VetchVesper

Lol. I know how you feel. Hard to only pick 5. And especially since one of your extras is cat related - you are forgiven. 😸 The scents that jumped to my mind are: GC - Goblin, Black Pearl, Eden, Black Phoenix (a lot of people seem to smell cherry, but I get almond, myrrh and roses), Jolly Roger, Mary Read, The Sea Foams Milk (if you're interested in aquatics), and How Doth the Little Crocodile (cuddly, slightly foody cedar) Unimpable GC - The Organ Grinder, Kamau Kogo, and Death Adder (if you can handle vetiver) LE (if you feel like hunting them down) - Materialization (like a fancier Obatala to my nose. The honeysuckle's not super prominent.) and Ghost Faced Bat (snuggly, creamy and sweet) You might also try to get a sniff of "Leave Her, Johnny" from the Sailor Shanty Anniversaries. I haven't smelled it, but seems like a lot of notes you fancy. Possibly Luperci? and Cheerful Oxen. I'm not real familiar with Queen, so I didn't give any recs to scratch that itch. @Smoochadore The only thing that popped into my head was The Spotted Cat - White ginger, green mandarin, ti leaf, cedarwood, chocolate mint, bergamot, and sweet vetiver. Not super masculine, but not really feminine either. Cuddly, a little mossy, a little citrussy, and a bit like How Doth the Little Crocodile.

@Llanval Pink champagne jello? Wow. That is NOT what it did on me. 😄 That's one of the things that's cool about fragrances though, they actually smell different on different people, AND our noses pick up the various chemicals differently. If you spot someone in the reviews who seems to smell things the same way you do, keep an eye out for them. It can be super helpful if you are buying bottles blind. Some decant circles will ship internationally, some won't. Usually, they'll say so up front. If they don't specify, you can always ask. 😊 Shipping to Canada is less trouble than over seas, so you probably won't have too hard a time finding a circle. I do international packages. Tennis Match is on my wishlist. Lol. I missed that one too. Never got a sniff. You might also like Smug Yale, although it's not by any means a loud fragrance. Very nice though.

This smells less like soil and more like the top levels of humus. It's got a damp sweetness I associate with composting vegetation - dead leaves, rich soil, grass clippings, and maybe a smidge of ripening berries on brambles winding through the pile. The patchouli is present, but smooth, slightly sweet, and well blended with the other notes. Gender neutral with a slight tilt toward feminine. Brood X is very "forest floor," but has a pleasant sweetness that people who aren't hard-core into smelling like a forest will find accessible. It smells like a cicada's home rather than an actual cicada, and if their homes smell so lovely, it's no wonder they so rarely come out 😉 Reminds me a wee bit of Woman at the Edge of the Wood, 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster, and Forest Reverie.

Vibrantly green and fresh. This is how the vibrantly glowing green of rainforest moss SHOULD smell. It's velvety and plush, with the faintest hint of sandalwood grounding it in the background. It's beautiful. I just wished it lasted a little longer. I might still hunt down a bottle since, hopefully, the sandalwood might get it to stick around more with some aging. ETA. Wanted to add, something in it also reminded me of Emerald Lace, though, when comparing the two, the tobacco and lace of EL make the two pretty distinct, but maybe it's just how Imayo really does smell so emerald green.

I really loved this year's green perfumes, and this one ended up being a bottle buy for me. It's got a camphorous thing going on at first that's a little off-putting, I think from a mix of the cedar and cardamom, but after a few minutes, this begins to settle down, and something tart starts to creep into the mix, along with a hint of sweetness from the tuberose. This is not a floral, but I think the florals add a lot of complexity to the overall scent, even as they lurk, barely noticeable, under the moss. There's also a good bit of smoky incense going on. There's just a lovely, smoky, scratchy sort of texture going on that I really love. I'd say this one's is pretty gender neutral, and is a fun and unusual green incense sort of smell, overall. Complex and unusual.

