LadyCrow

In imp: Butter and some coconut. Wet: Hello, cassia. The overall impression I get here is sweet, buttery cinnamon toast. Drydown: The cassia continues as the top note for me for quite a long time. I do pick up on the coconut, and what must be intended as the "angel food cake," but overall -- though, thank goodness, the cassia does tone down just a wee bit -- I get, basically, the most heavenly cinnamon toast you ever had in your life, with gobs of sugar and butter and love. Probably maddening if you're on the Atkins diet, but a really wonderful scent if you like the foody blends.

In the imp: Sweet, clear. Wet: Sweet and yummy! (Yes, a highly technical term there. Go me.) I think I'm getting milk here, but not the weird milk in Milk Moon '07. Drydown: Not a morpher. Rather, a remarkably consistent, complex, spicy, strangely foody blend that just stayed luscious and regal. I got this very odd mental picture of Shere Khan from The Jungle Book eating cardamom-laced rice pudding, in which case he would have been a lot less grouchy.

In imp: Sharp, clear, sweet. Wet: Astringent. Holy olibanum, Batman! A bit medicinal/herbal at this stage. Drydown: The cedar is certainly there, but I think even the resin is stronger in the blend. Over the satisfyingly long wear time, the cedar/resin combo recedes, leaving a softer cedar-tinged sandalwood, and vague hints of myrrh. However, to quote a certain pirate captain: But why is all the patchouli gone? Seriously, what patchouli? Verdict: I like it, but not as much as I'd expected to when I read the notes.

In the imp: Food spices and... lemon? Wet, dry, and very consistently throughout its wear: Incense, but also strongly, strongly citrus, like bitter orange peel. It reminds me of the sun, which I guess would be part of the point. It's not a "me" scent, but it's fascinating and consistent -- not a morpher; once the wet phase burns off, so does any trace of foody spice, and the blend's true nature as incense comes on strong and stays strong for the all-too-short wear time.

In imp: Clove! Where I'm getting this, I dunno, but Clove! Clove! Clove! Wet: Ah, now the aromatic woods come out. Cedar, and a sharp, clear mint like wintergreen. Drydown: Absolutely pungent and aromatic; great throw. For me, the sandalwood is buried very deeply beneath the cedar and "birch beer" notes; like some other reviewers, I couldn't find the lotus at all -- leading me to believe that it's not the same one that my skin amped so hugely in Blood Lotus. Verdict: If I've got a craving to smell like birch beer and wintergreen, I will totally lay hands on some Kathmandu. It just doesn't smell... particularly Buddhist to me. (At least I had better luck with this one than I did Namaste, which absolutely vanished on me. I've not tried Kurukulla yet.)

In the imp: Spicy, sweet. Wet: Oh, honey! I get the cinnamon and clove straight away. Drydown: Mmm, and there's pepper. I have a really hard time smelling ginger -- wait, no I don't. Not in Bengal, at any rate. The musk is clearly amping all of the various spices through the honey, pretty consistently through the life of the scent. The more Bengal warms on my skin (and I agree with previous reviewers that this would be a fantastically warming scent in fall or winter), the more wonderful it gets -- but its flaw, to me, is its disappointingly short wear length. I wonder if a different musk might not have boosted that -- white musk maybe? Who knows. The point is that the combo of notes is so delicious that I wish it had lasted longer!

In the imp: Fruity and floral. Wet: I have no idea what these notes are supposed to smell like, but I'm getting spicy fruity-floral here. Wait, is there something like apples? I got a similar "apple" whiff in the wet stage of Morocco, oddly. Drydown: Aha, banana! And thus it remains, subtle and close to my skin (although I didn't slather; I can see this being rather overpowering if one did), very consistently throughout the drydown -- this one isn't much of a morpher. I can tell that the "banana" thing is made up of two separate notes, one closer to my skin and one further away; I'm just not good enough at tropicals to tell which is what. Verdict: It's lovely, but not for me. I rarely wander around in sarongs with a big gardenia pinned above my ear, and this seems to be that sort of scent. I would absolutely wear it to be in a production of South Pacific, but that seems unlikely in my near future.

