Gypsy

[Venneh]

GYPSY
Bourbon vanilla, Egyptian musk, tonka, white sugar, and cardamom.

This is probably my biggest disappointment of the moths, and I'm going to preface this by saying I think that this blend is going to be HIGHLY dependent on skin chemistry as to what you actually get. Out of this, I got cardamom, tonka, and musk, none of the vanilla and white sugar that I was hoping would play evenly with the blend. If you've got skin chemistry like mine, then this is not going to be the Gothabilly clone that some are hoping it will be.

[midnight_aeval]

So there was a prototype from one of the trunk shows, PX79, that smells like it could be the base of this blend - but which note is it?? Gypsy is definitely sweeter than PX79, maybe that's the bourbon vanilla and tonka showing through. Either there is not a lot of cardamom here or I don't care for the smell of cardamom which I'm pretty sure is not true because I would inhale from the bottle in my baking cabinet if I could LOL PLUS it's in Spanked (uh-duh!) so I must like it.. As it dries the blend gets sweeter, but it's just not what I was "scentualizing" it to be. Not a cousin to Gothabilly like I was expecting, it's got a dusty sweet quality to it.

 

The throw is very, very lite for me. I practically slathered this morning to give it another go and I couldn't smell anything after a couple hours!

 

Going to try it after a month or so.. maybe it'll "deepen" up.

[cfrancesca]

Initially I get mostly cardamom, it reminds me a little of Khrysopelex (which was basically cardamom SN on me, but that one was much stronger!), after a few minutes I start getting the sugary tonka and vanilla. For a while it's vanilla, tonka and cardamom in equal parts, the cardamom wins for the first half-hr, then the vanilla takes over. The vanilla and tonka here is lovely but too light (the cardamom doesn't let it shine IMO) and doesn't have much throw. I hardly get any Egyptian Musk , I get hints of it every now but not enough to stand out. I was really looking forward to this one!

[hlemonds]

My skin chemistry must (thankfully!) work well with this one, as it is primarily Bourbon Vanilla and Egyptian Musk on me. I get a hint of the tonka and sugar adding sweetness. Thanks to the lovely vanilla and musk base, this ends up being something of a love child of Antique Lace and The Girl. The cardomom is very subtle on me, but it seems that it may be a note that is very skin chemistry dependent. I adore this blend, I have no doubt I will be hoarding it. This is a wonderful everyday fragrance for me. And my husband agrees that it smells wonderful on me

[unlaced]

In the bottle: Sugared musk and boozy vanilla. yummy

 

just applied: the vanilla gets stronger right away and... something fruity? dunno what that is...

 

drying: the vanilla and musk stay strong. The sugary sweetness of the bottle and freshly applied scents dissipated quickly. I'm smelling something smoky/spicy. could that be the cardamom? hmm.

 

dry: smoky and spicy with a musky base and a little bit of vanilla. Not as vanilla-y or sweet as I thought it would be from the description or from the first stages of the scent. But that's not to say I don't like it, it's just not what I expected. Also, not much throw at all. I'm generally pretty liberal with my perfume application but I have to go extra heavy with this one to get much out of it.

[alizarin]

In the bottle the vanilla is obvious but I'm getting a lot of the cardamom, also.

 

Drydown on this is really interesting. The cardamom is still very noticeable, but the sugar and musk are there, too. It's almost a baking smell, not in a a finished baked goods way, but in a dry ingredients out on the counter way. An open spice rack, a sprinkle of sugar, the softness of flour.

 

My skin chemistry seems to work well with this blend. Sugar notes tend to be my friend.

 

It's softer than I'd expected from the description. It fades fairly quickly, I can still smell it after a few hours but it's probably going to require reapplication.

 

It is very soft and fluttery and moth-like, which is marvelous.

[mineralgirl]

In the bottle: Spice! Musk! Darness!

 

On skin: I was expecting this to be sweeter. It’s definitely vanilla-y with the cardamom pull up the rear.. but the tonka is keeping it from being too sweet. It reminds me of something I’d get from Nocturne Alchemy, which has to be the egyptian musk. It kinda reminds me of something I’ve tried from them.

 

Impression: Don’t hate it but it isn’t love at first sniff right now. I think it’s going to age well.

