Incendiare

Leather and I generally aren't friends, so I was prepared not to like this one. In my decant, I smell lots of leather and black pepper. Yikes, the leather is even stronger wet. The pepper still fights to make sure that its presence is known. Actually, the more I sniff my hand, the more the pepper tickles my nose. The black pepper is so realistic that it just made me sneeze! Too bad my beloved tonka bean doesn't sweeten things up even just a little bit. Vetiver is hit or miss for me and as long as it's in small doses, it smells alright on me. Ebenezer Scrooge doesn't seem to dole out any vetiver, though, unless it's just cowering behind the leather. I have no idea how cumin even reacts with my skin chemistry but I don't detect any in this blend, anyway. I'm not going to wait and see whether or not it decides to join the party either because quite frankly, the leather is too much for me and I need to wash this off right now. Oh well, I'm sure leather fans will love this one.

Huh, this is so aquatic in my decant. I would have expected something heavier, earthier, and/or drier. Wet, the greenery comes out and it smells a bit sharper. This reminds me of autumn more, when it is just starting to get colder, but the grass is green and the creeks and ponds are cold but not yet frozen. Very fresh and clean. A lot nicer than what I was expecting.

In my decant, this reminds me of Harlequin and Columbine. Must be because they both have that coolness from the balsam/evergreen combined with fruit. I think the Second of the Three Spirits smells more complex at this point, though. Wet, I can smell the nuttiness of the sugared chestnuts. The lightly spiced plum pudding is also in the background. The pine and holly tie all of the other notes together and remain as the base notes. This blend becomes slightly warmer as it dries. This is very interesting but would I invest in a bottle? Most likely not. Still worth trying, I say!

A pleasant surprise in my decant! Cold white wine grapes. The balsam must be adding an extra cooling effect when I sniff this. Wet, the chamomile starts to come through. The chamomile smells so bright and fresh. Never would have thought that wine and chamomile would go well together. I really like this and will definitely use up my decant but I am not entirely sure if it is bottle-worthy.

Whoa, this is a lot heaver than I would have expected. It's like all of these desserts are being made in a cottage during winter with all of the windows closed to keep everyone warm inside. Now, I know the descriptions says heavy cream, but I didn't expect it to be this heavy. The rice porridge does smell a bit off, but possibly because there is just too much cream in it. I swear I can even smell the raisins in the rice porridge. The Lebkuchen smells golden brown. The warm air is lightly spiced with clove, but everything always goes back to the heavy cream. It's a bit too much for me to handle.

Very cooling, the way evergreen and menthol can be. Wet, it turns a bit sweeter, like a sweet, menthol-laced snow. I almost start to feel a bit chilly just smelling this! After settling on my skin for five minutes, it is starting to smell a bit sharper. A Clear Cold, Winter Day is a dry kind of cold, not a wet kind. I don't get any florals out of this blend.

Very fruity at first. The pomegranate and red currant jump out at me, but then I can also smell the balsam doing its thing right behind. The sage sort of hasn't decided yet whether or not it wants to be there. I have no idea where the rosewood and cedar are. The only sweetness I can detect is from the fruits, and there is no trace of french vanilla. This blend makes me think of Christmas, and I do appreciate it, but personally, it isn't something that I would wear.

As soon as I sniffed this, I smelled honey, but following straight behind was the pine cone. Then come the fruits in the background. Wet, the honey makes a re-entrance and the cycle starts all over again. This has a very cool, chilly feel to it. Perhaps it is just my imagination, but it even feels cooling on my skin. As Whoop dries down, the amber starts to come through, but the pine cone and honey remain on top. The pumpkin pie never shows up. This is very interesting and rather unusual. I enjoy smelling it but it's not something that I would necessarily want to smell like. I would sooner burn this or have a candle that smelled like this.

