LeBateleur

In bottle: In the bottle it's a dead ringer for Himalayan temple incense. Smoky, musky, and powdery. Wet: Honey and bright lemon poke through the incense. They smell very much like my favorite brand of Japanese bottled red tea. Drydown: All of the above notes persist, and meld with and mellow each other. And for some reason, my nose sometimes thinks it's catching the Lampades cranberry, though I think it's probably actually the lovely thick dark honey note here. Smoky and spicy with a touch of sweetness is how I would describe the drydown. A few hours in: This one has lovely staying power and there's a nice interplay between the two major scent profiles – sometimes I catch the incense, sometimes the honey. It has strong but not overpowering throw. It's pretty much what I'm looking for in a scented oil. Qandisa has become one of my favorites.

In long-ago Arabia, harem girls rubbed an herbal poultice formed from a blend of sensual, luxuriant herbs and oils onto their bodies to prepare themselves for the Sultan’s pleasure. This lush, indulgent perfume is based on that ancient formula. Sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel. In bottle: Lovely, lovely almond scent with the neroli peeking out from beneath. I could just sit with the bottle beneath my nose and savor it for hours. Wet: The spices and something sweet - perhaps the rose - make an appearance and blend out the almond and neroli. Drydown: Oh no, the almond is starting to go weird and powdery. Luckily, the orange and clove notes are emerging to disguise it a bit. A few hours in: Yet another scent that virtually disappears from my skin in about 10 minutes flat. I get a hint of orange-and-clove pomander if I hold my wrist right up to my nose and inhale, but otherwise, it's gone. I really like both the in-bottle and post-drydown stages; it's to bad neither has any throw or staying power on me.

In bottle: Bitter medicinal herbs with a sting that reminds me of grain alcohol the way it clears out my sinuses. Wet: A nice spiciness mixes in with the herbs. I'm getting all resins and none of the Moroccan rose, but that's fine by me because I love resins. Drydown: Now a nice incense-y complexity emerges. A few hours in: There is no 'a few hours in.' This scent disappears entirely within 20 minutes. I love the way this one develops in the drydown phase, but with no throw or staying power, it ends in disappointment.

I purchased a bottle based on the strength of the ingredients alone. Chocolate, mint, cedar, pistachio? These are all things I love. So how did it work out? Bottle: Heavily chocolate with peppermint. So far so good. Wet: Woah, where the heck did that cheap cedar scent (think pencil shavings versus cedar closet) come from? Drydown: Cheap cedar with a salty/peppery tinge (here's really no other way to describe it) that's completely overridden the chocolate and peppermint Hours on: A creamy pistachio has at last started to poke its head through the stale cedar smell. If only this were what I was amping. Final verdict: What a strange blend on me. It doesn't have much in the way of throw, but it lasts forever. I went to bed, showered, went to work and 12+ hours later it was still going strong. I wish some of my favorite scents had this kind of staying power. If the chocolate and pistachio were higher up in the mix for me, I'd love this one.