@Llanval I frick'n love Shungas, hence why I usually run a Lupercalia decant circle. 😍 I'll say, stand outs will depend on your taste, BUT sometimes fragrances are so good or unusual, they just seem like crowd pleasers. Last years Shungas were full of beautiful soft incenses, which had me squeeing in ecstasy. This year, the green perfumes really stood out to me as being lovely. If you love smelling like a garden, you should be really happy this year. Green smells, and my thoughts: Inspecting the Lantern - This one was lovely, mossy, and lush. I ended up with a bottle. Imayo Irokumi - Sort of in between Dancing Penises and Shadow pictures as far as weight. Juicy, green, pretty, fresh. I'm still dithering on whether I need a bottle of this one or not. Ecstatic Dancing Penises - really nice, but leans strongly towards masculine, so it depends how comfortable you are with that. I'm a woman, and some of my favorite GC's are listed on the Men's sampler pack. I don't smell like a man when I wear them. I smell sexy as hell. 😜 So it's all up to your choice. Shadow Pictures - the freshest of four. Really lovely, but it didn't last long enough on me for a bottle purchase. If it had though, I probably would have grabbed it. (And I realized while writing these, several I haven't reviewed. I'll try to do that this weekend. ) Lovely Surprises: A Karasu Tengu Copulating .... (I expected this to be super rosey, but it's really a lovely, foresty incense with just a bit of rose in the background. Really lovely IMO Adventuresome Encounters - super fun comfort scent. If you want to dip a toe into foody territory, I'd highly rec this one. Gokugetsu - a lot more gender neutral than I was expecting, and unusual use of red musk Underneath the Foot Warmer - LOVED this one. Had no idea what to expect, and I was really happy. The notes just blended into something I haven't smelled before. Unsubtle Euphamism - This is very foody. You will smell like bread. It's very fun though. Crowd Pleasers: Peach Vulva (didn't do it for me ) Adventuresome Encounters Vaginal Tales from the Nocturnal Palace Bottles I bought: Underneath the Footwarmer, Vaginal Tales of the Nocturnal Palace, Lighting the Lantern, Fracas with Eleven Kabuki Actors (keep in mind, I had leftovers from running my circle or I might have bought more. 😅 You said you're not big on florals, but you might still look into Blissful Domesticity, which is made very green by the juicy green apple up front. Florals and fruits covers an enormous dearth of scents and you might find yourself surprised. Butterfly Dancer seems to do different things on different people. I could appreciate it, but it wasn't for me. I would say go for it if you're comfortable with heavier, lusty, incense smells. And no, you will not smell like Victoria Secret. Hah. Possibly a high dollar French Escort. It did not got into poop territory for me or most people, I think. P.S. If you have decant circle questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Strong on the violet, but there's a sharpness that made me thing lavender, and I would have thought white rose rather than tea. The chamomile makes this feel gentle and somber. It's fitting for the poem, but a bit too perfumey and mellow for my tastes, though I do enjoy violet. I enjoyed getting to test this one out though.

Thanatos is a somber, resinous rose on me. It's rather gentle smelling, but has depth. I think myrrh plays heavily in this, and myrrh is a note that often barely registers for me. The imp I have has aged quite a bit, but I don't recall this one ever being loud or heady or opulent. This is the smell of dried roses laid upon a forgotten tomb. ETA wanted to add, this does seem like a pleasant, if unconventional sleep scent.

This strikes me as a very nice mens' cologne. Smooth sage up front, with something warm and earthy perceptible underneath, which I took for subtle patch, but is probably a combo of frankincense, cedar, and nutmeg. The other herbs add complexity, and this smells dusty green. There's a bit of a sharp cologne edge I associate with the cognac note and hopefully with soften with age. I don't get root beer at all. The cedar is mild and well-behaved. I get gentle, fuzzy, herbs, dried by summer sun but still growing in the field. And I get handsome man in a classy but casual pullover.

Luscious king mandarin right up front that does feel a little more red than orange somehow. It's a deeper citrus than this year's earlier offerings. There's a cleanness present that reminds me of geranium, and the frankincense creeps up after a few minutes, adding a warm incense underneath the mandarin. I don't get much floral, and I think this is fairly unisex. I'd say this smells like grown up fruit punch, but I don't want to undermine it's complexity. A very nice example of the mandarin note, with enough going on to make it unique and dare I say, elegantly proper.

