Ilex

I have been looking for a patchoulli citrus scent for a while, there is a soap I like that is orange and patch, and I was hoping for something that matches that. In the bottle I was dubious. Really fakey jolly rancher orange. But, on, another story. I can definitely pick out the tangerine versus the orange, it kind of gives the orange an edge. But its not fruity, the amber is definitely in the house. I'm noticing the amber more than the patch, but both are in play, the patch is a good base note here, it doesn't overwhelm. I don't get any musk (thank heavens). You really do have to like amber though, that is the dominant player, especially in the longer dry down when the citrus receeds. This is excellent in the first while. I'm afraid in the far dry down though amber does what it is wont to do on my skin which is have a play doh party. Which is a pity. I'm glad I have a bottle though, its really fabulous up until then.

Hmm... this looks like fun. I wish I had more suggestions for folks but I guess I haven't tried as many as I thought. My top five: Quincy Morris Ruddy Daggerwing Occupy Wallstreet Mandrake Eve (OLLA) Honorable mention to Masquerade, Peach VII and Black Annis

Initially I'm sort of reminded of permanent marker smell. Harsh. It quickly mellows though. Mostly musk, kind of oily almost. Cologne-y. A little old incense like. But somehow compelling. Its more complicated than I thought at first. There is something powdery about it. Hmm... I wish this was more herbal/woody on me, but the musk is really dominating and it is super sweet. I really don't have a strong verdict on this. I alternate between finding it interesting and kind of ho hum. It did kick off a headache, but I don't know if that was the perfume or the weather.

It is a super juicy orange to start with. The orange really smells like the juice, not pithy or sharp. But it doesn't stick around on my skin for more than five minutes. Which is a real bummer, because I love the orange. The tabacco is nice too, but after the orange bails its all tabacco, and that is a bit much. The hay may be sweetening things. Hay is not a note I can usually pick out, so it may be there with the tabacco, but mostly I read tabacco. If the orange had stuck around for me I would have really been into this, but eh, not sure I need a bottle.

Hmm... this is not very dynamic on me, which usually I'm okay with, I like it when things are pretty simple and notes stick out. But in this case its vanilla and orange blossom. Orange blossom and vanilla, stealing the show. And unfortunately, sometimes vanilla goes off on my skin. It is a little play-doh like. The tabacco is helping, but its really in the background, and it may be going a bit tarry. Thankfully the myrrh is pretty modest (otherwise I'd be sneezing, its a risk with myrrh). I wish the cinnamon was there at all, it just isn't. Its not bad, its just not wowing me.

This was unexpectedly excellent. I normally am not a fruit sort of person (jolly ranchers ahoy) but this is indeed, a drier, more realistic sort of peach. The quality of the peach reminded me of some peach incense or peach black tea. The spices are as described, dark. Labdanum maybe? These are not foody spices. And there is something tannic that makes me think of tea going on here. Miracle of miracles, the black musk is pretty tame - its not overwhelming. But on the far dry down, the blend does take on a putty/playdoh cast, which is what often happens with the dark musks on my skin. Its good for about an hour, and then I need to refresh. Which I normally don't have patience for, but this is quite the scent, so its worthwhile.

I thought this was going to be a lot more interesting than it was. Sandalwood? Powdery sandalwood dominates (or at least something that comes off like that) and the rest is just "perfumy" without being distinctive. I was really hoping for the metal to come into play and make it more evocative, but I didn't catch a whiff of that component at all. Its inoffensive, not amazing or interesting.

This absolutely shouldn't work on me. No way. Sandalwood usually goes to powder, saffron turns to putty, musk is ugh, so there are some death notes for me in this. But I love the character of Eve so had to take a chance. And it works on me and my husband doesn't hate it. A miracle. The rose is like the memory of roses, faint and barely there. Everything is rather understated, and aged, but lovely. It kind of reminds me of my mothers jewelery box, which she had used to store incense and old perfumes as well as jewlery and it was always a very mysterious, very grown up smell that wafted out of it. It perfectly fits the character of Eve. This is in my top five, for sure.

Yeah, the rose take over happens to me too. Patchouli is about the only thing that can tame it for me. Its really too bad, I like rose, especially a green fresh smelling rose.

This is amazing. A very sexy blend. Dark chocolate, so strong and full it is almost like musk, dominates. I really did not pick up on the catnip at all, so not really as herby as spicy. The spices and herbs blend well- I can pull out the copal as an incense note, the rice as a sort of sweet undertone (this I don't like, its a little cloying, but its not too noticeable) and the cumin on the far dry down, but everything hangs together. Normally I like individual notes to stick out but here I don't mind the effect of things melding. I really wish I had a bottle rather than an imp of this.

