waternight

In the imp: dry incense, slightly cologne-y. Wet: It does smell like stone and hot wind and incense! How interesting and evocative. However, there's a persistent cologne smell that I'm not crazy about. There are resins in this too - perhaps myrrh. Dry: I'm getting a scent that I think is a blend of myrrh and red musk - Good thing I'm swapping this!

In the bottle: Warm clove and fresh dandelion. Tiny bit of dry sage. Wet: First on, this is a true, pure dandelion. After a minute, chamomile shows up, and a few minutes later, sage and clove make an appearance. This is certainly a unique and interesting blend. However, the dandelion commands the room and the other notes just courtiers. Underneath everything, I keep getting whiffs of something dry and resinous, probably the balm of gilead. This is a very calm, fresh scent. Dry: A very pretty clove/dandelion blend. I was hoping the fig would be a big part of this, but I never get it. Alas.

In the imp: Very resinous and hot - not nearly as sweet as I was expecting. Wet: Resins with an almost acrid tinge - I could swear there's vetiver in this. I was expecting sweetness or at least some fruitness, but I get neither. This scent is hot and angry and very dangerous. After a while, the florals peek out, as well as a bit of fruit, but this is still a dark, burning, angry scent. Dry: Predominantly black currant, but I swear I still smell vetiver. This scent kind of makes me uncomfortable.

In the imp: SPICE. Mostly the cassia and cinnamon bark, but with a hearty helping of allspice and sweet tobacco. Wet: Same as in the imp, but gentler. I'm also getting some tea leaf, which is calming and sweetening the cassia and cinnamon bark. Now there's a bit of clove. This blend is quite sweet. Oh. Ow. It burns my skin. Dry: I smell like a sweet Christmas candle!

In the imp: Cranberry and fizzy booze. I almost smell juniper, strangely enough. Wet: Woah fizzy! Yup, this is a cosmo. Sugary, syrupy cranberry. Dry: Sweet fizzy cranberry soda.

In the imp: Soft citrusy floral. Wet: Melon?? Okaaaay... Ok, no more melon. I smell a light, innocent citrus which is perhaps grapefruit, but I really can't tell what sort of citrus it is. It's gentle and sweet, not tart or sour at all. Lotus is the dominant floral, indeed the dominant note in general. There's also a creamy note here. Dry: A very gentle scent. Really fits the description. It becomes predominantly lotus with just a hint of cream and citrus.

In the imp: Um, ow. Sharp soap and... sweat? Very bizarre. Wet: Cologne. Generic department store cologne. It's "perfumey" and bitter all at once. After a while, the bitter note goes away and the scent calms down. It's still perfumey, but I get the "misty" influence. Dry: Much softer and gentler, and prettier, but still too cologney for me.

In the imp: Juicy red apple, spot on. Not fake at all, just... apple. I get a hint of opium if I really huff. Wet: The same juicy apple, quickly dirtied up by the opium. There's a dry, bitter note - the hemlock? After a bit, the apple gradually becomes sweeter, in a strange marshmallow-y way. Dry: You know those fruity incense sticks you get in Spencer's? Yeah... that's what this smells like. I liked the wet stage, but I guess the Lab's apple note just doesn't like me.

In the imp: White musk with a hint of orange underneath. There's a background of creamy sandalwood. Wet: Orange! Creamy orange! There's a bit of sweet mango too. This is all fruit, made creamier by the sandalwood. Yup - it's a smoothie. After a few minutes, my beloved white musk shows up, but it's well hidden. Dry: When this dries, the sandalwood really tempers the fruit smoothie smell and becomed dominant. I can just barely smell the influence of white musk and orange. Just barely. Alas, I love sandalwood, but it tends to dominate any blend it's in. Oh well.

