Gwydion

One can often find Capricorn for swap or sale.

A torpid black nougat with belladonna honey, somnolent lavender, and thyme. In bottle: I’m guessing it’s the sort of nougat with embedded almonds as the strong nougat scent has a distinctive almond flavour to it. The honey is strong and gives the impression of sweet gooiness. The lavender is a perfect accent to the nougat. The thyme is understated and clever, giving a special unexpected twist without being particularly strong compared to the other element. Wet: The honey is overwhelming the nougat a little, but luckily does not drown it. The lavander continues to be delicious with the nougat. The thyme is now most a hint than a reality. Dry: Mostly honey.

MOON OF THE TERRIBLE On New Year's Day each thought a loneliness as winter dusk descends Desolation at the last moment in the gloaming on New Year's Day: winter snow with white lavender, benzoin, lychee, white resins, and a cluster of melancholy, lachrymose lunar herbs. In bottle: The snow note it extremely dominant, but it’s the non-peppermint mint version which I can usually wear, with strong support from benzoin, lavender, and herbs. The herbs go particularly well with snow and lavender in this blend. The Lychee provides a sweet counterpoint with resins in support. It’s really interesting, but might be to heady for wearing. Wet: The lavender steps into dominance of the skin with snow in strong support with the herbs complicating them. The benzoin smoothes transition with the lychee and resins. As it warms, the snow moves back into dominance with the herbs in strong support. It’s quite the morpher. It also has big throw. Dry: Mostly snow kissed with lavender, and nard.

THE TRACKLESS ERG The merciless sun pounds on a sea of endless, wind-battered sand: desolate, lifeless, silent, and without end. In bottle: It's lovely and delicate and hard to explain. It's got a middle eastern incense feel to it. The individual elements are familiar, but hard to place without context. I'm guessing sandalwood and balsam are mixed in with other desert adjacent incense, and fragrant woods, and spices. I'm calling it balsam dominant. It may contain one of the paler musks, but that could just be my skin.

That's one of my favorites too.

HALLOWEEN: NEW ORLEANS I’ve spent many, many Halloweens in New Orleans. To me, it is the most beautiful, most imperfectly perfect city in the world. My strongest memory is of sitting on the banks of the Mississippi in the arms of my someday husband, the sounds of revelry in the distance, enveloped by the scent of water, moss, and sweet olive. The distinctive scent of the Mississippi at night mingling with sweet olive and Spanish moss. It's not the humid decay of the overgrown Bayou - this is the manicured city itself. The moss is light and sweet olive tree almost floral, giving this a bright, lemony kind of vibe. Because the scent is based on a happy memory, it doesn't surprise me that her scent memory is glorious, clear, bright and fresh. It's a memory of a quiet, unpeopled space save for the lovers looking past the trees into the water. I love it. In bottle: The moss is sharp, rising over gentle olive and a thick dark vaguely ozoney aquatic. I can’t decide if I like it, but I’m fascinated never the less. Wet: Warmer and spicier. I know there is no citrus listed, but it feels the way lemon smells, only dirty. The citrus effect is strong enough to overwhelm most of the rest of it, though I can still pick out moss and olive. Dry: Dry moss and olive with wet, dark swirling aquatic. The aquatic is dominant, modified by the plants. It’s a bit unsettling.

Absurd! Green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea with white chocolate and white hazelnut cream. In bottle: I’m surprised this has no liquor. I think it’s an accidental accord with the white chocolate dominant in it, but it smells like whiskey to me. I’m having trouble parsing it back into the listed components. I love the way it smells to me, but that is likely no help to people with more standard sensoriums. So call it whiskey with a strong white chocolate component supported by hazelnut cream and hints of patchouli and fruit. Omnomnom! Wet: It still smells like whiskey, but I’m now reading the mango as the dominant element of the accidental accord. If I concentrate, I can now disentangle the listed components from the accidental accord. As it wears, the accord collapses and you get a strongly mango dominant scent, with green tea support, a hazelnut cream second with white chocolate support, over a canvass of fig, with hints of patchouli. I still like it and it still reminds me of whiskey. It is delightfully strange. Wet: Fast Fading, alas to a soft patchouli.

Ozone, lavender, tobacco flower, and camphor. In bottle: Lavender dominant with tobacco in support. The camphor is second and I’m not sure I like it. The ozone is understated, but pervasive. Wet: Lavender dominant, but the camphor is creeping up on it. They are working together better on my skin than I expected from the bottle. I like the woodiness of the camphor with the lavender and tobacco, but I think the medicinal edge may still be a little overwhelming. As it warms, the camphor takes over, with the lavender becoming strong support and the tobacco and ozone fading into the background. It’s a clever design to show off the camphor and well blended, but it may be too intense for me. Dry: Weakened camphor with the ghost of lavender. Not for me, but easily for someone else.