Well. I was hoping I'd adore this, I love licorice and patch, but I only think its good, not omg I must have a bottle (yay for decanters and decant circles, ralenth in this case). It a bit too well blended for my tastes, I was hoping the notes would distinuish themselves a little more, early on the licorice jutted out some, but in the dry down it was less present. The juicy fruits reference worried me, but it just lends extra sweetness in a nondescript way. The stinker of the bunch was the sandalwood. Stupid powdery generic perfume sandalwood messed up the whole party and kept this from awesomeness. It was strong with some good throw, almost too much, I had to wash it off for dinner. The other perfume it reminds me of is Masquerade with licorice playing the role of ambergris and a much milder patch, and less orange blossom. Though with the sandalwood the analogy is not perfect. Masquerade is a favorite, and this may grow on me a bit too. It gets bonus points for not being perky and sicky sweet on me, it is a darker, velvety sort of scent and my husband said he thought it was sweet, but still good (and he is super hard to please).

Wet and in the imp, burnt? What is that about? Its a little worrying. Drydown: No more burnt smell. A whiff of roses and cinnamon jolly ranchers. Very sweet. The rose doesn't amp up, which usually happens with rose for me. I don't smell the black tea but that's normal, its usually an invisible note on me. My husband just asked me to wash this off. "It smells like bad candy." I asked him if he could smell the rose, and he said "Maybe? Faintly." Hmm... not a keeper.

2012 version, never tried the 2007 Wet/first 10 minutes: Very syrupy pear. Not like the pear in Quincy Morris I was hoping for. And the vanilla is strong. Dry down: The pear is sort of vague and lost compared with the blast of vanilla. There is a waxy quality to this, like a vanilla scented candle. Vanilla can be an iffy note for me, so going waxy isn't so bad, its not playdoh putty plastic smell at least. Overall its almost marshmallow like, very sweet, very simple. I am not huge on this, but my husband sniffed it and said "Oh, vanilla. I like this!" and got very huffy ("You never like the ones I do" kind of adorable that he cares and he is picky about scents) when I was critical of it. I'm disappointed the pear wasn't more prominent and it is so sweet. Perhaps it could be layered with something to make it more interesting.

Got this as a frimp from the lab. In the imp: Coconut and butter. Uh oh. I don't like the smell of that butter. Early dry down- it really didn't want to settle in, I think that must be the shea. Yeah, I concur with other folks that are mentioning natural sunscreen. The shea butter is pretty strong. There is kind of a hint of plastic somewhere, which may be the coconut. Longer dry down- this isn't awful, its nice, but it is sunscreen-like and I'm not digging it as perfume. If you really like coconut, this might be for you. I think layering it with something chocolate might add positively, or maybe a light floral, or even mint. But it needs something to jazz it up a bit past sunscreen. That said, the neutrality of the scent evokes white and fits the offerings, so points for execution of concept.

A great undersea metropolis located below Devil's Reef. A swirling, lightless, effervescent scent: the deepest marine notes with bergamot, eucalyptus and foamy ambergris. In the imp, ahoy! its Irish Spring Soap On, better than I expected. Aquatics usually are a laundry detergent/air freshener scent for me, and this has that but its being aggressively tempered by the eucalyptus, mint and tang of bergamot. "Effervescent" is right, and it is very emerald green. But unfortunately its doing the sweet thing, a lot of blends go to candy on my skin, and the added sugar isn't doing it any favors. A pleasant surprise in that it wasn't pure soap, but not something I'm huge on wearing for very long. If had stayed a bit truer to its initial scent, it might have been a winner, but the sweet soap is not working for me.

In the imp, sweet marzipan and rose. On me, rose, a not too boozy, not too green rose. Boring. I really wish the almond and other things popped up. Long dry down, more rose. If I get my nose right up to the spot where I dabbed it I get hints of what this could be, and I bet on someone with the right chemistry it'd be magnificent. I am not that someone, unfortunately.

In the imp this was whoa! cinnamon and a little bit of vinegar. The cinnamon was so sharp and harsh that even though I don't normally get burnt by cinnamon I was hesitant to put it on. On initially it was the harshest, astringent cinnamon ever. Wow. Nothing but cinnamon. And then it was powder and super sharp cinnamon. It reminded me of my grandmother, too much powdery make up and the harsh Ben Gay eucalyptus, except the cinnamon was playing the medicinal menthol role. I wish I got some yummy complexity and woodiness from Plunder, but the cinnamon overwhelmed the boat and the sandalwood went to powder and those two things sunk it.

I like rosemary, I've made peace with rose, and I adore orange blossom. So, I had hopes. But no. In the imp: Soap Wet: Soap Dry down: Rose soap Yeah, soap. Bummer.

