juniperus

Our springtime celebratory perfume is crafted with orris root, bergamot, frankincense, daffodil, orange pulp, attar of rose, jonquil, strawberry leaf, benzoin, violet leaf, copal, honey cakes, sweet cream, and the blossoms of springtime. bottle: very sweet florals wet: the same dry: and growing sweeter...cloying blooms, very heady later: eventually it calms and I can detect a little of the resins, but this is very sweet and very flowery (in all of the worst ways) on me, alas.

bottle: dry, so very dry.. with the sweetness of the dragon's blood beneath wet: a lot of dbr, but I can smell the orris...so dry and wispy. nothing of the woods, yet. dry: now the woods, but yes, it's all still very dry..the sweet is less so but still a balance to the dustiness. later: it's interesting, the bdr and the orris together have a sort of quiet lushness...like an iris bloom laid in a wooden box..the juxtaposition of the fresh and still dewy with the dry, once-living wood..very interesting.

bottle: fruity, fruity, so many fruities wet: kumquat and lychee, in particular. it's like the little fruit bar at my parents' favorite Chinese buffet... dry: less juicy and in-your-face fruity, but little of the non-fruit notes later: more florals, now, but still not me. this last stage is really nice, tho.

bottle: both darkly foody and musky at the same time wet: I can pick out the cocoa, tonka, musk, and what gives me the impression of sassafras but is probably the saffron + tea dry: sweet and spicy and rich and...yum in a very sexy way. later: sweet and dark, amazing. LOVE it!

bottle: so delicate, lots of jasmine here (reminds me initially of Flying Fox from Lush), and the tea - love white tea. wet: ok, it's exactly FF at this point, it smells like my shower did this morning. dry: the jasmine is pretty heavy but not doing the evilmorph that it sometimes does - I think star jasmine might be the key there. I am getting no teak (which is OK with me - I don't care for it as I associate it with the teak oil I use to oil the furniture in my and my boss' office!!), and the other florals are present but not separating clearly form the jasmine. later: Still very FF in feel, but no crazy morphing or amping as I usually have with jasmine, so I am pleased (since I do like jasmine so long as it doesn't get soapy when it makes friends with white musk), and still no teak for which I am grateful. It's exquisite, more Asian in feel than anything else I can usually wear and rather, well...almost fragile. It leaves me with the impression of pale flowers so delicate that merely breathing on them would cause them to wilt.

bottle: wow, complex. I can't pick out any notes but it seems as though I'm smelling them all at once all at the same volume. wet: the amber is more clear, now, as is the carnation, and something...maybe the benzoin. it's present and up-front, but not being obvious about it. dry: right now it's carnation, tonka, amber, orchid and sandalwood and very pretty. no rose, alas, but it doesn't give the impression that it's missing anything. later: I can catch the feel of the mandarin but it's not citrusy per se, and the lily isn't amping as I feared it would. outstanding, the complexity mellowed so it feels less overwhelming to my spirit (if that makes sense).

bottle: gorgeous, mellow, and sweetened floral wet: mmmm...hyssop. a little lily, amber... dry: the sandalwood is present, the lily amping a bit. later: the honey isn't amping (yay) and while this is a sweeter floral it's not growing cloying, and the complexity is gentle but present (no cacaphony)...extremely lovely and feminine, but with great depth.

bottle: iris, moonflower, tea...and a hint of the lotus (but not bubblegummy, it's sweet and transluscent). wet: damp florals, misty...and the plum blossom comes through. dry: the mint is just barely discernible behind the florals, and the aquatic nature of the blue musk is noticeable later: ouchie aquatic musk, but behind that it's delicate, but somber. I do like the white peach and plum blossom notes a lot.

I like spice(not so much the fruit, although I love Imp, too!) Consider trying The Lion, Sin or Bloodlust, Lampades....and Titania is a fruit-y that smells great on my daughter.

bottle: complex immediately, but the red musk, ginger, and some sweet (I want to say the honey, but really...it might be the sweet of the florals, it's hard to tell) are standing out wet: more with the florals, really amazingly lovely (and no leather yet, which is a Good Thing on my skin) dry: I can identify the darkness of the leather behind everything, but it's not amping. I am loving this stage, it's spicy and floral and musky all at once. later: oh, the leather has moved to the bare of edge of what is viable for me..but behind it is fantastic. I wish the peather note did not dislike me so...alas.

bottle: cinnamon coffee wet: the same, but with the woods coming up behind dry: ooh, this has grown lovely and mellow...like sitting in an old bookstore, with heavy wooden bookcases and paneling, sipping cinnamon coffee later: this is what I wish Misk U smelled like on me...it's subtle, but evocative. I wish I had known to buy myself a bottle of this, I really do love it.

