surlygurl

This is an odd scent. Mind you, I bought the decant during the first run decant circles, so it is quite aged. Fresh, it smells like nothing. nothing at all. But as it warms up, I get dark and herbal with a little tartness down below. Hey... this isn't half bad. As it warms up, the pomegranate (aha! so that's it!)and verbena brighten up the scent. It's still a dark herbal scent, but now it glows red from within. The throw is interesting. Tart fruit meets dark herbs & resins. This is gender neutral and would be lovely as a soap or an incense. If I didn't like it so much as a perfume, I'd put it in an oil warmer...

To keep this from turning into a coconut thread, I'll throw in my 2 cents for jasmine. Usually it is an evil, sharp, cat-pee kinda scent.... then I discovered Corina. There, jasmine gives a bite to the other florals and the whole thing smells lovely on me. Also, honey. Honey goes sour on my skin. Gennivre was horrid, and the honey blends were scary bad. But A.E. Albopictus from the 2012 butterflies was win on me. Maybe because of all the sharp bitey notes? Who knows. It doesn't read as 'honey' on me; it reads as sweet/savory garden. That may be the secret.

I agree with Quillifer about Dragon's Blood being sweet. I'm currently wearing Martian Phoenix, and its an odd sweet candied Red Mint. Kind of strange from a planet that represents the god of war, but whatever. I like it!

Let's see..... Tiki Queen Tiki Princess Tweedledee anything with mint in it but my latest greatest summer scent is A.E. Albopictus. I never much liked honey, but the herbs in this turn it into a fabulous glowing scent. YMMV, of course.

In the vial, this smells simply evil. Not like anything specific, just evil. But then I tried it on my skin (expecting evil), and all the notes blend together to smell like Powdery Violet(!!???!) Seriously? Yeah. As it dries, it morphs again into a very mild jasmine with other light florals. Not bad.

Holy @#&*!! This is horrid on me! And I'm the person who loves tropical coconut in all it's forms. Coconut/anise must be a death combo for me, because I sold my bottle of Paduan Killer Swarm for the same reason. The lemongrass adds a whole other dimension of horridness. I don't know what the other notes are doing - probably cowering in abject terror. *runs to wash off* Maybe I should save this for a warm summer day, as steel grey skies don't make me think of tropical goodness.

Bourbon vanilla, custard accord, white rose, cocoa absolute, oudh, lemon blossom, and skin musk. Hey... whoa... wait. This works on me? It shouldn't. Cocoa and rose hate me, lemon is funky, etc etc etc. But really? Fresh on, I get those fake fruit candy sticks dipped in chocolate (lemon fake fruit, of course). As it dries, I get a little of the plastic wrapper, too. I think it's the custard that saves the day. Custard, vanilla, oud and skin musk. And the fact that lemon is really lemon blossom doesn't hurt. The blend is just this side of foody, not lemon or cocoa. Nothing really identifiable like one would expect. I'd love to get more than my little tester - especially since every bottle seems to be different. Not sure I want to spring for a bottle and have it be the 'wrong' mix of notes.

On me, this is a very soft amber. Soft, watery, barely there. It's a good under-the-radar scent for when you don't want people to notice your perfume - just that you smell nice.

This is better on my skin than I thought! I normally shy away from patchouli, but the patch here reminds me of Depraved, which works on me. Everything else is nondescript; they are just there to color the patchouli. I do like it, and I will use what I have, but it's not a bottle purchase.

I knew this was going to be a fun scent from the notes. When I tried it on, there was a fruit party on my arm! A limey, bright, tart party. The lime is glorious - reminds me of Luna Moth without the sugar. It's straightforward and fun and I really like it. I get something that reminds me of anise a little bit(!?), but that adds to the fun. Unfortunately, the party ends abruptly and they all go home. Not so much as a "thank you for letting us use your arm" note. Oh well. I hope it lasts longer on others!

For my review, can I say "Yeah, what stellamaris said" From the reviews and my first sniff of the decant, I placed it in the "meh - try much later" pile. When Later came around I slathered some on, ready to go wash it off if needed. This reminded me of a GC aquatic, not sure which one. VERY aquatic. I was bracing for a hit of boy cologne when suddenly WHOOSH!!! Something sweetish and grounding came forth - frankincense, no doubt; not sure what petitgrain smells like. Up close it's really lovely. The throw is even better - salty sweet aquatic. I should deathmatch this with other aquatic bottles I own, but I think this will win. (This is going into my "possible bottle" pile!)

When I sniffed this in the decant, it smelled clean & pretty, so it went into my "try soon" pile. Looking at the notes, I didn't know what to expect.... On my skin, it opens with a powdery orris and rice paper. White, Clean, powdery. I expect the red chyphre and bands of yellow smelling jasmine to snake out, any minute now. And the benzoin should ground it, shouldn't it? But the elements of the scent blend and settle and give me Baby Powder. Wet, dry, and in between - always baby powder clean!!!

