steffanina

Pumpkin Patch #4- In Bottle: Mm, there's a richness to this. Almost chocolaty. Wet: Candy-woody and deliciously rich, even more so than the hazelnut and cocoa of Pumpkin Patch #2. A little fragrant like a floral but with the yummiest creamy rich tones. I'm reminded of Obatala and Black Pearl. Dry: The richness of this is almost masculine; I love the spicy-woody-creamy notes over the pumpkin fruit of this. And it has longer staying power than some of the other Pumpkin Patches on me! Overall: I like a lot.

Pumpkin Patch #3- In Bottle: Oh, sweeeeet and delicious! Wet: Oh, yum, I can definitely smell pomegranate. It's almost orangey but far more delicious! I hope the dry-down on this is nice because it's lovely straight off. Dry: Not a long sustainer, but it remains a lovely scent and there's no mustiness. Stays sweet and fruity the whole way.Very nice. Overall: I like!

Pumpkin Patch #1- In Bottle: Mm, apple cider. Wet: A little waxy; still with cider scent and cinnamon. Dry: The waxiness fades, yay! I'm left with a soft cider-and-spice mix, pleasant; doesn't last a huge long time but it's a sweet simple scent. Overall: I like.

Tombstone- In Bottle: Very faint; not much that I can smell at all. Wet: Smoke, very strong woodsmoke. Dry: The smoke overpowers. I wish it dried down into something warm to mix with the faint hints of cedar and vanilla that I can detect, but it just doesn't. Smells like someone lit the hamster cage on fire (save the hamsters!). Overall: Not for me.

De Sade- In Bottle: Ooh, that's not only leather--that's the leather jacket that's been in a smoky bar all night. I hate cigarette smoke and yet I do not say this with displeasure. ;-) Wet: Yiii. Someone's pushed my face down against a new car interior and they won't let me up. Not as sexy as it sounds. It's kind of burnt-smelling. Dry: Oh, dear, I wanted to like this one better. It's kind of strong and burnt and doesn't quite work for me. I love Whip but apparently the rose-and-leather thing of Whip works much better for me than straight leather....It is nicer on the dry-down but I don't think it's going to be a favorite. Pity! I wanted to be able to tell everyone the name of what I was wearing. Overall: Not quite for me.

Egg Nog- In Bottle: I smell rum and cream. Faint, but delicious. Wet: Mmm, almost coconut cream. Not very strong but very nice. Dry: Oh, my. Oh, it's gone in barely minutes. Oh, that's sad; I thought it would be pretty delicious. Might try it on a scent locket but I'm not optimistic since it was so faint even in the bottle. Overall: Regrettable fader.

Vinland- In Bottle: Spicy, almost oriental. Wet: A strong aggressive flowery bloom on my skin. Dry: Hmm, too bad, this had a nondescript floral fade, and though I got little hints of it for a couple of hours it was never anything remarkable. Overall: Unremarkable.

Herr Drosselmeyer- In Bottle: Mm, there's a booze-and-cinnamon smell in here. Warm and masculine, yes. Wet: Pipe tobacco, definitely. Not too masculine! Dry: This smells exactly like I hoped it would--like sweet pipe tobacco without all that unpleasant smoke, and it's not too dark or elderly-smelling. Overall: I like!

Danse Macabre- In Bottle: A little strong-musky. Wet: Woo! Hugely evergreen-mint. A very outdoorsy scent. Dry: Omigosh, it's all but gone, ten minutes later. My skin swallowed it! Overall: Fast-fader, too bad.

Masquerade- In Bottle: I smell orange blossom and something musty, but maybe it won't be musty once it's on. Wet: Hmm, wood...and orange...and something resinous...Cedar. Yes, I can call this cedarish. Dry: I would have bet I wouldn't have liked this one first off, but, surprise, the cedar is kind of nice! I smell...roasted potatoes. Shut up, I do. Normally I don't like cedar as it reminds me of hamster cages. I think this is not likely to be one I use a lot but when I remember that roasting-potato smell and want it again I'll pull this one out. Overall: Interesting.

