ceiswyn

As a compare and contrast: on me, Gluttony is almost pure chocolate, and I can still smell the chocolate note in Velvet a day later, after all the other scents have vanished; it's the same with 13. I think for the chocolate note you want, you're going to have to go for a scent locket.

In the imp: Oooh. Sweet and a little edible. The caramel and spices are strong in this one, with delphinium and a faint fruitiness that must be the blackcurrant around the edges. On the wrist: I think caramel loves my wrists. Behind it, yes, perfume cutting through rich tobacco smoke, with coconut very very faintly in the background. It doesn't seem to have a particularly strong throw at first, but in a little time the throw seems to strengthen, and further from my wrists the perfume/caramel elements are strong, with the very faintest edge of coconut, while closer to the tobacco predominates. God this is nice. One hour later: The amber and tobacco seem to have largely taken over on the wrist, but the throw is still gorgeous; similar to my beloved Tiresias (no great surprise with three of the ingredients the same), but lighter on the caramel, heavier on the tobacco, and threaded through with heavy perfume, evocative of a turn-of-the-century brothel or gaming house. It makes me feel like someone's made-up and perfumed mistress.

In the imp: Fruit. Oh yeah. Sweet initially, but with a slightly more rounded afterscent. Slightly spicy/herbal too. On the wrist: Mmm. Sweet and fruity, but not sharp, turning dryer. I think I can detect a hint of the hyssop and coriander, but mostly the smells just blend together into something, well, nice. One hour later: I may be keeping this imp, though I won't be getting a bottle. It's sweet and fruity, with a faint but complex herbal edge. It starts to turn slightly talcy around the edges on the left wrist, but that's all; it's a little sharper and spicier on the right. It's still got a good throw after almost two hours, and I don't think I'm going to find anything else that's such a nice, sweet, fruity, lasting summer scent.

In the bottle: It smells light, and slightly wet. Flowers with just a hint of fruit, grass and herbs. On the wrist: Is that lemon verbena I sense? Oh, this is nice. Sharp and herbal - lemon verbena and grass, with just enough ginger to add an extra complexity - with, yes, clean, fresh rain. It's exactly what it says on the tin. One hour later: My skin did the aquatic thing again. It's all gone soapy and slightly air freshener. *cries*

In the imp: This time, it's a light red (OK, dark pink) colour, not the peachy of the last Wrath I tried, when the lab had some issues with it. And it doesn't smell at all sweet or fruity; it's all about the spices. Clove and ginger, black pepper, the musk of dragon's blood behind it all. On the wrist: Ooh, black pepper! The clove and cinnamon come strongly through after, with a hint of the ginger, balanced and grounded by the musk of dragon's blood. Mmm, spicy After about ten minutes, has turned into my favourite cinnamon sweets... There is just the slightest hint of cherry in the throw; I suspect that this is from the dragon's blood. One hour later: Very strongly clove/cinnamon, slightly musky, just a little sweet and fruity. It's rather nice, but I still prefer Sin.

In the bottle: Mmm, biscuits. Cinnamon and ginger biscuits. Very warm and spicy. I vaguely suspect there of being black pepper in there somewhere as well. On the wrist: Oh, wow. At a distance, that's very biscuity; close to, the spice overwhelms my nose. Hothothot, but not actually very sweet. I suspect that the 'ritual herbs and dark resins' are what's giving this the darker, deeper, slightly dank note that prevents it going entirely foody. One hour later: Still strongly gingery, but not overwhelmingly so. It's become faintly musky, and there are definitely other spices there, but a little too faint to make out in detail. A very nice, dry scent, but not quite lively enough to be one of my favourites.

In the bottle: A woody scent; strongly rosewood, backed by the citrus of bergamot. There's the sweetness of flowers somewhere in the background, but the rosewood-citrus strikes me as strongly masculine. On the wrist: I love rosewood. I used to use it as perfume, and bergamot to calm my skin, and together they remind me of summers when I was younger... And this is rosewood and bergamot, with the violet and primrose strengthening on the skin as an afterscent, and the musk and sandalwood nowhere to be seen. It's gorgeous. One hour later: Ah, now I can smell the musk and sandalwood. They're there up at the front, alongside the rosewood, just before it tails into bergamot. The right wrist is muskier, the left more strongly citrus. There seems to be no trace of the violet or primrose now, and to be honest I'm rather relieved. This perfume has a good throw - I've been smelling it for the last hour - and I'm keeping it. Though I think I'd be happier if they'd left off the musk. Over the next few hours, the musk gradually takes over; but as it begins to fade again the bergamot and chamomile come through on my left wrist, and the primrose on my right. After twelve hours of wear, it's as if I'm wearing two different perfumes! Fortunately, I like both

