mymymai

ITB: Oh, strong leather and vetiver with a complex sweetness from the hiba wood and the opoponax makes this an alluring and slightly dangerous scent.

Wet: There's a bit more hiba wood, clove, and opoponax here, but the vetiver and leather are still delicately sexy underneath the sweet resinous-ness of the top notes.

Dry: The opononax and clove take center stage, followed by the hiba wood, very light leather, and faint laurel. IT's absolutely gorgeous - dark, brooding, comforting, yet sweet.

ITB: It smells like oak leaves with a dash of rhubarb and chamomile tea.

Wet: It's earthy, but in a very appealing way. I can pick out each of the notes, which are relatively balanced. It reminds me of a wood cabin in late fall for some reason.

Dry: The oak recedes to reveal a candied fig and rhubarb scent laced with gentle chamomile. This is rather pretty.

ITB: There are a whole hosts of musk in here, along with a sweet red tone from the rooibos and a bright and slightly biting wasabi note. It's really interesting.

Wet: The wasabi jumps out on my skin, but there seems to be a golden musk and now heliotrope keeping it from being too green and too spicy.

Dry: The scent dries to mostly musk and a touch of rooibos and heliotrope. It's closer to what I'd envision as "good" rather than chaotic.

ITB: This reminds me of The Bodyshop's Dewberry scent for some reason, but with a little more soapiness (in a very positive way) and a touch of resin.

Wet: Oh yes! It's dark, rich, foreboding, but powerfully attractive. Of course, I'm in love with ambergris, so that's part of it. However, that note paired with the plum and kush is sweet, while the tobacco and opium tar give it a brooding tone that is simply divine. And talk about significant throw!

Dry: Gosh, this is amazing. Ambergris, tobacco, opium, and plum swirl into a heady mixture that makes me want to swoon. Ack, I need much more of this.

ITB: The metal is quite clear - a newly polished armor scent, which compliments the frankincense and bright leather. I like it so far.

Wet: The leather is a bit stronger here, but the frankincense and polished armor are still evident. The bourbon vanilla is very faint at this stage on my skin.

Dry: It's a lovely, resinous, and slightly sweet blend.

ITB: What a lovely and deeply brooding set of resins. The frankincense, olibanum, balsam, and oleo gum resin are distinctive and prominent, although the dragon's blood resin functions nicely in the background to add some depth.

Wet: The dragon's blood is almost bubble gum-y in quality on my skin for some reason, but the other resins keep it from being too sweet. I'm still loving the woodsy balsam and frankincense here.

Dry: After 12 hours, it's lightly resinous - frankincense and olibanum with a faint hint of dragon's blood resin. Lovely!

ITB: It smells like very supple and worn leather rubbed in a dab of pitch and a sweet green note, which I think must be the hemp.

Wet: The hemp is a bit stronger and maybe a little too sweetly green for me as it overpowers the leather and rosin.

Dry: The hemp has dried down significantly to reveal a really pretty leather scent. I don't get the rosin as much, but the gorgeousness of the leather note more than makes up for it!

ITB: Hello, myrrh! When I try to concentrate more, I just get the impression that this is a light white scent, fitting for a cleric.

Wet: Balsam and champaca have become dominant, but I can still detect the myrrh and now rose amber in a small quantity.

Dry: The myrrh is sweet and alluring when combined with the frankincense and rose amber. I don't smell much else, but what is on my wrist is beautifully soft and resinous.

ITB: It's woodsy but pleasantly resinous.

Wet: Pine, juniper and patchouli are the strongest notes when I first apply it. It could stay this way and I would really enjoy this scent.

Dry: It's a bit sweeter once dried, but the sense of lush juniper and pine-laced woods filled with incense does not dissipate.

ITB: A dusky musk with sandalwood, but also slightly bitter. Hmm, not bad.

Wet: It's very similar to above, but there is a slight perfume quality to it, which might be fragrant steeping tea leaves.

Dry: Musky, woodsy sandalwood. This isn't bad and would be really nice to blend with a sweeter scent or something more florid.

ITB: It smells like woods and juniper berries. I love clean green scents and this is one of them so far.

Wet: Aspen leaves, juniper berries, hawthorne trees with a thick blanket of moss underneath.

Dry: It's woodsy, musky, sweet, and slightly floral. Most of the notes of melded together, but it's a beautiful combination.

ITB: It's woodsy, but not the forest, more like sparse woods right before a field mixed with oiled leather and...hay? How odd.

Wet: It's oddly hay-like and the leather strikes me as saddle leather....and zucchini. That's part of the odd green scent I was getting in the bottle. I'm not getting much smokiness, though.

Dry: Zucchini musk, hay, and finally just a touch of vetiver and faint leather. I wish there was something a little more masculine to this scent.

ITB: This is much better. Seductive opium, supple leather, and delightful bay rum mingle together to form something intoxicating.

