milo

At first, lovely caraway. I'm craving a piece of GOOD rye bread now with butter. My skin really makes a mess of it, though. It smells pretty astringent on me, kind of borderline chemical. Like a home depot product for floor laying. That's what it smells like, the rubber backing on linoleum, or maybe it's the glue that seals it down. I knew this wouldn't be for me, but I have to try all the SN's.

First, I'm getting the fresh lemongrass. I love anything citrus or citrus-like, so this is good. After a bit, the coconut comes out, it kind of reminds me of maybe a Thai sauce for shrimp now, though there is some floral here, so not quite. This ends up being lemongrass, floral and coconut in that order. It's kind of nice, but not sure if I need more, as I have plenty of citrus blends.

Musky, perfumey chocolate at first. More like a milk chocolate rather than a dark or cocoa. Fades to a lovely, slightly perfumey milk chocolate. Delicate and creamy, I really like this, and may hunt down some more.

I'm getting soft comforting soap, kind of sweet. This is a very nice smelling Gramma, though it is soapy. more of a sweet soap, not really strong.

This is just...odd. I'm getting herbs and beeswax, it's a bit biting, and something that smells like expensive furniture, which is the rosewood, I assume. Nothing mesh's here, it's a mishmash of notes that don't seem to belong. I'll wait a bit and update, but for now, it's just not that great on me. eta: After a bit, it becomes more beeswax heavy and less odd strange woods. It's quite nice now, the first stage is off-putting. It's now more like honeyed musky cookies. I'll keep my decant.

I'm getting lots of myrhh at first, which then goes kind of powdery. I blame the rose, as rose does that to me quite a bit. There's a bit of a sour quality, so I'm thinking the rose is doing that to me too. So sour and powdery along with the myrhh. The myrhh is quite nice, though, I recognize it from the SN Golgothan Myrhh. This blend, though, is not for me.

Kind of a musky apple. Usually apple scents smell like shampoo of the Pert Plus variety, but I quite like this. This is fresh, slightly fruity, a bit tart and musky. I could swear there's amber here, as amber smells quite distinctive on my skin. And yes, I get the Agape comparison, though this is muskier. I'll have to keep my eye out for more of this!

Sandalwood overload for sure here. Not getting any mint or plum here. I'm not a huge sandalwood fan unless it's blended with something sweet, so this is not for me.

In the bottle, this is very sweet and foody. Very much like Blossoms in Springtime. On the skin, the florals come out, and the PEACHY Peach Peach. Now it's a sweet freesia peach blend, kind of like Tamora with a kick of florals. I can't really do peach, but the Arabian amber, vanilla bourbon, and saffron really called to me. I really don't get any of these. Color me disappointed.

This is indeed a dark one! At first, I'm getting spicy cardamon, whch smells quite a bit like cinnamon to me. It's warm and inviting, kind of like an evil cookie. After a bit, the clove makes an appearance, and it's more resinous. I really like it at this stage, it's dark, slightly spicy (I'm getting mostly clove now), musky and just a teeny bit masculine. After a bit, the cardamon amps, as spices normally do on me. This is OK, but I like the resiny musky middle phase. This would be better suited for fall I think.

This is all lavender at first. Not a herbal lavender, more of a garden variety type of lavender, which is good either way, as I love all types. Dry, the lemon comes out more, it's more lemony than lavender-y at this point. Ends up being a sweet lemon with a touch of lavender. Nice summery blend, I'll certainly use up my partial! eta: I don't get cleaning product from this, but I"m not big on lemon scented cleaning products.

Fresh raspberry sherbet at first. It goes kind of creamy, which is a good thing. Although this blend is sweet, the lime tempers it somewhat from being over-the-top tooth-achingly sweet. I love the creaminess of this, and how summery it feels. Although I'm not big on fruity scents as a rule, I really like this, and may spring for a at least a partial or full bottle. It reminds me a bit of Fresh's Brown Sugar.

Wet, light floral with a bit of 'bite' from the sandalwood. It's a bit perfumey at this stage. Dry, it's more ethereal, from the blue musk, I think. Soft floral, with soft blue musk. Fresh and airy, but does not last for very long on me.