In bottle: Marshmallow, sweetened with sugar. This is practically a marshmallow single note. Wet: Delicious marshmallow, softened and sweetened with sugar. Slightly nutty on the skin. Dry: Sugaty marshmallow.

In bottle: Contains orris, so no skin test. Very floral, which brings out the violet in the orris. The vanilla blends well with the flowers and the coconut is understated, but well suited to the over all design.

In bottle: This is lighter and sweeter than I imagined, the amber being strong and the pale fougere not being as heavy as one would expect. It startles, but it suits. Wet: Mostly amber with the pale, light fougere underneath. It is more feminine than I expected and would likely do as well on a woman as a man. it is more Thomas at the end than during. Dry: Very Ambery cologne.

In bottle: The licorice and tar combination is dominant. These are not scents I would have imagined go together but they do. The leather grounds and supports, the salt and pepper are an understated edge. Wet: The licorice is more distinct and the pepper helps it pop. The tar softens and blends into the leather that is now the second strongest element. Dry: Smells like leather and the sea.

In bottle: Ink dominant. It really does smell like ink on paper. The leather blends well with the pages. This is the perfect old book scent. Wet: Richer and more nuanced on the skin, still ink and paper dominant. Dry: Leather and the ghost of ink.

In bottle: Strangely sweet. I'd swear there were berries in this cologne. The sharpness of the copper and the grounding by the wood work beautifully here. Wet: It is more richly traditional men's cologne on the skin. The copper retains it's sharpness, but the wood comes into it's own, doing lovely things with the cologne. it's more androgynous than one would think. Dry: Woody cologne.

In bottle: Smells like pine needle loam, with musk second and a touch of blood. Wet: Still very pine loam, though it is gentler on the skin. The blood is stronger and sweeter. the musk warms up a bit, but really this is all about the pine loam and that's just fine with me. Dry: Loam and a hint of sweet.

In bottle: This makes me think of absinthe and dragon's blood. It's got a red berry element that is very dragon blood like and a strong licorice or anise element. I'd call it licorice dominant. Wet: Much greener on the skin. It's got a green tea and lemongrass feel to it, and the red berries are a soft background element. the licorice note is softened as well. It is lovely, but completely different on my skin. Dry: Hard to describe. It's soft and dragon's blood adjacent.

In bottle: The cypress, moss, and labdanum combine to a very strong and sharp effect. Tobacco flower supports the cypress and moss. Bergamot supports labdanum. This is compelling, but too intense for me, so no skin test.

In bottle: Surprisingly sharp, with the snow note with the softer mint dominant, it blends very well with the wood. Clay accord is a subtle thing and works well in support of the wood here. The blood is subtle but pervasive, which makes beautiful sense given the concept. The design is perfect for what it is. This is too intense for me, so I'm not skin testing.

In bottle: Pear and tonka dominant, beautifully supported by the coconut. The honey smooths the edges. the musk and leather accords are understated, but add a sexy edge to it. This is lovely. Wet: Very like in the bottle, with the Pear/tonka/coconut grouping dominant. The honey particularly, out also leather and musk are more distinct. I love this. Dry: Mostly Leather, musk, and a touch of coconut and honey.

Vicomte Valmote, classic cologne. Mimics pheremones.

This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus. Review: Mmm… that is definitely the Dia de Los Muertos I remember from before I got too allergic to wear it on my skin. At atmospheric spray is the ideal solution and I am ridiculously happy it now exists. The incense, candsies, sweet cakes, and flowers form an indescribable combination unique to this blend, sweet, rich, and purple, over a soft base of leaves. I’ve never figured out how to describe this scent, and likely never will, but oh, do I love it.

In bottle: Lavender dominent with oudh in support. the leather is a soft counterpoint. The bay leaf gives it a hint of edge. Wet: The leather and the dominant lavender are gorgeous together. the oudh forms a lovely bridge between the two. The bay leaf remains understated. Dry: Very powdery on the dry down. I think the leather accord separated a bit as it wore. Mostly leather accord components and oudh.

In bottle: Very very apple cider with a hint of fizz. Wet: More nuanced on the skin. I'd swear there is a subtle wood note suggesting the aging barrel. It is still strongly apple dominant. I often have trouble with the lab fizz note, but here it is delicate enough for me to wear. This is perfect. Dry: The perfect apple cider

In bottle: Very nuanced and complicated incense. The sandalwood, cypress, and leather work together to ground the other notes. It's cypress dominant with sandalwood support. The leather is a strong second, playing well with it's musk support. The insense is familiar, but I'm not placing it. There is a hint of burning about it. The Cardamom and cin namon complicate it. I think the incense is a little too strong for me, though I really love the way this is structured.

In bottle: Strongly neroli dominant with tea support. The musk blends well with the neroli. the tobacco flower is distinct, but plays very well with the tea. The leather is understated. This blend should be safe if you love neroli, but are not much fond of leather. The neroli is too strong for me, alas, so no skin test.