In the imp: Wow, that's SWEET. Really sweet. Sugary, candy sweet. Teeeeeensy bit of vanilla. Wet: Still crazy sweet. I think it's the sweet pea. It smells like cream soda. After a minute or two, it's less sugary/candyish, and I'm getting some apple blossom. It's also getting a bit creamier from the vanilla. After a few more minutes, the carnation appears and adds some much needed depth and spice. Dry: This calms down to be a very gentle, soft, skin scent. It's a soft and sweet vanilla/sweet pea, with little hints of apple blossom and carnation. It stays quite sweet, but it's not as tooth-achingly sweet as the wet phase. Quite feminine and gentle.

In the imp: Light, sweet, watery berries, with a green feel. Almost soapy, but in a good way. Wet: Well, berries and herbs indeed. There's a juicyness from the berry note, which is reminiscent to the blackberry note in Glasgow. But there's also a dryness from the herbal note(s), similar to how Gomorrah is dry. And yet, Baneberry is its own scent, not really related to either of those blends. Very interesting. Dry: Strangely enough, I get a note that smells like the blue musk in Long Night Moon. Baneberry is pretty and interesting, and I think I'll keep my imp around.

In the imp: BUBBLEGUM Wet: Yup, bubblegum. After a minute, it becomes strawberry bubblegum, with a candy-strawberry note amping. There's a minute or two when I get a strange, boozy or medicinal note, but that doesn't last long. Dry: Strawberry bubblegum. No thanks.

In the imp: Plummy plum plum! All fruit from the imp, fresh and juicy and not too sweet. Wet: First on, juicy plum. In a moment, carnation roars up, taking no prisoners. It blends with the plum, making this a spicy fruity scent. At this stage, I categorize Bathsheba as very sensual. Not sexy - sensual. After a few minutes I get the musk, but it's light. Dry: Spicy plum and very light musk. I like the spicy plum aspect, but I want the musk to be a bit heavier and more grounding. As it is, this blend is neither light and fresh, nor is it rich and earthy and grounded. It's floating around between categories and can't decide what it wants to be. I might experiment with layering, but I don't think I'll really wear it much on its own.

In the imp: Sweet musk with juniper on top. Wet: First on, juniper and pine! The musk, which I'm pretty sure is black musk, provides a thick, powdery-sweet base. For a few minutes I get whiffs of what almost smells like eucalyptus. Dry: Damn you, black musk! While I had a feeling that the listed musk note would be black musk, I'm still disappointed. Black musk turns into powerfully strong, sickly sweet powder on me, and this is no exception. I really liked the pine/juniper blend, but the black musk takes over.

In the imp: Incredibly layered and complex. First whiff is the musk with patchouli lurking underneath. As I inhale more deeply, I get a flash of cold mint, followed by a coy hint of the bourbon. Fascinating. Wet: First on, this is a really interesting patchouli/lime combination. Strange, but addictive. The white musk is drifting around, not too in-your-face, but lovely. The lavender adds a sharp, herbal bite, and gives this blend a "green" feel to it. Now the florals are showing up but taking seats in the back of the room, while the lime decides that it wants to blend with a drop of the vetiver now. Luckily, the vetiver behaves itself. The patchouli isn't quite leaving the room, but it's got one foot out the door. Dry: The sandalwood takes center stage, smoothing out the blend and giving it a creamy quality, as sandalwood always does on my skin. There are still hints of the lavender, musk, and mint, but they're well blended with the sandalwood. Ultimately, this becomes sandalwood/white musk. I like it, but I wish the sandalwood had let the other notes play a bit more. If this had stayed in its wet stage, I would love it, but as it is, I just like it. All in all, an INCREDIBLY complex and morphing blend - VERY interesting.

Unsurprisingly, this went STRONGLY plastic-candy sweet and horrible on me. I love patchouli, but orange blossom is a note of DOOM on me. Ow.

I was hoping that the Chinese musk and ginger would be dominant, or at least equal partners with the florals in this blend, but alas, Budding Moon is all sweet fruity-floral on me. It doesn't change at all, and it's rather candyish. It's nice, but it's not for me at all.