The pine and fir make a modest entrance while vanilla smoothes out the sharpness of the needles. Wet, I can almost smell the snow sitting on the pine and fir trees. The vanilla is woven throughout the entire blend. As it's drying, it has a bit of a cooling peppermint too. Combined with the vanilla, it reminds me of of Lush's Snowdrops bath ballistic that came out a couple Christmases ago. I normally don't care for pine, but I like this a lot because all of the notes are very well-balanced. After experimenting with Waltz of the Snowflakes and Snow White more, I've come to realize that Waltz of the Snowflakes smells similar to Snow White on me on the final dry-down, but with a little extra added vanilla and some refreshing mint. I'm definitely getting a bottle of this.

This is so red velvet cake and cream cheese icing, both in the bottle and on my skin. The throw is ridiculous too. I've had it on for hours and it's still going strong. Hasn't even faded a smidgen. I only applied it to my neck too and when I rested the back of my hand on my chin for just a few minutes, my hand now smells just as strongly. I don't smell any Dorian or Snake Oil in this, and I've never tried Doc Constantine, but judging by its notes, I don't seem to detect it in Cake Smash either. Either way, I don't mind because this is awesome the way it is. Actually, if I concentrate really hard while sniffing up close, there is just a slightest hint of Dorian, but it blends in so well with the cake and icing that it can scoot on by without it even being noticed. So glad I found a bottle of this. This ought to be resurrected someday!

2010: Surprisingly, the woods pop out at me before any of the other notes. Usually as soon as something has leather in it, my nose automatically zones in on it. No smoke or leather to be had. Wet, it smells fresher and zestier. Must be from the lemon note on which others have been picking up. Gentle puffs of smoke make themselves known, but they are hardly there. Still no leather whatsoever. Half-an-hour into wearing it, I noticed that as I was starting to walk around, I would catch wafts of incense smoke. Sniffing the top of my hand up close, I still couldn't get any smoke, but from afar so-to-speak, the incense smoke was palpable. It's an interesting blend, but not bottle-worthy.

My initial impressions of the First of the Three Spirits is soft and sweet. The vanilla is slightly dampened and the musk is pleasantly sweet too. Wet, the florals come out a bit. They too are sweet, almost slightly sugared. It's very airy and fresh, not deep and warm. Call me crazy, but after a few minutes, it reminds me of Angel by Thierry Mugler but without the patchouli. I'm normally not a patchouli fan, so that note in Angel always turned me off. This is definitely more for me. This is potentially bottle-worthy, but still needs more testing. Oh wait, just noticed that Hillary initially thought this reminded her of Angel too. I have never smelled Chance, but Angel is the closest fragrance of which the First of the Three Spirits reminds me.

As soon as I popped the cap off my imp, there was a pleasantly sweet aroma for a split second, but then the juniper berry promptly took over. Wet, a coolness introduces itself and reminds me of the cold crisp air you breathe in during the winter. You can almost smell the cold, glittering smell that surrounds you in the forest. After fifteen minutes or so, the scent hasn't morphed on my skin at all. It has stabilized and remained as a cool, evergreen blend with traces of snow. It isn't my thing but I am sure many will love this.

2010: This one is almost a little overwhelming in the imp. Many herbs, evergreen, and resins bursting out all at once, I don't even know where to begin. The evergreen note is the most prominent and I can even feel a cooling sensation inside my nose when I sniff this. I picture myself wandering through an evergreen forest when I smell this in the imp. Wet, it's still very similar. The juniper berry and holly berry are sitting in the background. I don't get any floral from this at all, and although I cannot pick out the resins, they seem to secretly ground this blend. Although I appreciate this blend and it's very realistic, it isn't something that I would wear. It's also quite potent. I just tried to wash it off and it won't budge.

Mildy spicy Christmas candle in the imp? The spice leans more towards clove, the same that was in March Hare. Wet, it's still very much the same. Something warm and sweet is starting to make itself present in the background, probably from the mince pie. The beer never showed up on me. The very first time I sniffed this before reviewing and even trying it, I thought it was rather strange, but now that I have left my imp sit for a day and let my nose warm up to it, I like it. This is a very Christmasy scent. like having dessert on Christmas day with my family whilst a warm spicy candle burns nearby.

