Emera

IN THE VIAL: Bright, green, tropical, sweet-sharp (but not too sweet or too sharp), like a sweet aquatic. Faint, lightly creamy shea in the distance. Reminds me of Mythos Mixtures Encantado, or a greener version of Blooddrop Au Bout Du Monde. ON SKIN: Lovely. Fresh, bright, cool, tropical. Leafy and cleanly lush, pretty gender-neutral, don’t really get the shea. Smiling and secretive. LATER: Wood notes frequently disagree with me, and this is no exception. I lose all the pretty tropical greens, and end up with an evil spruce note that starts out vaguely burnt-rubbery, and ends up like pencil shavings. (Think I've also smelled it before in Velvet.) Boo. Or maybe it’s a pencil-scented eraser. School supplies, anyway. Low throw, short wearlength. I’m sad it didn’t stay as it smelled in the bottle, but I’m not sure if I would have kept it anyway, since I do already have several things quite like it.

IN THE IMP: Warm, smooth almond milk followed by the buttery coconut, which is a very odd counterpoint to the light tartness of the almond. The almond becomes a little high-pitched, which I hope won’t happen on skin. ON SKIN: A golden combination of sweet almond milk and coconut, which is definitely nutty and toasted, not fresh. The earthy fig becomes more evident, but remains in the background. The almond/coconut combination oddly reminds me of Love’s Philosophy, which very faintly like coconut macaroons to me, but the subtle fig gives it much greater depth and maturity. LATER: This goes through many stages! For a while it moves into a sort of deep, fruity-creamy stage much like Yerevan, with the fig really emerging. The final-final drydown is a lightly spicy, musky fig (and fig leaf?) – lovely. Unusual, yummy, and wearable. SUMMARY: Light, smooth almond milk and nutty coconut grounded by earthy, musky fig. Warm and sweet, not quite foody, not quite fruity. Good throw, short wearlength (~3 hours).

IN THE IMP: Sweet moonflower; creamy, honey-like beeswax; fresh white rose. Sweet, smooth, bright, a bit perfume-y, perhaps from the ozone and/or rose. ON SKIN: Deliciously sweet, golden, and creamy, thanks to the beeswax (and possibly the amber), but not overwhelmingly so, as the moonflower adds floral freshness. In general, beautifully blended; all of the smooth, glowing elements go together so well. It actually reminds me quite a bit of how Selkie smells on me – I think the beeswax is acting like the "honey-touched grass" in Selkie – but a touch headier, and as mentioned above, the sharp ozone definitely adds a perfume-y edge. As a side note, something in it is burning my skin almost imperceptibly, but I can't guess what it would be. LATER: This is very, very pretty! Unfortunately, the throw is pretty low, but the blend is lovely throughout, with minimal morphing after application. And this definitely has the same honey/beeswax note as Selkie – yay! SUMMARY: Creamy, near-foody beeswax and amber with soft white rose and hints of fresh moonflower and ozone. Very young, sweet, feminine, and warm, extremely well-blended. Low to moderate throw, medium wearlength.

IN THE IMP: Dark, gritty cocoa, followed by biting lavender. The dark cocoa absolute separates out very visibly from the rest of the oil, which is a pretty amber shade. ON SKIN: The cocoa becomes more of a dark chocolate on my skin – which is a nice surprise, since ACTUAL dark chocolate notes go to plastic on me. Perhaps it's the influence of the French vanilla? Up close, the blend is still pleasingly harsh and masculine, and I can detect the woody-dirty vetiver, but the throw is a lovely dark chocolate. Still later, I'm starting to get the fresh clary sage over the vetiver. This appears to be exceedingly complex and morph-inclined, never staying the same from minute to minute. The lavender eventually begins to burn off, leaving the blend much less sharp and masculine, while the cocoa continues to persist. LATER: Warm, dry cocoa and a touch of fresh lavender – again, much less bold and masculine than originally. SUMMARY: Dark cocoa over a succession of all of the other listed notes. On me, it morphs from a strong, sharp masculine blend to a sweetly warm and unisex one. Moderately strong throw, medium wearlength.