 

[alicia_stardust]

This is a very fluttery scent to me, meaning that it has a soft and feathery quality that almost tickles my nose. It reminds me of grey-white fuzzy paper wings.

 

On my skin the egyptian musk is dominant, and the vanilla is warm and smooth but not a sweet vanilla. I get cardamom in there, but it's not spicy to me, just warm and fuzzy. There is just enough sugar in there to give it a dusty sweetness, but it doesn't turn this into a sweet blend overall.

 

Very lovely, and somewhat subdued and comforting. I think this is going to be a hit for many.

[kikithepirate]

For whatever reason, Gypsy smells very "dry" to me, though what it is exactly that makes it dry, I cannot say. Helpful, I know. At first I wasn't really sure whether or not I liked it, but I quickly found myself slathering it on. It is extremely light, with a bit of a musky undertone, and there is actually something minty about it when applied, but that fades as the oil dries.

 

The scent which emerges after this oil has had some time to dry on my skin is really beautiful. Creamy and slightly herbal, with the faintest touch of sweetness. I want to slather it all over, but I also want to let it age, because I think it will grow into something extremely gorgeous -- I just have to have the patience to let it do so.

[sunlitgarden]

Gypsy

 

In the bottle this smells like a spicy vanilla. I'm lucky with my chemistry because on me this is a gorgeous sweet (but not foody) and musky vanilla. It's very dry and dusty to my nose, with a "color" of light brown. The cardamom and vanilla make this a cousin of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair to me, but musky and not floral. I actually might like it a bit better overall than The Harp because of the sharp green note that one has at first. This one has nothing sharp about it - just smooth and creamy. It will probably be great aged!

[saralaughs]

How freakin weird.

 

In the decant/tester, I get the cardamom. Like whoa cardamom. On, I immediately get wood. Yeah, woody wood woods. After awhile, it gets creamy and starts to smell like the worlds best cinnamon toast that you ordered from one of the worlds most expensive restaurants that have a 10 star rating.

 

I like it. A lot. But it may be too foody for me. I dunno.

[mrstkeller]

It's funny that this is becoming my most favorite of the Butterfly/Moth series. I thought for sure Paper Kite would take the lead, but I am drawn to this imp everyday. I think it will be amazing for layering with other scents. What I get from it is mostly the same sweet component in Faith. I don't get a lot of spice from it on my skin. Eventually it does fade into a warmer vanilla. I dunno. . I kinda suck at describing this one, but I certainly am in for a bottle of it, if not 2.

[deviant kitten]

THIS is exactly what I had hoped it would be! To be honest, the musk note had me worried. I DO NOT LIKE MUSK!!! And I seem to amp it because anything with a white, red, or whatever musk smells like straight musk on me. But this is sooooo goooodddd!!!!!

The Egyptian musk is there, oh yes it is, but with all the other sweet notes, the only thing the musk provides is a warm background for the sweet notes to heat up on. Sugar, bourbon vanilla, tonka, sugar.....only got the cardamom in the bottle and when wet, then it bowed out to let the other notes have a chance to shine.

It is *almost* like amber and bourbon vanilla, tho I think that is the warm musk and tonka that are fooling my nose. Kinda smells like brown sugar too?

I am not sure how the throw is because I only have a touch on one of my wrists atm because I am testing a few scents out, and I think this one will probably fade fast....lucky a scent locket wanted to party with my last order and just happened to jump in!

I LOOOOOVE IT SO!

[angelicruin]

Cardamom & Egyptian Musk are STRONG on my skin with this blend.

[meaganola]

Le sigh. This one is all white sugar and cardamom to me. Mostly white sugar. It's like smelling a bowl of sugar that has one lone cardamom pod in it. No vanilla, tonka, or musk, so, sadly, not for me. On the up side, if I have any left after decanting, it should be easy to rehome.

