Meg

An earthy yet buoyant scent: pine, eucalyptus and orange. In the bottle: pine like whoa! Wet: Pine and some eucalyptus, but warmer and less aggressive. Drydown: Orange and eucalyptus, a very strange mixture. After a while the pine creeps back through a warming haze of orange. Which, of course, ends up turning on my skin, and ending up smelling like a powder, ick. The pine and eucalyptus linger in the background, smelling nice and woody. Overall: An invigorating, energetic blend, rather earthy and foresty too, with a nice warmth from the orange. Unfortunately the orange is nice on me for all of five minutes, then it mutates into a powdery perfumy icky scent.

In the bottle: Pineapple, custard, cherry, toffee and toast. Whoa. Wet: Pineapple and custard, there's a rich floury cake mix scent to this. I think that it's a bit boozy, too. Then I get dry toast. Drydown: Toast and custard, a very baked goods scent, something that you'd expect to smell in a bakery. I don't get any fruit, but I get a bit of a nutty vibe that kind of smells like turkey if you want to imagine it in the mix. Actually, that nutty smell becomes dominant, after a while, with added spice. Strange. The custard's been pushed right into the background. Overall: It's whimsical, very foody and morphs a lot. The fruits disappear very fast on my skin. The turkey scent comes from walnut, as far as I can tell. Apparently, it smells extremely sweet on me, but I can't smell the sweetness very much, just the walnut. It smells like a kind of walnut and sugar tart, in fact. Not something I would wear, but good for its novelty value.

In the bottle: Sweet roses, nearly like candy. Wet: Fizzy, powdery rose and some greenness. Drydown: It's clear that there are several roses in here. One of them has gone to fizzy powder, another seems to be sweet and sensual, there's tea rose, a bit green and very fresh... Something in there smells a bit berryish, I'm guessing it's what they call the "wine rose". Overall: It smells exactly as described, several roses. It's a rather sweet rose scent, not particularly fresh. The fizzy greenness of what's the grass disappears rather fast, fortunately, as I'm not into rose sherbet myself. It really becomes hypersweet on drydown, more candy than rose. Hm, not a favourite rose blend, and I actually like roses. Actually, it reminds me a bit of Rose Red, which I hated.

In the bottle: Fruit, tea and woods. Hmm! Wet: A strange mix of mango and fig, with patchouli coming out. Drydown: It ends up smelling woody and green, with a juicy fruity mango wafting above it. Ooh, it gets fruitier and fruitier with mango, a very lovely scent, with the thick woodiness of fig and patchouli. The tea must be in there, making everything fresh, too. Overall: A lovely, delicious, edible fruit scent. I hated Tweedledee, and this I think I really love! It's whimsical, pretty and bubbly in its mango, and a bit serious in its woodiness. I think this would make a tremendous body wash.

In the bottle: Ick! Sickly sweet sweet pea. Wet: Sweet pea over a practically aquatic sandalwood. As it warms up, I get amber and vanilla. Drydown: It becomes a rather discreet scent, which is a good thing, considering the horrible sweet pea of the beginning. I still get sweet pea in a quieter incarnation, covered with creamy vanilla. It's still a very sweet blend, with sweet pea dominating under light vanilla. Overall: It's very girly and quite light, and cleraly a floral blend. It smells very much like a perfume my mother used to have, which I found nauseatingly sweet. This too is extremely sweet, sort of naïve and cute, but not at all something that I'd ever wear.

In the bottle: A lot of plum and some spice. Wet: A very fresh, green plum and chrysanthemum scent, with a slightly sickly "cherry" scent. Drydown: There's a sort of spicy cherry scent in here, along with the background of plum. It's quite an invasive smell, too. I get the chrysanthemum afterwards, and that's a really lovely scent that wafts above the plum and spice base. There's this slightly plasticky feel from the carnation, too. It's very cinnamon on me, a bit like a muted red hots chewing gum. Overall: Well, it's a very spicy plum with some rather green florals from chrysanthemum. It's not particularly evocative of anything to me, and there's something off about it in all stages, particularly with the spice that's nearly at red hots level. Not something I'd particularly want to wear, though it's quite pleasant.

In the bottle: Obnoxious almond and spicy patchouli. Wet: The almond soon fades to give way to patchouli and cardamom, it becomes very dark and woody with a fruity undertone. Drydown: The verbena comes out, and then the cardamom comes back with a kick, and I smell... like curry. I smell a bit of cherry underneath, from time to time, and patchouli is clearly the woody base. After a long while, I do get a hint of berry, somewhere in there. Overall: At first all I smelled was almond, but this is definitely in the woody/spicy category rather than the foodies. It's sharp, sweet but still rather shrill, a lot about the cardamom, verbena and patchouli. Not my kind of blend, and I'm very disappointed that the cassis never made a proper appearance.