Wet: It's sweet and spicy on my skin, mostly from the bay rum, but a touch from the massoia bark. The opium is still there along with a little leather.

Dry: A spicy, decadent, and lovely blend. It stays true to it's form on my skin and I'm so thankful for that! It's delicious and I want to wrap myself in this scent.

ITB: Lemongrass, fig, old patchouli...it's an odd combination to my nose for some reason.

Wet: The lemongrass is a bit soapy on my skin and the fig when combined with the earthy patchouli reminds me of the Garden of Death. The leather starts to come out as it dries, but I'm still leery of this scent.

Dry: Now it smells like soapy lemongrass, sandalwood, and worn leather shoes with a touch of fig. I like the leather here, but that's about it.

ITB: It's sweetly dark and complex, but not threateningly so - coconut, vanilla amber, champaca, and a touch of vetiver.

Wet: It's sweet, resinous (slightly), and a bit floral. I'm getting coconut, champaca, orchid, vetiver, a dash of peach, some currant, and something else that is a little green.

Dry: It's more floral once dried from the orchid, but it's tempered by the champaca,coconut, peach, and now oude. Very nice!

ITB: Oh, it's herby, acrid, and bitter. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so...pungent.

Wet: Wasabi, balsam, bitter betel nut, spices that remind me of nutmeg and turmeric, and a bit of citrus rind and petitgrain. It's interesting and a bit more agreeable on my skin.

Dry: It's very similar, but I can now smell the java-like wattleseed and coconut (although faint). I'm still up in the air with this one.

ITB: I get lily and a light musk here.

Wet: Very strong lily, diaphanous musk, and faint hints of osmanthus. I'd like to smell frankincense at this stage, but I'm just not getting yet.

Dry: Well, the lily certainly steals the show here, although the frankincense and osmanthus are present, they are mere wall-flowers to the lily's show.

ITB: It smells like damp cobblestones and a dark and dangerous men's cologne.

Wet: It smells almost like a fougere with a touch of anise and something floral. However, it's dark and musky, fitting of stone and darkness.

Dry: It really does seem like there in anise in here as whatever it is is stronger on my skin along with the dark musk. It's an intriguing scent.

ITB: It's very floral in the bottle - lilac and dianthus with a touch of cedar.

Wet: It's a bit more green on my skin and reminds me in some way of Mandrake Charm a little bit, but as it dries, the blue musk and neroli make the scent much more enticing.

Dry: It dries to a lilac powder with a touch of musk, light herbs, and ozone. It reminds me of sweet whispering around twilight.

ITB: It's effervescent, just like the champagnes, but with more lemon-lime.

Wet: It's very much the same on my skin, although as it settles, the sugar kicks in. It reminds me of Mountain Dew (what I remember of it, anyway).

Dry: It's an effervescent lemon-lime with something warm like caramelized sugar.

ITB: I would have expected the aquatic notes to dominant, but it's the chocolate - warm, milk chocolate. There is a little sea salt underneath, but it isn't a bad combination.

Wet: Warm chocolate, sea salt, and perfume-y sea plants (really more of a floral on my skin) underneath. Usually, aquatics turn wretched on even the faintest application, but this is really nice so far.

Dry: Fresh sea water spray, chocolate, wafting incense - oh Cthulhu, you dashing knave!

ITB: IT's pale pink roses, a little green, and vanilla that adds an interesting creaminess to this scent.

Wet: It's very similar to what it smells like in the bottle, although the creaminess/vanilla is stronger on my skin.

Dry: Ah, the rose comes back out. It reminds me of a younger version of Rose Red with it's vanilla note and the impression of pink rather than red roses.

ITB: It reminds me of blueberry snow cones. Yum!

Wet: Slushy blueberries with a hint of blackberry jam. Gosh, this is heavenly.

Dry: The blackberry is a bit more distinct here, although the blueberry is still sweet. I'm also getting a lime and the snow note. It's a really delicious and fun scent.

ITB: It's much more plum-centric than I had anticipated. There is a touch of vanilla sandalwood, but I can't discern the other notes. It's fruity, flowery, and feminine.

Wet: There is really almost nothing, but what fraction of a drop I managed to eek out of the bottle smelled exactly the same on my skin, thank goodness. I'd love a little more of this.

Dry: It's perfume-y plum blossom and a touch of sandalwood, but it is faint since I was able to get out so little in the first place.

ITB: I get fizzy champagne, red wine that has started to turn (a little vinegar), fruit, and something that reads as soft and cloying, like vanilla.

Wet: Whew, that cloying note isn't present on my skin. Now, it is aged wine, champagne, muddled orange soaked in the aged wine, cola, and one or two other fruits I can't place. This is sangria to a "T".

Dry: It's interesting in this state because it becomes softly fruity and resinous with faint effervescence. I like this one so much more once dried.