I got this as a frimp and tested it without checking the notes first. Initially, it put an image of little white spring flowers, narcissus and lilly of the valley and what not. Maybe its a flower fairy road house? Then it went a little soapy, and I thought of expensive European soap. Maybe its a Parisian Roadhouse for rich people? Checking the notes, oh, its dandelion. Okay. All I get is dandelion. None of the other notes pop up at all, though maybe the booze is what is causing me to think narcissus instead of dandelion as I'm thinking about it. Its actually really pretty, the sort of thing I might wear to a wedding, very little throw, very clean and mild. If you like dandelion, don't miss this. I had my husband sniff it and tell me what he thought it smelled like: "Tumeric!" Oookay. Then I told him the notes and he said, yeah, tumeric = beer and dandelion. I don't think I trust his interpretation. In the really far dry down there is a hint of tobacco, maybe but its unsmoked and blends super well with the dandelion/booze. Overall: this was an unexpected pleasant surprise. I think I may keep this imp.

Two ideas for you. Sin: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon And a LE, Gelt (it’s a yule scent, as might be expected with the name): Dry cocoa and golden amber

Sweet and sharp, both at once. Interesting. Not a lot of morph from the bottle to dry down, either. Honey (really distinctly honey, I think beeswax just emphasizes the honey smell versus being its own note) and tomato leaf, with a bit of extra sharp from the cajeput and pimento, which waft up occasionally. If the pimento and cajeput wasn't in the notes list I wouldn't have picked them out, but since I was sniffing for those notes, I notice them. Not a bit of cardamon (sigh), geranium or saffron. Unfortunately on the far dry down even my skins power of over sweetening scents can't compete with the cajeput and the scent goes herbal bug spray, as others have mentioned. Which is a hilarious end for a scent that's named after a mosquito. The whole "come eat me" honey combined with the herbal bug spray is rather witty, given the inspiration.

Wet I get a load of citrus and not much else, a powdery sweetness with it perhaps. The grapefruit is a very pithy grapefruit, and overwhelms the orange a bit. Wow. That is the fastest citrus has ever been eaten by my skin. Gone without a trace by the time it dries. Leaving a powdery generic "perfume" which I can't really distinguish notes in. Kind of a sophisticated grown up baby powder, or a drawer of old gloves with an ancient perfumed handkerchief tossed in. Sort of old lady Victorian somehow. If I had a blowsy dress with lots of bows I could see wearing this with it, maybe. Its a little incense-y, which is what I was hoping for with the copal. But unlit incense, so powdery. If the citrus had stuck around it'd be a little more interesting, but as it is its a little to dull and powdery for my tastes.

Wet and in bottle- Ammonia? Very astringent and chemical smelling. There is some burnt plastic similar to what wound up happening when I tried Laudnum, this could be the tobacco going wrong. Dried a bit - okay, there is some minty herbal scent happening and sugar. If the ammonia/chemicals would back off this would be wearable (I'm sorry, but its reminding me of... the smell of urinal cakes? industrial bathroom cleaner?) Long dry down - Gummi bear fruity with burnt plastic, with an occasional waft of minty herbal. I get hints of what this is supposed to smell like, and it'd be lovely if it actualized that (a delicate scent, I think) but it didn't make it. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect absinthe scent, but this isn't working for me. I prefer the GC Absinthe.

So exciting! An osage orange note! I had to try this. Osage oranges are not oranges, they are related to mulberries. I first encountered them on a walk in the woods, the dropped fruits were surreal and alien egg-like bright green and large grapefruit sized, freaked me right out as I had no idea what they were. The fruits have been used as bug repellant and have a pleasant, but hard to describe scent. Really fresh, sorta citrus-y but not exactly citrus. Here is the wikipedia article. Here is an arty photo I took of some of the fruit. Okay, so that said... In the bottle: Wow, a really sophisticated orangey-chocolate scent, with a fine coffee note On me, wet: The coffee comes out and it is fantastic. Its really a "bean" in that it isn't French roasted coffee scent, its sharper, unburnt and less dominating. So fantastic. More with that note please. The chocolate is playing nicely with the fresh osage orange, and the tobacco is a little sweet yet sharp, but keeping it perfumy rather than over foody. This is a fantastic scent and its not going sicky sweet which is what I was afraid the tobacco would do. Dry down, after twenty minutes: The chocolate disappeared quick. The coffee followed (boo! stay lovely coffee stay! that is one of the better coffee notes I've smelled). I never really got the ebony, but maybe along with the tobacco that's what giving me a tiny "cologne" note here, which is hanging out with the dominant fresh scent of osage orange. I still like it, but I wish my skin hadn't eaten most of the notes. This may be the scent that makes me finally cave and get a scent locket. If it had better staying power on me I'd get a bottle in a heart beat.

This is not what I expected at all. Dark and sexy? Masculine? Nope, not even a little. Because it might as well be single note narcissus on me. I get no patch, no star anise, no leather, no cedar... none of my favs. Just the damn squeaky clean soapy narcissus. There is a hint of frankincense and petigrain, possible champaca, but just hints. And they are all being drown in a sea of daffodils which quickly turns to floral soap. Darn. I shook the bottle vigorously too, because the dark layer others have mentioned is present in my bottle as well. It won't budge.