In the bottle: An oddly lemony sweetness that must be the lotus, underlaid with the fresh menthol of juniper and mint. My nose feels cold after sniffing this. Not noticeably menacing, though On the wrist: There is an odd darkness to this on the wrist; I think that's because the juniper has come through more. The juniper and mint inextricably intermingled, cut strongly through the fruity sweetness of the lotus, like, yes, an undertow lurking beneath the sea's serene and inviting surface. One hour later: Apparently my skin amps lotus. Because, other than menthol coldness in my nose after sniffing my wrist, and a slight leavening of the overblown fruity sweetness of the lotus, the juniper and mint have vanished utterly. This is a great pity.

In the bottle: At first it's the cocoa I smell, followed by something unidentifiably fruity, with a hint of flowers. On the wrist: On the palm of the hand where I spilled it wrist, the white chocolate instantly comes through, and the spices and (I think) massoia bark come through quite strongly. I can, I think, smell the orchid in the background, and that worries me; I'd hoped there'd be very little orchid in this, since it amps on my skin. The hint of fruit is still there, but not as strong on my wrist; fruit never is. One and a half hours later: White chocolate, with the faintest hint of fruit, flowers and spices, gradually going dusty on the wrist. On the palm, strongly white chocolate and vanilla, with a whisper of spices.

In the imp: This is very fruity (apricots? peaches? is that a hint of grape - must be the pomegranate), but with something creamy in the background. On the wrist: Whoa! Fruit! The apricots are strong in this one, backed by wild rose and a little of the perfume-smell of orchid and faint musk. One hour later: The fruitiness has faded considerably, and the orchid intensified. Why does my skin amp orchid? Why? I'm all worried about the latest 13 now The musk is very faint, just enough to 'ground'.

In the bottle: This smells delicious. A little fruity, a little spicy, with some flowers in the background to prevent it going over-sweet or over-foody. On the wrist: On the wrist the flowers come through strongly, backed with a little fruit and spice, with a strongly musky afterscent. After a few moments the flowers have stopped being quite so exuberant; now it's the sharpness of lightly spiced orange peel that predominates, backed by a spray of flowers and herbs, the whole just a little musky. One hour later: This is a lazy late summer day under the hot sun. The musk (dragon's blood?) predominates now, hazing over the spicy orange and herbs and flowers. Really rather nice, but a little too musky for me.

In the imp: Ooh. Spicy. Warm. Slightly edible. Definitely ginger, but damped down slightly in a way that reminds me a little of Gluttony. On the wrist: Where the hell did the chocolate come from?! There's a hint of Gluttony-like chocolate in the foreground of this scent that I can't figure out at all. The ginger isn't quite so strong on the wrist; the other spices have come through, and now the patchouli starts to make itself known as the 'chocolate' gives way to honeysuckle, making the scent pleasantly spicy-sweet. One hour later: The traces of scent I get as I move my head still seem slightly... off. A hint of not-quite-right chocolate. Sniffing my wrists, however, this is lovely; honeysuckle-sweet tempered and dried by musk, spiced by ginger and other scents. I cry bitter tears.

In the imp: Gosh, there's no sweetness in this at all. Dry flowers and herbals, all twined together... On a second sniff, there is a faint sweetness from the flowers, but it's still very dry. On the wrist: That's where the sweetness went. Dry and flowery, almost woody, with a little light musk. Very otherworldly, and it's difficult to make out any individual flower notes. It's almost 'perfumey', but... not. There is an emptiness to the heart of this scent. The dry and withered flowers of a witch-woman who has never known love... One hour later: This is a flat generic 'flowers', with no sweetness to it at all. A bit 'perfumey'. Rather disappointing.

