angelamaria

In decant: musky and woody, lots of spices in here as well. It's very masculine--I'm not entirely sure what notes I'm smelling here, to be honest. They're either very new to my nose, or blended so well together I can't make them out. Wet on skin: generally the same as the decant smell: woody, masculine. I might be getting a bit of the balsam. It makes me think of men's cologne. Dry: it's gone slightly powdery--so that's how I know it's amber this stays pretty true to the decant smell on my skin, actually, not a lot of morphing or amping or disappearances. It's a very interesting scent for men--very wearable, not too light or too intense and too cologne-y. It's musky and woody, and I might prefer other blends on a man but if he likes this, I don't think I'd complain at all. Verdict: not for me, but great on a guy. This is another one that will likely be good for aging, and I'll have to revisit my imp to check on how it goes.

In decant: first sniff, the impression I had was "booze". The coconut is everywhere as well as the incense. There's also something that's syrupy sweet here, almost foody. I'm not sure what it is, although the only real culprit is pear, and maybe the tiare, but neither of those should be "syrupy"...anyway. Wet on skin: again, the syrupy sweet note is here. It's almost candy-like. I can't get the coconut, though. How different is "silken coconut" from other coconuts? o_O It's also faintly floral now. I can't get the incense either. Dry: ah, there's the incense. The pear and the incense are out and about here, the rest of the notes are lying low. I'm surprised the coconut is still missing for me, when it was so strong in the decant. It's not as foody or creamy now, and at later stages it's definitely incense and pear. Verdict: it's an interesting scent, but not for me--the incense is a bit too strong for me, especially coupled with the pear, which I am a little ambivalent about in terms of scents. This will probably improve with aging however, and I mean to do that.

In decant: berries! Berry pie! Pie crust! This is yummy. There's a hint of that lemon pasty/lemon cream note as well. This Monster Bait series is making me very hungry. Wet on skin: pie crust, lemon, and berries, in that order. I think I can safely say, now, that I amp lemon, because while the berries are still strong here, the lemon was just a whiff in the decant but now I'm getting it over the berries. Very foody. Berry pies and lemon cream cookies. Dry: still the same as the wet on skin smell--pie crust and lemon and berries. Yummy, very very nice. I love pie crusts, and this is fabulous pie crust. I have no idea what hemlock smells like, but I'm getting a faint green sort of note here, but very faint--I wouldn't notice it if I wasn't really sniffing for it, although later on, this green note seems to be rising steadily. Verdict: very, very promising. I'd like to see if this changes aged, but I also want to give this a whole day test before pronouncing it a winner, as I'm unsure about that hemlock note. Otherwise--omg pie crust I love you!

In decant: I'm liking this a lot! Strong sweet lemon pastries, this is so yummy and foody, I had an instant craving for lemon cream cookies. It starts out minty but mellows to the lemon cream sweetness at the end of the sniff. Wet on skin: Huh, not so pastry-like or cream-like on my skin, it's definitely mellowed down here. I'm getting the while chocolate now, and I'm not sure about the other notes. The lemon is sometimes the kind of lemon smell you get from soaps and detergents, but goes back to being lemon cream. Fainter now. Dry: mostly true to the wet on skin smells I'm getting, but the vanilla came out more, especially at the start. This is pretty promising, but as it ages on my skin, it's gone down to a somewhat flat-smelling lemon. This is a bit sad. I think I recognize this flat lemon smell from other liked blends...I must go and revisit them and hope they're not as flat. Verdict: maybe this blend needs a bit of aging, but as it is, it dries down rather flat and unexciting for me.

In decant: I was wowed with this scent--it's "clean" soil to my nose, when I was fully expecting to not like it (which is why I tested this first of the Coulrophobia blends!). Along with the soil, I can get the crushed grass, and a faint lemon note. Wet on skin: Grassy soil and leather, with the latter amping up and making this decidedly masculine for me. Still an interesting scent, I can tell from now that I won't be wearing this, but it's beautiful. Dry: Leathery, slightly lemony soil and grass. This is weird, but it actually reminds me of a poolside--there's a slight aquatic tinge to it (well, mud is made out of soil and water, yes?). Surprisingly nice, really. The lemon continually recedes, and later on the scent is just plain soil and leather, with a very faint green quality to it. Verdict: Interesting scent! I'm quite pleased at how it's turned out--I didn't really think it would be a "nice" blend. Not for me, but I might keep the imp a while as I'm curious as to how this will age.

