Okupsidedown

I strongly suspect there's hidden lemongrass and you can't change my mind. I hates it at first, however, the drydown is just absolutely gorgeous.

Ooooooh fffffffudge. This is a major hit for me. It doesn't smell like dead leaves, leather, or pink pepper. Just effing gorgeous. I guess pink? Kinda like the Gap scent? It. Is. So. Good. IT'S JUST AMAZING OK?

2021 Oof. I love Samhain. I've got a 10ml, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The first time I tried was 2017. I was a fool. I yeeted. Luckily, though, I yeeted to a friend who wore it around me. It smelled so good on her that I had to try again. Every year I've tried has started out Simple Green, and ended up gorgeous woods with a baking pie in the distance. This year, I'm convinced has mullein, which is a very creamy green herb to me. In conclusion: Just as gorgeous as every year with addition of a forward mullein.

I've worn this a couple times and the end result was adoration! Pepper in any variation has become a favorite note of mine. It clips the scent off at the end. I love it. Red musk can be a little messy and pepper renders it neat. Precise. And there is a dryness. Not necessarily sandalwood, just a lovely dryness. There's a whisper of juicy red musk, but with the dry punctuation of pepper and wood. LOVE!

Sweet dry violet forward. Slightly joyful, so "Song" is very appropriate. It does have the typical sort of gooey orris, but it melds well. Oak is jumping out a bit it's just a lovely song. If you loved Instinct of Hope, but want something slightly more sweet, this is the one!

Wet: Pomegranate reminiscent of The Body Shop. Very perfumed fruit, but the mint cuts it pretty quickly. But this is not the part that matters. Dry: THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GORGEOUS! The black musk is amazing. Is it in Mme Moriarty? I don't know, I'll look up the notes for her when I'm done. It's black musk with dry, sharp, wisps of pomegranate lost in memory.

I scored the 2011 version off the Etsy page, and didn't let it rest before trying. MISTAKE. Now, 8 months later, I'm testing again. SUCCESS. In the bottle, it's pretty much just gingerbread, but once applied, I get wonderful candy notes! Mostly fruity hard candy notes. Obviously with a consistent gingerbread base. It's wonderful and really does smell like the full experience of a gingerbread house building adventure, including eating more candy than gluing to your house!

I bought this blind in a gourmand "gimme" frenzy, and regretted my life choices. So, without even a skin test, I put this away until now. I'M SO GLAD I DID! In the bottle, it's very true to the description. However, immediately upon application, I Starbrow's experience with citrus muffin. But then!! It dries down into this amazing perfume. And I mean perfume, it's not gourmand at all any more. It's a lush, rich, creamy, and lightly spiced perfume. You know how a lot of gourmands are great at first, but after a while you wish they'd calm their tits? This one does!! Into a gorgeous creature. I love it!

This smells like the chocolate cupcake dolls from my childhood and I'm here for it! In the bottle, it's super dark chocolate brownie batter. Same going on, but as it dries, it dries in scent as well. It smells like cocoa powder. Not a whole not of throw, so I'd slather if I were wearing as a perfume instead of merely testing.

In the bottle: smells like Snake Oil and funnel cake. 🤷‍♀️ Wet: Whoa, butter batter! With a little of that delightful sugary darkness that is Snake Oil. Dry down: Still a little too buttery battery for me. If this doesn't turn gorgeous soon, I'm gonna do what Marared suggested and hide it for a few years. The throw is nice. I feel like it really needs aging, though.

I like to skim the notes, then go by the nose when reviewing. A sort of happy medium between blind and fully informed reviewing. In the bottle: Gorgeous, sweet, dry, dark purple. A little wood. I tried this before and did not enjoy, but it's had a couple months to rest. Wet: Purple!! I'm starting to be able to recognize elemi. It's like a white floating floral, but not flowery. If that makes any sense. I'm smelling a beautiful wood that blends so well with the purple dry sweetness. I think I remember it being sandalwood? Gonna go peep the notes now. Dry down: No wonder this is so lovely and smoky without smelling like actual smoke! Nicotiana is a tobacco plant! I love orris, and its gorgeous dry floral beauty. The sandalwood keeps this from smelling too traditionally perfumey. But if you're transitioning from the mainstream, this is a gorgeous blend for you! Dry: White musks, which are normally so forward, are just now starting to whisper. Wow, I can't believe this wasn't an immediate love!!! This is beautifully perfectly blended and balanced!! Synopsis: Beautiful, dry, soft sandalwood with gentle white musks and dry orris without going powdery. Nicotiana is mildly chewy, and elemi is floaty and sweet.

