ringmaster-red

In the vial: very woody Wet: Very woody. The sandalwood makes it quite dry, there’s just a hint of rose, and the peach comes through to give it depth. A little powdery, but not altogether unpleasant. Average throw. After a few minutes, it warms and the vanilla comes through more. It becomes more of a sweet peachy sandalwood. Sniffing from farther away, I get wafts of mostly the peach and vanilla. Dry: It’s a sweet, woody peach. And it’s definitely a fresh juicy peach fruit, not a fake peach smell. It’s warm and soft. Not overstated. After 10 more minutes, the peach is much more apparent. I do like it. I’m not sure if I like it enough for a bottle purchase. I’ll have to test it another time.

In the vial: VERY strong rose. I don’t typically like rose, so I was actually dreading trying it on. Wet: The pomegranate and rose actually mixes quite nicely. This is a rose I don’t mind. It’s very juicy and fruity and fresh and a little sweet. It’s a very young-woman-all-grown-up type of scent. I actually quite like it. Lots of throw. I hope it stays like this on my skin as it dries. Dry: The smell is softer dry. After 20 minutes dry, it goes slightly medicinal. After a while it calms down into a soft, slightly sweet, fruity rose. I don’t typically like rose, but I think the pomegranate helps to keep it fairly pleasant. Long lasting, average throw.

A brilliant, ethereal scent: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss. In the bottle: I can smell the peach, heliotrope, and oakmoss. It’s fresh, fruity, a little biting, and quite herbal. Almost minty. Wet: I get a very nice, sweet, cheery blend of peach, bergamot, musk, heliotrope, and oakmoss. All the ingredients mix very well. I really like it. Average throw. Dry: The same scent of the blend, but softer. It's almost a slightly peachy vanilla. Very well done. I love it. This might be a future bottle for me.

In the bottle: green, cool, almost medicinal Wet: Immediately, it was a honey-sweetened, aquatic, grassy scent on me. Sweet and green. For a second, it went cherry cough syrup on me, so I got a bit worried. Then it settled down on something that smelled like honeysuckle. Lots of throw. Dry: It went quite soapy for a while, which I didn’t particularly mind since it smells so clean, then eventually went back to fresh dewy honeysuckle. After 3 hours, it smelled like sweet milk and honey. I tried it again the next day and it just stayed on the sweet aquatic grass scent, which I love. So yay.

In the bottle: milk chocolate and wine. So I guess what I’m smelling is fig and pomegranate. Wet: Milk, fig, honey, pomegranate, dates, and grapes. Exactly what it says. Nicely blended. Lots of throw. It’s sweet, fruity, and the tiniest bit wine-like. I actually quite like it. As it dries, it gets softer. It’s very creamy. Dry: Milk & honey with a slight touch of fruitiness. It’s creamy and sweet and almost chocolatey and it’s beautiful! I really like it. I was nervous because so many people have said they get a sour milk smell. 20 minutes in: Still milky, sweet, and creamy. But there’s something tart popping up suddenly, but it backs off just as quick? Not sure what’s going on here. 3 hours in: For a while, it was almost walking the line between milk & fig and sour milk. For now, it seems to have settled on milk & fig (it’s almost a warm chocolate milk or like lukewarm hot chocolate). At around 4 hours in, it’s gone not sour, but just generally unpleasant? The sweetness is gone, so the plain milk & fig combination is not so great. I like the smell it gives off in the early stage. I can see myself wearing it for comfort, but I’d have to wash it off after a few hours.

In the bottle: sharply minty, almost medicinal Wet: Very green and herbal. A little powdery. No mint yet. After a few minutes, it becomes slightly aquatic. After a few more minutes, there’s something a little bit floral and powdery again. It’s cool. I might smell the mint a little, but it’s very faint. Mostly it’s just cool powdery herbal. Dry: When I sniff my wrist, it’s just herbals, but there are wafts of mint from farther away. It’s a cool, clean, green scent. After an hour or so, it smells like rain and asphalt. Not terrible but not for me.

