Gwydion

In bottle: Lovely and unusual. Osmanthus dominant. It’s an unusual floral as a result. The other elements are strongly present, well balanced, and an excellent support to the flower. I think this would be unusual and sexy. Wet: Still Osmanthus dominant, but the hay absolute comes into its own as it warms. The ambergris and musk amp up the sexy. The catnip is very soft, but present. Still lovely, but less unusual on my skin. Dry: Still interesting on the dry down. The ambergris and musk are strongest, but the hay, catnip, and what’s left of the flowers are still present, just in different proportions.

In bottle: The plum musk and matcha team up to rule the blend. I really like the way the oakmoss, violet, and cypress work together with the patchouli to give an outdoor feel. The ambergris brings the sexy and does lovely things with the matcha. Wet: matcha and ambergris to the front with the plum hanging back. Everything else as in the bottle, but the plum being softer really changes the affect. I really like this, but green tea goes lemony on me and I can smell it ramping up by the minute, which is a shame and a heartbreaking skin chemistry, not in anyway a fault of the scent. I can still almost wear this. Dry: Flattens out to mostly green tea.

In bottle: Pretty! The tobacco flower is dominant, but the other elements provide beautiful support. Seriously, this is a very clever blending, with linen, sandalwood, and dragon’s blood each supporting a different aspect of the flower. Wet: still tobacco flower dominent, and really, it’s all about showcasing that flower. The linen is stronger on my skin, and is now more distinct, while the other elements are still bulstering and adding nuance to the flower note. It’s lovely. Not me at all, but wonderful to smell. Dry: Fast fading into sandalwood with a bit of linen. So sad.

In bottle: Intense and unusual. Cumin dominant with strong blackened amber. I’d put labdanum and tar a very strong third. Patchouli a week forth The cardamom and honey are soft and work to glue all these strong personalities together. Wet: Smoother on the skin. Still cumin dominant with amber second. Patchouli is now third., with the other elements forming a backdrop. The elements play together better on the skin than in the imp. It’s certainly unusual. You really have to love cumin to wear this. Dry: Still cumin dominant, but now it smells like the boardwalk just after a summer shower. I think it’s the tar and amber, mostly. The honey is still hovering in the background. The other elements fade to the lightest kiss.

In Bottle: An unusual sort of fruity. I’m guessing one of the winter berries like holly and maybe plum as the dominant notes. Actually, the evergreen may be holly or a softer than average pine. This may be giving me the illusion of holly berry when combined with plum. It could be both or either. It’s got a smooth, resinous affect. Here is something I don’t like about the incense, but I can’t pin it down. Wet: It is now strongly incense dominant. The think I’m not liking is at its heart, but I like the rest of the incense blend. I do like the way the Indian temple incense works with the more western associations that were dominant in the bottle. As it warms, it balances rather. The effect is warm indoors during winter, which suits it’s concept and season. I like it better, the longer it wears. Dry: It continues the upward trend, smelling quite wonderful on the dry down. Whatever that note that wasn’t working for me was, it’s faded outnow, and it’s blossomed into a sweetly elevated incense blend with that hint of plum and holly in the background. It’s hard getting to this point, but worth it.

In bottle: Much softer than I expected. It’s patchouli and leather dominant. The patchouli is the smoother, aged sort, but still at the edge of what I can handle. It’s edges blend into the black leather note. The cedar is a pleasant second, well blended with the dominant notes. The florals are a soft third, with the rose elements mostly subsumed for once. The matcha blends well with the florals, smoothing and supporting. The frankincense gives a spiky edge, but is pleasantly understated. On paper, this shouldn’t work at all to my way of thinking, but it does. Wet: A little weird on my skin. The matcha is stronger, and my skin chemistry tends to turn green tea lemony. The result is a peculiar lemon and leather dominant blend with a strong patchouli element. I’d put the cedar a weak third and the rest just barely sniffable. It’s weirdly clean and dirty at the same time. I can’t tell whether I love it or hate it. I’m convinced this is not what it’s meant to smell like at all. Skin chemistry is a mystery sometimes. Dry: Innteresting and very diferent. Cedar dominent with leather a close second. The incense and florals mostly fade out, though the insence stay a touch more noticable than the florals. I think I kind of like it, but there are other leathers I love better. I expect this would be better for someone with drastically different skin chemistry.