In the imp. I can smell the sweetness of the cakes and a hint of pomegranate. Wet, the wine grapes come out more, and there is a different kind of sweetness that is almost reminiscent something I have smelled in a craft store before, but in a very good way. I surprisingly still can't detect any resins, just the sweet notes. As Haloa dries, I am starting to detect a green note. The combination of this green note and the sweetness reminds me of Christmas decorations. Overall, a beautiful blend of which I would definitely consider picking up a bottle.

Am I ever glad that the lab frimped me this one because it's awesome! In the imp, Ehecatl is sharp and exhilarating. It's very pure too. The lime pops right out of the imp. Very sour and in your face, while the tea follows along and makes it smell very clean. Wet, it's similar. The musk slowly comes out and although I can detect a faint floral note on my skin, I cannot tell that it's hibiscus. I will definitely enjoy my imp more once it's spring and may even consider buying a bottle of this someday.

In the imp, Black Lotus smells like a sweet, almost berryish floral. Definitely a juicier floral. It blooms once wet on my skin. The floral notes are on the delicate side and nothing heady like rose or jasmine. It's almost like a gentle orchid, or a sweeter gardenia. I've never smelled a lotus before but this is what it reminds me of. I sometimes catch whiffs of green in there, like stems. I think people who like Blood Countess would like this too. It's not as berryish as Blood Countess but they're distant relatives.

Now, patchouli and I normally don't get along, but in the imp, it's not too offensive. Although I can detect it right away, there is also a trace of oakmoss. Either way, it's very earthy. Wet, the patchouli is a bit stronger. It becomes drier and without a doubt dominates everything else in this blend. Although I've never smelled copal on its own, I don't get anything resiny or incensey from this blend. If you like patchouli, try this out, patchouli haters, yeah, not for us.

As soon as I smelled this in the imp, I was instantly reminded me of some of the mixes they use in bars for cocktails, like blue curacao or something similar. A bit limey too, but no sign of cranberry. Wet, it smells more alcoholic and in a way, a bit like menthol? It is still more on the citrusy side. Very invigorating. That menthol note slowly fades away as the Hamptons dries, basically leaving me with what it smelled like in the imp, except that it isn't as strong.

So refreshing and unexpectedly uplifting in the imp! I normally don't like leather so I was expecting it to darken things up right away. As soon as I pop the cap off and take a whiff, I can detect the grapefruit and lemon peel, with soft florals lingering in the background. There is a bit of tea too, but no sign of leather or kush. Wet, I swear I can smell a bit of kush, way in the distant background, but otherwise, it doesn't smell that much different on my skin. The grapefruit and lemon peel still remain on top. The mint seems to pop in and blend right in with the tea. This is a lot better than I ever would have expected!

In the imp, Prague is a beautiful soft, white floral. Not overwhelming and sharp, very well-rounded. Wet, it's the same. I'm not sure exactly what crocuses smell like, but this is very soft and pretty, and the lilies aren't too overpowering. I could wear this any time of the year. Prague doesn't morph on me at all either. Glad I was frimped this because I completely overlooked it.

Ooh, I can really smell the oranges and pineapple in this. It's even fruitier on my skin, but lightly boozy too. Rangoon Riptide fades at a quicker rate, though. I've only had in on for a few minutes and it's already losing its brightness. It's the type of blend that I would reach for when I want to lift my spirits, but it isn't something that I would wear on a regular basis. The Atomic Luau blends in general are very fun and I am enjoying getting them as frimps.

Bright and fizzy tropical fruit punch with a shot of gin. It's even fizzier freshly applied to the skin. Is the fruit ever tart in this! It stimulates my taste glands like a kiwi would. I could see this one being very nice in the summer.

I'm quite sensitive to jasmine, so as soon as jasmine shows up to the party, it's everywhere. In the vial, it's 85% jasmine and 14%, with a hint of honeysuckle (which I also usually easily pick up on, but I guess the jasmine automatically shuts it down). On my skin, it's all jasmine too. The other florals in the background do lighten it up a bit, and make Eos fresher and almost airy, but nonetheless, it's still too heavy on the jasmine for me.