In the vial: sweet, fruity, mildly floral. Pleasing. The heliotrope and vanilla are dominant. Wet: Immediately, what I smell is a sweet orange-ginger-shortbread cookie. I can pick out the amber and heliotrope. The peach blossom doesn’t smell peach-like, exactly, but it gives the blend a sweet fruitiness. The vanilla bean is the strongest on me, I think. I can’t pick out the sandalwood, but I’m assuming the dry feeling comes from that note. After 5 minutes, it’s a sweet fruity woody smell. It’s a very interesting combination. It’s almost like an incense muffin (boy doesn’t that sound weird). I like it. It warms as it dries. Not much throw. Dry: It’s warm woody peach vanilla bean. And it’s definitely vanilla bean, not “normal” vanilla. 4 hours later: It has a REALLY nice spice to it! I’m not sure which note it’s coming from, but my wrist smells like a sweet and spicy vanilla bean with just a touch of peach. It’s beautiful. I love it!!! This might have to be a bottle purchase!

In the bottle: sweet pea, a little fruity, other florals Wet: Sweet pea and other florals. It’s warm, but it’s quite soapy. I think I recognize the heliotrope note from Lolita. I think it might be the white florals that are pushing it into soapy land. I can smell the musk coming out now, but I don’t get the pear at all so far. The sweet pea gets buried under everything else. The honeysuckle is sweetening it a little, but still soapy. It’s just soap with a bit of musk. This is disappointing. I was hoping to like this one. Dry: Still soapy. Like, a bar of Dove soap. It’s just soap. After 30 minutes, the musk warms it up and brings it back to warm slightly-soapy musky honeysuckle, and it’s suddenly very very light. It’s not like it smells bad, but it’s really not what I was hoping for.

In the bottle: apple and myrtle? Fresh and crisp Wet: Very green with a powdery kick. I can smell the apple blossom hiding under everything. The amber is very soft. I suspect the green eucalyptus-like note might be myrtle? It’s a sweet, warm, powdery green-floral, bordering on soapy. There’s something almost stale and salty, here, too. Dry: Green, slightly sweet, and warm. It’s fresh and cool, but quite soapy. I can’t find the apple blossom anymore, and I can never pin down the carnation. It seems powdery but wet, somehow? Oh, wait, there’s that spicy carnation; it shows up about 30 minutes in. Still a bit powdery, but it's warming up much more. Final verdict: It’s not bad, but it’s probably not for me.

In the bottle: biting, leathery, very bitter, almost medicinal. Probably I’m smelling the vetiver. Wet: The vetiver comes out immediately and is very bitter for a moment, and then the rose and cinnamon bloom and sweeten the blend so that it’s not as caustic. I typically amp rose, so that and the vetiver are strongest on me. I can smell the gardenia, jasmine, and leather in the background, giving it depth, but the cinnamon is like a little tiny barely noticeable pinch of warmth and sweetness. I think this is a pretty gender-neutral scent, but the rose is pushing it into musty powdery old lady perfume on me. The jasmine gives it a small clean note that gives it a high white tone, almost moonlight-feeling, if that makes sense. Still very bitter overall, though. Dry: Still bitter leathery powdery vetiver-rose. I can taste it in the back of my throat. Lots of throw. I love the poem, but I really don’t like the perfume at all. I’ll give it a chance to see if it morphs, but I’m probably going to have to wash this off. Edit: After 20 more minutes, it goes straight up medicinal and stays there. Washing it off. I figured this one probably wouldn’t work on me in the first place, given the notes, but I had to give it a try out of my love for the poem. Oh well.

In the bottle: fresh and sweet. Almost rain-like. Wet: It starts out quite green and sweet on me, like fresh sugarcane. It’s very light and soothing. Then it took a quick wrong turn into cloying cherry cough syrup town, and for a while it hovers back and forth on the line between that and green-sweet. I’m a little concerned about it going nasty on me. After 5 minutes, it seems to have settled on slightly bitter sweet hay, which is definitely much better than cherry cough syrup. It’s fresher and creamy. I guess that’s the milk and honey coming out? I like it a lot. Every once in a while, the cherry peeks out and I get nervous (that might be an almond note? I’m allergic to nuts so I don’t know what almond smells or tastes like, not sure how to identify that; no allergic reaction to the perfume though). Dry: Slightly green sweet grains. It’s comforting. I like it. Surprisingly, it actually has some throw on me. It’s pretty long-lasting, too. I can see myself wearing it on a day when I need some cozy quiet time. I’m not sure if I want a bottle; I’ll have to test it another time.