Hoooo! Wow!!! I agree with joyfulgirl - this blend is SOOO GOOD! When I first applied it, my mind went racing to a previous Shunga that I love and own a bottle of. It must be the agarwood/plum combo. Something about that just gets me going. Anyway. I don't get any outright mint or sandalwood, but that's ok. This is a lighter brighter Calligraphy Practice, but it also kinda reminds me of an Indian jasmine incense I used to burn - Savahn Mogra. There's no jasmine in here, I know....but there's something a little sharp like jasmine. I love this, but I already have a bottle of her big sister from last year. I should do a side-by-side comparison before buying a bottle. Shouldn't I?

I was really excited to see honeysuckle in this. I was hoping for a floral honeysuckle scent for spring. On my skin, the hemp and a bit of amber. The honeysuckle & honey come out as it warms up, with beeswax bringing up the rear. It turns from a yummy floral into a powdery slightly sweet beeswax scent. It's a very quiet scent that lasts longer than I'd expect. Quite lovely.

This starts out as sweet & pretty soap. The carrot is loud & sweet, the milk giving it body & a softness. As it dries, the oakmoss comes out a bit, softening & grounding the scent. It really does smell like a classic perfume. The sweetness remains throughout, even when dry.

In the decant, I wasn't too sure about this. But once on my skin, this becomes an edible rose jam with sesame butter and olive oil. Maybe a little honey to thicken it. If "antique" is antique, this is ancient. The smell of dried rose petals soaked in fresh olive oil, a bit of sweet almond, some olive. I can definitely see this being a high end perfume in ancient times. I'd love to smell how this ages!

In the decant, I smell juniper and amber. A little scary, but I give it a try. On my skin, it blooms. It's amazing. It does smell antique, warm, slippery, polished. Old amber, a little juniper (not much). No obvious musk or leather. It smells..... not like a perfume, but like an aura. The throw is subtle, the scent is gentle. Damn. I need a job. (Bottle buy)

I have a decant from '07, I think, and couldn't figure out why I never wear it, so I got this years version. Fresh on, it's gorgeous. Pretty, fruity, incensy. Very nice. i don't get the individual notes, but it's really nice. Kinda girly, but that's ok. As it dries, everything simply fades. I'm sure I'll need to test it again, but now I know why I don't wear the old one - it just doesn't stay on my skin. Pretty, though.

I got this decant at the last minute because of the Cathouse Atmo spray comparisons, so I was not surprised when a reddish jasmine came forth on my skin. Really pretty, a little sharp (but nothing I can't handle). I was hoping it would spread and mellow, enveloping me in a floral hothouse cloud. It didn't. It remained sharp red jasmine. Which isn't bad at all. It would make a lovely.... erm, room scent , but it's just not a "me" scent. I'll definitely use the decant.

Ummm.... this is kinda nice. Red Musk always shouts and stomps all over everything, but this scent is a gentle clear red musk. There are other elements in it, sorta. And that's just it - everything else is "sorta". So instead of a loud stompy red musk marching all over my arm, I get clear gentle red musk stomping all over my arm. Maybe extreme drydown will be different; if so, I'll edit this.

So..... I love love love apricots, and am becoming ok with honey. But I guess apricots should remain a food item, not a perfume item. This is nice. Sweet apricot honey, a gritty touch from the pepper. Aaannnddd..... that's it. It's 2 dimensional on me, kinda pretty. It'll be saved for summer.

Lots of red currant honey, a little ginger freshness. It's fruity and a little sharp. Not too sweet or cute. It just sort of IS. Then it dries down to something unpleasant. *shrug*

I pulled this imp out of my imp box and said "gee, did I like this? How long has it been here anyway?" and dabbed some on my wrists. WHOA Dragon's Blood! Now, I like little bits of DB here and there, but this is almost single note, with that floral thing that DB does riding high. Not really my thing. Once dry, this is lovely. The amber comes out and melds with the DB, creating a grounded yet still pulsating scent. Very soon after this stage - the lovely stage - it disappears on me. Maybe I just no longer notice it. I'll keep my aged imp and wear it when I want to feel all-powerful (rarely).

(Full disclosure - I wore this to bed & fell asleep when the bergamot came forward.) The opening stage of this oil reminds me of Joyful Moon - white musk & soft amber, sweetish, comforting. The bergamot hovers in the background, making this a bolder scent. Like a comforting friend who will help you in a fight. So... I woke up in the middle of the night wondering "what is that horrid boy cologne coming from my chest?" Then I sniffed my wrists and get a fainter version. Well. Damn if that sweet protective friend didn't go psycho killer on my skin .

In the decant I smelled lime, lilac, and musk. Very smart & slightly masculine. On my skin, I get LIME with lilac, musk, a bit of tobacco. It's pleasant. Charming. Subtly sophisticated. But as it dries it goes to powder. This powder knocks out everything but the lime, and it's a dusty lime at that. Now that it's dry, the dust has gone and lilac is peaking out. I like this stage and the wet stage, but can I survive the dusty lime powder stage?