Gwydion

In bottle: This is way more foodie than previous versions. A mix of ginger, sugar cane, vanilla, and rice wine hit the nose first. The grapefruit forms a sharp counterpoint to the sweet rice cake feel of the strongest cabal. The woods provide a gentle, but grounding background, with the musk twining through everything like a cat through a sea of legs, brushing each note in an understated way, yet weaving it all together. The delicate herbs and particularly resins are good support to the wood notes. It works, and the notes themselves are similar to other years, but previous versions were more atmospheric than foodie. This is foodie first. There is nothing wrong with that, but it was a surprise. Wet: The sweet rice cake faction is still strongest, but the grapefruit counterpoint is much stronger, and with the wood notes in support edges up to a strong second. The resins come out more. It is still beautiful and well blended, but less subtle. As it warms, it becomes grapefruit dominant eventually. On my skin, it is less exciting than in the bottle, and I think I prefer older formulations, but it is still a keeper. Dry: ginger, vanilla, rice, and some of the woods linger longest.

In bottle: This is sharp and intensely fruity. The lavender and pear are strongest, with the labdanum in strong support and gardenia crowding close. It is definitely prickly, and is a love it or hate it sort of scent. Ho wood is the pervasive canvas on which the bright, intense scents are splashed, frankincense and thistle are understated, but well blended. No skin test as it’s too intense in the bottle.

In bottle: No skin test for lemon. This is a strange mix of earthy and ethereal. Lilac is dominant with wisteria support, but the cedar with osmanthus support is almost as strong and the factions play well together. The florals give a juicy liveliness to the paleness of the blend, which might otherwise render it dry. The green tea is a pervasive base with its touch of lemon. The musk is beautifully blended with the pale elements.

Review: mostly Rose geranium. I am unfamiliar with two components, so the rest is grain of salt time. The incense blend is lovely and unusual and a good support to the florals. I’m assuming the deamondrops are the delicate support that makes the rose geranium interesting, and I’m guessing the cinnabar accord is what’s giving such richness to the benzoin dominant incense blend. I’m not good with anything rose, but the design of thins is clever and unusual and quite pleasing.

In bottle: Exactly as I hoped. The vanilla and almond float above a heady mix of oak and leather with the aged patchouli dancing between them tying the factions together. The result is scrumptious. The contrast between the heavy, masculine elements and the Ariel sweetness of the vanilla and almonds is mesmerizing. Patchouli this old is wonderful in a way that fresh is not, blending better and containing in itself an earthiness and an incense feel. Wet: Lighter on the skin. The vanilla and almond move into dominance with the leather a strong second. Patchouli is a weaker third and the oak mostly blends with the leather and patchouli, though it is still discernible as a separate scent. As it warms, the leather reasserts itself to become dominant, with the oak separating out and passing the patchouli in strength. I think it is delicious at this phase and even better than in the bottle, though a touch less subtle. It is worth waiting past the first blush. The result is a sweetened leather. Dry: Mostly lether with a touch of oak and patchouli.

In bottle: Melon dominant, with sea scent as a strong second. The grape and flowers support the melon while the moss is part of the ocean scent. It is rich and fruity with a feel like fruit picnic on the beach. Wet: Even fruitier on the skin, with the ocean moss fading into a backgroubd. Dry: Mostly melon on the dry down.

To celebrate the CBLDF's event and celebrate our love of comics, we created an India Ink single note: a lot inky, a little papery, a little resinous, and strangely wearable. In bottle: This is the ultimate book and ink scent. It smells strongly of fresh printed book. Ink is by far the strongest. I’d put resins as second as it dances in and out of conjunction with elements of the ink accord. The paper is soft, but pervasive, the canvass on which the ink and reason can show off their stuff. It’s like putting your nose in a fresh off the press book and huffing. Wet: Different elements of the ink and resin combination come out. It still smells most like ink; the paper is still a soft pervasive background; and the resins still dance in and out. It is now more pine and possibly patchouli that it was in the bottle. There’s a real industrial steampunky feel. The ink accord is rather close to the grease note in some of the other lab blends. The warmer it gets, the more mixed wood shavings the thing gets as the paper accord components start mixing with the ink accord components as they break down. This is very attractive to my nose and strongly masculine. This is not a delicate scent the way many other bookish scents are. It’s got an abundance of character and likely isn’t to everyone’s taste. Dry: Spicy incense and wood, mostly.