In the imp: Sweet, foody spices. Wet: Ah, cassia -- just enough to give that sweet-spice tang, not enough to burn my skin, although I didn't really slather. Florals come up here -- there is surprising depth and complexity for the light color of this oil. Something almost like apples? Yes, similar to what I get from Manila. Drydown: I don't smell either the sandalwood or musk as notes per se, but I'm pretty sure of what they're doing in this blend -- amping the sweetness of other notes, and providing the again-surprising staying power. The cassia is just enough like cinnamon to be very foody throughout the drydown. It's hard to pull out individual notes; everything is so nicely balanced. I don't like to gender-ize blends, but this really is so slinky and feminine that it merits mention. Yum! I love this one.

In the imp: Sweet, floral. Must be the sweetpea. Wet: What... the...? Watermelon Jolly Ranchers! Drydown: After that first blast goes away, the vanillas start to come up around the edges of the amber. Then, mercifully, the ultra-sweetness recedes as the sandalwood comes forward a bit. Still, throughout the life of the scent, it remains mercilessly pink. If this is Pinky, I'll stick with the (Mi-Go) Brain (Canister) -- there's no pepper, for example, to temper the ultra-sweetness. It's like a much more innocent version of Jailbait, in a way. It's very cute, but considering I'm a huge Sin fan, it's just not for me.

In imp: Cocoa vanilla. Wet: Cocoa vanilla, oh my. Is this going to go foody? Drydown: No, it's going to go OMG! myrrh. Yeek! What are all these notes doing together? After a bit, though, the myrrh recedes to a faint nuttiness, and the strongest notes are the sandalwood and, in a close second place, the cocoa vanilla. This isn't the kind of foody that a Monster Bait/Enraged Mammal Musk fan would want; it is, in point of fact, quite sensual -- a great evening scent. I hope this remains a GC staple.

In imp: Deep, clean lilac. Wet: Lilac, and yum, there's that white musk behind it. Drydown: Aha, and backing it all up comes the leather -- a subtle leather, like the one in Severin, not so much like the aggressive leather in Dragon's Hide. The leather accord gradually becomes dominant, but calmly and elegantly. I could wish for a bit more wear time, but the skin-scent stage is still quite pleasant. I sometimes find I have less to say about scents that I really like than scents that I don't -- but suffice it to say that I'm thrilled, not only to have found a Dogs Playing Poker that I can wear (all others except Kelly Pool contain tobacco, which burns our lungs, precious), but that I will wear.

In the imp: Almost pure sweetened butter. Somebody's baking goodies here. Wet: Sweetened butter. Cake? Buns? Drydown: A cinnamon note rises up, making me think of cinnamon buns, irresistibly, for about the first half-hour of the scent. In fact, only after that do I get a faint note of cocoa dust, and just the vaguest hint of the cherry (possibly even my imagination) -- it's pretty consistently Cinnabon for a long time here. No wonder the groundhog is enraged! Somebody stole his chocolate cherries and left the empty box! Wait. Wait. I misspeak myself. With the stealth that only a fat, waddling rodent can muster, the groundhog has in fact tracked down the guilty Cinnabon worker and found the smell of just-eaten chocolate cherries (more in the throw than close to the skin) all over him. It's curtains for that hapless bun peddler! Verdict: A dangerously tasty foodie scent (which further proves that it's not cinnamon that bugs my skin; it's cassia). Prolonged use could lead to monster-bait-ion.

In imp: Deep, sweet, spicy floral -- so spicy as to be almost astringent. Wet: Magnolia, check. Jasmine, check. It's... The Blood! Squee! It's a dragon eating caramel in a flowerbed! Drydown: Thankfully for me, the rose stays tempered by the other florals. There's the strong throw I'd expect of any blend with dragon's blood; the hot fuzziness of musk; and that creamy sweetness. Eventually, what it turns into is a foody caramel with spicy musk around the edges, which almost takes the blend in a Monster Baits direction over the life of the scent. I can see this scent being oddly uplifting. It's a skin scent -- something you'd put on privately to cheer yourself up over a particularly difficult day at work... whatever the nature of your work. Subtle and excellent.

