dancingchair

Rogue: Soft, well-worn black leather, hemp, and rosin. Bliss: A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate. Black Rider: Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber. Wet on the skin, this is sticky sweet chocolate backed by tons of leather and a chewy touch of tobacco. As it dries, chocolate pulls back a bit and it becomes more like chocolate-sweetened leather. I can definitely smell the hemp from Rogue and it's giving the perfume an edge that keeps it from being too overwhelmingly sweet. I haven't tried Bliss so to me this is a great Rogue blend.

In the decant it is screechingly strong cherry. Wet on the skin, it starts out very strong on the cherry but it melts away into a really nice cherry and honey combo. As it dries, the peppercorn and the carnation become more prominent and it turns into a beautiful sweet and spicy floral. It does remind me a bit of a cherry potpourri because something about the carnation smells dried or something. Maybe that's the peppercorn at work? I do not get cherry lozenge thankfully, but I also don't get a lot of cherry in the dry-down. I am very picky about florals but this is really nice.

Bewitched is straightforward berry and sage for the most part, with the dark musk adding a deep and mysterious note reminiscent of dark woods and incense. I don't get much green tea, but it could be subtly adding a grassy effect in the background. It is a bit soapy but that doesn't bother me. Very witchy, I like it!

Wet, this is mostly vanilla and tonka, very creamy smooth. As it dries, I get more sage and dusty sandalwood. The leather adds a warm, soft backdrop, like the feeling of stepping into a hot dry summer day. I don't get much of the Snake Oil spice. I think it's lurking under the sage, adding a tiny bit of flair to the whole scent. This seems very easy to wear. I really like it!

Wet on my skin, this is very honey, vanilla, and cherry forward. As it dries, the other elements come out and Blood Kiss transforms into a very rich scent. The honey is still very prominent, but the cherry and vanilla are more in the background, working to sweeten the notes. The vetiver, wine, and poppy are the most prominent, adding a heady smokiness. I get clove the least, but it adds a nice hint of spice. This is not too cloyingly sweet for me but I revel in wearing the thickest, ooziest honey smells.

In the bottle this smells sharp, but on my skin the crocodile transforms into a fun cuddly oakmoss blend. On application, the sharp note disappears after a little while and I smell a lot of mint and nutty vanilla. The mint fades away very quickly and the oakmoss and cedar join to make this a fun gourmand/incensy woods blend. Usually my skin amps oakmoss but in How Doth the Little Crocodile it is balanced very well by the other notes. I do not get pencil from this blend, thankfully. I don't know about full sizing this because the opening sharp note makes me wary, but it's neat that I found an oakmoss perfume that I like!

2011 version In the bottle Red Lantern is a sultry caramel that almost smells like honey. Wet, it opens with a very strong opium smoke stage that overwhelms everything else. Once it dries it blooms into a wonderfully complex scent that really does evoke an opium den. I get a creamy, coconut version of that rich caramel and amber under chewy tobacco and curling wafts of astringent opium smoke. The spices keep the caramel from being too cloyingly sweet but thankfully my skin doesn't amp them like it usually does. I don't really detect any black currant or delphinium. I adore this, but it feels like something to wear on special occasions because it's so complex and sensual.

In the bottle, this smells like wonderful rich pumpkin cheesecake smothered with chocolate and cherries. On my skin, I get straight cinnamon. Skin chemistry strikes again! I'm hoping that aging will help the other foodie notes come out more because I love how this smells before it hits my skin.

In the bottle: rich, jammy raspberry and apricot nestled in a buttery pastry. The raspberry is a bit tart. Wet on the skin: endless dollops of tart raspberry jam. The apricot is still there, but it's supporting the raspberry and adding a bit of juicy sweetness. I don't get much of the doughnutty notes yet. Dry on the skin: the raspberry jam calms down a bit and settles in with the apricot. I can smell a powdered sugar note now and maybe a hint of fluffy bready doughnut. It smells like a plate of sugar-dusted sufganiyot stuffed full to bursting with thick raspberry and apricot jam. I just got this today so I'm not sure how long it lasts on the skin, but the throw is good. Overall it smells very yummy and fruity. I was a bit apprehensive about the apricot, but I think it strikes a nice balance with the raspberry. I've never tried Raspberry Sufganiyot so I can't draw a comparison, unfortunately. I'm hoping that aging will bring the doughnut notes out more, but I do love it right now.

Very herbaceous lavender on one of those sugary sweet store-bought vanilla cupcakes. The frosting note smells dead on for those pre-packaged cupcakes you can buy in grocery stores. The lavender keeps things from getting too sweet, since it's more astringent instead of a soft floral. I love this! It reminds me of TKO but with cupcakes instead of plain vanilla.

In the imp, I get a strong chemicaly note that I can't really pin down. Maybe it's a wood polish or brass note? It covers up most of the other notes so I wasn't sure what to expect. Wet on my skin, this note persisted for a while but it did eventually fade as the perfume dried. I do mostly get vanilla, shadowed with a nice tobacco note. The wood notes are definitely there, supporting the vanilla. It is primarily a non-foodie vanilla perfume. This is all right! I wish the tobacco was a bit stronger, but it is very wearable.

In the imp I get a heady blend of patchouli and musk. Right when I first apply Satyr, I also get patchouli and musk, but that melts away into straight cinnamon and cloves on me as it dries. It's reminiscent of eating red hots in a head shop. I was hoping for more musk but my skin tends to amp cinnamon and clove. It does make me think the sugar cookie version could be nice, though. Maybe the sweet cookie would temper the spice?