DARK CHOCOLATE WITH TULSI, TUMERIC, AND WHITE GINGER In bottle: The dominant dark chocolate note works beautifully with the ginger and tumeric. Tumeric is a fairly gentle scent on it’s own, and here it works as a support and to aid blending just as the spice does in cooking. Tulsi is a strong counterpoint to the chocolate, giving a savory touch to a sweet blend. Wet: The basil scent of the tulsi really comes out on the skin, strong, fresh, green, delicious. It’s still chocolate dominant, but the tulsi is almost as strong as the ginger, assertive and unusual. I’m loving the way the sweet and savory blend and the creativity it took to even think of this combination blows me away. Dry: Mostly ginger and tulsi, with the chocolate and tumeric haunting it. I’d call the ginger dominent. It turns out ginger and tulsi is lovely. Who knew?

In bottle: Ooo! This is a n exciting variation on the early summer garden. The sharpness of tomato leaf is strongest with excellent support from the arrugula, pole beans, squash, and presumably kohlrabi. (I have no idea what kohlrabi smells like, and I’m weak on pole beans not having smelled them growing in a long time, but there’s plenty of body to the green growing things support here). The herbs give a piquant counterpoint. Something is a little sweeter here than expected in the undercurrent, but this is really all about the green. The earth here is understated, more suggesting gardening when combined with all that green, than standing on it’s own. This is the tomato leaf dominant scent I’ve been looking for for most of a decade. Wet: If anything, it’s richer amnd more complex on my skin. It’s still all about the tomato leaf, but the squash and arugula really separate out and pop. The beans and what I’m assuming is kohlrabi are also more distinct. All the greens still play well as do the herbs. The dirt stays background. I love smelling like my garden. I’m now wishing I’d bought more of these. Dry: It goes a little less natural smelling as it wears, but is still excellent. It ends up mostly tomato leaf and squash.

In bottle: This is hard to categorize. It is delicate. Iris stands out most. The white tea is pervasive, forming a background with mugwort, musk, yarrow, and amber in support. I imagine this as a canvass with a background and a foreground. In the foreground, black currant is next strongest after the iris, followed by fir, and a hint of patchouli. This is interesting, but I don’t have much hope it will work on me. Wet: It’s still iris dominant. Blackcurrent is now second strongest, followed by fir and mugwort. The white tea is now softer, though still a pervasive background, with the yarrow about as strong. The rest is present, but soft. Contrary to expectations, this actually pops on my skin. It’s still pretty delicate, but the black current and fir being stronger fleshes out the Iris, while the mugwort, yarrow, and tea give it an herbal feel. It’s still a bit to floral for me, but close, oh so close. Dry: Fast fading to mugwort and patchouli.

In bottle only: Violet dominant with lilac support. The rose is well blended and understated. I’d suggest this for a woman in her late teens.

In bottle: I’d swear this contains anise and something along the lines of burnt sugar or molasses. It smells a lot like the anise cookies my great aunts used to make at Christmas. It does have a little musk to it, but I’d call this old fashioned foodie. It’s wonderful. I loved my great aunts and this does smell like Christmas eve at their house, but it’s so not like the description I’m wondering if there was some sort of mix up. Wet: The anise is even stronger on the skin and the butter cookie feel is also stronger. My family called them something different, but the Internet suggests the Italian version is called “Pizzelles.” Seriously, this smells like fresh baked pizzelles to me, with a took of musk. If this is really the right oil in the decant, I want a bottle very much. I do not see how this is ‘vintage musk’ but I’m willing to pretend. Dry: It still smells of Pizzelles, but it is more plausibly an “old fashioned musk after a while. I really like this.

In bottle: Cedar dominant with the benzoin blending beautifully with it. The honey it a counterpoint. The musk is soft and blends well with benzoin and honey. Wet: Still cedar dominant, but the benzoin is nearly as strong with the honey now supporting the benzoin. It was woodier in the bottle, sweeter on the skin. As it wears, the honey over takes the benzoin. The musk is gentle, but pervasive. This has a fresh, bright feel to it. Dry: Mostly cedar with a bit of benzoin.