Fresh, ripe strawberries at first. They almost seem too ripe, there's almost an alcohol quality to this blend. I'm getting a touch of greenery too. This is quite lovely, girlish, fresh, though it does remind me a bit of strawberry lip gloss. This may be too young for me, but it's still fun to try. It reminds me of a more intense Strawberry Moon 09, and that one went slightly soapy on me. I kind of like this one...

Quite fizzy, slightly fruity, but not very sweet. I would say that this blend is more unisex, which is surprising to me looking at the notes. I'm thinking the juniper/fizziness and lack of sweetness is making it feel this way. Clean, crisp and refreshing, but not really me.

Red ginger is probably my least favourit note, but I did have to try all of these Pickman's. There is lots of ginger at first, along with a touch of vetiver. The vetiver fades pretty fast, and we're left with a sweet red ginger. This is bit better than I thought it would be, the sweetness saves the blend from being too harsh, which is the big problem I have with this note. Final result, sweet smoky red ginger. I do smell like a dragon, but don't really want to. Lucky it fades fast.

Lovely green grass with a touch of herbal flowers. This turns to soap, and then practically nothing within 20 minutes. I like the wet stage, but this is a no go.

This blend really does smell sunny! I'm getting a baked good smell along with bright incensey florals. The floral part reminds me of Sunflowers, I think it's Elizabeth Arden, but I'm not positive. The baked goods fades somewhat after a bit, and it's mostly the bright sunny flowers and what I"m guessing is champaca. Very strong blend, not a fast fader like the other Pickmans. This is nice, but not the usual kind of blend I wear. I'll probably use up the decant for warm summer days. eta: I originally reviewed this and thought it was My Mom With The Sun in Her Hands. It's now corrected. I like this one more.

Powdery rose and fresh, realistic strawberry at first. Powder disappears after a bit, and this ends up being a nicely balanced strawberry and rose. I'm getting some sweetness from the marshmallow, but wish it came out a bit more. Not that this blend isn't sweet, far from it, but I guess I mean I wish it smell marshmallow-y more than it does. I like this, it's kind of interesting, but not something I'd probably reach for on a regular basis. My decant will be enough.

I think that ZZ nailed this. It is a cross between Haloes and Antikythera Mechanism. It is more like AM wet, but becomes more Haloe-like as it dries. I find it a bit more softer, and suited more for cooler weather. Resinous, sweet and unisex, I like this, but have both Haloes and AM, so don't need anymore than the decant I have of this. I'm going to layer Haloes and AM just to compare, as I really do like this.

This blend is a bit sour and incensey on me. It kind of reminds me of Chrysanthemum Moon, just a little bit. It smells bright and sunny, but not really my thing. eta: I did get this one and My Mommy In a Boat Mixed Up.

At first, red whip licorice, maybe a touch of spice, but that could be the lilac. Dry, no one has mentioned this, but I'm getting an expensive pipe tobacco, unsmoked with a touch of cherry. This is the heady tobacco of Perversion, not the gritty French Tobacco SN (which I do like as well). This is a total surprise hit for me, I'll probably try to track down at least a partial. It does fade pretty fast, though and I did slather all the way up my arms. eta: Even with using half my decant, this faded within a half hour. Not worth upgrading due to fast fade factor. Too bad.

My vet's office uses a cherry scented cleaner that smells exactly like this. Fake, and it really doesn't have very pleasant associations for me. It does get muskier with time, but the initial stages are a too reminiscent of vet's visits to make me want to ever put this on my skin again.

Lots of apple at first, no 'sparkle' or musk on me. Dries to a sweet apple, pretty much like the boxes of apple juice. This blend is rather bland on me.

This is such a fitting scent for a young girl. Gentle, sweet with a bit of youthful musk rounded out with a touch of floral. It kind of reminds me a bit of Door, but with less musk, more honey and floral, and maybe a bit of Good thrown in. I like this, but I do have decants of Door not finished, and it is pretty similar on my skin. The honey is the same one as Womb Fury, I think, but this is not a seductive scent, just gentle and sweet like a little girl. I really like this.