I've been working up to this one. I originally bought it for the name, because my boyfriend loves the story of the Just Men, but the smell in the bottle was surprisingly lovely, and I was nervous that it wouldn't live up to my hopes. In the imp: A warm scent. For some reason I expected it to be woody, but it's not, particularly. There's a 'deep' aromatic note that isn't quite flowery, with a slightly woody backdrop. A gently masculine scent. On the wrist: I slather it on and it lightens up... and this is gorgeous. That 'deep' aromatic note (spikenard?) is lighter and almost flowery (a little like jasmine, but deeper), and the light woody frankincense begins to really come through. The other scents aren't individually detectable, but are just there as a gentle chord that gives the perfume a little more complexity. There's a necessary bitterness to the wood, behind the slightly spicy warmth. Mmmm. I love this to pieces. One hour later: It's lightened and sweetened a bit more, and lost a little of that glorious depth, but it's still lovely, flowery with wood and earth (that must be the galangal and hyssop) behind. This is a wondrous, uplifting scent that makes me feel... I feel... I can't describe it, but it's amazing. All your Tzadikim Nistarim belong to me. All of them.

In the bottle: This smells gorgeous. Gloriously light and bursting with fruit, wreathed with a faint scent of flowers. On the wrist: Mmm. Still fruity, but now the musk/patchouli and the rose/bergamot come through a little stronger. This is a joyous, exuberant scent; the strongest notes appear to be nectarine and bergamot. One hour later: A very strong scent. It's richly fruity, thanks to the orangey bergamot, the other hints of citrus, and the nectarine, but the flowers 'dry' it a little, and the patchouli and musk... it really is like a hedgehog, spiking through the fruity sweetness. This is a really nice summer scent.

In the bottle: At first sniff it's wood, but with a sharper edge than expected. The sweetness of flowers is behind it, faintly neroli. It's pleasant, but not inspiring. On the wrist: On the wrist, instantly the flowers come through, initially very strongly ylang ylang with a faint backing of neroli, but as it dries the neroli comes into its own. There is wood backing them both; flowers climbing up an old, dry garden fence. Oddly, the sandalwood seems dryer than it usually does. And... how odd. The neroli/ylang combination seems to want to smell like blackcurrant. One hour later: It's a very pleasant flowery smell (with only a hint of blackcurrant!) with the barest trace of wood behind. Nothing special, though.

In the bottle: Oh god, chocolate, with a sickly-sweet layering of buttercream and a hint of nuts and caramel in the background. I'm going to regret wearing this. On the wrist: Mmm. Sweet, sweet chocolate/buttercream/caramel; but with a slightly musky background to it that just prevents me wanting to chew my wrist off. That it's dark chocolate rather than milk helps there too. It's warm and comforting. One hour later: Gosh. That's not what I expected at all. It's dark chocolate and caramel, yes, but there's also a kind of musky - almost metallic - sweetness to it that lifts it from the realm of pure food. This is nice.

In the bottle: At first it's slightly bitter and woody, but sniffing further there's a strong scent of flowers, which at first sniff smelt like ylang ylang but must be the jasmine. On the wrist: At first it's sharp and a little bitter. I can smell the jasmine lurking behind the bitterness, making it richer and a little sweeter. As it develops the jasmine starts to really come through, and I can catch whiffs of it as I turn my head. It's turning a much lighter scent than it was in the bottle, strongly jasmine, with everything else lurking somewhere in the background. One hour later: Pure Jasmine. I can't smell anything else anymore, except for a faint muskiness on my right wrist. Which, while I like jasmine, is really a bit of a shame.

In the bottle: This smells of fragrant woods - definitely sandalwood and frankincense - but is also unexpectedly bitter. On the wrist: The wood-smell isn't as strong as the bottle scent had led me to expect, and neither is the bitterness. It's a gentle, fragrant wood, backed by a little musk and spice, still a little bitter, and surprisingly faint. I can't detect the lemon peel at all, but there's a faint something behind the wood that may be the lavender. It's very faint and subtle, though; if it fades from this I'll be very disappointed! (15 minutes later) Oddly, though it's faint even with my nose against my wrist, I keep getting whiffs of it as I turn my head; a bitter, fragrant, slightly musky scent, with no sweetness to it at all. This is very more-ish... What is causing the bitterness? It's almost like dandelion milk now; that must be the lemon peel combined with something or somethings, maybe the vetiver? One hour later: It's faded a little, but I think what remains has staying power. It's mostly sandalwood, backed by something a little musk-spicy, a little bitter (though the bitterness has now mostly faded into the musk). This is actually really nice, but lost marks for being faint.