In the bottle: This smells exactly like Nutella, creamy nutty chocolate. Wet: Same as in the bottle, very creamy chocolate, developing a slightly sour perfumy note. It becomes nearly floral, in fact, and covers up the chocolate... I'd swear there's jasmine in there, the plasticky type. Drydown: Unsurprisingly, the chocolate soon turns to pencil shavings undertone, while the rather sour note really dominates. It smells extremely perfumy now, with a quasi-alcoholic side to it, and lots of sugar. Then it mutates to cardboard with sharp top notes. Overall: A bit of a fiasco, really. In the concept, it's a good idea, but on me it never fails to turn to plastic or cardboard, or both. It has a very true chocolatey scent, but also something like very sweet florals that make it screeching. Nope, Bliss is better chocolate than this, on me.

In the bottle: Extreeeeemely sweet flowers. Possibly some sweet pea. Wet: Smoky sweetness... the same smell you'd get if you got steam out of fizzy sugar sweets. Drydown: I get sweet pea, fizzy sweetness, smoke and mostly of detergent. It's acid and aggressive and smells like extremely cheap sweets, or like deodoriser, or maybe even like these dolls I used to have, that were perfumed in their plastic and stank horribly of fake flowers. Overall: It reminds me of the boozy blends like The Hamptons and Swank, that same toilet deodoriser or detergent scent. It's certainly... well, electric, but it smells very nasty on me, and I have an urge to scrub it off. Not my cup of tea.

In the bottle: Rather green... violet and a bit of jasmine? Wet: Jasmine and green violet. Drydown: The violet gets stronger and dominates the blend, with jasmine right underneath. There are hints of vanilla and mimosa, specially mimosa, very sweet. And then I think everything turns, because the violet doesn't really agree with my skin. Overall: It reminds me of a grandmotherish blend. The violet always does this to me, and the jasmine doesn't really help, it's very traditional-perfume-ish. I certainly can't get any pictures of a puppet mistres when it makes me think of a little old lady. Damn.

In the bottle: Very perfumy musk and patchouli, I think. It's hard to describe, other than very rich. Wet: Plum pops up immediately over a base of red musk and woody spicy patchouli. Vanilla starts coming out, too. Drydown: Hmm, a subtle mix of patchouli and vanilla, with hints of dark fruit but nothing really stands out as obvious. It's a deep mysterious perfume, a little bit smoky, somber, sensual. It sometimes smells a bit... muddy, nearly, from the patchouli and possibly the pomegranate seeds, that are a bit bitter. It ends up as a slightly murky vanilla. Overall: It's a very beautiful, elegant blend, dark and mysterious, sensual, not cloying at all. I usually dislike red musk but it's apparently extremely faint in this blend, because I didn't smell it at all. It's really a very rich blend, wearable to big occasions and extremely womanly. It's one of those BPALs that remind you very slightly of commercial perfumes with a BPAL twist. Excellent.

In the bottle: This is perfumy... smoke and black amber, I think, as well as something green. Wet: Fresh green pine needles, clean leather and black amber. It becomes very warm, very smoky and a bit musky. Drydown: Hmm, pine needles, smoke, something nearly citrusy, and a sort of polished black leather. It smells very herbal and smoky, with a hint of perfumy from the black amber. Something in there seems to want to smell like plastic on me, which is a pity. Overall: A very masculine blend, it's got something rough about it, a bit wild. At the same time, the perfumy black amber makes it smell a bit feminine. It's true to its description, all the ingredients mixing very well, generally. I'm sure it would work great on a man, on me it's not so wonderful.

In the bottle: Urine. Salty and a bit bitter, like fresh urine. I get pine, in there, too. Wet: Still urine, but I recognise the pine from Jersey Devil coming through. Drydown: As it dries, it's bitter evergreen, with a fresh hint of tobacco and spicy patchouli. Still under the urine smell, which I'm guessing is sarsaparilla - it smells bitter and salty. I get musky smoke after a while, and a rather soapy smell. I do smell a slightly nutty scent in the background for the almond milk. Overall: It goes from urine to bitter pine soap. Well, um... I suppose that it's a natural combination that you'd find in a lavatory. More seriously, it's something that would probably work out okay on a man, with the bitterness and soapy pine, but it's absolutely not something that works well for me. It reminds me of a saltier, more masculine Jersey Devil, with pee.