This is really, really pretty at the start. A green, dewey smell, well-balanced with a light, but somewhat perfumy rose. On my skin, the dewiness starts to go a little soapy, but it's still very nice. Very freshly showered rose. It's simple, feminine, and clean and strikes me as a perfect rose blend for casual summer days. After about 20 mins, the dandelion is full center stage, and the rose has been freshly showered off. At this point, it's pleasant, but not something I would wear. The earlier stages remind me of a less fussy Asses Plus Long but they're also plenty different. If you are a rose lover who does well with mist and dewey notes, check this one out.

Reminds me somehow of Antique Lace, but paler and mixed with a strange dustiness that evokes old stone. The grey amber is most prominent to me, reminding me of the one in Gloomy Day. Something smells vanillic to my nose as well. This is pretty, but understated and a touch somber.

Woohoo! Thanks to the amazing @GoldenRubee and her kittens, I managed to get my grubby mits on a bottle of this. So, Endless Corridors was almost a bottle purchase. I managed to resist, but adding red musk proved my undoing. I was expecting a beeswax scent with a little splash of red musk, but I get a lot of musk. Also, a stronger honeyed sweetness and more bitterness - that metallic tang @starbrow mentions. I can see the comparison to a darker, thicker Bard, but where my brain jumped was " if Quintessence of Dust and Sanguinum Menstrum had a baby." I'd also say it's a distant cousin to Smut. Right now, this smells promising, but I think it needs to settle a while. Once that bitter edge has smoothed out, I think this is gonna be reeaal nice. 🤤

This is a murky, clove incense on me. My bottle has had about 5 years to age. There's a thick, syrupy undertone to the scent that I associate with myrrh, but I guess it must be the patchouli, sweetened very slightly by the florals. The florals are only vaguely recognizable in the bottle, and perhaps for a flash on my skin, then it's all about the clove.

@Estamets The paper note in MU comes out really strongly on me, and I end up smelling like a brown paper bag soaked in Irish Cream. 😕 I also really like Café Mille et une Nuits as a coffee scent. It's not super sweet, but I like that. Abolish ICE is really tasty and in the permanent collection. I'd also recommend Jólabókaflóðið: A dribble of candle wax, distant hearth-smoke, a fleck of chocolate Yule log, and aged, yellowing paper bound by well-loved leather that has passed through many gentle hands. It's a Yule that has appeared several years and you could probably find a bottle or tester pretty easily. There is Black Coffee and Old Books, which I have up on my sales page. Alas, it didn't work for me, but books and coffee, right there! There's The Buggre Alle This Bible, and The Book, which are general catalog, but aren't sold on the site as imps. Haven't smelled the BOOK, but Buggre Alle is nice if you like leather. The Crimson Peak, The Manuscript was also a really realistic book smell to my nose, but you might have to do some digging. Dee, Scholar's Tower, and Aelophile are very nice library scents, without exactly being "book" smells. Antikythera Mechanism is very nice. The recent Weenie, Creaking Floorboards is very "polished" wood.

In the bottle, I'm getting the bourbon and a spicy, woody oude. There's nothing honey or vanilla about this to my nose. It's fairly masculine. Once I put it on, I swear I get ivory soap. The oude is still there, and it's nice, not p'oudy at all, but there's nothing remotely sweet or foodish going on with my chemistry. I've had my partial of this aging for a while now, but it seems it's just not for me.

This has a bright, sugary citrus similar to the recent releases Meigetsu Ya and Erotic Sake Bowl, but the other notes bring in more complexity. The grapefruit's juicy, and front and center at first, but the labdanum, amber, sandalwood, and cistus give this a warm, incensey undertone, and the iris adds a touch of floral. The white musk adds a haze, but doesn't go into soap or dryer sheets territory. Between that, the amber, and the sandalwood, there's a gentle powderiness to the scent. After dry down, the overall effect is a warm, glowing, grapefruit, recognizable, but richer an less juicy than the other two offerings. I could see wearing this one even in winter. None of the brighter citrus scents have lasted on me more than 4 hours, at least not with their recognizable juiciness. This one seems to be lasting better than the others though, and hopefully, as the resins age, they'll help to further stabilize the sent. I'm dithering on whether to grab a bottle. If you like Meigetsu and Erotic Sake Bowl, and none of the notes listed in Worm Moon scare you, it's well worth a try. It's a distant cousin, related, but plenty going on to make it unique.