IN THE IMP: Dark, slightly spicy rose and a background of smoke, possibly some fresh lilac. ON SKIN: Rose – dark and velvety, but with a definite spicy edge to it, and the smoke underneath. I was craving something strong, so this is making me rather happy, heh. I think the spiciness is actually the absinthe – while I don't get the anise element that I expected, it's sharp and almost woody, reminding me rather of lavender. It's a rough, dark kind of scent, almost harsh. Not my usual kind of thing, and I really don't know when I'd actually wear it, but I'm really enjoying it nonetheless. The sharpness of the absinthe keeps it from being overly heady. LATER: Goes to simply dried, spicy rose. SUMMARY: Dark, spicy, dry rose over a hint of harsh absinthe and smoke. Moderate to strong throw, long wearlength.

IN THE IMP: Fresh chrysanthemum, dusty tea leaf, and a touch of sweet, tart berry. ON SKIN: Fresh, sweet, girly, delicate. As in the imp, though the tea (I think black) is coming out more strongly and warmly. No white musk, which generally hates me, yay! Smells like warm tea with a bit of brown sugar and cream, and berries with a touch of fresh floral on the side. Surprisingly foodie on me, but very light and gentle. LATER: Quickly loses freshness and turns into slightly murky, spicy berry. No buy for this one. Dies within an hour and a half. Waaaah. It was so pretty, and the only blend in which I ever got tea.

IN THE IMP: Pungent, very heady jasmine and sandalwood are the idenitifiable top notes to me, but are no doubt backed by the other two florals, with which I'm not as familiar. Honey, vanilla, and cinnamon are not evident. ON SKIN: First on, warm and resinous, a gently golden-spicy scent with a definite perfume-y kick from the sandalwood. In about 10 minutes, it evens out to soft, heady, and fresh white florals with the wood underneath, and a pleasingly sweet, light touch of cinnamon. The blend is slow-drying and lies surprisingly close to the skin. Womanly and sensual, but the florals are rather cool and spring-y in feel, in contrast to the very warm first impression. All of the floral notes seem to blend very well, since I can't make out jasmine individually – the florals actually make me think most of honeysuckle, which is bizarre, given that no BPAL honeysuckle note has ever worked on me, and it's not listed anyway. Still no honey or vanilla, smoky or otherwise, sadly, since they were the big draw for me. LATER: As before, though the sandalwood and cinnamon occasionally shift to take precedence. Overall, a well-blended scent, but far too mature and heady for me. SUMMARY: Fresh, heady, springlike white florals over incensey sandalwood and a touch of cinnamon spice. Feminine and sensual. Medium-strong throw.

IN THE IMP: JASMINE. Followed by woody, cool lavender. No honeysuckle, as usual for me. ON SKIN: Fresh, astringent lavender – smells more like the stalks than the foliage or blossoms to me – over the heavier jasmine. Still no honeysuckle, but it's surprisingly calming and refreshing, despite the jasmine. I wouldn't say that it's very pleasing, but it's not actively displeasing, either. This is going to be one of those blends that wibbles in and out of my "keep" box for a while without ever claiming a place there for certain. Hmm. Strong throw. LATER: Jasmine becomes the dominant note, but manages not to be the headache-causing sort of blazing floral that it often is. This is more of a warm, shimmery yellow floral – still very potent, but not at all piercing, with the soft edge of lavender somewhere in the background to keep it fresh. A very summer evening-y scent, indeed.

White grapefruit and fresh, gentle spices and woods. Clean, sweet, astringent. On skin, it took on a touch of soft vanilla, but the citrus and dry, astringent scents are by far dominant. Light and pleasant.

All I got was violet and plasticky vanilla. Strangely metallic in feel. Not cooperative with me, clearly!

Desserty booze + sweet almond essence. No nut or cream that I could pick up on, so it didn't have much depth to it, mostly the boozy-tart fumes.

(Just a quick sniff) Fresh gingerbread! Shocking. This is definitely a warm, moist gingerbread, not, say, a gingersnap. Yummy.

Some really unpleasantly strong jasmine and sharp, fake mint. Really, really unpleasant. Honestly. It smells like a Port-a-Potty. Sigh.

Rich pastry, golden amber, beeswax, and a touch of tart pomegranate. Yep, very glowy and warm!

Heady, tropical osmanthus, which reminds me a bit of plumeria, I think? Plus a touch of honeylike musk, which reminds me of Lady Una. Sweet, warm, golden, very feminine.