In the bottle: Lovely deep plum, fig and lavender, and verbena. Wet: Lavender comes up first, with citrusy verbena. The fig tries to peek out. Drydown: It dries down to verbena with hints of sweet plum peeking through, and coconut coming out. Verbena really dominates the blend powerfully, not letting anything else out. There's very vague fig in the background, and it's a bit musky generally. Then the plum reveals itself more to my nose, light and sweet, and very clean-smelling. Overall: Once the lemon verbena shifts, it's quite a pleasant smell, with a plum deepened by hints of vetiver. The wet stage is the most interesting and complex, and I really dislike the verbena stage, so I don't think I'd wear this again, but it's an interesting upbeat fruity blend, slightly garish, a little bit foody with coconut and fig. It would work well on a man, too.

In the bottle: sweet guava and hints of pepper. Wet: Still guava, joined with the unpleasant bite of pepper. I get hints of florals and lots of sugar coming in. Drydown: Very lovely guava, with very nasty pepper. They fight for dominance and I hope that the guava will win. There's a fight between a slightly aquatic fruity floral made up of the guava and the apple blossom, I think, and unpleasant pepper - and finally the guava wins, phew. The orange also comes out a bit, making the blend a sweet fruity mix... and then the pepper comes back for a fight. Overall: On the one hand, there's pepper, that smells like burnt flesh on me. On the other hand, there's hypersweet fruity quasi-gunk. They don't blend well together, and actually even if there was only the fruit, I wouldn't be able to wear it because it's much too sweet. Xanthe's a bittersweet fruit, and not one that really works out on me.

In the bottle: The fougère and white musk, with hints of tea. It smells very cologney. Wet: Sweet vanilla pops up immediately in the fougère. It's very afershavey, with slightly citrusy white musk. Drydown: Very fresh and masculine, still the fougère dominating with greenness from the tea and jasmine leaves seeping through. The vanilla has gone a little lighter, which is good because it was nearly cloying when wet. As it dries down, the tea starts developing - brewing, nearly - over the fougère, fighting for dominance. Overall: It's bright and fresh, a typical fougère, and therefore to me extremely masculine. It has throw and staying power on me like very few other blends. The vanilla and tea come to a good balance, but I keep on finding it weird to have the freshness of fougère associated with something as sweet and warm as vanilla - it's not a combination that I enjoy. It reminds me more of Hungry Ghost Moon than anything else, though I find it more pleasant because of the bitter edge provided by the tea, it's not something that I would wear.

In the bottle: Labdanum, wood and faint red rose. Wet: Cedar and labdanum mingling, with rose whispering behind them, and teak somewhere in there too. Something in there is strong and musky. It veers towards Play-doh land, at some point, oops... Drydown: Hmm, I get very strong fragrant resins and woods, it smells nearly like lacquered woods which I'm pretty sure is exactly the point of the blend. The rose is extremely subdued, it's hiding in there with the labdanum, giving it a faintly floral scent. It has a bit of a sour smell to it, I can't tell from where. Overall: Labdanum completely dominates this blend, which is a bit of a pity because it's such a heavy perfmy scent that the other components don't get a chance to peek through. It's obvious that there's wood in this blend, rich strong wood, but it's all hidden under the resins. It's very elegant, but a bit too classical perfumy to me.

In the bottle: Lemon, florals and something warm and foody, possibly the vanilla. Wet: Hm, this smells like orange blossom, a bit. It's quite tart and citrusy, but clearly floral. Then the foody vanilla and coconut come out very prominently. Drydown: It becomes more citrusy, and it's delightful floral, really. I get some heliotrope, too, sweet and glittery, a bit resinous. I get mostly coconut, vanilla and heliotrope after a while, with some smokiness from the opium and a citrusy glow. The underlying musk doesn't work so well with the light top notes and something ends up smelling a bit like dirty nappies, eek. Overall: It's a foody floral. The coconut and vanilla mingle with heliotrope and blossoms to make a warm, round, sweet blend. On me the heliotrope is the strongest, with the texture of coconut around it. A rather upbeat blend, light and warm. It's not unpleasant, but also not at all the kind of blend that I'd find myself wearing or reaching for.