I find that honey can have an edge to it that is a little like wine and the honey and wine amplify each other's muchness, if that makes any sense.

In bottle: Yum! This very much captures its concept. Cypress dominant, with stone, metal, and ozone competing for second. The blood is more a piquant hint, as makes sense, haunting the blend with darker mysteries. I beautiful evocation of place. Wet: still cypress dominant, but the metal moves into a close second. The stone is distant third. The ozone winds through the elements, tying them together, with that hint of blood still pricking the edges. As it warms, the metal dominates, switching places with the cypress. This is rather a shame, as I have other metal blends in my collection, but nothing else with that gorgeous cypress note. I still love this, but I wish it smelled more like in the bottle. Dry: Settles down to a beautiful cypress/metal blend with hints of the other elements haunting it. Lovely!

In bottle: Surprisingly floral and purple. I’m not sure why champaca, amber, and papyrus make purple. The pine and “chill air” are delicate pinpricks of winter sharpness. To be clear, it’s predominantly and interestingly floral. Wet: Less purple on the skin. Still champaca dominant with the lovely amber/papyrus support. The musk is more obvious on the skin and turns out to have been part of the support for champaca. The pine and chill are even more understated. Lots of throw. Dry: Still very purple, even though I know champaca flowers are white/yelloww/orange. It’s a mystery. Anyway, the champaca, amber, and musk have a lot of staying power. The result is womanly and sexy

In bottle: beautifully blended. I’m not a frankincense fan, but it’s used to excellent purpose here. The ambrette and bergamot provide it excellent support, with a frame of more delicate elements like orchid, champaca, saffron and beeswax. The oak bark is very soft, but gives a rougher counterpoint to what is primarily an incense/floral blend. There is a touch of high end bath product about it, unfortunately. Wet: not much throw, and elements less distinct on the skin. The vanilla Orchid moves to the dominant position and is quite lovely here. I love the way the ambrette, bergamot, and saffron work with the orchid. To be honest, most of the other elements are so soft as to no longer be distinct, though I can tell the beeswax is doing a lovely job of tying things together. This is the frankincense blend for folks who don’t like frankincense. Dry: Strongly sexy. I’m thinking it must be the ambrette. Most of the rest of what’s left is oak, vanilla orchid, and a touch of beeswax.

In bottle: Mostly orange zest and vanilla. It’s a creamsicle with a smooth amber and honey undercoat and a touch of linden blossom. If creamcicle is your thing, this is clearly the way to go. As I amp orange like mad, there is no point in skin testing.

In bottle: Mint dominant with strong eucalyptus and ozone support. Amber extremely understated. This is so full of notes that don’t work for me that it’s hard to be impartial. It is very cold, pale green, and dental. No skin test for everything but amber.

In bottle: Lots of white rose, well blended with magnolia and iris root, with the other flowers all contributing to an unusual and complex floral blend. It’s lovely, and different as floral blends go, pale and white with a hint of decadence. No skin test for rose.

In bottle: Patchouli and balsam form a dominant partnership, with carrot seed as strong support. The white tea, being delicate, is soft, but in this case pervasive. This is likely too much patchouli for me, but I am intrigued. Wet: The carrot turns out to be an unusual and pleasant complement to patchouli. It is still a touch too much patchouli for me, but I am coming to love it anyway. It smells like vegetable garden during planting, of mud and seeds squishing between fingers and toes. Meanwhile, the balsam and the tea make their own little coalition, and though I am not a balsam fan, it’s absolutely gorgeous with the tea. The effect is of a solitary woman swathed in white, aloof and untouchable. Somehow, these too distinct impressions work together to make a mesmerizing whole, not really like anything in the catalog I can think of. Dry: Mostly patchouli, with a hint of balsam and carrot seed.

