Casablanca

On the wand, um, dried-up turkey, apple, and a slop of toffee custard. Eck! On my skin, it turns more bready. Specifically, dried and crumbly baked bread (lightly spiced), turkey, and sweet toffee. Well, that’s over with.

On the wand, oof, red-fruity red musk and citrus. On my skin, this is an initial burst of musk-soaked strawberries. (I love strawberry notes, but the lab’s version of red musk turns to nasty BO on my skin before long, so I’m not looking forward to what’s to come. Trying it anyway for science.) There’s a side dish of grapefruit, the bright freshness of which quickly starts to clash with a growing body-odor stink of heavy red musk. Then the grapefruit abruptly winks out. The strawberry leaves remain, but subdued under the tyrannical red musk’s fist. The red musk amps up like 80s glam metal on my skin; the white musk never has a chance, and soon all the fruits are drowned out. Yup. Still can’t do lab red musk.

On the wand, I get mostly a bright citrus. I think of white grapefruit. There’s an aquatic aspect, but not as strong as I anticipated. And on the back end… I’m getting a little something heavier, sort of woody, so very light, barely there. What is that? On my skin, ambergris? Once the blend is on me, I don’t get the citrus at all — it jumps right to a lightly salty, oceanic ambergris, or something like it, and it’s very faint. An odd one, and not for me.

On the wand, I smell waxy, multicolored, freshly watered spring flowers and grass. On my skin, this is about the same. Watered and bottled spring flowers, a little grass. It smells pink and yellow and green to me. It reminds me of Qui Aime Bien Châtie Bien, but softer, thinner, a little greener, and more aquatic. I liked Qui Aime, so this is one to consider as a backup, even if it’s not as full-smelling.

This is my go-to when I want an oriental HG. On my hair, this is mostly golden-ambery frankincense. It's so golden that I sometimes think I'm getting a wisp of champaca, too. I also get a hint of ginger, but no oudh. Goes nicely with House of Unquenchable Fire atmo and lots of oriental perfumes.

On the wand, almost all fizzy champagne. An eensy weensy nip of white pear. On my skin, that’s all fizzy champagne. It’s a little sweet, and so quite different from the dry champagne-white wine thing that Fairy Wine did on my skin. I don’t get any fruit when this is first applied, but the plumeria is a nice, soft presence. It does remind me of the plumeria I’ve smelled in a local garden. Surprisingly, I get a little residual pear when this has just dried. It reminds me of the Titania pear, but the rest of the blend isn’t as pretty around it. I’m not into champagne scents, but I enjoyed the chance to sample this.

In the bottle, I get jasmine oudh and a little smoothing vanilla. The oudh is giving the jasmine an alluring, woody depth. On my skin, this is a lovely soft jasmine, not a high-pitched one. It has a bit of greenness to my nose, which reminds me of Winter Jasmine SN. I also get a little bourbon vanilla and sandalwood while this is wet, instead of the oudh I smelled in the bottle, but they are soft. Mostly, this is soft jasmine. I hope the oudh returns when this dries. Sadly, when this dries, it sort of bottoms out on me. I just get a ghostly-faint jasmine skin scent, scarcely there, and nothing else. Vaporum is pretty, but it dissolves in vapors on me.

On the wand, super-dry sandalwood and coconut. A hint of orris when I think about it. On my skin, dusty-dry coconut-sandalwood, but this takes on more of an overall woodiness on my skin than it had on the wand. The orris is lightly there, just adding a little pale powder impression. I also get vanilla mixed in with that, like a vanilla powder. Mostly, though, this is making me think “rugged coconut,” like an Indiana Jones coconut. Yup. Pretty much archeological tomb-robber coconut, with dust on his hat, but without his leathers.

