Gwydion

In bottle: Strongly Apple dominant, with black currant making the fruit smell richer. The honey sweetens and softens. The cardamom adds a hint of mulling on top of what is otherwise crisp, fresh from the tree apple. The tart and the sweet work well with that kiss of spice. Wet: Cardamom pops on the skin, like fireworks on the sky canvass of apple. The honey is soft, but pervasive. The black currant is very understated. Dry: Apple and blackcurrant.

In bottle: Rich and delicate. Plum dominant, but with strong green tea support. The honey and ambergris blend well and bridge the strongest notes. Vanilla flower supports the plum. It is like old fashion hand tatted lace: intricate looking and surprisingly strong with all the threads supporting each other. Wet: Very feminine, sweet, floral green tea. The honey is now dominant with the tea a strong second. This would make a brilliant atmosphere spray for Spring. It’s just very Spring generally. Dry: Mostly vaguely floral ambergris accord.

In bottle: I would swear this has anise in it. This smells like a rich black tea with licorice. Apparently my brain thinks if you combine neroli, oudh, and benzoin with tea you get licorice tea. Who knew? The tobacco makes it a little dirty. I like this. Wet: Ah, the neroli, benzoin, and oudh separate out and become dominate as a group. On my skin the neroli is mildly dominant. It still has a hint of the licorice black tea, only now with lemon, since my skin turns tea accord into lemon tea generally. This is gorgeous if you are wanting a resiny, floral tea scent. Dry: A bit high end shampoo.

In bottle: I fear I do not like cistus as it turns out. Add it to benzoin and amber and it’s rather vaguely floral shampoo. The caramelized tobacco and blackened nutmeg give it a dangerous, slightly burned feel. I can tell this will not work, so no skin test.

In bottle: The coconut and macadamia milk work really well together, with strong cream support and softer marshmallow support. The amber elevates what is otherwise a creamy coconut blend. This is delightful. I wish I could eat it. Wet: The macadamia is stronger on my skin, becoming dominant. The amber becomes a more assertive counter weight to the nutty creamy foody elements. I still like it, but not quite as much. Dry: Coconut and Cream.

In bottle: The chocolate and the lemon tea go well together, the richness of the chocolate and the tartness of the Embalming fluid complimenting each other. The musk supports the chocolate and the aloe smoothes the edges. It’s lovely. Wet: My skin amps lemon, so the balance leans towards the embalming fluid on my skin, though there is that lovely dark chocolate at the base. This is gorgeous, though sharper of edge. I love this. Dry: Embalming Fluid.

In bottle: I’d swear there was balsam in this, which I’m wondering might be the “clean” in the description or if the rosin happens to be very balsam like here. It is very balsamy, with tobacco in strong support. Leather is understated and one of the softer versions of that accord. I like what I suspect is greasepaint, or possibly rosin if that isn’t the thing that is balsam like, and the ghost of hair adds a hint of mystery, but I don’t do well with balsam and I think this is too much.

In bottle: How did I miss this had massoia in it when I read the desc? (facepalm) Let’s see if it tries to close my throat. It smells lovely, honey sweet with hyssop and a touch of massoia in support. The apple and pomegranate both pop bright and clear out of the slightly medicinal honey. I really like it, but my throat itches, so no skin test.

No help with the chocolate and vanilla hunt, but I wanted to mention that BEWILDERED IN A DREAM (Company says: A disorienting eddy of French lavender, black tea, orange blossom, sharp green tea leaf, pink flowering thorn, and a blot of inky resins.) is amazing.

In bottle: Musk dominant with ambrette support. Very sexy. The brown sugar, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin seed form a strong second faction together. I often have trouble with lab pumpkin, but it’s soft and well blended here with the much stronger sugar and gentle sweet potato notes. The cardamom and clove are sharply drawn accents. The oats are gentle and tie it all together. This is beautifully designed. Wet: Everything gets more distinct as it warms. The cardamom really pops. Something in the sweet potato accord really brings it out. I often have trouble with strong musks, but the sweet potato musk goes well with my skin chemistry without being overwhelming. The clove and oats stand out more clearly. The effect is both sharper and shallower than in the bottle. I still like this, but I’m not the ideal skin chemistry for this. It is so unusual and compelling in the bottle, but I flatten it. Dry: Mostly musk and some amberette.

In Bottle: Gingerbread and leather dominant, and oh do they go well together. Bay rum is sexy support to the leather, with the woods in gentler support. This is less salty than in plain Jolly Roger in feel, the salt giving an edge to the gingerbread. Wet: The wood finds the salty gingerbread and does glorious things. The leather is still twined in a startlingly compelling embrace with the gingerbread. The Bay Rum really pops, the rum bringing out the sweet cakiness of the gingerbread. I’d call this gingerbread and rum dominant by about five minutes in. It is a masculine sexy sort of foody in feel. Dry: Mostly leather and sea spray.

In Bottle: Heavenly. Leather is dominant, but twines beautifully with a strong gingerbread note and it’s candied fruit dominant fruitcake crumbs. The tobacco is particularly rich and ties it all together, but really, the combination of the leather and baked goods elements is heady and resplendent. I want to smell like this. Wet: Ginger moves into dominant position, with the leather second. Cake supports ginger; tobacco supports leather. I still really like it, but it is not as compelling on my skin as it was in the imp. I can’t tell you why ginger leather isn’t as exciting and leather/gingerbread fruitcake, but it isn’t, somehow it is thinner on my skin instead of rich and bright in the imp. Dry: Candied fruit over tobacco.