In the imp: Damp floral. Wet: More floral-y dampness at first, with superb sillage. I can't stop sniffing. This is great, but where's all the wet stone? Drydown: Bamboo and tea come forward strongly, then recede, leaving a spicy layer, mosses, and yes, flashes of that wet stone. That deep, magnificent teak note makes its appearance. Mmm, wet cement again close to my skin; the throw is still pungently tea/bamboo-like, a good 2-3" from my skin. I don't get the sandalwood as a note, per se, but I suspect what it's doing here is giving some of the lighter notes greater amplitude and staying power. Did I mention the unexpectedly massive throw? A little bit of this -- happily for those of us who only have partial decants! -- goes a long way. I put this on one of my wrist pulses on one wrist. One. There's an almost visible scent cloud around my whole hand, creeping up my forearm, now. I'm also pretty sure that the deep woodiness others are experiencing as pine isn't pine, at least not in any major concentration; other combinations of notes can give that effect. I'm badly allergic to pine. Since I applied the scent, I've essentially been making my notes and then typing this one-handed, with the other wrist stuck to my nose in the characteristic gesture of Beta Phi Alpha Lambda members, and I'm reasonably sure I'd have noticed by now if I were putting significant amounts of pine vapors straight into my sinuses and eyes. Amazing staying power, too, for how light and frail this scent could have been. My skin is fair and eats many lighter oils alive. This remains pungent and tangy on me -- I guess I'm getting the sweeter side of the blend. A masterful performance in scent.

If this is Sin, then I never want to be in a state of grace again. In imp: Sweet amber and sandalwood. Wet: Amped sandalwood plus patchouli, and the cinnamon is starting to come in. Drydown: The more I think about it, the more I realize it must be cassia, more so than cinnamon, that my skin finds irritating -- because this made my skin a little sensitive, but not flamey. This manages to be at once one of the strongest sandalwoods and the sweetest patchoulis I have yet found, both probably because of the amber, and then overlaid with this high note of dancing cinnamon. Excellent throw and staying power, plus that bonus delicious opium-smokey note I've learned to love in Blood Amber and Debauchery. That's it -- I'm giving my life over to Sin.

In the imp: Ylang ylang and a bit of myrrh. Wet: More of the myrrh and clove. The ylang is strong here but burns off quickly. Drydown: Like darlingarmadillo, I get something surprisingly minty from this -- not as strongly, but there around the edges. The patchouli is sophisticated and subtle -- nobody's going to accuse you of trying to cover up the smell of pot! I think it's the myrrh that tempers it -- and, unfortunately, after a brief returning flare of clove, makes it go powdery sooner than I would have wished. Still, this is a great blend that completely failed to make me feel malicious.

In imp: Juniper. Egads. What if this is one of those blends I'm allergic to? Wet: Except it totally isn't... because whatever the chemical is, it's not in the juniper berry that's in here and rising up deliciously like a forest martini. Drydown: The myrrh and oakmoss keep the patchouli very, very subtle, and really evoke the idea of walking through a dark wood. It's kind of like Oblivion in a way, but with patchouli -- at least the scent evocation of that beautiful wild darkness is similar. Oh, this is a keeper. This is one of those scents that any gender could pull off equally well. Just not my imp, because I'm keeping it!

Okay, I've officially got very peculiar skin here. In the imp, I could smell both the bergamot and the tea. On my skin, I got the bright lemony bergamot overriding everything, sort of like the Earl Grey with some great big wodges of lemon. The scent started out with nice throw, and then gradually faded closer to my skin; I was hoping the leather would show up in the drydown, but I swear I couldn't find any whatsoever in all of the bergamot and tea -- which had vanished into faintness in a very short time. Wanda did this to me, too; do I have to resort to Dragon's Hide to get leather to stay? I mean, the bergamot is great, but if I wanted essential oil of bergamot, I'd buy that.

