Gwydion

In bottle; Mmmmm…bay rum and incense. This is a really pleasant cologne, which manages to evoke both an academically inclined man and an understated sensuality. The paper note is soft, yet pleasant. Wet: Smells a touch like shoe polish on top of the interesting cologne already discussed. It may also be a little too sweet for my skin, in a sweet tart sort of way. It still evokes a Victorian Gentlemen’s explorer club or the like, but apparently, my skin chemistry just doesn’t like it. As it warms, the incense really comes on strong, superseding the sweet tarts, so I’m thinking that’s where it came from. As it develops, I think the problem is in the bay rum/incense combination, when added to my natural musk. It just doesn’t work out. Dry: OMG. This is stunning. The remainers of the incense mingle with the paper and the bay rum to create something incredibly elegant and really interesting. This is heartbreaking as the wet phase is so offensive with my skin chemistry that there is no way I can wear this. It’s the near misses that hurt the most.

In bottle: The labdanum is surprisingly strong here, and not entirely ideal with the leather and metal. The effect evokes rotting leather and rusting metal. I’m edging towards declaring labdanum a note of death thanks to this, as leather/metal/myrrh should be glorious for me. Wet: Even more of what it smells like in the bottle, though the leather comes out more as it warms. This is really not working on me. It is all smoke and chemicals. Dry; the leather comes out stronger and tries to wrestle the labdanum to the floor, but it just can’t quite manage it.

In bottle: This is really unusual. The patchouli is giving an impression of cinnamon. The agarwood is unfamiliar, but I’m guessing that’s the lovely wood note doing cool things with the oakmoss. I am not sure how I feel about the opoponax, labdanum, as is often the case, since I tend to read them as vaguely medicinal. The rain here is not the “rain” scent popular in other products, but rather an impression of the scent of early evening on a rainy day. The leafs are understated. The whole thing is delicately blended and does give a scent Impression of a rainy day in September. Wet: I may be in love with the agarwood/leaves combination. I’m still rather dubious about the opoponax/labdanum combination, but it’s softer on my skin. This is so delicate and impressionistic and yet fascinating that I keep sniffing it. I keep imaging the garden of Pumpkin Patch three after everything has been harvested, the leaves from a nearby tree and plant remains from the garden all turning slowly to mulch is September rain. It manages at the same time to create an oddly sexy feminine perfume at the same time. Dry: I’m less sure about this now. The agarwood, oponax, and patchouli are now dominant and without the more subtle elements it’s just not that exciting.

In bottle: This has vetiver, so I’m not skin testing it. Vetiver dominent with lime and patchouli helping it gang up on my nose. It’s the scent equivalent of getting mugged really. It was so intense I couldn’t deal with it.

In bottle: As this has orris, I’m not skin testing it, so this too is inside the imp only. This is deeply appealing. It’s a surprisingly decadent pale scent. It turns out vanilla, incense, and lily is an amazingly cool blend, each element seamlessly edging into the next to make something absolutely wonderful. I wish I could wear it, especially as the orris is barely noticable, but despite the temptation, I’m not chancing it.

In bottle: I don’t recognize several elements and due to the rose I’m not skin testing. (It will smell of rotting rose petals if I do, so no point). As a result, this may not be the most accurate of reviews. The scent is very young qande very floral. The heliotrope/gardenia/rose combination is well blended, but rather much for me. However, if you really like heliotrope and are under twenty one, this might be an inoffensive choice.

In bottle: Startling. It smells like tanned furs mold, and pencil shavings, with an aquatic men’s after shave over it. I’m not sure about this; it may be too intense for me. Wet: Better on the skin, though still smelling faintly of rot. The mist/aquatic fragrance is certainly unusual. The incense is understated. I think it’s the fur giving me trouble. Dry: I’m really not liking this. Something just smells wrong, like hairspray smells wrong. I can’t put the words together properly to describe just what’s bugging me, but I think this one’s a no go.

In bottle: It smells like fruity candy, possibly jolly ranchers. Somewhere between their watermelon and strawberry, but closer to watermelon. Who knew that’s what winding sheets smell like? Learn something new every day. Wet: almost completely different. O.o It is still sweet and vaguely fruity, but now it’s more incense perfume like. Very feminine in an unusual and striking sort of way. This would be wonderful on a quirky and fun 20-something woman; it is outright weird on me. Dry: clothes fresh out of the drier. O.o I mean, that’s definitely linen. I have no idea where the rest went. Talk about deceptive and morphing on the skin.