In imp: I'm getting the vanilla and a honey-like sweetness, and for some reason I also get minty baked lemon goodness. Maybe it's one of the white cakes! Nomnomnom. Some whiffs also remind me of chocolate pastries. I have no idea where that came from. Wet on skin: cake! A slightly minty white cake, with a somewhat berry note hanging around--the currants, I guess. It doesn't stay put in one "type" of cake for me though, it keeps moving between chocolate, vanilla, plain and lemon cakes. There's also a slightly "off" smell here...not exactly oily, but something approaching that. I wonder what's making that happen? Dry: it's gone somewhat powdery, but still quite true to the smell as when it's wet, as the powder actually adds a kind of powdered sugar sort of feel to it, which is interesting. Certainly very foody, and quite nice to eat, I'm sure Verdict: it's an interesting blend, and I was actually kind of surprised that I'm a little ambivalent about it. It's nice but it feels a bit too straightforward for me, and a bit on the too-foody-sweet side. Oh well!

In imp: clean and citrusy--and yes, it does smell like lemon-scented soap. Not too much of a lemon-scented soap, thankfully. I do like it so far. Wet on skin: this is a very light scent on me, and generally the same as the imp smell, although now I'm getting an "air freshener" recollection with it. :s Not very promising. Maybe it works out in the end. Dry: soapy, citrusy bright/high, but rather faint. I've smelled this kind of scent a lot--dry clean laundry, air fresheners, what-have-you. It's definitely a clean, refreshing smell, and not in-your-face. Verdict: nice, but ultimately a no, because I think I'd like to smell like something else than just newly washed clothes. I do think it's nice however, and since I have a soap base sample coming in today, I think I will go and scent that soap base with this one--it feels perfect for that.

In imp: very tropical, spicy and woody. The sampaguita, which I was hoping to get, is rather faint. Wet on skin: oh hello there sampaguita, I finally see you clearly. It's heady here, wow. Still very tropical to me, woody note is a bit subdued. "Jungle blossoms" sound like a perfect term for this blend, although sampaguita and jungle does not go well together in my head. It's quite spicy, very tropical. Interesting. Dry: dry, this is a sweet and woody scent, the narra is finally coming out. Faintly cloying. Also, at the end of every whiff, there's a medicine-y scent coming from it--after a long while to puzzling it over, made me realize it reminds me of Vicks Vaporub, even if it's not exactly the same smell. It's weird. Also, the narra seems to be amping...and that Vicks-like after-smell is growing, too. A little later, it's become very strong, very cloying, and the throw is CRAZY, that I couldn't handle it and washed it immediately off. I have no idea what happened there. Verdict: As a Filipino, I did want to love this blend. (National pride ftw!) But unfortunately, no, I just can't. I think I will want an empty bottle, but no, I just...can't. It's too much for me As for how "appropriate" this is for Manila--well, Manila is far from being jungle blossoms and deep wet woods, but the melange of notes and its complexity seems to be about right for Manila, and the Philippines in general, objectively speaking. It just doesn't call out to me as a "perfect Manila scent", even unsullied by my skin chemistry, but it is nice and faintly appropriate all the same.

In imp: clean and rather soapy, slightly floral with a touch of bright vanilla. It smells faintly masculine to me, or rather an almost-masculine note. I'm not sure what it is. Wet on skin: it's clean and bright, faintly powdery and almost-but-not-quite oily. There is a sweet, bright, pleasing note--it might be the lily. I can almost get the sandalwood--it's like a ghost and a whiff, providing an almost ethereal quality to the blend. Finally vanilla is rounding out the scent well, sort of grounding it. This is actually kind of pleasing! Dry: this is nice! The high note is almost indistinguishable now--I don't get it a lot, if any--but there's now an almost citrusy note here that's rounded out nicely by the vanilla and musk, maybe the orris is also helping out. This is a very well-blended, uh, blend. Sweet, and actually almost yummy, but I wouldn't call it foody--it's like a shade before foody. Verdict: I'm liking this one a lot. It's complex enough for me to be intrigued wearing it! It's foody but not foody, floral but not floral. Very interesting, and I think it deserves a bottle.

In imp: musky rose. By this time, I knew of how rose morphs on my skin, so I was ready to admit defeat even before I started. Wet on skin: definitely musky, and a rather dusty rose. It's actually rather pleasing at this stage, a nostalgic sort of scent for me. It reminds me of scented stationery that were all the rage among us girls when I was a child, that we would swap single sheets with each other for, and show off our collections. I know, that was very random, but it had that kind of scent for me, a dusty, papery rose. It's becoming powdery rather fast... Dry: dusty, musky, powdery rose. At first, there's a bit of rose still hanging around--maybe one of the three roses in this blend is holding out longer than normal. The red musk seems quite nice on my skin, I might have to give it a few tries in different blends. Of course, much later, even that single rose note is gone, and I'm just left with powder and red musk. Verdict: obviously not a go for me, but this is the first time I actually noticed the red musk note (well, duh--all the other notes went powdery) so I may need to give it a try. Edited for spelling/typing fail.

