Miggins

I normally do a straightforward "in the bottle, wet, dry-down and beyond" type of review. But not this time. If you have frustrating body chemistry (as I do), try this. As I poured a drop onto my skin, the lavender hit me. Just lavender. But on my skin it evolved beautifully. A lovely warm yet cool spicy but green smell, full of contradictions. The lavender and lotus and spice seem to be jostling for attention and the resulting combination is wonderful - every time I smell my wrist I get something different. I literally jumped for joy I loved this one so much. I bought 10mls of this unsniffed from the lovely Mandarin and I am so glad that I did. And it lasts. And apparently, (as I posted elswhere), the entire floor of my office smells of Old Paris, which has got to be a good thing!

In the bottle: Powerful. Red wine and leather predominantly, with a hint of spiciness. Wet: Wooo, mama - this was serious. Not a perfume to be worn first thing in the morning. It was so full on, it almost made me gag. I seriously had to fight myself from running to the bathroom. A real hit of leather just came up and walloped me with that sleazy, spicy background note. Dry-down: The leather just took over on my skin and it smelt very masculine on me. As it dried, the hint of merlot came through and eventually it mellowed to a pleasant, rich deep-red kind of smell, but still very powerful. Not for me I’m afraid - I’ve already swapped out my Imp.

In the vial: Quite tart yet juicy, a hint of green and a surprising sharp edge (a clear sharpness, like a glass shard). Wet: Overpoweringly floral but with a belly of greenness. Reminded me a lot of cutting the stems of spring flowers before you put them in a vase - you have the stem greenness and a good lot of flower perfume. Dry-down and beyond: Initially, it was almost too overwhelming in the floralness - I almost wanted to run screaming to the bathroom, scrubbing brush in hand. The dry-down had my skin’s seemingly customary 15 minutes of soapiness, but it evolved into a pleasant floral perfume - but was nothing special on my skin. To add: the first time I put this on was the first day I got my Imps and in my excitement, I layered it with Kumiho. They seemed to compliment each other beautifully leading to a very crisp, tart, yet juicy fragrance. I shall try this combination again as it seemed to bring out the best elements of each on my skin.

In the vial: Lemon tea - crisp and green. Wet: I can still smell lemon tea - a very tart, crisp smell. The dry-down and beyond: peculiarly, the lemon morphed into a fresh, soapy smell but this only lasted a short while (maybe only 15 minutes). After about an hour, the ginger came through and the tea was pushed to the back. I’m left with a sweeter, spicier tea that’s perfect for a day like today - an August day that’s humid and cloudy with the threat of storms. It’s refreshing, yet comforting. To add: I felt that the scent had faded after around 4 hours disappointingly. However, I still keep getting vague wafts of it when I move around.

This is my first review! :woot: In the vial: Not at all as I expected! To my nose, I could smell almonds. To be precise, marzipan - a not-too-sweet, almondy almost to the point of bitterness smell. Reminded me of how Vidal Sassoon shampoo used to smell in the 80s. Lovely. On the skin: The initial smell was again marzipan, but marzipan on Christmas cake - succulent and drenched with alcohol, yummy and mouth-watering. The dry-down and beyond: This is when my skin disappointed me. The marzipan smell mellowed and mellowed and in the final stages, I had a brief hint of honey. More and more mellowing until poof! My skin completely drank it in and it disappeared. However, the following morning I washed my hands with Lush’s Honey I Washed the Kids and it rejuvenated it slightly. I liked it, but I don’t think I’ll be buying anything larger than an Imp. However, in its defence, I think this (for me) is more of a winter scent. I’ll reserve judgement and try it again when the weather is cooler.