On application, it definitely opens with dryer sheets or a floral air freshener. As it dries, it develops into a more gentle floral sweetened lightly with honey. I was hoping for more thick, oozing honey and less wildflower, but it's still nice. This will be okay occasionally for spring, but I don't really feel the need to seek out a full bottle.

Urban Undine is pretty true to the notes. It's not soapy to me, which I was nervous about since aquatics tend to go tragically soapy on me. On application, the lavender starts out herbal and strong, paired with an equally strong salty ambergris accord. As it dries down, the lavender fades to a whisper in a nice ambergris-heavy aquatic scent. It's a straightforward and solid aquatic. I like it and I think it will make a good warm weather perfume. Edit: Urban Undine works wonderfully for layering. I really love it with forest note heavy perfumes to transform it into a woodland lake atmospheric. Edit 2: After just 4 months, this has aged beautifully. It's now a very soft lavender aquatic, more reminiscent of rain than ocean. Stunning!

I think when I nabbed this one, I expected it to be fluffy, citrusy marshmallow with some woodiness from the sandalwood bringing down the florals. Instead, it's more like sweet floral lavender, delicate pink rose, and perfumey sandalwood are all dancing together on light clouds of airy marshmallow. I only catch occasional wafts of the vanilla and I don't catch much bergamot at all. Maybe as it ages the marshmallow and vanilla will become a bit stronger? I can see this being a wonderful match for many people, but it is almost too floral for my tastes. If I layer it with a vanilla perfume, it is really stellar.

I was kind of nervous about the bread and fry notes, but they combine to make a yeasty and starchy backdrop that greasily grounds the sweetness of the prominent chocolate chip cookie dough. The cotton sweatpants note reigns the foodiness in a bit so it's not overwhelmingly dripping with buttery oil. Pandemic vanitas smells like sitting around at home in a comfy hoodie and sweatpants eating delicious snacks and it's wonderful.

2010 version Wet, this is a very thick and decadent honey. As it dries, the snake oil comes out more, but it smells muted as though it's been drenched in honey. When it's dry, it has a powdery honey sillage. Closer to the skin I can still smell that thick honey and the incensy notes of snake oil. I looove honey perfume and this is no exception. It has good throw and longevity on me. Definitely a winner.

Pinched with Four Pumpkins is very creamy to me. With the tobacco and woods, sometimes it almost reads as a toasted coconut smell to me. If I dab this perfume, I don't really get much more than a hint of the cinnamon bark but when I slather, it comes out a lot more but it's still not overpowering and I tend to amp cinnamon. Overall, it's reminiscent of smoking a wooden pipe with a cup of pumpkin coffee that has generous dollops of cream and sugar added. I was on the fence about trying this one but I'm glad I nabbed a bottle because I love it.

On me this is mostly sweet and powdery, reminiscent of beeswax like others have noted. The hemp and leather give it an earthy edge that I really enjoy. Straightforward but addicting!

When I put this on, I did get a definite book or magazine smell! It kind of reminds me of those perfume samples that come in magazines, except the perfume sample is a cuddly, sweet lavender. It reminds me of going through magazines with my mom as a kid, peeling apart the glossy pages and smearing the perfume on my wrists. It's a bit too perfumey for my taste to be wearable all the time but it is a fun, nostalgic sensory experience.

For the first twenty minutes or so after applying this perfume, it's pretty gingerbread and clove forward for me, but my skin tends to amp spices. As it dries more, though, the tobacco comes out and it becomes this wonderful smoky gingerbread. I don't get much leather on my skin, but I think I can catch whiffs of it from the sillage? This is a lovely winter scent, all the gingerbread spices and clove make it very warming. A great perfume for drinking hot chocolate and sitting by a crackling fireplace.

When I first got this, it smelled mostly like lemon and I was a bit worried because that wasn't what I was expecting at all. Now that it's rested a bit, it's a much more balanced scent. When you first apply Lights, Camera, Something, it opens with an energizing waft of lemon over a pillowy vanilla base. As it dries down, I do get a lovely fluffy cloud of lavender. The cardamom adds a nice toasty, spicy note that grounds the scent. It has great longevity, but by the end of the day I mostly only smell a hint of vanilla and the cardamom. Even though I get quite a bit of lavender and the vanilla is so marshmallowy, I don't think it's a great sleep smell because the lemony note is so peppy. It's very well-suited for busy days, though!

This one went tragically wrong on me. I do get a soapy laundry detergent scent and a nice peachy smell, but I think the bergamot from the tea somehow turns it into something like cat pee. 😭 I'm hoping with some age the ammonia-like sharpness will fade because I really wanted to like this perfume.

On application, this is mostly buttery hazelnut and coconut. I think the sandalwood keeps this from getting too decadent, but this is still a pretty rich scent. After wearing for a while, the sandalwood and lavender peek out a tiny bit more, adding a gentle floral touch. I don't get much vanilla, it's probably being swallowed up by the hazelnut and coconut. It has great longevity, I can usually smell whiffs of it well into the afternoon if I put it on early in the morning. I love this so much! It's like a big warm, fluffy hug.

In the bottle: mostly juicy plum and blackberry wine, with a hint of the lavender adding floral sweetness. Deliciously purple! Wet on skin: still mostly plum and blackberry wine, but I can smell the sandalwood adding a bit of woodiness now. Dry on skin: The lavender and white musk come out more, making the plum and blackberry wine combo smell more crisp, clean, and floral and less juicy. The sandalwood is still there in the background, adding a hint of wood. I don't really get much boozy smell from the wine, at this stage it's mostly plums with a twist of blackberry. Overall, a really nice purple-y fruity scent!