In the imp: Mmmm... Irish coffee is right. Although to me, it's more "coffee-and-baileys" rather than a whiskey smell, which suits me just fine. It's a very creamy coffee. Wet: First on - yup, coffee'n'baileys. Delicious! It's a rich, smooth, creamy scent, sweet but not too sweet. As it dries a bit, the dust note starts to waft shyly around. It never becomes a full-blown note in its own right, just adds a slight dustiness to the overall experience, and I really like it. Dry: Alas, MiskU loses all that luscious coffee'n'baileys, and dries down to sugared cream. And that's it.

I never would have ordered Twenty-One by my own volition. I hate martinis, and boozy scents do NOT work on me. However, I was frimped this, so I tried it. THANK GOD I DID. In the imp: Dry, light, herbal, and crisp. Wet: Juniper! This is so light and refreshing I can hardly believe it. I get no booze at all, which makes me very happy. Just crisp, delightlful juniper. Dry: As many have already said, this scent really changes very little, if at all. It stays true, and I'm having a hard time thinking of descriptive words other than "light", "crisp", and "refreshing". But Twenty-One really is all of those things. I'm SO glad I tried this one, it just might have to be upgraded to a big bottle.

2007 Yeah, this is exactly how it's described. Beautiful, freshfreshfresh rose! It's a very innocent rose, with hints of apple and raspberry, but it does NOT smell fruity at all. More like, how a really fresh rose is reminiscent of those fruits. Make no mistake, this is pure rose. Occasionally I get a whiff of the green parts of the rose, which ground this scent. Rose Red certainly lives up to its reputation.

In the bottle: Creamy cakey! Very heavy on the creamy part. Wet: Starts off very sweet and cakey and red-fruity. Kind of strawberry candy-ish. For a few seconds it goes plasticy, before settling down into a cherry-vanilla. Dry: Stays cherry-vanilla, but becomes softer and less "smack you in the face". It's not bad, but it's not for me.

Oh, this is just gorgeous. It's floral, absolutely, but I can't really pick out any specific flowers. It's not quite a white floral - almost, but not quite. It does indeed have a "blue" feel to it. I can smell the blue musk. Like everyone else, I can't describe it, but I know it's there. It's a little bit like white musk, but different. This scent really is crystalline, I really do get an image of delicate blooms dusted with tiny, tiny, twinkling specks of dew. VERY slightly aquatic, but it's more of a suggestion, an afterthought. This is a scent that makes one think of quiet, of stillness in the deep night, of the peace of that time. This scent is truly magical.

In the bottle: Sweet, rich foody pastry, but not sickenly or cloyingly so. A hint of olive oil. The barest hint of resin. Wet: The base is the sufganiyot, rich and pastrylicious. The fig adds a touch of fruit, the pomegranate isn't so much a pom note as it adds a slight tartness, and the olive oil simmers through the pastry, lending a lovely smooth quality. As the oil sits on my skin, the pastry becomes softer and the resin warms up a bit. This is gorgeous. Dry: This becomes a lovely, soft, sweet, slightly foody scent, with fig and olive oil and honey and a very smooth, gentle amber. This is love! I was wary of this one after reading the first reviews - I thought it would be waaaay foody and sticky-cloying sweet. It's not. It's just sweet and foody enough, but it never goes overboard. It's complex and glowing. A perfect scent for Chanukka.

Ok. This scent is just strange. In the imp: Strangely cakey/buttery/creamy, which I was not expecting. On: This goes through so many seemingly unrelated notes. It starts out very foody, like in the imp - vanilla, icing, cake, butter, cream. Wierd. Then it takes on a very moist, heady dirt note, with the perfume note on top of it. This is the stage that smells like the description. Then later, I swear I smell sandalwood. Then, in the very dry phase... vetiver. No lie. Gentle, soft, barely-there... but vetiver. This is the most schizophrenic scent I've tried yet!

In the imp: Sweet fruity roses. But not roses plus fruit, roses with a fruity tone. Wet: Well, roses and a hint of apple. Every now and then a lemon floats by, almost as an afterthought, but it's ghost lemon, and it peters out pretty quick. Dry: Yup. Rose. With a little bit of apple.