In the bottle: Pumpkin and dry spice and wood, and something cool and green. Wet: Fresh green bitter ivy over the softness of pumpkin, very delicious. I also get hints of spice and wood, I think possibly rosewood. It's nearly aquatic, and it works very well. Drydown: Oh wow, very spicy rosewood-pumpkin mix! I love rosewood, and I'm really enjoying this pumpkin now. It's like a spicy pumpkin soup, very delicious, savoury pumpkin with pepper. And ivy, I can still smell an icy green slightly bitter ivy over everything. Overall: Oh my god! This is beautiful! The drydown is a spicy, woody, fruity and even slightly floral mix that creates a very original scent. I'd never smelled anything like this before. It's complex and fresh, and I'm starting to seriously consider getting a bottle. I also thought that pumpkin couldn't work out for me, but apparently I was wrong. The only thing is that this is a bit too spicy for me, otherwise I'd get a bottle right away.

In the bottle: Whoo, mint, and a hint of sweet vanilla. Wet: Still mint and vanilla, it reminds me more of dry pills than candy canes. Drydown: It's very pervasive, refreshing mint, whoo. I can taste the mint in the back of my throat, and smell very sweet vanilla along with it. It reminds me of a Tic Tac sweet, with a creamy vanilla-ish exterior and a bit of a dry brittle interior. And there's just a hint of sweet white florals in there, similar to what's in Leanan Sidhe, I think. Overall: A very pleasant, refreshing blend, sweet, candyish, and with a very nice mint. I'm not into mint blends myself, I prefer minty sweets in my mouth, not on my skin. But this is a very skilful and actually even a little bit perfumy on drydown. It's a bit too sweet for me, though.

In the bottle: Sweet sandalwood with a touch of saffron, I think Wet: Very warm sugar and saffron becoming stronger and stronger. There's a slightly citrusy woodsy scent from the sandalwood. Drydown: Very sweet slightly buttery rum and vanilla. I can smell sandalwood and saffron in the background. It smells a bit rubbery to me, which is a classic effect of saffron. After a while, I get good quality bourbon vanilla, very light. The scent is pale cream coloured in my mind, like vanilla cream. Overall: Well, it smells like a soft vanilla and saffron dessert, with a touch of booze and hints of sandalwood. I think I understand the hype around it, it's a foody scent that's actually *wearable*, it's not like smelling like a dessert when you have it on, you just smell sweet. That said, it goes through some rather icky stages on me, specially when there saffron is strong.

In the bottle: Slightly plasticky sweet booze. Wet: Booze, I recognise the brandy note, and it still smells plasticky. I also get a bit of rum. Drydown: I get a bit of nutmeg, and lots of sugar, and plasticky booze. There's a slightly creamy vanilla scent, too. The rum comes out, it smells like burnt sugar on me. Overall: Aw, this is a real dud. It's all plastic on me, it smells realy fake and... runny, thin? As if it's diluted. I don't know how real eggnog smells like, but this is far from being warm or pleasant. And extreme drydown gives me cardboard.

Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood. In the bottle: Very masculine cedarwood and vetiver, smoky and dark. Wet: Dark vetiver and cedarwood, a very thick dark, scent, with a citrusy waft of tangerine on top. It smells... dark and bright at the same time. As described. Drydown: It becomes a misty, dark scent, with a bit of a rubbery-petrol smell from vetiver and saffron. There's wood in the background, shiny black amber, and still hints of citrus - sometimes it veers to fruits for a few instants. Overall it's so well blended that it's hard to tell exactly what's in it, you just get a general impression. Overall: It's not something I'd ever wear, but it's intriguing. It's dark and shiny, like a piece of smoke quartz, it evokes lots of pictures I didn't even expect to have. A very masculine blend, not something I would wear myself, but very inspiring for trickster characters, for example. I'm stunned that the vetiver hasn't turned on me as it usually does.

In the bottle: Very sweet ozone, a bit like fizzy water with syrup. Wet: Still sweet, light ozone. And ouch, freshwater aquatics headache! Drydown: It's the sweetest ozone blend I have yet to sniff, slightly fruity somehow. It also smells fizzy, and I can smell the vanilla scent of dark musk. The aquatics come back to add a really fresh and misty touch. Overall: It is evocative of its description, but it's not something that I find particularly pleasant to smell. Obviously it doesn't help that I'm pretty much allergic to the freshwater aquatic in this blend so it tends to give me a headache.

In the bottle: Ozone! Wet: Still ozone and... something more that I can't put my finger on. Drydown: The ozone sweetens with hints of flowers and woods. I think I can smell the birch wood note alongside the ozone, and another darker, slightly bitter wood. Ooh, and mushrooms, a hint of soil. It disappears quite fast, though. Overall: It is reminiscent of a bog, perhaps a seaside bog. It has a dark, dank, misty scent, with a bit of soil. Unfortunately there also seems to be a bit of a rubbery element in there, which isn't great. All in all, I like the idea, but it's a bit faint and I wouldn't wear it or want it as a room scent.