In the bottle, I get a soft, airily floral peach and nectarine. On my skin, this is lovely. The peach and nectarine aren’t as sharp and bright as fruits can sometimes be when freshly applied. Rather, they’re smooth and silky, almost cushiony, with an airy and creamy quality from the gardenia, and maybe also other things not in the notes list. Somehow I’m getting an orchid-or-something impression, too, with maybe a little vanilla. Pale frankincense is barely there, in the back of the nose, and lightly grounding. I initially passed over this one because of the gardenia, but based on reviews and just on a lark, I picked it up the day before Lupers came down. This is one of those “I’m glad I did” reviews. This is spring- and summer-like, not too sweet for me, and a hybrid of playfulness and elegance.

In the bottle, I get an extremely dry chardonnay. On my skin, this is fizzy. I didn’t expect that, I guess because I didn’t read enough previous reviews. The effervescence combined with the dry white wine ends up reminding me more of champagne than wine. And that’s all I get on my skin. SN champagne. This one will find a better home on someone else.

In the bottle, black currant, white peach, and a whiff of vanilla. On my skin, at first, this is a blast of white peach and black currant (which smelled to me more like plum when I first tested this without reading the notes). Mostly it’s white peach, and reminds me of Humanite. I think that while I love other peach notes, I just don’t like white peach. It comes across as overripe and mushy to me. Thankfully, that note starts to settle quickly, and the blend turns more pleasantly tropical. Now it’s dry coconut flakes, black currant, a little milder peach, and a ghostly-faint orchid. I like this phase best. Lamia dries on me into a soft, vaguely floral black currant dirtied with a little vetiver. The black currant still smells plummy to me. The coconut is barely there.

In the bottle, dandelions and other wildflowers in the grass. On my skin, dandelions and other wildflowers (some of them pink?), greeny-green grass, and a light honey. Spring in a bottle. Lasts under two hours, but in that time, it’s all that I’d hoped for. I’d get it again. ETA: This reminds me of Strawberry Moon v5 (minus the strawberries -- just the sunny meadow part of it), and the two blends smell divine next to each other on my arm.

On the wand, a balsamic incense. On my skin, the same incense, but now faint and a little sweet with creamy coconut-banana-vanilla. This is more light and pretty than dark and sinister, which is cool, though different from the description. Basically pudding, and a little incense.

On the wand, oh. Hey. Waaaay sweet honey, and then bing! Pink lotus. On my skin, the lotus is now stronger than the honey, and extremely pink! This is the pink fruity lotus that sometimes bubblegums, and it’s doing that some here, but I still love the stuff. It’s pretty and full of play and joy, la-la-la. Honeyed pink lotus. I’ll probably bottle this. Oh, why is it out of stock?

On the wand, primarily woody, and a little musty, camphorous, and vanillic. On my skin, a woody and creamy root beer? Whuh? In drydown, the root beer starts to separate into a curious anise-lilac-wood mix, and then a little white rose peeps open. Once dried, the whole thing goes more floral, but also scarcely detectable on me.

On the wand, ambery vanilla musk on the inhale, and then a little lingering myrrh-cedar. Neat. On my skin, this opens prettily as a deeply ambery vanilla musk — it smells sugared. The vanilla musk part reminds me of Solstice Scents’ Manor. In early drydown I start to pick up carnation, adding a little floral spice, and red sandalwood. And then depth-adding myrrh and a hint of cedar. The amber and sugary vanilla musk tie for strongest on me while this is wet, and the sugary vanilla musk (especially the musk) dominates once dried. After drying, the amber and myrrh hang around, and other notes are really just hints. I quite like this amber. I hope it comes back.

On the wand, an empty-smelling palmarosa on a background of other flowers. A tiny bit aquatic. On my skin, totally different: a soft, spearminty white sandalwood. Mint dominates while wet; I don’t smell the flowers at all. Then, abruptly in drydown, something turns into sour funk on my skin. I think it’s one of the flowers. Not a match for my chemistry.

On the wand, a subdued, slightly floral crystalline musk. It does smell crystalline… On my skin, ah, where’d it go? (Slathers more.) Still barely there. But I get a super-soft cereus-jasmine mix in a translucent musk. I can imagine getting something plasticky out of the “crystalline” part of the musk, but thankfully it’s not going there with me. This discontinued frimp probably has some age, because this might just be the softest jasmine ever. I like the cereus, especially. This reminds me a little of Long Night Moon. The blend comes out a little more after warming up, but stays soft. Eventually, I get enticing hints of spice. Pretty and light.