bottle: woody, very piney sappy wet: fresh pine resin knocked right off the tree or collected in an envelope (yes, I've done both. don't ask) dry: woody with the pine resin...boughs. that's it - boughs. later: interesting, camping in a pine forest with a smoking fire blazing (oh, that resin bubbling as the pine branches burn!). I bet I'd like to smell this on Bri...probably as much as he's not like to wear it, sadly.

bottle: dandelion necklaces...even moreso than Roadhouse (which is all summer dandelions on the kids) wet: the same, even greener. dry: sun-warmed and dewy, too... later: this is summer, period. not me, granted, but likely amazing on my rough and tumble boy. (I knew I should have ordered him a bottle!)

Black Phoenix's Dark Delicacies blend is the embodiment of sinister sensuality. It is a heady and darkly romantic blend of devil's trumpet accord, black orchid, tonka, coconut meat, fruit gums, osmanthus, smoky resin, myrtle, and Indonesian patchouli. bottle: surprisingly fresh and light wet: slightly darker, the coconut is apparent (although not sweet - this is the fresh stuff), as is the orchid and a hint of a dark green note I can't quite catch in full dry: richer and headier at the same time. this is slowly growing darker, smokier, and deeper in tone later: omg resiny loveliness, smoke, patchouli, orchid - this is heaven!!

bottle: lovely, dark florals wet: the individual florals separated somewhat, a sharpness beneath dry: the rose is rather heavy, the resin still sharp. later: I wish I got more peony and plum from this, it's a dusty rose with resiny undertones. I will try this again, under different hormonal circumstances, because I really, really want it to work!

bottle: light and herby without being sharp wet: the same..this reminds me somewhat of Mantis, but gentler dry: I can catch hints of the peony now, this is very gentle, very pretty, and floral without being flowery. later: so gentle, delicate..almost yesteryear wistful, in a way, and although I'm keeping it for myself I think it'll end up with Miss Emma...it's innocent.

bottle: very sweet, very fruit, very ouch wet: the same, headache-inducingly sweet dry: only slightly calmer, holy crow. later: at last the tea and pepper, very pretty at this point, but to get here was misery for me, so no, no, no.

Don't forget the TALs - especially Charisma, in this case.

bottle: patchouli and a greenish floral wet: the same dry: sandalwood now, nicely balances the patchouli and the rose comes out on top later: we have moved directly to gorgeous, WOW

bottle: sweet, buttery, and dark wet: the tarts - wholly the tarts. mm, that sounds pretty good right now... dry: still mostly the tarts, but in the rear I can just barely catch the roses..like a tray of cooling tarts on a window ledge under which a rosebush grows..this would be the scent of the breeze through that window later: deeper, and more of the rose, but it's that same feeling of that breeze...interesting, I don't care for foody, usually, and oft buttery notes turn to celery on me...but this is such a fascinating combination, I just can't stop sniffing it

The hundred-headed dragon that guards the garden of the Hesperides: dragon's blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth. bottle: very golden delicious apple, tree and all wet: the florals are more apparent behind the fresh apple dry: I can barely discern the resin, it's still very much apple and blossoms later: the same...nice, but more apple than I can really manage well

bottle: floral, but spicy and light wet: very spicy dry: very rich, spicy and warm, an almost foody floral later: very light, spicy, and florally...pretty

Bottle: I can't pick out a note - madness is right. I'm not sure what to make of it. Wet: ok..rose, vanilla, evergreen, a hint of the carnation Dry: a little sweet, very rosey, no tobacco yet (a relief), the labdanum is very grounding Later: complex rose, grounded without darkness...mayhaps not my favorite rose, but very, very interesting nonetheless.

Bottle: lavender, white musk, and a hint of warmth Wet: carnation added to the above, delicate, but not gentle (if that makes sense) Dry: rose present...but even with the white musk there is no soap, yet, and the jasmine is not taking over Later: hints of detergent loom. white musk + florals oft does this to me, damn it all. no help from the amber on this point, either. Bugger!

Bottle: heavy and resinous Wet: dark and myrrhlicious Dry: I can detent a deep evergreeny under the myrrh, and another resin (but I''m not sure if I'm catching the benzoin or the galbanum, I'm less familiar with both of them and I'm not sure I can pick them out in a crowd) Later: this is actually rather dark and strong for me, and I don't often make that sort of statement. (I'm keeping this and aging it, of course, I think it'll mellow for me a bit) there is a sharpness here that while it doesn't smell like frankincense does bring that resin strongly to mind. it's fascinating, though, I'm looking forward to checking back with it after a little time.