In imp: very herbal, tangy, and sharp. There is a slight citrus note as well as a slight woody note. It's a clean, green scent. Wet on skin: green and herbal, very citrusy as well. I can get the sandalwood in the background, and the lemon (lemongrass?) note is sometimes topmost. It's quite refreshing, and as it dries, the spiciness is coming out for me. Dry: spicy and slightly woody. It's also a bit powdery, but not overwhelmingly so. Faintly citrusy--it's faded in the background though, I'm not sure what it is, exactly. It feels ticklish to my nose, not all-out fizzy. Verdict: an interesting blend, but it doesn't really jump out for me. I'll pass on this one.

In imp: a musky, coconutty, and sharper Blood Pearl. It's a little boozy, and very nutty after a few sniffs--I suppose it's the hazelnut. I don't like this nutty smell, although I like hazelnut sandwich spread...uh. Wet on skin: I'm getting a round, nutty scent. It's slightly foody, almost creamy, and generally keeping to the imp smell. I don't have a lot to say about it. Dry: it's gone very foody on my skin now that it's dry. The coconut is out again. It's a foodier Blood Pearl--I am liking this a good bit better. At first, it's not as as grandmother-y as the latter, but as it stays longer on my skin, it continues to grow granny-er and granny-er. Verdict: I'll have to pass. I didn't expect much, as I disliked Blood Pearl and most reviews do link the two together, so I was half expecting not to be wowed by this--and yep, not wowed.

In imp: a pink tangy, aquatic floral--pretty much what I expected, which is nice. I'm not sure which floral scent is topmost, I have "rose? :s" in my notes, but what I was smelling might be gardenia (as I also wrote down). "Icy scent" seems spot on as at the end of the whiff, but it's not minty, just...brightly aquatic? Wet on skin: that same topmost bright floral note I found in the imp is here (more sure that it's gardenia). It's coming on a bit strong, a bit sharp. It's very pink, sweet and aquatic. Dry: strong, pink floral that is a bit more indistinguishable than the imp/wet scents. It's almost heady, just a bit more and I'd probably get a headache. Tangy and aquatic, like if you're near the mouth of a river, almost near the beach (but not as "beachy" as actually being there). It feels quite true to the poem in that regard. Later, it's softened considerably, retaining it's sweetness but it's definitely a lot quieter now, not as strongly aquatic--definitely smoother. Verdict: I'm pretty pleased to enjoy this scent a lot. I love the poem and I'm happy the scent works for me! It's such a beautiful scent, and very evocative of the poem. A definite keeper.

In bottle: sticky sweet chocolate and vanilla. Pretty heady, but usually scents of this kind usually feels heady to me in the bottle/imp. Wet on skin: this kind of disappeared on me for a bit, so throw is not that fabulous for some reason. I added a bit more, and I'm getting the chocolate--sweet and very candyish chocolate. The marshmallows are also coming out, likely lending that candyish quality to the whole scent. Dry: the coconut has come out now, but it's faint and I can only catch whiffs of it. It's almost all marshmallow to me, and a dash of the white chocolate--this should be named "marshmallow, white chocolate, and a sliver of coconut". Much later, it's gone to pretty much a candy-sweet, marshmallowy scent. There isn't a lot of depth to it for me, and it's difficult to get the other notes. Verdict: I'll have to pass on this one, maybe my skin is eating up all the notes!

In imp: this is fruity and sweet, a clean, bright, and citrusy blend. The notes are well blended together, I can't really pick one from another. Wet on skin: the citrus notes come up first, but it's not overpowering--it's light and clean-smelling. It's slightly minty to my nose ("dry biting scent of night air"?), a white summer scent. As it stays longer on my skin, a sweeter scent is wafting up, softening the tartness of the citrus--looking back, it's likely the melon/honeydew and the white amber softening things up. It's almost foody. Dry: this has turned into a sweet--melony, I suppose-- and faintly citrusy white blend. It's almost ethereal, and very promising. Every time I go whiff this, it's sligtly different: sometimes I get the sour citrus notes, and sometimes I get the melony and foody notes. It confuses my nose, but in a good way. Light throw. Verdict: I will keep this, and order a bottle, but it's not yet that high on my list of must-have-nows--but it's beautiful enough and wearable enough for me to warrant a bottle.