I'm testing this today, so it's had a bit to settle into itself. In the bottle: FIG! Wet: Intense, rich fig. Make no mistake, this is a menage. So. Fig, you shall have. Glorious fig in all its abundance. Dry down: The Brown Sugar is mostly just serving to enhance the fig. Not molasses heavy, just crystallized, light brown smelling. The combination of the VERY tame oak bark and brown sugar remind me of the vanilla husk in So Weit. A beautiful, sweet, dry, mild wood. Dry: Gorgeous. Deep jammy fig with a dry, husk sugary finish. Needles to say, I love this blend. If you've found it difficult to pick out fig in blends before, get you some of this! It's a gorgeous FIG blend.

Apostrophe of Time In the bottle: Little woodsy, little lemon peel. Wet: LEMON! It's the good lemon peel lemon, though. The kind that it almost spicy, and goes nicely with the woody note I'm getting. I'm guessing the sort of round, sweet note is the neroli? Don't have enough blends with it to know that's what I'm smelling. I never can smell BPAL's bergamot, which is so sad. It always makes for lovely blends, though. Dry down: Is it fading? Lemme drink some coffee, hold up. Ooooooo there we go! Amber! I amp BPAL's amber 50% of the time. This is one of those times, and it's a good thing! More coffee, I keep losing the scent, it's weird. Oomph! Amber with gorgeous, glittering citrus notes. Wood has faded, but is still kiiiiiiiinda there. Why am I getting a faint impression of cocoa? I don't know, it's BPAL. Dry: Nary a sage to be smelled in the whole process, even after coffee cleanser and concentrated sniffing. Wood is still gone, but woody notes tend to resurrect HOURS later, so I'll come back if it does. Am getting a sort of sharp note now? Maybe the sage has finally decided to show up? Yeah, I think that might be what's happening. Conclusion: Amber and citrus forward with whispering suggestions of wood and sage adding depth. Gender neutral.

Ok. I'm gonna try Mother's Hot Ghosts. Even though it smells like FEET! Straight up FEET. In the bottle: I'm scared. I don't wanna F this G at all, she smells like FEET. As I keep sniffing, I wonder if the FOOT smell has dulled my senses, cause I'm getting some of that lovely amber and white musk. Is it possible? Ugh. Here goes. Wet: Oh God, POO!! Ew! Why?! Sour, footy poo! I get whiffs of gorgeous, glittering amber and musk, and naively sniff my wrist and am slapped in the face with POO! Dry down: As long as I don't sniff my wrist, it's beautiful, ephemeral white musk sweetened with dusty amber. Seriously, the poo is gone. Even when I sniff my wrist now. It's only been about 5 minutes. Phew! I thought I was gonna hafta shower! I can smell the petitgrain and the woody note of the agarwood. Dry: Ok, as long as you can make it through that first stage (just don't sniff your wrist!!!!!), this is actually quite lovely. I get why they used "billowing" in the description. I'm looking for the poo smell, and it's gone. Mostly just white musk and a minuscule sour woody note. Almost like paperwhites, but toned down by a million. I'd totally wear this, actually. Dang, I was so scared to try this! It's a helluva morpher. Now, I can't stop sniffing my wrist. Geez. Ok, Mother's Hot Ghosts, you got me. Kinda reminds me of Jovan Musk (don't tell me no one gave it to you for Christmas when you were a kid!!).

Voluptuous Wantonness In the bottle: Very thick, scarlet resin. And a subtle waft of something akin to root beer. Licorice root or sassafras or even fennel. Can't really pick out any single notes. Wet: Ooh, this is a lovely oudh, especially after yesterday! Vanilla husk is almost smokey. Black plum, while not making any major statement is sweetening the scent. Not getting musk yet. The mimosa is very subtle, but adds a lovely, light green floral. Tobacco is sharp and rich. Dry down: She settles rather quickly, single notes are tough to pick out, and the musk is coming forward. There's a slight woody note, which I'm guessing is the oudh? The woody note is almost spicy? Dry: More wood. A little musk. Teeny bit of plum. It's a beautiful scent, but I don't love it for some reason.