In imp: Rose. Oh, please don't hate my skin! Wet: Hey there, narcissus. Wow, you're pretty aggressively astringent, aren't you? Drydown: After the initial blast of astringency, the rose comes back for battle. This is like watching a territory fight between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, or something. Verdict: Amusing, and definitely evokes the scent concept, but I think smelling like a diva catfight all day would give me a headache. I may swap this to a friend who gardens, however.

In the imp: Really, for real, no kidding -- dirt. Wet: I love this. I have no idea how this was done, but this dirt thing is sheer genius. Aha, roses coming out... danger, Will Robinson. Drydown: However, the rose here is thankfully not the one in Blood Rose that goes so ghastly on my skin! I suspect the rose leaf and oakmoss, along with the obvious dirt, keep this from being just "florist roses that haven't been washed yet" and really, honestly evoke the scent of roses and freshly-dug earth. Amazing.

In the imp: Labdanum and ylang ylang. Wet: The same, plus honey. Complicated, heady, resinous. Drydown: Ooh, now what's going on? Mmmmusk, almost like amber. The longer this sits on me, the more the sweetness comes out -- and the musk boosts the staying power, so the honey hangs around for quite a long time. This is one of the gentler and more pleasant honey blends, given a touch of tanginess at the beginning by the resin and floral notes.

In imp: Hmm, wine. I don't get the dragon's blood. On skin: Days of wine and roses, my big white butt! What was I thinking? This is the very same rose note from Rose Cross and Lady Luck Blues, and also one of the notes in Two, Five, and Seven, that is absolutely disgusting on me. I think that after much searching, I have finally found the one blend with DB in it that I simply cannot wear. Exterminate! Exterminate!

In the imp: Lemon Pledge. Wet: Lemon Pledge. Drydown: I cannot tell you whether the other notes came out in the drydown, because within 60-120 seconds of applying this to the back of my left hand -- no joke, my husband is a witness -- I fell asleep in my computer chair. Hard, snoring asleep. And I fell into REM sleep almost immediately, with moving, colorful dreams. No kidding, y'all. This is not a perfume! I am never applying this again unless I am (1) in bed, or (2) about to be there. However, since I love my complex, colorful dreams and frequently use them in my poetry, I am definitely applying this again -- under those particular circumstances! I am extremely impressed.

Ah, skin chemistry! Thank goodness for imps, because had I bought this as a 5ml, I'd be really annoyed. Wet: Whoa, my God, I'm drunker than Fortunato! I've been to a wine-tasting without eating first. No, maybe it was a wine-eating without tasting first. Whoo boy. It takes ages for the drunk phase to wear off and the leather to emerge. By that time, I had a headache. Wanda did turn into a nice, robust (you have to use the word "robust" when you're talking about wine; it's the law) skin scent with a lot of leather after maybe an hour, with the pleasant scent of myrtle overlaying things (I got only a smidge of violet and essentially no rose), but it wasn't worth the wait. I felt like a drunk sitting around a leather bar waiting for some action, which is really kind of pathetic. This is evidently great on others, though. Sigh -- off to swaps!

In imp: Yup, that's some patchouli right there. Wet: ... and it just fell into my grape soda. Drydown: This is actually a much lighter scent, both in terms of throw and overall presence, than I would have suspected from two patchoulis (and from other users' reviews). If you want to work backwards from other scent descriptions, you could say it's a bit like Montresor walled up Fortunato inside a headshop -- although I'm personally not getting much of the nag champa during most of the wear time of this scent; it's mostly an after-note, while the grape and the patchoulis work it out on top. It's much calmer as a patchouli blend than either Malediction or The Coiled Serpent; if you take it easy and don't slather, you could carry this off at a workplace without being randomly stopped and searched for marijuana. The sophistication of this even makes it a bit more "feminine," for those who see scents that way -- although I still think a man could wear this perfectly well. A nice blend for the discerning patchouli lover, assuming they like grape.