In bottle: whoa, vanilla and mint! Heady, absolutely nomnommy. It's caramel and butterscotch with a hint of bright yummy mint. Maybe I should try to find caramel or butterscotch mints to join my chocolate mint stash in my fridge--this is absolutely fabulous. Wet on skin: it stays true to the bottle smell, with more minty goodness. Sweet candy-mint, yummy caramel. Absolutely loving this one. Dry: it's toned down to a softer vanilla and mint blend, not the high caramelly sweetness wet and in the bottle. Still foody, but not overwhelmingly so. Not too sweet, not too strong, and not too minty. A little bit later, the vanilla becomes a bit grainier to my nose for no apparent reason--but it still smooths out nicely. I can't stop sniffing my wrist, and I realize what I'm smelling: vanilla ice cream! (After which, I have three exclamation points, and "LOVE", and ♥ in my notebook.) Verdict: I was absolutely lucky to get a bottle of this. Absurdly lucky! It was a bit of a gamble--I love vanilla, and I love mint, but don't really know how they'd work together. I'm so happy to have gotten it and how wonderful it smells! Throw and longevity is good--one of the best foody scents ever. Definite keeper!

In imp: I couldn't recognize any of the scents when I tried this one. It's slightly oily to my nose--overall it's a mix of sharp, spicy, tangy, and sometimes there is a sweet note that disappears quickly. The sharpness isn't very promising--I thought of felt tip Pentel pens when I smelled it, although the smell is not the same. Wet on skin: oily! Somewhat clay-ey. Not sure if I can stand this scent for long, but we'll see how long I can stand it. There is some tang and sweet notes coming out better now, but it's still overshadowed by the heavy, oily scent. I can get the frankincense sometimes, but again it's kind of lost in the background most of the time. Dry: OIL. That's the only way to describe it--granted, it's now woody oil, but it's still oil, heavy and thick and difficult. The woodiness increases the longer it's dried, but the oiliness doesn't seem to be going away at all. Verdict: Obviously not for me. An interesting thing about this scent though, I washed it off shortly, and when I checked my wrist to see if it was gone, I could smell the same after-drying smell I got from Ulalume, which I loved: cypress! Will definitely be looking for cypress notes now, it seems promising as a woody base note for me.

In imp: this is a bittersweet scent, a sad but beautiful floral. I'm not sure what flower I'm smelling, something along the lines of orchids or lavender. It's slightly salty/aquatic, like tears. Wet on skin: mostly sweet now, the white notes floating up, and I feel surer of the lavender. It's melancholy and sad, but calm--after you've no more tears left and are just lying there feeling calm, with your mind blank and at rest. Dry: definitely calm, relaxing, and soft. It's sweet with a bit of spice--that slight bitterness. There's more of a sampaguita tinge here, or that's what my nose is telling me. It's slightly soapy later on, but it adds to the clean and calm feel of this scent. It makes me think of white floaty dresses and flowers and just staring out a white-curtained window. Verdict: bottle-worthy for me. I'd usually go for more happy scents, but I can see myself wearing this when I'm needing calm and serenity, or when I'm feeling down and sad and need a bit of calm strength.

In imp: this is a sweet and heady blend, with a bit of booze that sometimes is very faint, and sometimes strong, but not altogether unpleasant. I suppose the dandelions are giving it the floral tinge that I am getting. Wet on skin: something that is decidedly green is coming out now, on par with the floral scent. It's bright and clean, with only a touch of weediness--no sleaze here! Slightly fizzy to my nose, there is a faint beer-y smell, but it's more of an afterthought than the main attraction. Dry: unexpectedly good! It's a nice light floral with a dash of green and booze, rather enjoyable. The headiness in the imp is gone. Later on, there is a sour note at times that I can't place, it's worrying me a little. Verdict: I'm actually still undecided on if this one warrants a bottle for me or not. I tested it twice and I'm still not decided--on both times the faint sour note is there. It's not unpleasant, per se, but it's not wonderful either. I'll have to give this a pass for now, but it's still a very nice, surprising scent.