In the bottle: Mmm. I can smell the rosemary strongly, with a little lemon; it's rather like lemon thyme, actually. They mostly overwhelm any other scents, though there's a gentle pine aftersmell. On the wrist: Mmmm, rosemary. Have I mentioned that I like rosemary? The pine comes through a little more strongly, now, and the lemon subsides to a slight citrus sharpness. This smells like the sun on a pot of herbs, beneath a spreading pine tree. There's something else slightly 'herbal', and less sharp, that I can't place; that must be the bay. The pine comes through more strongly as it dries, and I worry that I may turn into pine-fresh and very little else! One hour later: Sometimes I adore it. Sometimes it turns my stomach (I think just because the pine/rosemary astringency is so overpowering close to). I think I'm very much going to have to be in the mood for this perfume! I'm not sure where the lemon went, but the rest is just one fusion of rosemary/pine/bay. It has the slight 'meatiness' of the bay, mixed with the fresh/menthol/astringent fragrance of pine and rosemary to make something that is still very piney, but with much more body than I was expecting. This is very definitely the hot mediterranean sun beating down on dry scrubland by the sea, dotted by rosemary and stunted pines. Addendum: it fades surprisingly quickly, after only a few hours. Colour: The dark green of pine needles, or rosemary leaves.

In the bottle: I can mostly smell rosewood, sweetened slightly with something (tonka?) maybe a little musk. It seems disappointingly aftershavey to my nose. On the wrist: There's still an aftershaveyness, but it's instantly livened up. Now there's definitely a hint of wood, a hint of leather, the slight spiciness of incense. The rosewood fades a little into the background. Oh god, this is an incredibly masculine scent. I'm going to keep it just so I can try it on my boyfriend; it makes me think of him, a lot. As it dries the leather, wood and parchment come through more strongly, spiced up by the tonka. Oh god, I miss my man. One hour later: I smell like a really good, old, library. The wood of the shelves comes through strongly, with a hint of rosewood. The rest is leather binding and dusty parchment, very slightly sweetened and spiced. I'm not convinced I'd wear it as a perfume, but it's probably the most evocative scent I've encountered.

I'm going to need to find a GC equivalent of Tiresias. I've managed to acquire two imps of it from the same decant batch, but what do I do to get my wondrous cinnamon/caramel/wood/musk fix when they run out (which they will pretty soon at the rate I'm using it!)?

In the bottle: Oh, lovely. This smells of plants. Not flowers - or at least, not only flowers; all things that are green and growing. A tropical forest in the heat after rainfall. Mmm. On the wrist: Still just plants. Oh, no, wait; something just hit the back of my nose and made me sneeze. That's gotta be the artemisia. This is a complicated scent; I think I've got it, and then the next breath it smells different. It's not as sharp as the bottle promised; it's mellowing as it dries. That must be the vetiver. A friend mentioned cut grass and that's in there somewhere. Oh; a momentary hint of ginger. I give up. It smells nothing like any of its actual ingredients. I worry a little that it might turn soapy. One hour later: Hmm. It smells a little soapy from a distance, but close to it's the exact same complex scent as earlier, gradually mellowing with time. Though after another hour, it does seem to have started to go the way of soap.

In the bottle: Mmm, choc'n'nut something. Maybe brownies. On the wrist: The scent becomes slightly less edible, and the sandalwood really shows through. There is a hint of musk, as well (presumably from the myrrh), that makes it almost smoky for a while. One hour later: Bitter cocoa and sandalwood, slightly musky, vanilla showing only in a hint of leavening sweetness. It's unusual and beautiful. Oddly, it doesn't smell edible, though as time passes it does seem to become more 'chocolatey'. I could wear this all day... (This was actually the first scent I ordered a proper bottle of after trying the imp!)

In the bottle: Very fruity, with an almost sour edge like late-night wine; I'm not quite sure whether I like it. On the wrist: That underlying edge of sourness or bitterness has turned into a beautiful 'bite' underlying the tart sweetness. Oh, this is gloriously unusual. One hour later: It hasn't faded much in the last hour (unusually, for my skin) and still smells much the same as it did when I put it on. I am wreathed in a faint aroma of flowers and slightly sour raisins, and a gently woody note of myrrh is starting to show beneath. It's the taste of the third bottle of wine shared between friends under a still night sky where the hammer heat of the day still lingers.