Gryphon

Oh, it started out all cat pee and then settled down to a lovely bright apple. The honey took awhile to come out and play, but eventually it did. No signs of the cardamom, which is sad because that's the one note I really wanted to smell.

I slathered this on and -poof!- it was gone. Just like that. If I put my wrist right under my nose and huff I get a sense of something warm and slightly sweet, but I can't make out any of the notes. Weirdest thing! I don't think I've ever had a BPAL do that to me and it's not like I don't have any scents with similar notes. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I absolutely can't explain it, but I get an overwhelming sense of "fruitiness" from this scent! Drydown is vanilla incense, but I can't pick out any of the darker, smokier elements I was expecting. It's nice, but not at all what I thought it would be.

First, strongly herbal, astringent lavender makes my nose wrinkle. <Ewwwwww> And this from a girl who loves me some lavender! Eventually, a smidge of vanilla honeyness comes out to play. It's very light, and I have to put my wrist right under my nose in order to smell it. In between, there's a rather unfortunate little old lady scent phase. Overall, it was not what I was expecting, which was something significantly more foody, creamy, and vanilla-y. Think I'm going to let this one age a bit before deciding if it needs to go into the swaps.

The evergreens are apparent during the wet phase and are quite lovely. During the drydown, the scent turns much sweeter and has a cologne-like vibe to it, which isn't sitting well with me.

STRIKE THREE!! I bought four bottles unsniffed from the Halloweenie update and this is the third one that *should* work on me that doesn't. I definitely smell the dead, dry leaves, but as someone mentioned upthread, these are frosty leaves - the kind that have been sitting around a bit getting damp (I was hoping for the kind of dry leaves that you're not afraid to pile up and jump into!). I should have paid more attention to the "shivering" part of "shivering white musk", because on me it comes across as rather coldly metallic (think iron). The amber goes a bit powdery floral (weird combo!) on me and it's only at the very end of the dry down that I can smell any vanilla-infused cocoa. <sigh>

WEIIIIRD! I bought a bottle unsniffed because each and every one of the notes is made of win for me. Unfortunately, I can't seem to smell any of them in The Changeling. Blond wood? Nope. Linen swaddling? Nope. Pumpkin rind? Nope again. Bourbon vanilla? Another nope. instead, I get an oddly metallic cologny scent that comes across as quite cold and dry. It's got great throw, which is not a good thing in this case.

Thank goodness I read PumpkinGuts' review because for awhile I thought I had a mislabeled bottle! I don't get a single whiff of pumpkin in this blend, or vanilla or chocolate, for that matter. It's nothing but super sweet floral on me, which is a huge disappointment, not to mention somewhat headache-inducing.

Extra blog must go!

This is just lovely and I am SO glad I purchased a bottle before the CD went dark!! It's so incredibly well blended that it's difficult to pick out individual notes, and if I didn't know it had pine in it, I wouldn't have guessed. Now I'm wishing I'd bought a back up bottle!

Wow, not a lot of blue musk in the GC! A search of reviews turned up Night Raven and Old Demons (both from the Marchen series) as possibilities, though. I should have qualified my question, or perhaps posted it in a different thread, since I'd like to try scents that are evocative of Sugar Moon. I find that I tend to select the same notes over and over again, and finding one that I like (Sugar Moon) that includes notes that are outside of my comfort zone was a welcome change. Thanks again, to all, for the suggestions. Now ... I think I may have an imp of Sugar Skull around here somewhere ....!

MrsVeteran and Little Bird, you all must by psychic (or I am!) because yesterday I fished Eat Me out of my bottle stash and wore it for the first time in ,, well, forever! As the day went on, I kept getting whiffs that were just lovely, but not the full-on pastry that I was expecting. And yes, it did somehow remind me of Sugar Moon! I will definitely look up Florence, Mania, and Hollywood Babylon, too! Thanks so much.

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Am wearing Sugar Moon 2008 today and it is teh yum! The funny thing is, I have NO idea why I bought it, because the notes aren't in my usual repertoire ... which clearly means I need to branch out! Can anyone suggest some similar scents in the general catalog? Sugar Moon notes are: sugar cane, blue musk, mahogany, black orchid, black currant, violet, blackberry leaf, strawberry, and dusky rose.

Hmmmmmmm. This one reminds me much more of Antique Lace than Black Lace. It's much much lighter than I was expecting and veers uncomfortably close to baby powdery during dry down. Fortunately, the scent is "saved" by the woodiness of the coconut bark and dryness of the moss.