I was pleased to get this discontinued frimp to try. On the wand, sometimes I get wispy, cottony flowers and faint white powder. At other times, it’s mostly aquatic. On my skin, this is extremely light when wet. Just tinges of green aquatic and white floral notes. There’s a fleeting powder impression. As this begins drydown, I start to get more of the powdery white floral than the green aquatic, but all remains faint. Once dried, it’s not as powdery, and not aquatic at all anymore. Just a barely there cottony white flower impression.

White sandalwood, pikaki, 'umi'umi-o-dole, and plumeria. In the bottle, mossy tropical flowers and a little smooth sandalwood. Pretty. On my skin, sandalwood comes out and the mossy aspect smells drier in combination with it. Then, after the blend warms on my skin, I get very faint, pale tropical flowers. What little I get of them is light and airy. I wonder if the bottle’s flowers have dulled out with age (purchased from lab’s Etsy). Once I get the flowers, I don’t really smell the moss or sandalwood anymore: the blend is just a faint tropical floral aura on my arm. This is nice, but I suspect it’s past its prime. Still seeking a favorite tropical blend.

In the bottle, I smell a golden floral, and maybe a little vanilla. On my skin, this opens as a lovely, golden, lightly spicy, and incensey floral. It reminds me of Flor de Muerto, but with incense and a spicy edge. This doesn’t change on me as it dries, other than becoming much more faint on the skin. Cinnamon often amps on me, but here, thankfully, it remains soft.

On the wand, I get salty sea air and wood, with a little greenery. On my skin, my first impression is of pirates: salty sea air, wood, and red wine. I’m guessing the saltiness is from the ambergris. The wine is quickly turning to a sour, sweaty afternoon-booze-nap smell with my chemistry. Maybe this is the red wine from Bordello – it does the same thing. After this dries, all the other notes get lost: Salty and sour red wine takes over, punches some of its friends in the face, throws up, and gets heaved overboard. I guess this one doesn’t work on me.

On the wand, I mostly get a dark, fruity-floral note. It smells like pink and somewhat bubblegummy lotus paired with black currants or some other dark berries. There’s a thin, grainy edge of sandalwood. On my skin, it’s still lotus and dark berries or grapes, and also kind of syrupy. I can see how some have gotten a cough syrup impression: the dark fruity syrup thing is a little bit like Dimetapp. But the blend is nicer. I don’t mind the bit of bubblegum in it, and it’s short-lived. After it dries, only a hint of the fruity lotus lingers, and I mostly get a mild amber-myrrh blend. It’s very soft. Jinbari remains my favorite lotus blend.

In the bottle, I get apricot-blood orange mingled on a subtle resinous base of dragon’s blood. On my skin, same thing. The fruit is pretty and on the tart and tangy side. Oh, there’s some creamy vanilla wafting in, but not turning creamsicle with the blood orange. Thank you! It does seem golden — lovely. There’s just a bit of honey sweetness but nothing strong. I was a fan of Four Seasons: Winter, and this is good, too. After this dries, I get a hint of the chamomile, which adds interest, but it stays subtle. And the dragon’s blood comes out. This DB is closer to the real thing than I think I’ve smelled in a perfume before, which is to say, it reminds me a little of a red brick. A resinous, red brick. The DB was the only reason I hesitated on this blend, but if you like DB, this is a great note for it. I don’t pick out oudh here. Solid blend and different enough from Four Seasons: Winter to not be redundant with it for me.

In the bottle, I smell myrrh incense. On my skin, I get a very blended ylang ylang-rose, musk, and powdery myrrh incense. And beeswax? It seems like there’s a smooth beeswax hiding behind the powder. But the powder has really blanketed everything in this for me. I want to love this, but it’s just too powdery on my skin.