In bottle: Mostly ozone. Think cypress grove in a lightening storm on a cliff overlooking a dark angry ocean. Wet: It’s richer on the skin. It’s feminine, in a wild, wind and rain swept way. I can’t decide if I like the olibanum. I go back and forth on it being either interesting or too much. Dry: Ozone, mostly.

I really like thorns myself. good thinking, apple.

Septima_pica, how does he feel about cedar?

I liked the sachs, but it's clearly needing aging and seasoning to really tell where it's going.

Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage. In bottle: I love the frankincense dominant incense in this one. It’s got a complex woody incense effect. Imagine a wooden cabinet with an altar in it, beeswax candles and a sensor prominent. Unfortunately, the lemon balm is a touch unbalancing. Wet: Significantly weirder on the skin. The lemon balm seems to curdle the other elements into something pungent and strange. Dry: This is one of the most complex and comforting incense blends I’ve ever sniffed. The other elements do rally and fight the upstart lemon balm, which still causes trouble now and then, but it smells really neat. It’s heartbreaking that it takes so long to get there.

revinn, I second Bastet as sexy. Also, have you tried blends with the opium note? It's one of the non-musk notes that generally read as sexy.

A lot of snow blends have mint in them. I can't handle mint or eucalyptus, but there are some snow blends I can handle, like Hunger Moon and death of a Gravedigger. I would say mint and eucalyptus are commen along with scents, but not the snow itself. I tend to seperate oceany aquatics from the wetlands ones like jazz funeral, but maybe that's just me.

In bottle: Whipped cream, yummy, yummy whipped cream. Wet: More vanilla on the skin, still very much a rich yet delicate whipped cream effect. It has a surprising amount of throw. Dry: Retains it’s creamy vanilla whipped cream effect, Though it fades it does loose some nuance. I consider this a winner overall.

In bottle: Pine mostly, and not surprisingly. It’s also surprisingly sweet, almost pine candy, if that makes sense. Wet: Rich pine with a damp ozone undertone. It’s quite nice. Dry: It’s a lot like embalming fluid, actually, with a touch of Tempest. It a light green ozone scent with a hint of pine.

A bawdy, gleefully wicked and unruly scent: Kentucky Bourbon, sugar and a sprig of mint. In bottle: Sugar and mint mostly. I’m surprised there is no juniper. The mint is strong enough for me not to risk skin testing. It’s not bad for a mint blend though.

You could try Death of a Gravedigger, if you can get it on swap. (It's a Salon). It's not minty or particularly floral, hut it's very edge of the forest in the snowy depths of winter.

chamomile for an herbal touch. Wet: A little too sweet, vanilla toffee with a touch of smoke and booze. Dry: A bit disappointing, in that my skin rather eats it. The bourbon burns off, leaving a pleasant enough vanilla and chamomile mix. I suspect this will age well, though, and I have hopes for it blossoming in a few months.

In bottle: The mint and caramel combination is interesting, but on aggregate less than ideal. I think this would be better with honey or sugar cane. That aside, it was quite fascinating in it’s nuances, to the point I was genuinely tempted to skin test it although I know better than to put mint on my skin. I’m not skin testing due to reactivity.

In bottle: herbal with narcissus and cypress on top. Wet: This smells like a cypress grove somewhere with narcissus and various herbs growing around. The ambergris is soft, but does lovely things with all that crushed greenery. It’s more floral than I like on me, but it’s quite lovely and very well designed and blended. Dry: Alas, it goes soapy, but that’s as likely my body chemistry as not, and the narcissus is lovely.

For me? Western diamondback, banded sea snake, Vicomte de Valmonte, jolly roger.

In bottle: It’s a very clean scent, on that ozone aquatic border. It’s got a lot of lavender. It makes me think of wind running before a storm over lavender, herb, and wild flower covered moors. There is a faint chill to it. Wet: I’m starting to pick up a touch of incense, possibly sandalwood, and it smells less windy and outdoorsy on my skin. It’s fairly androgynous. It’s got a green, crushed plant tone to it.. Dry: Very faint wood/incense scent. It goes fast, alas, alas.

In bottle: Apple on top, a touch over ripe, with the coconut rum and butterscotch supporting it. It’s eerily realistic. Maybe too realistic. Wet: That’s clearly red delicious there. I think the rum is creating the hint of rot. The coconut is less noticeable on the skin, while the caramel comes out stronger here. This is so realistic that my sensory equipment finds it confusing and it has a lot of throw. Dry: Ah. There’s the coconut. It’s beautifully blended, with all the elements contributing to the overall effect. The caramel does go faintly plastic, but not enough to matter. It’s excellent as apple blend go.