alterosen

Half bottle of #173 The most perfect ginger spice cake! Lots of ginger, bit of burnt sugar & vanilla behind, no molasses thankfully. Delicious!

#191 (decant) Strong citrus & pine - kind of orangey at first, then more pine, then something peppery, really peppery - I'm almost thinking chili rather than black. Possibly some resin under it all but I couldn't say what kind. It sounds chaotic alright but it actually works together well. It's not a pretty scent but it is very interesting - my nose keeps returning to my wrist!

This seems quite fruity to me - not what I was expecting, yet somehow familiar. I was thinking it would be stronger on the evergreens with the juniper but I'm getting more fruitiness with an icy/snowy feeling & something slightly herbal in the background. It's not as citrusy as expected either, despite the tea & citrus rind. I think I know what the fruitiness is reminding me of now - Juicy Fruit gum! Bizarre how my nose manages to take this combo of notes & interpret them as slightly banana-like. So it's like I'm chewing a piece of Juicy Fruit in the forest with a winter wind whipping around me. Nice but I was hoping for something a bit more foresty.

Beautiful red roses with a smidge of musky incense spice & then something a bit waxy sneaks in. It does actually make me picture yellowed glistening bones in flickering candlelight rather than dry clean white ones & creeps me out a little bit if I dwell on it. This is a brief phase & then it continues on being voluptuously rosy. Overall, a lovely rich rose atmosphere spray.

I get a warm pumpkin with light violet & moss. A good year round choice for me rather than autumn or cool weather. I find it very pretty & not at all menacing but YMMV

I'm going to be obnoxious & quote myself because I think it's amusing that nothing much has changed here from my list from a couple of years ago. Not going to drop any of these but I will add Aristocratic Couple & Parlement of Foules because they are also appealing right now. Joyful Moon should really be on there, too. I going to dig out my imp of Kumiho for a test, too, because so many people are mentioning it. I also made myself a Dorian room spray that I use as a body & clothing mist if I think I'm going to need some extra oomph during a hot day.

I'm going to throw some Lunacies in the mix that all have grapefruit in them in case that's what you like about Baobhan Sith: Hunger Moon, Hungry Ghost Moon & Cheshire Moon. They last pretty well on me, too. I adore Hunger Moon especially! The notes only list citrus rind but it seems like grapefruit. Nice light apples: Glittering Apple of the Stars & Rapunzel in Ballpoint. Dorian & Tattered Lace are fantastic on me in hot weather. It's the tea with the vanilla & lemony mystery notes combo (the fougere in Dorian, something fresh in Tattered Lace).

#52 Also not a typical fougere - this starts out with strong charred vetiver-y wood & something a little nutty behind. Then it starts getting a bit brighter & fresher: citrus or some other kind of fruit maybe with perhaps a hint of lavender or herbs. This must be the fougere coming out but I can't really identify the notes. It's not mossy, musky or lilac-y to my nose. There's still a bit of vetiver lingering in the background. I don't dislike this as much as I usually do these kind of burnt scents. It's oddly compelling. eta: I think there's some strawberry in the fruit - what a wild mix!

#187 This is pretty much all white florals on me - I'm not really sure what kind, maybe a little jasmine. They're melding into a soapiness that is reminiscent of what floral gums candy tastes like (for the record, I do like to eat those, but not smell like them). Strong & long lasting.

#136 Coconut & pineapple - yup, it's a pina colada!

#31 Not getting any fougere when wet. It's faint & sweet - reminds me a little of lotus perhaps? Ever so slightly bubblegummy, becoming more candied but less Hubba Bubba as it dries. Only when it's totally dry do I sense the fougere in a bit of moss & pale musk.

I seem to have the plummy incense version - quite pretty! Not too fruity, not too woody, only the slightest whisper of mint: it's rather nice!

I almost put this in my trade pile because I didn't find it all that interesting when I first got it. Nice enough but a bit light & I have Fae & Philommeides for the rare times I feel like wearing something peachy/apricot-ish. Then I thought I'd try it one last time before listing it & wow, is it ever great now! The vanilla is much more pronounced & it just smells fabulous in the heat we're having at the moment. So I'm keeping it after all & doing some slathering!

I had a very similar experience to theseagrows. This scent ended up super woody on me - I thought for sure there was cedar in here & not just as a supporting player. Sometimes patchouli & sandalwood do that to me. I was looking forward to a rosy vanilla tobacco fest but it was not to be. For the record, I tend to like rose & resin blends but this just didn't work.

I like fruity florals so my apologies if you find some of these a bit on the sweet side but try Sjofn, Titania, Elf, Fae, Zephyr, Phantom Wooer, Baobhan Sith, Sea of Glass, Amsterdam. From the un-impable section (but you should be able to find decants in the Sales/Swaps): Door, Lady Una, The East, Jasmine Cottage, Coraline Jones, The Ghost Children, Blithe Hollow, Lady Amalthea, The Last Unicorn.

I was concerned about this because smoky scents rarely appeal to me but I took a gamble & I'm glad I did! My nose gets sweetly smoky wax with a hint of maple rather than roasted chestnuts (but it's not cloying or overly foody). This is what I was expecting Candlelight to be like but that wasn't nearly as appealing. I use this often, especially in cooler weather.

Awesome pictures, nathanielhebert! At first, I was just focussing on the labels & then I noticed all the great stuff you included in the background - so fun!

This reminds me of Snow White plus lots of honey. It was fun to try but not really for me.

My husband likes to wear some foresty ones: Dawn: Cernunnos, (Terebinth pine, basil, green sandalwood, fig leaf, armoise, lemon balm, cypress, myrrh, black cedar, and juniper) and Nemesis (Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen) in particular. He smells really good in many scents that have cypress, pine & juniper notes. I also like Wolf Moon though that has a fair bit of brown musk along with the evergreens (various years have different notes but all seem to have Terebinth pine, juniper berry, & blue cedar). Knecht Ruprecht (The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees) might be worth trying, too.

I tried this one & thought: "Now this is the Devil's Bake Sale!". Even more so than Sugar Cookie, this scent with all its smoldering deep spices brings to mind demonic cookies. Love it!

What about Lady Death Savage? To me it feels cool, blue & unearthly - I could totally see a starry night goddess smelling this way. Though it lists white musk, which may give you pause, it's definitely tempered by the other notes: White musk, grey amber, Calabrian bergamot, vanilla absolute, French labdanum, styrax, wormwood, caraway, and bois de jasmin.

Rose Red, all the way (the Rose might do, as well, since they are similar). You might like The Rose, from the Marchen collection. It's very lifelike and smells just like a rose from a garden. I was going to say the same thing! I also find London to be a very realistic tea rose.

For sweet rose & marshmallow, I recommend Love: Marshmallows and rose sugar with whipped vanilla cream and a hint of strawberry. You might like White Rose, too. It's a bit coconutty: White rose buds, with vanilla tea, benzoin, orris, coconut meat, and frankincense. An awesome peach that deserves more love is Philommeides: Peach wine, carnation, lemon peel, osmanthus, blood orange, wood violet, and tuberose.

The description sounds so beautiful & evocative & I love sandalwood so I had to snap up this spray when I saw a decant for sale. Unfortunately, all I got was dry spices & woods without the sandalwood being prominent. I did like it somewhat but ultimately it just wasn't sweet enough for me.

This is all ginger, fruit & fizz on me. Maybe a hint of molasses that melds well with the ginger. Fun & just the thing for a rainy day!