Crucible of Courage- In Bottle: Rich-deep-spicy. Almost a foodie smell, but more herbal than that. Wet: Sharp and herbal. I have the idea that this one will be nicer once it dries a little, it's too sharp for me on first whiff. Dry: Hmm. I just don't like this one. I can't identify the smells but they're all kind of perfume-gone-old smell. Overall: Not for me.

Kitsune-Tsuki- In Bottle: Mm, jasmine and something lightly fruity (must be the plum). Wet: A plummy-floral bloom on my skin. Pretty-smelling. Dry: I rather like the plum-berry of this; it reminds me of Baneberry. But it fades quickly and is not as delicious as Baneberry. Not one of my favorites, this. Overall: Fades, never got interesting.

Morocco- In Bottle: I can barely smell anything! Onto the skin it goes... Wet: Faint and powdery-sweet. Dry: This fades quickly and I never got much of an impression of it. Too bad; it sounded like such a nice description! Overall: Fades too fast. Not useful for me.

Sugar Cookie (2004)- In Bottle: This is absolutely delicious--not just vanilla and baking spices, but a sense of raw sugar cookie dough. Oh, I hope this one works on me. Wet: The creaminess of this is not as evident and I'm smelling nutmeg and other spices. It smells a little like I'd expect egg nog to! It is lovely and I'm still hoping it won't go musty. The experience is a little like Gingerbread Poppet, which was delicious and gingery on my skin but had lost the creaminess it had had in the bottle. Dry: After about 10-15 minutes of loving this sugary warm nutmeggy scent I said, "Hooray! No way this can go musty on me after this long." Turns out that's not quite accurate; there was a little must trying to manifest soon after that, but you know what? The scent itself was starting to fade down so the must was very minimal. This makes me happy because this is now one of my favorites. I tried a repeat dose and the same thing happened: only minimally musty and that's at the time the scent is starting to fade on me. So it doesn't have a lot of staying power but in this case that might be for the better. I want a giant bottle of this. (And it made me have to go eat a few slices of raw sugar cookie dough; good thing I always have a log of that in the fridge.) Overall: It's conditional but I love it. ETA: I think I need to add that after just a little exposure to this scent, it's become one of my top top top favorites. It fades too quickly to go musty, and I'm in utter heaven just sniffing the bottle.

Suspiro- In Bottle: Floral and sweet. Wet: Very brightly floral and perfume-y. Makes me suspect it'll be one of those hot ozone-y florals, but I'll see. Dry: Oh, my skin is just sucking this one up. Very little of anything left and it's not been, what, fifteen minutes. Overall: Unremarkable, a fast fader.

Seraphim- In Bottle: A very nice bright floral; hint of sandalwood. Wet: That sandalwood makes it interesting! A little cloying, floral and herbal, but I'll wait a bit and see. Dry: I can already tell, after a few minutes, that this one won't have a lot of staying power and won't be remarkable. It's not unpretty but it just doesn't make me excited or even keep me interested. Overall: Unremarkable.

Block Buster- In Bottle: Soured Apple Cider! Er, I suppose I should call that hard cider, but that's really what it seems like to me. I smell cinnamon too. Wet: Hmm, interesting. A comforting scent, still smelling of apples that have gone past cider to verge-of-rot. So far I like, and not musty at all. Dry: This has a quick fade on me, and stays at the cidery-apples development stage. It never gets really mesmerizing, but it was all right. Overall: Okay. Might try again.

Torture King- In Bottle: Heavy and musky and no way am I gonna pretend this ain't a masculine scent. I am nevertheless intrigued. Wet: A wood-and-chocolate bloom! Ooh, this is strong and spicy, and there's just a hint of citrus--yes, I would call it lime before any other citrus. Mmm, it smells like a man I should very very much NOT follow, because he's bad news, no matter how sexy he looks. Dry: I wore this to bed shortly after putting it on, so I wasn't quite in the right head space to be coming up with descriptors on the dry-down (too sleepy), but I did keep sniffing my wrists as I drifted off and I simply loved the powdery dry-down on this. I remember waking up near the morning still able to smell its delicioiusness, and when I was up and about the next morning it was faint but still there and stayed delicious and powdery and light-musky the whole time. A gem of a scent. Overall: I love.

