roseus

In the bottle I get a jumble of humid, deep almost murky greenness with a splash of juicy apple and a bit of mint. The apple and amber become indistinguishable, just sweet, fruity heart for the greens to build on. Humid and fresh and unlike anything in my collection, tropical but not in a heady-blooms way. Stunning!

I get grassy, herbal greenness in the bottle and freshly applied, with a bit of what smells like a sage note and reminds me of a softer, less zingy Songs of Autumn I. As it dries I get a mix of soft, dry hay and a some greener grassiness. If I sniff deeply I think I can identify some of the herbs (I want to say there's a bit of mint and basil, but I can't be sure). Like laying in a field in late September.

In the bottle I definitely get more chocolate, spritzing I get a blast of chilly, but soft mint too. Beautiful creamy mint-chocolate ice cream! But as others have said, not too sweet. I recently chopped my hair and have a hard time sniffing it directly but if I shake my head I get the mint-y ice cream and a beautiful whiff of a bright, almost floral green tea. I had a hard time imagining the two together, but it is gorgeous. Sprayed on a pillow I get a touch of the chocolate underneath as well.

In the bottle I get that classic Lilith musky-sweet lavender, and I know I'm in for a good time! On my skin lavender is not the first thing I smell, but the paper note. Then cotton (but not a super clean-breezy cotton) and then the lavender. I swear there's a vanilla, maybe suuuuper lightly smoked, there's a smooth darkish quality to the scent. It's gorgeous and unlike any of my other Lilith lavenders. It smells like being cozied up in a dark corner of the house reading (with a lamp of course- don't want to strain the eyes!). An absolutely wonderful book scent, particularly if leather doesn't tend to work on you.

In the bottle I get juicy apple, this one smells golden to me. Sweet, with just a tiny hint of tartness. It's lightly spiced. Very fresh. On my skin the breezy, clean-cotton (but not like straight-up laundry detergent clean) takes over for the first half hour. It's such a comforting cuddly cotton that I don't mind one bit. After a half hour the cotton quiets a bit and I can smell soft spices around the edges of it, and eventually the apple melds in with the cotton. The throw is huge for the first half hour on me, and then it is quite close-wearing afterwards. I really love the idea of this one for early autumn when the breeze is still fresh and not bone-chilling, but I'm craving deep-autumn comforts.

I love the Lab's papyrus note (Mr. Ibis is a fave!) and was so excited about this blend, and it did not disappoint! In the bottle I get primarily balsam and cardamom. It's sort of wintry between the two, like evergreens and Christmas pastries without actually being either of the two. On my skin the papyrus takes center stage, the best way I can describe it is 'dry green'. Dry both in the un-wet and un-sweet sense. Vegetal. The cardamom melds in with it pretty well, and the balsam sits underneath with that resin-y, sweetish, woody scent. Despite cardamom and balsam reading sweeter though it is not a sweet scent. Very unique.

Shub is definitely on my winter list as well (though I break it out in autumn it is reminiscent of very fiery gingerbread to me). I had forgotten Elf, I had a bottle long ago and loved it. I've now picked up a replacement! Wanted to add Jersey Devil which I need to retry now that my tastes have changed a bit, that cranberry & evergreen combo screams winter it almost needs not mention!

In the imp and fresh on I get a deep, buttery toffee scent. There's almost a brown-butter nuttiness. As it sits the caramel fades a bit and more of the cream and vanilla come forward and make this less gourmand. I get just a little whiff of powdery sandalwood. Quite yummy.

In the imp I get lots of pink spun-sugar rose with a whiff of cloves. It reminds me of a less chaotic Two, Five, and Seven. On my skin I get a bit more bold red rose, but pink still dominates. The clove is light, just toning down the sweetness of the pink roses.

This smells like velvet. Earthy but in a much different way than I am used to, it's like Fancy Earth. Normally vetiver doesn't play too well on my skin. It often goes very smoky (almost bbq meat sometimes). Here it is rather gentle, and melds with the cacao and the musk. It's a decadent perfumed dark chocolate, with the creamy, heady white florals dancing over the top.

In the imp: super gnarly patchouli and sweet fig. On my skin the fig gets even more syrupy, and a deep deep red musk (no DBR that I can detect) overtake the patch, which smooths out underneath. It and the oudh give this an almost woody base. Inky is a good word, and I agree with DiesMali that it is almost leathery. Dark and delicious.

In the imp I get fresh SO and powdered sugar. On my skin some delicious fried dough comes out as well. An absolutely delicious combination. Truly almost makes me forget why I'm screaming.

In the imp I immediately recognize that wonderful, strange green bloom from Odic Force. Eerie and glowing with just the tiniest camphorous edge, not enough to read medicinal but just gives a sort of jolt. It contrasts with the sweet pomegranate underneath beautifully. On my skin other notes start to join in, particularly the lilac and the myrrh. They deepen the scent, making it more heady. It's very much a cool-toned purple scent. Delightful.

In the imp and freshly applied I get mostly leather and steel with a bit of cedar and a little of what smells like lubricant to me, very much like a Steamworks blend. I wonder if that is just a chemical edge from the leather, as this dries down the leather gets softer and more worn. Still rather woody, but I get more fir than cedar in the end, with a pineyness from the rosin. I don't get much amber, but it's there if I sniff really deeply. This is right between a gorgeous forest scent and a cozy study to me. But it also evokes grand halls (man I miss things like concerts and the theater).