I blind bottled this sucker. It came in a box with almost 100 other bottles for a decant circle. One of the many bottles had leaked ever so slightly and smelled glorious. Oh happy day when, after greedily huffing out the miscreant bottle, I discovered it was this one. The jasmine shamelessly flaunts itself and is gorgeous. Red musk underlaces it with a touch of lusty sweetness, and carnation and hay sugar add another dollop of complex confection. I don't register a typical honey smell in this, but it's plenty sweet, though far from innocent. The other notes are mild but present, providing a raspy, decadent warmth like silk sheets beneath the ravishing florals. I'm fighting the compulsion to buy another bottle. Just one might not satiate me.

I wasn't very familiar with cubeb, but apparently it likes me, because it popped right out on my skin. I get a very chocolatey chocolate, reminiscent of Bliss, with an undertone of what's gotta be cubeb. It's really interesting. It doesn't smell lemony to me, nor is it spicy like chili, cinnamon, or black pepper, like I was expecting. It reminds me more of the heat from fresh hot peppers, almost like chopped jalapenos, but sweeter. It's also a little tart like fresh strawberries. I bought a delicious jalapeno and strawberry jelly at a fair once, and that keeps coming to mind. Overall, the cubeb note is pretty subtle, but it adds an interesting vibe to an otherwise yummy, but simple, chocolate.

I agree with Threemoons' "herby red musk," except I'll add "mossy" to the descriptor. This is really nice and kind of odd. The tuberose and mint sweetens things a bit at first, but the red musk and smokey, peppery moss are by far the strongest notes on me. It's almost leathery smelling and leans masculine on me. I considered upgrading to a bottle with this one, but talked myself out of it b/c I probably wouldn't wear it that often. I'm really glad to have my partial though.

Wow. I am officially proclaiming, this one needs more love and reviews. The notes are a weird combo and they make for a weird scent, but I love it. I ended up upgrading to a full bottle. The chocolate in this smells more like white chocolate or cacao butter to me. It smells creamy. The white musk, which can sometimes go screechy or a bit "laundry" on me, is well-mannered here and blends with the elemi, creating a gauzy, effervescent veil over the chocolate. The overall effect is what I think of as "the ghost of chocolate," a pale, dry, chocolate musk that doesn't come off as foody and smells surprisingly lux. I'm a fan of chocolate notes, but prefer them to be less edible smelling. This is a great addition to my collection and smells like nothing else I have. Weird and a winner.

This is more foodie then fruity. The mango smells more like something you'd pipe into a pastry vs. fresh fruit. Something about this smells a little plasticy to me. I think it's a facet of the rice milk note which sometimes works for me, but isn't in this combo. It's not bad, and if the idea of a creamy mango pudding sort of smell floats your fancy, you'd probably like this. Not for me though.

Ooooh dear. I get these are more for ritual than perfume, but occasionally the notes lure me in for purely olfactory reasons. Unfortunately, the TAL's rarely smell good on me, but this is a downright mess. Corn-chip-salty lavender, soapy rose, and stinky jasmine. It just turns even more awful and chemical on me as it sits. About 20 mins in, I think I might smell the pink lotus, which I was curious about, but I am curious no longer. The only way I'll be getting tranquility, stillness, and silence from this is if I asphyxiate. If this is peace, cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.

Without looking at the notes - Musty, dusty sandalwood with a faint undercurrent of something herbal, almost minty. When I was little, I lived in a neighborhood built in the early 50's. All the homes had wood flooring and a certain smell of age. This reminds of that smell. It's nostalgic and vaguely comforting. Looking at the notes, I would have expected something more sexy, so the dusty nostalgia smell is a little disappointing. That said, this isn't a bad smell, and my sniffiest cat did seem to like it, so maybe it's a sexy cat smell. 😻 Anywho, more dusty than powdery amber and soft sandalwood with, I guess, a hint of the saffron creating that bit of quirkiness in the background. Despite the "sweet" amber, this reads as genderless to me, making me think of place or object rather than a person. This is the smell of old houses and old trunks full of memories.