In bottle: Surprisingly sharp with the moss giving an aftershave effect. It’s clearly moss dominant, with something best described as “clean” next. It is similar to the linen note in feel. More sniffing makes the berry pop out of the moss note where it was hiding. The grass is soft support for the clean note. Wet: The balance is similar on the skin, with moss strongest. The clean and the berry note are almost equal, with the skin musk being more noticeable. The grass really does go well with clean skin. Dry: The berry hgas good staying power, and the moss+berry parses as mossy berry on the dry down. The clean skin blends beautifully with the stronger notes as it fades.

Have you tried Jailbait? It's the scent I think of when the word "bubblegum comes up.

Review: Very creamy. The rice flower is a soft second and the vanilla a soft third. They blend together well, but are a bit delicate. If you like Boo, you will likely enjoy this

Review: Strong leather dominent, mingling with strong whiskey support. They blend beautifully and the tobacco twines through them, not as intense, but very present. It’s well designed for it’s concept, straightforwardly masculine.

In bottle: actually, the company description is quite apt. It’s mostly balsam and marine musk. There a delicate wood and tobacco feel to it. It is sexy and oceany, basically, with a touch of wooden ship and sailor’s tobacco. Wet: On my skin the marine musk pulls ahead of the balsam in strength, though the balsam stays strong and balances out the weight of the blend. This much sea and balsam would be individually too much alone on my skin, but together it actually works. As it warms, the woodiness comes out. The result is complex and works on my skin in ways I didn’t expect. It has a lot of throw, so apply with caution. Dry: It gradually shifts into a musky amber. It’s quite lovely.

In bottle: Rum edging into the candy level of sweetness with a warm soft butter note rounding it out. Wet: It reminds me a little of circus peanuts. As it warms the rum and butter fill out more and it gets a spicy sort of edge to it. I would swear this is cocoanut rum, as there is a coconut scent to it. It’s lovely and festive. Dry: A little weird on the dry down. The butter accord breaks down quickly as some elements fade faster than others. The effect is not entirely ideal with the softening notes in the rum. It’s wearable, but not as stunning as it first seemed.

In bottle: Syrah is a kind of grape and calmus is sweet flag. I’m not that familiar with either so this review is a touch tentative. The strongest notes appear to be syrah and pitch. The calamus, opoponax, opium, and violet leaf are strong seconds. The myrrh smoke is soft and clever. The clove is sharp and plays in fascinating ways with the violet leaf, syrah, and hyssop. The hyssop is understated, more an accent than a scent on it’s own. The scent is fundamentally grape dominant with incense as a scent impression.

In bottle: slightly burnt sugar dominant. The butter cookie aspect is a close second. The raspberry is a soft, but yummy counterpoint. It’s pretty realistic and quite decadent.

In bottle: Fascinating. The cucumber is surprisingly strong and blends with the rose in a way I didn’t expect. The mango is next strongest with the apple and coconut supplying fine support. The lavender is an unusual counterpoint to the other notes. This isn’t something I’d have thought of to combine, but oh is it lovely. The coconut is very soft at first but eventually passes the mango to become almost coequal with the rose and cucumber.

Clove is the first taste to hit the tongue, powerful and dominant, well supported by the cumin and anise. Seriously, it never occurred to me that cumin would be brilliant with clove and anise, but it is. The mandarin orange is pervasive, being second strongest, and is the canvass on which the spices paint and dance. This is delightful, and I say this as someone who doesn’t like orange sweets for the most part. The difference real orange makes vs. artificial flavours is profound. This reminds me of good wassail, spicy, tangy, and sweet all at once.

In bottle: Very, very fruity. The raspberry gum is strongest, but the blackberry hops provide strong support. The myrrh is soft, but adds a solemn sort of elevation to the scent. According to the Internet, Chypre is ancient world perfume from Cyprus and there are multiple formulas. As a result, I’m not sure exactly what’s in it. I’m guessing a touch of citrus and maybe wood, and likely more incense. It’s comparatively soft and is mostly filling out the stronger elements and adding a little complexity.

In bottle: Dragon’s blood dominant with soft sandalwood support. Wet: Still dragon’s blood dominant but the sandalwood comes out a little more giving it a slightly more dry feel than the other Ars Draconis blends. The sandalwood is a good compliment to the heavy incense floral feel of the dragon’s blood. Huge throw. Dry: It balances out better as it wears with the sandalwood coming clearer as the Dragon Blood softens.