Gwydion

In bottle: Very purple. The violet leaf is wonderfully sharp, yet blends beautifully with the lilac and lavender. The saffron gives it body. The gunpowder tea is understated but ubiquitous. Wet: Less fun on the skin. My chemistry curdles the violet leaf, turning it artificial and nasty. The flowers are still lovely and blend with the tea in interesting ways, while the saffron is a touch more assertive. I’m heartbroken by the way my skin reacted with the violet leaf as this is otherwise lovely and unusual. Dry: The gunpowder tea really comes out. The florals soften and blend well with the tea. The violet leaf is still problematic with my skin chemistry, but improved.

In bottle: Delicious! The ginger is glorious with the incense. It’s more baked goods than not, but the incense elevates it, the pepper gives it edge, and the tobacco sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it really ties it all together. Wet: opoponax and neroli is more obvious on the skin, making the whole thing sharper and edgier than foodie. It’s utterly beautiful still. The ginger’s wonderful support for the incense now. The whole thing is charmingly quirky and interesting. Dry: I’m not generally an opoponax fan, but this is a lovely usage. As the edges blur between the ginger, opoponax, neroli, and tobacco, the effect is pleasant and softly sweet incense. Exquisite and unusual.

In bottle: Linen and rose mostly, with a particularly rambunctious snow formulation and a really interesting dust note. This is an unusual and quirky rose dominant scent, unlike anything I can think of in the catalog. No skin test, rose.

In bottle: The berry is strong, dominant, lovely, and unusual. The florals are complex and make a lovely frame for the berries. The incense is soft and well blended with the florals. Really, this is all about the berries. No skin test, rose.

In bottle: Rose dominant. Vetiver provides a very understated hint of corruption. As this is all death notes to me, I’m not skin testing.

In bottle: This is so up my alley! The soil is rich and wet and dominent. The moss, mold, wool, and chitin give rich and complex support. The blood and aftershave are just present enough to give it an edge. Wet: Much as in the bottle, only the moss is stronger in the balance and the individual elements all pop more as the skin warms them. If anything, it’s even more interesting and beautiful on the skin. Dry: Less impressive, alas. It makes me think of niter and moss covered bones. Main survivors are moss, wool, and chitin, with the other notes fading into the background

In bottle: Fascinating. It really does give the impression of bone, vaguely floral bone. The sandalwood is dominant, forming a coalition with beeswax and lotus root. The moss is second strongest, sharp and hinting of graveyards. The clove is lovely here, soft, but pervasive. The vetiver is understated, loaning a hint of corruption to the whole. No skin test, vetiver.

In bottle: musk dominant with strong opoponax, tobacco, and myrrh. The musk/vetiver combination is darkly sexual, with the vetiver well blended. The myrrh, opoponax, and sage, create a dark incense effect, and the oakmoss/tobacco/hemp cabal puts up a civilized, masculine front under which all this darkness seethes. This is beautifully designed and blended. No skin test, vetiver.

In bottle: Classic 60’s or 70’s perfume in feel. The frankincense makes the florals a little more sensuous and edgy. The rose is dominant, followed by the frankincense with hyssop and oude in support. No skin testing, rose and frankincense.

In bottle: This is very minty and I suspect eucalyptus, which is a shame, as I love the lichen. Mint and ozone dominate. No skin test, mint.

In bottle: Stunning! I wish I could wear this. The leaves are lovely with the unusual mums/carnation floral combination. It is sharply autumnal. The linen is understated and beautifully blended with leaves and flowers. The amber and musk serve to tie the other elements together, softly sexy and ubiquitous. The roses are very understated. This is stunning. No skin test rose.

In bottle: The iris is dominant with musk well blended in support. The daisies and sunflowers are soft, but present. I’m also impressed, as this is the nicest use of eucalyptus I can remember. It’s beautifully understated and excellent support for the florals. I think the eucalyptus is functioning as a touch of frost here. No skin test for eucalyptus.

In bottle: The mints are dominant and distinct. The elemi turns out to be the touch of pine, and the musk is nearly overwhelmed. If you like mints, this would be a good edition to your collection. Not skin tested for mints.

Breathless horror is certainly unusual and Inextinguishable hatred is deliciously quirky.

In bottle: Camphor is dominant and genuinely interesting with the mint, carrot and more delicate elements. It’s sweetly medicinal and certainly unusual. No skin test for mint.

In bottle: Surprisingly sexy. The opium and vetiver are creating a vaguely sinister sexuality here. The opoponax adds to the sinister, the plum to the sensual. The moss gives it an earthy feel. I’m guessing the davana is giving it a hint of floral. The opoponax the hint of the lab. In my head I am picturing the scene from the Whale version of Frankenstein with the little girl and the daisies as I smell this. No skin test due to vetiver.

In bottle: Wow, the rose/pear/gardenia combination is delicate and lovely. The red currant and musk provides a sensuous edge to what is otherwise a very virginal scent. The honey and vanilla tie the elements together beautifully. This is very much a young woman’s scent. (No skin test due to rose).

In bottle: All elements distinct. I’d call it marginally rose water dominant with honey, fig and almond in a strong second tier. It is exactly what one would expect from the notes and fits the concept well. I am allergic yto fig and make rose smell terrible, so I;m not skin testing.

My favorite was Joyeux Noel, which is the only mint scent I've been able to wear safely. I wish I had bought a bottle.

Where one would wear the scent of dirt, I believe. Ah. Well you've made me smile. I loved the Unfortunate Shopping cart and it and the whole line it was from was quirky indeed

I award you 10 internetz for the Changeling: The Dreaming reference. What did I say that about?

Me too. I forget if I mentioned the weirdness that was Velvet Clown?

I wasn't a fan of DeSade, though I do like the Traveller. That strong leather note was a little stark and chemical by itself, but was fine layered. I used to keep some fore layeribg, but when it disconned, I passed mine on to someone who would love it like I couldn't.

I wasn't a fan of DeSade, though I do like the Traveller. That strong leather note was a little stark and chemical by itself, but was fine layered. I used to keep some fore layeribg, but when it disconned, I passed mine on to someone who would love it like I couldn't.

I'm no help with Sugar Skull, but the Candy Corn covered Apple was 2010.