Xihutecuhtli- In Bottle: This seems very "perfume-y"; I smell the orange underneath too. Wet: Oh, wow, is that a delicious bloom of spice. Orangey but not so simple as spicy clove orange; there's no clove here at all. A warm deliciousness. Dry: Holy hell, this is beautiful. A lot of throw and staying power. There's a bright floral in here but it's not that sharp ozone-y hot floral; it's very clean and powdery. The orange leaves; it does not feel citrusy any longer. If I didn't have the term plumeria to guide me I'd've never remembered to associate this scent with it, even though I've smelled (and liked) plumeria. I feel like I'm in a huge rainforest with big fat flowers around me, and not wussy cloying roses or carnations either. Aggressive, cruel flowers. It's a delicious scent and I'd never have expected to love something flowery this much. Overall: I love.

The Caterpillar- In Bottle: Hard to classify. Herbal-y. Wet: A brief sweet floral blast, powdery and herbal. I think I'm smelling something woody underneath (is that the vetiver?). Dry: Dries down into something a little masculine, but certainly not too heavy. Herbal and wood. It fades very quickly on me, though! Overall: Nice but not a lot of staying power.

Alecto- In Bottle: Wood-and-chocolate (I still don't know if that's vetiver or not) and a light sweetness. Wet: Mmm, very rich and loamy. And a berry-like sweetness. Dry: Grass and berries. An interesting combination. It might be my body chemistry at this time of the month or something, but this is growing a little cloying, even though it's not creamy or foodie at all. I think I like it but I'll have to give it another try another day. Overall: Must try again; I think I like.

Midway- (I had an agenda; I had to try this one) In Bottle: I smell vanilla caramel, and maybe a hint of something buttery...buttered popcorn, it wants to be. Wet: Mmm, rich yummy vanilla. God, I hope this doesn't go musty on me. It would be the loveliest vanilla ever if it didn't. ...Watching (smelling) carefully to see if it goes musty. Dry: I did something I haven't done to date, in testing scents--this never got musty but it seemed to be riding the edge of it for a while, and then the scent got rather faint, so, I put on another dose! And I waited it out, because I really really wanted to know if this was going to be musty on my skin. And, well...it's close. It's not as disappointingly musty as Lump of Coal or Jack, but there's something threatening there. And adding another dose puts me on the verge of too-cloying for this scent. I might like it best as a scent locket. Overall: Conditionally like.

Black Pearl- In Bottle: Sweet. And the hazelnut is there. Wet: Oh, what a delicious bloom of that hazelnut. It's like ever hazelnut coffee that's ever brewed in a coffeehouse. And that sweetness magnifies too; I think it's more of a pineapple-coconut smell to me rather than just coconut... Still very sweet. Could be cloying if not worn sparingly. I see why everyone says "creamy" about this; it is cream-rich. Dry: After this has been on for a while, I start to smell the more interesting undertones to it. Of course the name of the scent has a lot to do with it, but after a while the blend has the whiff of rum and tobacco on it, like the South Seas, like the pirate ship on which I've stowed away. Mmm. Overall: I really like!

The Hamptons- In Bottle: The lime leaps out at me. That's all I smell. Wet: Lime and rosemary! Oh, interesting. A little sweet boozy undertone--I don't smell any mustiness that I've come to associate with "boozy" scents, though, nifty! Dry: A hint of mustiness but only a teeny bit. This is still very lime and booze, and though I only find it interesting at the moment, I could see it becoming an acquired taste. I'll wear it when I want to feel like Jay Gatsby. Overall: Interesting.

Kyoto- In Bottle: Oh, yes, cherries and sandalwood. It's almost chocolaty, that sandalwood. And the cherry has the floral undertone that seems like cherry blossom instead of cherries. Wet: Oh, my, I do like that. Woody and sweet; a little soapy. Very rich and spicy. Dry: This is innnnteresting, and I say that with fondness. Such a spicy rich blend; the woodiness of it never gets too heavy, though. I may come to like this one a lot, I suspect. Overall: I like; must try again.