Teamama

New review for my 2nd bottle. Wet, Rakshasa comes on very strong. Rose & Patchouli dominate, with a hint of citrus & spice. Once it dries, the Sandalwood, emerges. Rose & Patch are smoothly blended, with dry patchouli as the main note. The throw stays close to the skin. It's lightly spicy, & a little sweet. I really love putting Rakshasa in my hair, & in a scent locket.

I agree with @Lucchesa that Birdsong has an incense vibe. The blossoms are pretty subdued. On me, this is an amber/patchouli/tobacco blend, which makes me really happy!

I kick myself for not buying a bottle. On me, this is Sugar Skull, with the candied fruit dialed up to 11. I will be a sad puppy when my decant is gone.

Wet, I'm getting sweet apple flesh with a hint of jasmine & apple peel. I hope the cedar & honey will emerge as it dries. Dry: 8 hours later, both on my skin & in a locket, #2 Pencil is sweet apple flesh, with a light hint of flowers. If I huff, I imagine I can smell cedar, but I may be trying too hard. I'm glad I got a decant. I'll definitely re-test. Right now, I don't think I need a bottle.

I got Isychia for Teadaughter, but she strongly dislikes the scent, so it's mine now. Scent: When it's wet, it's a sharp, herby floral. It's a little soapy. Dries down to a mild, skin scent, reminiscent of a floral soap. Purpose: The way this blend smells to me is lavender-adjacent, which gives me a nudge toward relaxation. The scent makes me aware that I want protection and anti-anxiety, which is a very strong nudge toward mindfulness and self-care. Overall, I'm finding Isychia a good addition to the 2020 self-care bag of tricks. I'm dabbing a smidgin on my mask before my public transit commute, and my work mask.

My son (19,) prefers sweet/boozy blends like Grog & Lick It With Consent over the spicy/woody blends his dad wears. If you want a variety of rum/spice/wood blends, including Grog, check out the Imp Pack: Pirate Perfume Oil.

These long-dead scents are back for a limited time in a slightly tweaked form! A panoply of cultural treasures, spanning the herbs, flowers, oils and balms of the Romans, the Byzantines, the Mediterranean, the Levant, Northern China, Eastern Europe, Iran, the Bulgar-Kypchak, Mesopotamia, the Crimean Peninsula, Anatolia, Antioch, and North Africa. My initial swipe of the wand from my imp wasn't generous enough to reveal what's going on in Silk Road Resurrected. I slathered, with much better results. Silk Road is delightfully dry, spicy, & smooth. I think the sweet spiciness at the start is mainly cassia or cinnamon. No burn on me. I smell saffron, sandalwood, & tea, plus that note that I can't identify in Love's Philosophy (the one that sometimes seems like wintergreen & sometimes like root beer.) Lots going on in here--those are only the notes I felt confident about. It comes together in a well-rounded, great-smelling whole, that's not easy to tease apart. I can easily imagine this blend evoking scent memories. Medium throw, not especially long-lasting on unmoisturized skin. If I weren't already devoted to Morocco, I would need a bottle. It's not the same, but it's similar. Try it while it's available, it's good stuff. Edited to add: I needed a bottle. And then another bottle when it was available on Etsy. I reach for Silk Road Resurrected more often than Morocco, but about the same frequency as Bengal.

And maybe a little labdanum?

Forum purchase. On application, Teapapa said it was wood with chocolate. I noticed the figs & dates, too. I can't detect the bitter almond, surprisingly. Dry & in a locket, the atlas cedar & white sandalwood are the dominant notes. The sweet orange & benzoin were a little unruly on my skin yesterday, right out of the mailbox, but today they're well melded into the whole. I like it a lot.

I just used up a recently found decant from 2016 that had rolled to the back of the downstairs bathroom closet. After all this time, it's an oudh-forward scent with faint aquatic & floral hints. Still wearable!

I have a few to add to @VetchVesper & @Lucchesa's recommendations for complex blends. I tend to like the sweet stuff, my guy does not. Here are a few that I know are complex but not (very) sweet. Aelopile: Citrus & resins & vetiver. Starts out with a citrus bang, ends with a vetiver purr. Al-Shairan: Spicy incense & fruit. This gets mixed reviews for sweetness, so worth testing. Aureus: A golden resin-fest. The Coiled Serpent: Mysterious resins unfolding over time. Earthy. Tsadikim Nistarim: OK, this is a little sweet, but it's so complex! All the herbs & resins tell a story. Tushnamatay: Dry, woody incense with a bittersweet heart. Wulric, the Wolfman: Musk blend with a lavish background of notes that change over hours of wear. STRONG. I endorse Aperotos Eros as a complex, morphing scent. On me, it's on the sweet side, but my skin tends that way. Ditto Kubla Khan, Oblivion, & The Carousel.