In bottle: Strongly floral, with the rose and lily dominant. The tea buoys and supports the flowers, tying it all together. The zest gives a vibrant tang to the florals, the musk a touch of sensuality. This is well blended and a good,

Pumpkin Masala Rooibos is certainly unusual.

In bottle: Boneflower turns out to be utterly lovely and an unusual floral, simultaneously heady and delicate. The other soft elements beautifully wreath the boneflower, like lesser gems in setting designed to show off a costly jewel. The oakmoss stands a little separate, giving the scent an edge. Wet: The boneflower is less pure on my skin, though still strong and gorgeous. The sage begins to shine. A little more time and the woods come out. Still the bone flower shines, lovely and unique. Dry: Boneflower and a touch of olive blossom and oakmoss, but really boneflower.

In bottle: Almond dominant with coconut sugar next. The other elements are distinct and lovely. It’s beautifully blended. Wet: It is lovely, and still almond and coconut sugar dominant. As the skin warms, each spice steps forward in turn, with the fennel and peppercorn particularly noticeable. With time, the sweeter elements like the sugar and almond softer and it becomes fennel and pepper dominent. The effect is fascinating and not expected. Dry: Fennel, fennel, fennel.

In bottle: Lots and lots of rose hips. I’d put chamomile second, with result being very herbal tea. I’d put the fig at distant third, and ginseng present, but mostly serving as an accent, rather than a distinct component. Wet: More interesting on the skin. Somehow, the chamomile and rosehips work very well together to an unusual effect. The other elements provide good support. My skin does nasty things with both rose and chamomile, but this very nearly works. I skin tested by accident, but it turned out worthwhile. Dry: Softer and paler, mostly rose.

In bottle: strongly ozone and carbonated smelling, with the barest hint of cologne. This is the ozone note I tend to do badly with, so take my impressions with a grain of salt. Wet: Lovely as it warms and the cologne comes out a bit. The cologne reminds me a bit of Olisbos, only without the leather. There is a feel of snowy mountain trees under the still dominant ozone. I’m still having trouble with this ozone note, but everything under it is brilliant and complex. It really does fit it’s concept and context beautifully, and I could almost wear this even with the ozone. Alas, my skin chemistry can’t quite pull it off. Dry: Fast fading, with hints of cologne all that’s left.

In bottle: It’s the snow note I do well with, ozoney and sharp with a sweet undertone. There is a lot of pine in this. Lovely and well suited to its concept. Wt; more complex. The snow and pine is still there, but there is a hint of maybe cinnamon or nutmeg and incense. It opens up to vistas of landscapes and worship. Utterly lovely and very Wintry. Elegant and lovely. Dry: Powdered sugar for snow over fait winter forest, and soft, sexy incense. This is lovely and perfect.

In bottle: It’s a lovely evergreen forest scent, spruce dominant, with a complexity of woods framing the spruce. I love how warm this smells and the way the birch complements the pine. Wet: Even warmer on the skin. The individual woods really pop as the skin warms it. It’s like you can smell the individual needles, leaves, bark, and sap. Lovely an a paragon of it’s type. Dry: Sweeter in the dry down, with the elements more balanced in relation to each other and more blended, less distinct. Still the eidos of Northern forets, still warm and wonderful.

In bottle: Olibanum dominant with wisteria a strong second. Ambergris and verbena are a lovely frame for the dominant notes. The sandalwood is soft and ties the other elements together. The chemical tang of the verbena and olibanum is clearly science doing the mocking, while the more ethereal elements represent the spirit world. Wet: The Verbena makes its move and becomes dominant, mingling strongly with the wisteria and subsuming the olibanum. The other elements fade into the background haunting the more powerful notes. Dry: The Olibanum comes back, still twined with the olibanum and ambergris. The wisteria and sandalwood are still present, but soft, like a pale ghost.

In bottle: Poppy dominant with a strong musk and orris presence. The clove gives it a spicy warmth. This is heady, a sexy sort of floral This is a lot of musk, so if you are naturally musky, this might be a bad match, but otherwise should be fine. No skin test, orris.

That's what i'm looking for; a lavender domiinent spray for sleep. Is the rose strong? I'm not good with rose.