In tester: the first note to hit me was the vanilla, sweet and foody. I didn't look at the description when I started sniffing, but also right off the bat I could smell something I put down as "masculine", although not entirely. I looked up the description after this, and found what that scent was--leather. Wet on skin: wow, smoky leather! The smoke and the leather does jump out strongly here. There are a few floral notes in the background--what flowers they are, I have no idea. The yummy vanilla is also there somewhere, but the latter two are almost overpowered completely by the smoky leather note, but it peeks through enticingly now and then. Dry: smoky leather dipped in floral vanilla. Dry, the notes are all on the same level of strength, and in pairs--sometimes you get the smoky leather and sometimes you get the floral vanilla. The strength and grittiness of the former is sweetened by the latter, and the foodiness of the latter is strengthened and emboldened by the former--it's a beautiful combination. It's somewhat incense-y (duh, smoke!), but it's so beautiful. Verdict: okay, can you tell I was excited about this?! I got an empty/low tester from a sale and goggled at the pretty label art, and decided I HAD to try it immediately. Now, I'm not an incense person, I dislike smoke in general, I don't wear leather. BUT I LOVE IT. Totally unexpected. This isn't "me" either--I'm about the farthest you can get from "smoky leather", but this was almost immediately a keeper after only a few minutes on my skin. I would like a little more vanilla here--obviously not a huge fan of incense--but even without any other layering, this blend is FABULOUS.

In imp: definitely rose with a touch of woody frankincense. Sharp and lush. Wet on skin: true to scent, it's a sharp rose with the frankincense. The scent is very strong, I'd imagine a little goes a long way here. I'm liking the frankincense here a lot, though I don't usually like incense. Dry: powder and frankincense on my skin. Newly dry, it's a lush, almost spicy rose, very pure and pleasing. That's before it turns straight to powder. Verdict: This is actually the first scent I tried where it hit me that rose turns to powder in my skin--noticed likely because of the "pureness" of the scent. I continued to smell the spicy woodiness of frankincense but the rose was completely gone and replaced by powder. Verdict, roses are bad for me. :/ I'm still hoping that a different rose might work, but not too hopeful.

In imp: ugh, rotting wood indeed. My stomach is complaining here. It's kind of powdery-spicy to my nose, and there's a slight sweetness. I want to skip testing, but I'll give it a try. Wet on skin: mostly the same, but...it's turning cleaner and brighter, when I can get past the initial "ugh, rotting wood" notes. The longer it stays on my skin, the cleaner it does get...until it's morphed into freshly washed sheets. O_O Dry: yep, linens and soap. I'm impressed! All traces of the swampy, rotting wood are gone, and it's just a clean, nice, freshly-washed scent, faintly herbal. Verdict: The drydown is definitely nice, but even if I was able to get past the rotten wood notes at the start, I'm not sure I like it as a perfume.

In imp: this is heady and luxurious to me, it feels quite spot-on in terms of personality. It's a mix of floral, fruity, and sweet all around. It's a flirty sort of scent, colorful and inviting, like a wink. Wet on skin: I'm getting the sandalwood first, but then I'm getting the sweet orangey note--honey and orange blossom? It's pleasantly tart, sweetly citrusy. I can't get the roses out. This is quite promising--the orange is very delightful. Some powderiness is seeping in, but maybe it will all be under control, it's still a nice, sweet, orangey scent. Dry: And rose turns into powder AGAIN. Rose does not like my at all. Jezebel has turned into a powdery orange, slightly nice, not overpowering. But oh, the powder. Why why why. Verdict: Maybe I should give up on rose altogether. It turns everything into powder for me! I absolutely loved the orange note here though, I should try and look for neroli in future tests and see where that takes me.

In imp: milk is the first thing I smell here. It's not always pleasant--sometimes it's sweet and nice, sometimes it's sour. Otherwise, it's a clean, bright, young scent. Wet on skin: oh no. Ugh, sour milk. Sometimes it's a slightly pleasing spicy-sweet blend, but I wished the milk was always the faintly sweet note instead of just plain sour and old. And of course... there is the rose. We shall see how the rose takes it. Dry: UGH. The rose goes powdery, as I was afraid it would--pretty quickly powdery. Powdery sour milk, UGH MUST GET THIS OFF. Verdict: Definitely not for me. It's making my stomach churn and I feel rather ill from sniffing it again and again.

In imp: Eh? It's very faint, I can't smell anything. There is a sliiiight sweetness in the air, but also a slight plasticky note. I don't get it. Wet on skin: Clean, herbal, and faint. I still can't detect a lot, and it can't be my skin eating it up when I couldn't smell anything much from the imp too? The plasticky note, a shade before burning plastic, is also there. Ugh. Dry: It's turned into a clean, somewhat powdery scent, not so herbal. The plastic is still hanging around. I wish I knew what the actual notes are present here so I could check. Still very faint, I really have to pull in order to get any scent in. Verdict: Maybe I need a second fresh imp to test before I give a verdict. I don't know how old the imp is, but I don't know, I just don't smell anything much :/