In bottle: Fascinating. Licorice dominant, but beautifully blended with the strong musk and gentler tobacco. The myrrh pops, but plays well with the others. There really is a hint of rust about this. This is really different from other licorice blends I’ve encountered, being a musk/incense blend rather than foody. Weirdly sexy. Wet: Somehow completely different on my skin. I think we’ve wandered into the land of accidental accords where my brain mis-parses components, so odds are you won’t experience this. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was a citrus blend as there is a tartness to it. The rust becomes blood. The licorice, tobacco, and myrrh swirl together by some strange alchemy to make something…almost floral, as if a carnation was licorice instead of spice, if that makes sense. The musk and blood say rough sex to me. It’s sweet and disturbing and darkly sexual all at once. It does stay licorice dominant, and with time the disturbing dials down to a licorice floral sexy. Dry: Licorice stays stong with a sexy musk undercurrent.

In bottle: So much patchouli, with the wood in support. Tonka bean is soft, but gentles it a little, with hints of the other bits. I can already tell this is way too much patchouli for me. Wet: Still patchouli dominant with wood in support, but the tonka, honey, and oudh come out as it warms, which gives it a better balance. The hay and chestnut blossoms are very understated. I like this better on the skin, and the honeyed oak and tonka are lovely together, but it’s still above my patchouli threshold enough to get a minor skin reaction. Dry: The patchouli stays strongest all the way down, gentled by tonka and oak.

A fur and cap all made of snow: frosted vanilla sandalwood. In bottle: Ozoney snow with a mint edge, sweetened with vanilla, kissed with a hint of sandalwood. This used to be my favorite snow note, but I can’t wear it any more due to skin chemistry changes. No point in skin testing, alas.

With peach bark and oakmoss for a hint of earthiness. Review: Rich peach, masculinised by the oakmoss and bark, with a touch of sweet honey. I was pleasantly surprised by how dark and sexy this is.

Maybe Nyx? Similar notes... . Perhaps Depraved or Ravenous? They smell similar. You may have to layer to get the clove... Ravenous is orange blossom and patchouli. I find the strong patchouli in ddepraved muddies the apricot. I like the brightness of March hare's apricot, unfortuneateely. They were kind suggestions.

In bottle: I am not sure the whiskey and the buttercream will work for me properly in combination. It might be a little too heavy for me, for all I love the lab whiskey note. The apple cider is lovely support for the whiskey The cake supports the butter cream. Wet: The apple cider comes out more strongly on the skin with the whiskey in support. The buttercream backs down enough to let the white cake shine. I was dubious in the bottle, but to my pleased surprise this looks to be working, and working well. I love the way the booze dances with the cake. I wish I could eat this. Dry: Cakey heaven with a bit of booze.

In bottle: Sharp white notes over musky wood. Surprisingly sexy, but I suspect too high octave for my skin chemistry range. Wet: Very white musk dominant with wood support. The ectoplasm adds sweet pale mildly ozone spikes, but this works on me way better than I had any right to expect. I really can almost wear this and I think this would be lovely on someone with slightly different skin chemistry. Dry: Mostly musk with some wood to balance. Still sexy.

In bottle: This is one of the more worn and buttery leather notes. It is strongly dominant, but the leather smells like it would be soft to the touch, if that makes sense. The wood notes are unusual and good support to the leather. The straw and hair work together with the hair being vaguely alarming. I’d actually call the straw about coequal with the woods, with the hair being an accent more than a stand alone. Wet: The hair is stronger on the skin, lending the dominant leather a vaguely rotting air. The woods are second strongest, with the straw fading to background. I think it was more interesting in the bottle. Dry: Mostly leather, more hair than I’d like, touches of wood.

In bottle: This is quite interesting. Cedar dominant with patchouli support, the cedar having a burnt feel to it. The mate is a soft background. The peppercorn and lime are bright accents, beautifully bright against the darker dominant notes. Wet: Still burnt cedar dominant with patchouli support. The pepper is surprisingly strong, with the mate and lime soft echoes. This suits it’s concept, but is less exciting on my skin than in the imp. Dry: Mmmmm….Cedar. A hint of patchouli lingers.

In bottle: Lemongrass dominant with strong davana support and lighter oakmoss support. The white amber softens the sharpness of the dominant coalition a scootch. Wet: Mostly lemongrass with some davana and a kiss of amber and oakmoss. This is too much for me, to bright and sharp and lemony on my skin, but likely would ride better on someone younger. Dry: Mostly Amber and oakmoss.

In bottle: The opoponax is the puppeteer here, sweetening and taming the fresh cut evergreens. The tobacco paints a soft cozy background. This is beautifully designed. I was expecting the evergreens to be overwhelming. Instead they are strong, but beautifully set off by the opopnax and tobacco to make something truly lovely. Wet: Smokier and less sweet on the skin. The evergreens differentiate more clearly with fir dominant with the pitch and tar in support. The opoponax lends a hint of sex appeal, while the tobacco lends balance. Dry: The opoponax strikes back on the dry down and the evergreens soften. It’s gentler and more resiny and less sexy.

In bottle: This is strangely compelling. The ash and crumbs combine to make something dry, ashy. And sweet. The herbs lend a sharpness. I’m guessing there is evergreen in the cologne. It invokes Yule and a touch of masculine sexiness. Wet: The herbs really come out on the skin, bringing out the dark green sexiness of the cologne with them and becoming the dominant impression together. The crumbs are a background sweetness with the ghost of ash hanging over it. This is shockingly sexy on the skin. I was intrigued with the virgin scent, on my skin? Wow! Dry: Fast fading, alas. The cologne remains lovely and mingles with the cake crumbs.

In bottle: Wine. So much wine. Wine nearly overwhelming the other elements. Of the other elements, the bouquet is most noticeable, with the bread blending well with the wine. The whiskey is a ghost.