[Happicuppa]

This was sexy. It started out musky and then the vanilla and tonka kicked it up a notch and the cardamom came out to play .It went from a bit 'meh' to absolutely gorgeous in about 5 minutes. Probably the most wearable out of the set and I will definitely wear it. Again, maybe not bottleworthy, but one imp is not enough! 5/5

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The cardamom is the strongest note. The whole effect is pleasing and a dry sort of spicey, with the other elements doing an excellent job of supporting the cardamom. Wet: mush the same only stronger with the tonka being a touch more assertive. This is delicate and unusual and makes me think of the dust on moth’s wings. It beautifully captures the concept. Dry: Cardamom and sugar.

[arlith]

I end up with a lovely musky, slightly spicy vanilla. It ends up being in the same family as Mme. Moriaty and Snake Oil on me. Only its very, very faint-my skin just gobbles it up. I have to huff pretty hard at my wrist to smell it at all. So, while its lovely and nice, its something that would need reapplying throughout the day and ends up drying too similar to other things that last much better, so it'll just be the decant for me.

[femmefatale]

Dries down to a slightly sweetened musky vanilla. The spice is subtle at first but fades quickly.

 

I like this!

[meredevachon]

In the bottle: Spice and vanilla, and after checking with my spice rack, yeah, that's mostly cardamom.

 

Wet: I get tonka here too, and how Beth managed a mix of vanilla, cardamom, and tonka that doesn't smelly foodie is beyond me, but I'm glad of it.

 

Dry: Doesn't change much from wet other than to get softer, rounder, layered and more ethereal. Not much throw, which I like, but it also needs more frequent reapplication than a lot of my usuals.

 

I really like this. So much that part of me's saying I knew better than to buy a LE, because it's only going to be around for awhile, and then what will I do once I use up my bottle? (note: between all my "favorites" and my light hand with application, it'll be a long while before I run out of this) *hoards the precious*

[Leopard403]

Egyptian musk overwhelms everything else on my skin, no matter how gorgeous the other ingredients.

[eflort]

You guys? I think I have the weirdest skin chemistry.

 

From the decant: Toast. Warm slightly buttered toast. Is that the musk, or the tonka? I don't think I have many blends with those notes, so I can't really tell.

 

Wet on skin: You know that cinnamon toast smell? Well, replace the cinnamon with cardamom, and that's what I have going on right now. Weird and delicious.

 

Drydown: The toast finally starts to leave and the cardamom sugar scent that Meaganola described above emerges. I might have a touch more vanilla, but the idea is the same.

 

Verdict: I like the final dry down but am not sure I can handle the toast. Will hang onto the decant a bit to see if whatever my skin is going through calms down a bit.

[lahdeedah]

When the update with Metamorphosis was announced, I was beyond worried about how high my credit card bill would be after my next order-- I already have a bunch of items waiting to be ordered just out of the GC! So I joined meaganola's excellent decant circle to give a few of the ones I thought most likely to be bottle-worthy a shot. I am happy and disappointed at the same time that the scents I've tried have been largely underwhelming. Gypsy is the only one out of the four that I could see getting a whole bottle of, but I'm still on the fence.

 

On me wet: the cardamom is not fooling around. I really like cardamom as an interesting player in scents-- Okayaki was the first and only bottle of the Shunga line that I purchased, and largely because of how the cardamom works in that one. Here it seems sharper, more at the forefront, along with pure white sugar.

 

Dry: I totally get what the poster above said about toast. Cardamom and sugar toast--- could be interesting, but kinda weird as a perfume. The vanilla and tonka are rounding out at this point, and it's an interesting gray-brown woody fragrance. I am sort of getting the physicality of the moth from it now, but not so much it's namesake, which I guess I was hoping for.

 

Verdict: It's interesting and unique; I find it similar (but better) than the Harp, which was too cologney on me, but this one veers toward the other side of being perhaps too foody. I may have to decide just to enjoy my decant, but luckily I have a while to let it age and see if it becomes FBW.

[tativa]

hmmm... I might actually need a back up of this. At first its a blast of cardamon... but then it mellows down to the cardamon toast other ppl have been getting with egyptian musk (my fav kind other than red) all around.

 

But where this really seems to shine is layering. It adds the most delicious spicy touch and wear length to some blends that didn't really shine on me originally.

[cherrycherry]

This is a mildly spiced, almost watery vanilla to me. I'm hoping it ages well and that the blend deepens because at the moment the throw is very light and the notes keep changing on my skin. Quite a curious one, but I do like it.