't get any sort of custard, treacle, or the suet from it. On the drydown, it takes on a strangely florally quality. Still no custard, treacle, or suet. While it smells pleasant, it is not at all what I was expecting or wanting. Good thing a bunch of the foodie Yules worked for me this year or I'd be disappointed.

I was hoping this would be the perfume equivalent of the Dew Drop Inn atmo as I absolutely adore it, and it does have a similar scent as a base but I get spices and some nuttiness that overpower it. As it dries down, even that creamy rum base disappears and this ends up smelling like spiced sour nuts, unfortunately.

Wet and in the decant, it's very much cider with a bit of rich buttercream. I find much like Lambs-Wool or Fearful Pleasure at this point. As it dries down, it becomes more about the white cake, similar to the cake in Eat Me (a fluffy white cake with a hint of vanilla rather than a buttery yellow cake), with some boozy whiskey frosting. I adore this on the drydown as it's very lighly spiced cider white cake with just a touch of boozy frosting and in my extensive foodie collection, I have nothing like it. I could layer it with a straight cidery scent for a more appley version or wear as is for the not-too-sweet gorgeous cake scent. Winner!