In the bottle: clear and aquatic. I can smell the gardenia very strongly. Wet: Gardenia. Straight up gardenia. Getting some other florals, and now the aquatics are coming out. It’s warmed up a bit by the musk. It’s mostly florals, the strongest is gardenia. It flows, and the aquatics are very river-like. It’s a clear, bitter scent. Very melancholy. Not much throw. It brightens up a little after a few minutes. I don’t think I’m getting any ginger. The aquatics become clearer with time. It certainly conjures up the image of standing on the riverside with watery florals all around. There’s some green to the scent too. I actually quite like it. Oh, now it’s going into dryer sheet land. I hope this phase passes soon. Dry: Ooh, the ginger just peeked out. The spice gives it a nice kick out of soapy land. The scent is much fresher now. It’s all clear gardenia, ginger, and aquatics. It’s very nice. Oh, there’s the ginger! The ginger and musk are coming out and it’s actually blending beautifully!!! Now the scent is sweet and warm, faintly floral, with a bright clarity to it, rather than very bitter and melancholy. It’s got a soothing, calm, quiet feel to it. I actually really like this. I might buy a bottle just for the sentimentality I hold for the poem, tbh.

In the bottle: harsh, almost chemical, fruity florals Wet: sweet, dusty, florals. Then citrus & florals. Then green citrus, probably the lemon verbena coming out. Then it becomes slightly sweet and soapy, green citrus. It calms down after a few minutes, but it’s still sweet soapy citrus. Very light & sweet, warms up as it dries. Dry: sweet and light with just a hint of citrus, and quite powdery. At 30 min, something’s a bit off. There’s something vaguely salty here. Then it sweetens up again (the honeysuckle maybe?). I like it a little but probably not enough for a big bottle. Small throw. At 2 hours, it’s all warm sweet musky orange blossom and honeysuckle, faint but lasting.

In the bottle: very perfume-y, strong florals with a slight tang Wet: strong florals, a little salt and aquatic, faint fir Dry: florals. it won't settle on one scent, it keeps morphing. the jasmine is the strongest. not too bad, but very perfume-y. it's very faint and fading fast. pretty much no throw on me. the salty aquatic just peeked out again. it's a very light, fresh scent, and it's almost rain-like. it's actually a pretty cheerful scent on me. the salt note makes it nicer, tbh. 10 minutes in, it smells just like the scent of florals on an ocean breeze. not bad, I actually like it, but probably not worth a bottle for me. edit: 20 minutes in, it went soapy on me for a second, but the spice of the jasmine just barely holds it in check.

(got this from a swap, so it might be aged a bit) In the bottle: some tartiness and florals. Wet on skin: the apple peeks out, but it's mostly just florals. After a couple minutes, it's just straight up florals. I'm probably amping the rose? This is disappointing; I was hoping for more of the apple blossom. It's just musty old florals on me. Dry: slightly tart florals. It's aggravating my allergies. I don't get the honey at all. Oh, wait. It's sweetening up after about 10 minutes. It's very fresh, rather than musty, now. Light, sweet, and a little crisp and juicy. Not bad. Average throw. Probably not worth a bottle for me, though.

Note: I got this from a swap, so it might've been aged a bit. In the imp: old lady perfume with a lemon kick. Wet: green tea with lemon. it's very green, but a light green? after a few minutes, the aloe comes out and it becomes a fresh, chilled green tea with a little bit of lemon. I'm not getting any musk. Dry: it's darker and more "old lady perfume"-y. it smells a bit dusty. maybe that's the musk peeking out? the tea is gone for a few minutes and it's just old lady perfume, but after another 10 minutes, the tea and aloe comes back and it's a cool green again. Lemon is gone. I can still smell the musk, but it's lighter. It becomes less musty-dusty, and more clean and herbal. Fresh-smelling again. The musk comes out again and the scent gets a little bit warmer after about 20 minutes. The aloe hides and only peeks out from time to time. It fades fast. Oh, it got sweet. Now it's a creamy, lightly sweetened green tea. Pretty much no throw on me. I can't smell it at all, start to finish, unless I have my wrist up against my nose. It's pretty fresh, clean, and light. Not too bad, but probably not for me. I did test this when seasonal allergies were affecting me tbh, so I might test it again some other time.