monocainsheresy

Fresh from the museum in 2019! A warm shroud of musky vanilla and balsam draped over polished, resiny leather.... evocative of polished wood cases, brass rails, the funk of thousands of gruesome medical specimens, and the horror of encountering the phrase and sight of "moist gangrene of the right foot" Truly one of my favorite bpal scents: superbly balanced, understated, elegant but still a bit weird. SUPER cozy. Like OLLA Eve minus the frankincense. Perfect for the morbid nerd in your life.

First character or two got rubbed off, ends in XVII Very similar to Fate's Jester, but lighter and less foody. Definitely sugar and lemon, grounded by Dorian. Pretty sure there's ginger and maybe coconut, and the slightest hint of an oudh-y funk. A wee bit grassy. Summery, soapy, and tropical. Leans heavily toward the feminine side. I like this very much, but I wish it was stronger! EDIT: after settling for about a week this is much warmer and muskier - this is an autumn scent more than it is a summer one!

I get vanilla and saffron on top, with a mid layer of some sort of thick floral, probably gardenia, and a base of woods, definitely part sandalwood. On me the spicy vanilla woodiness is very dominant and I my skin eats up the floral layer and turns it vaguely salty and aquatic. Honestly, this smells like a liquified State Fair. Majorly brings up memories of popcorn and cotton candy and hot asphalt!

Cold aquatics and ginger, with some undefined floral clouds - elegant, understated, and feminine.

This is precisely as spectacular as I thought it would be - sugar coated, velvety, luscious red musk Sweet, earthy, and a hint peppery. Very reminiscent of Dragon's Milk actually! Yeah, basically Dragon's Milk's sexy older sister. New favorite.

Fizzy ginger and a bundle of complimentary spices and herbs, smothered in deliciously musty opoponax + myrrh. This is EXCELLENT. A wonderful addition to my Frankenstein horde

First goes on as grape cough syrup but thankfully it almost immediately mellows to fresh plums and soft, musky flowers. No sugar for me. My childhood home had a plum tree out front and this is exactly what it smelled like.

Super juicy holly berries, waxy snapped holly leaves, and some sort of evergreen, though that may be an illusion. Before I checked the notes I caught a hint of cinnamon. The ultimate holiday candle scent.

This is pretty much what it says on the tin for me - cedar, yew, juniper, and moss in equal measure all under a blanket of black musk snow. A still, quiet, neutral scent.

Thank god, I don't get any vetiver off of this! This is actually very bright and shiny on me - slick & soapy ginger, followed by the florals and the spices in the distance. A grandma's-kitchen-at-the-turn-of-autumn type scent. Sweet, woody, breezy. This one really shows off how much skin chemistry can change a scent.

VERY reminiscent of Brimstone (but less intense) - dark, damp, thickly smoky. Scorched and wilted herbs and the suggestion of incense.

WOAH booze and tobacco! Smoky bourbon and rum-y oak, polished to a wicked sharp shine - decadent and high-class to the nth degree. The scent of billiards tables, crisply tailored sportscoats, and pristinely waxed mustaches.

PATCHOULI holding hands with vanilla and that spectacular black tea fougere, with the faintest glimmer of florals and a veil of incense. Kind of licorice-y. Goes on smelling a bit like a head shop but tones to down to a very high-end-cologne type scent.

2017 version A very light scent, with rose at the fore softened by vanilla cream. The snow note it also prominent, and to my delight it is not a minty snow! Or at least the mint gets absorbed into the rose. Frozen rose petals dusted with vanilla goodness. Edit 2 years later: This smells EXACTLY like the paint on old carousel horses. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I'm kind of into it??

Notes from strongest to lightest: Honey, milk, buttercream, fig, and ambrette seed. Foody in a perfumey way. Surprisingly low throw.

In the bottle it's BIG on the cedar and frankincense, but when it hits the skin it turns into a lovely little parcel of clove, anise, cinnamon, and a wee bit of vanilla + saffron with the cedar + frank way in the background. I don't get any carnation or bergamot.

Slime Queen front and center with silvery sugar crystals, over Dorian with the proportion of tea to vanilla somehow flipped, with sweet honey Snake Oil dripping all over it - damn, I'm so mad I didn't go for a bottle of this when I had the chance!

Musky vegetable mush over soft leather over barely-there but depth-giving vetiver. Not what I expected - better than I expected - but quite nice.

Mostly juniper and sage with a strong amber layer. Cool and sleek with mild gritty herbs beneath. No copal for me. A Bath & Body Works type summer scent.

Huh. Sniffed from the decant I expected this to be a poo oudh, and it does do that very briefly, but it quickly changes into a chilled, metallic, opium-reminiscent thing? This is a weird, cold, amber goop on a very soft bed of woody oudh.

Ahhhhh yes this is good - a dirt + moss combo exactly like in Druid, but cold and dry where Druid is warm and moist. Much more sleek and mainstream. There's also something creamy floral in here, I'm guessing from the "moonlit skies".

Herbal-aquatic elmer's glue??? I mean that in the nicest way possible, but that's what I smell! I get mostly dew, with the herbs coming in second and the florals as an afterthought. Very pretty, elegant, and sleek.

Very wet, hot florals - I get mostly jasmine and carnation on that front - and tangerine juice over a powdery base of musk and amber.

Oooh! Musky herbal lavender with a hint of juicy cherry + rose - not what I expected, but definitely wonderful!

Mostly the lubricating oils and anise on me, with leather in the background. A spicy cologne scent.