I love Bengal. It took me a few years to get around to trying it, because I amp clove like nobody's business. A frimp came my way, & I was instantly blown away. The honey, musk, & spices blend into a delicious whole, resulting in a spicy skin musk that lifts my mood like nothing else. The honey is restrained & delicate on my skin. I think the musk in Bengal is similar to Morocco's "warm musk." Clove (which usually amps on my skin & wrecks the balance,) stays a faint note, letting the cinnamon bark & ginger take the spotlight. After trying Silk Road resurrected, I think of Bengal as halfway between Silk Road & Morocco. Bengal is definitely in my top 10.

So delicate! This is a dreamy, creamy scent, sweet & uplifting. The milk note is subordinate to the fig, honey & olive leaf. Something about the fruit, honey & leaves creates a slightly floral impression. It's wonderfully comforting. If you loved Poor Monkey, grab this!

Wet: Adorable, sweet, cuddly fig, something green & almost piney, & wood. No cherry? Dry: the cherry is finally emerging, but my skin is throwing the balance off, somehow. I get hints of how the notes fit together, but alas, my skin amps the green. Not for me, darn it.

Wet: labdanum, lavender & vanilla amber. Dry: the same, with a hint of sandalwood. Delicate & a little sharp (frozen?) This one's probably for Teadaughter.

I got a tiny sniffie tester, & agree with everything above. Butterscotch cookie deliciousness. I like it, but don't need a bottle.

I love it. The rose absolute & organic rose petals are the stars for me. Vanilla & strawberry are the second layer, with honey, herbs & butter as distant backups. Not long-lasting on my skin, but pretty good longevity in a locket.

Looks like I'm the first to review the 2020 version? I get what all the fuss is about! Wet: Caramel tobacco noms. Dry: Sweet, complex, amber tobacco blend, with foody leanings. Lots of throw, but not in an overwhelming way. I'm going to have to come back & update after wearing it alone on a non-testing day, to capture all the subtleties. My reaction to it is like the insta-love from Bears of Berlin, & St. Clare. In short: Red Lantern is lovely, I want a bottle.

Wet: It's kind of powdery & soapy on my skin. The benzoin & sandalwood are out in front, not a lot from the other notes. Dry: The notes blend into a powdery whole. On me, this is sweet & dry, mostly benzoin & sandalwood. I never got the labdanum, or any smoke. Verdict: This might age into something I'll regret not buying, but it isn't something I see myself wearing at this stage. 2024 update: I held on to my decant. I regret not buying a bottle!! With age, it's become a sweet resin party, with benzoin & labdanum twined around the patchouli & sandalwood. I will put this amorous bat on my ISO, & keep an eye on the sales forum.

Wet: Oh yum. Resinous wood & sweet vanilla are my jam, for sure. Dry: a lot like Two Sheep & Two Goats Resting Together in a Field, but without the vetiver's grassy bitterness. Verdict: Lovely, but I don't need a bottle.

Wet: patchouli & testosterone. Dry: Yummy guy. This is Beth doing magic. All these notes work on me individually, but in this blend they combine to be VERY masculine. I will try it on Teapapa. I predict deliciousness on him, but it's not for me & my skin.

Wow, my experience is so different with this blend! This starts out as very strong bitter honey, both in the imp & on my skin. One year, one of our hives got into a field full of knapweed, an invasive plant with bitter, toxic sap. This smells like that hive's honey tasted: sweet & unbearably bitter. I could feel that bitterness on my tongue as I sniffed this scent. As it dries, the bitter herbal note dials back. This reminds me of Door. I don't plan to wear it again--my mouth can't take the wet stage.

Very light vanilla amber with a hazy hint of smoke. Only a trace of cypress on me. Charming.

STRONG throw when first applied. The oakmoss takes this in a traditional masculine direction on my skin, darn it. Gorgeous, but not for me. Not Teapapa's style either. Glad I got to try it, off to the swap pile.

Necro-bump! Are you team Always-Fig, Usually-Fig, Sometimes-Fig, or Never-Fig? I'm very much a fig gal. Fresh fig's sweet/floral notes do it for me, & dried fig's sweet/earthy notes are awesome, too. My skin handles fig as almost a skin scent. My fave fig blends to date are: Poor Monkey Atsui-Mono Carnal Narr Romans 13:8 The Dream is Big Enough for Everyone Fig & White Sandalwood HG (!!!) The Place Wherein Love Grew Atmosphere Spray (!!!)