In the imp I just get dry rye flour and salt. On my skin I get a more yeasty bread scent with the nutty-anisey carway. In the end I get just a breath of rosemary. No butter, which is fine by me. A really fun, soft blend.

Absolutely delicious. Sweet, creamy peppermint chocolate, rather light, being ya know, white chocolate. Once on my skin I get more of a light vanilla cake note. Tempted to eat.

This smells like a very sexy vampire lair to me. The deep red fruits (a bit of biting tartness from the pomegranate), with heady tuberose and I specifically get candle-smoke in the imp. On my skin I get a bit more of the tobacco leaf, rich and warm. It gets a bit less fruity on my skin, but all the elements sort of swirl around. This is very addicting to sniff.

A bit nervous to put this on as about half the notes are good on me, the other half not so much. In the imp pretty much all I get is mango and strawberry, so juicy and sweet. There's that deep rich nectar sweetness of mango (god I really want one now) and it's sort of cut by than thinner, slightly tarter strawberry juice. Tempted to sip it. On my skin, the juiciness gets dialled all the way down and it smells almost floral now. I can't pick any one note, except maybe the ginger at this point. It's like a fruity floral with something spiced beneath it. Sort of tropical. As dries the floral aspect goes away, and it's more softly fruity, and I'm pretty sure I can get the eucalyptus and mint. A really interesting combination with the fruit, it's like a tropical garden.

Amber to me just tends to be a sweeter note, but paired with the right notes I think it could be tempered for you! I think Coyote could potentially be what you're after. Amber-centered scents that don't go sweet (at least on me!) off the top of my head: Haunted, Aelian's Phoenix, Scholar's Tower. So I'd say wood and incense does a good job of tempering it. I'd say keep your eye on the reviews of the new Dead Leaves, Tunisian Amber, and Smoked Balsam scent, if dead leaves work on you as I think that would be a fairly unsweet. I tend to like a fair bit of sweetness, so hopefully others will have more ideas for you!

In the imp I get just a gorgeous amber and leather combo. So many lovely words apply: deep, rich, warm, spiced, sweet. On my skin it is all these things, but with some dry, wispy herbal notes floating about it. The musk comes out and makes the scent more snuggly. Dry it is much the same, but with a silvery, minerally undercurrent that is so beautiful. I also agree with z_z that there might be a bit of coconut. Gorgeous scent!

In the imp I get a bright, almost sparkling, creamy honeysuckle. On my skin it gets warmer, muskier. I get more wispy florals, I think the plum isn't the fruit but plum blossom. Underneath is a warm bed of amber. This smells like walking through a garden in full bloom, just dizzy with beautiful heady honeysuckle and breezy blossoms.

In the imp this smells very fruity-musky, threatening to go artificial, to me it smells like blueberry. On my skin it gets juicier and more realistic, and firmly blackberry. The woods and oudh come out and add a very soft depth, wrapped in a soft blue musk. Dry it is much the same, with a whiff of really pretty, iris. A beautiful nostalgic powdery floral. But the musk and blackberry wine keep this very fresh, not so much a old-fashioned powder scent. Stunning! Especially since iris can be so iffy on me.

So glad I got my hands on a decant, I was so obsessed with this and sad I had to sit out on Lupers this year. In the imp I get a very cinnamon-y creamy chai tea, or like maybe a cinnamon bun. Idk, I've been baking a lot. On it is still a very fiery cinnamon, with a sweetness behind it but the sweetness is more green than it was in the imp. As it dries I get that distinct green-sweet-spicyness of cardamom, and the cassia dials it down a notch. I definitely get the resins, and the blend gets more dry. There's is a hot sand toastiness to it, and it's so cool. Eventually some soft watery florals start to peak out underneath everything. Like an oasis. Such a stunning blend.

In the imp, this is a swirling incense, I definitely get the frankincense. It's almost woody. On my skin the other notes come out a bit, but not in a identifiable way. Just the blend opening up, more smoky-sweetness an herbal tinge. Looking at the notes I can now pin the lavender, it's quite dry and subdued. I'm surprised to see dragon's blood, as that usually goes very sweet, almost cherry cough syrup like on my skin, but I'm getting none of that. All the notes blend very well and dry it's just a super mysterious swirly incense scent. It's quite unique and I'm doing a poor job of describing it.

Hi there @Laughing Seagull! Here's a few I think could work you for you: As you're a news reporter I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Media from American Gods: A news anchors cologne, a soap stars perfume: perfect, pixelated, and glamorous; aglow with cathodes and anodes, coated with phosphor. With such a plethora of piercings The Torture Queen from the Carnaval came to mind: White amber, vanilla musk, white tea, ambergris, gardenia, and chrome. Liking cold things, the rain, being quiet but not being able to sit still all made me think of you like a body of water. Like a river, a quiet force, but uncontained. This made me think of something like There's Water Here from OLLA: the wild glory of nature bursting through cement, metal and urban despair, purified by the waters of Lake St. Clair.