Bliss - Bewitching Brews

Notes: Milk chocolate

I can’t decide if this is chocolate brownie or hot chocolate, but either way – YUM!

Masabakes - Diabolus

Notes: black currant, myrrh, bitter mimosa, mandrake

I’ve wanted to try this one for a long time so I’m thrilled to finally have the chance – thanks GC swap!

In the imp and once applied to the skin, this is rich, slightly spicy, and a bit hard for me to describe. Initially I’m getting mainly myrrh that’s softened up some. There’s a wee bit of currant that adds a juicy quality to this scent. It’s strong and it’s making my hand tingle where I applied it. It smells like there’s moss, loam or dirt here, maybe that’s the mandrake. This is an unusual one. Dark, sexy, rich, spicy. Powerful. I’m so glad that I tried this!

Crossroads - Wanderlust

Notes: garden of blooms, dry earth and mosses, incense, offertory herbs

This is from imp that I’ve had for a long time.

In the imp I get smells of dirt, moss, then flowers and a smidge of herbs. The predominant scent is loam and soil.

On the skin, wet, the dirt, moss and dust disappear and I get flowers, possibly gardenia or jasmine, or maybe both. It has kind of an Aveda type smell, which I love. It’s a beautiful floral. It's a lot more lush on the skin than in the imp.

As it dries, incense peeks it way in. The strong jasmine note remains but it’s blended with other element tempering it a bit.

As it dries further, I’m picking up a dusty, smoky note; that was a total surprise, I didn’t expect that!

Overall, I like it but I'm not sure if I need a bottle or not. I tried it when I first got it and I think I got more earth, incense and moss, and I fell in love and immediately wanted a bottle. Many months later I'm getting mostly a beautiful heady floral. If you're a jasmine fan try it! I will hang onto my imp though.

Salome - Love Potions

Notes: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk

This is mainly almond and jasmine. As it dries, the jasmine becomes stronger and the sandalwood comes out. After it’s been on a while, this is almost all musk and sandalwood, and becomes quite sensual and rich smelling. This may be bottleworthy for me!

Masquerade - Bewitching Brews

Notes: patchouli, ambergris, carnation, orange blossom

In the imp and on the skin wet, this is strongly orange blossom. There’s a slightly doughy scent here that I’m thinking is either the orange blossom or the ambergris, or a combination of the two. Based on past experiences, I’m thinking it’s the orange blossom. As it wears, the doughy scent goes away for the most part, but still remains faintly in the background. There’s a touch of patch and I’m not getting any carnation at all. The patch and orange blossom combination is not a good one on me.

It’s funny because sometime I just love orange blossom and neroli, but it’s often a toss-up it seems. In this case it’s not working for me.

Ravenous - Love Potions

Notes: red patchouli, orange blossom

I just tried and reviewed Masquerade. Wow, what a difference. From first sniff I’m thinking YUM! From Masquerade, I got an odd doughy smell whereas I smell none of that here. I was blaming it on the orange blossom, but now I’m thinking orange blossom + ambergris was responsible.

Anyway, back to Ravenous. There’s actually a bit of a citrus edge here, like orange juice with a touch of rind or something and it brightens the scent considerably. The orange blossom doesn’t have that bitter, acrid note I oftentimes smell with orange blossom. There could be a touch of vanilla in here, this is much closer to Vixen than Masquerade. Vixen is a bit darker and more syrupy, whereas this is brighter, sweeter, and has an almost effervescent quality to it. As it wears I can’t help but thinking how fabulous this blend is and for some reason is reminding me of my beloved Snake Charmer. SC is a lot sweeter and stronger with vanilla, and the fruit base is different. I think there’s maybe a similar musk/patch base plus the sparkling fruit (citrus vs plum) that’s making me find a similarity. Regardless this is fabulous and I have to get a bottle of this one day soon.

Thanks GC swap, it would have taken me a lot longer to try this!

Nero - Sin & Salvation

Notes: rosemary, bay, pine, lemon

Initially this a spicy scent – herbal. Lots of bay rum, touch of rosemary. This is spicy and rich smelling, yet smooth. As it’s mainly a bay rum scent, this would smell amazing on a man. It reminds me of when I was a teenager – there’s something here that’s prompting that association but I can’t for the life of me figure out where it’s coming from. As it wears, the bay remains strong and true, as does the spice. The spice smells like clove. It’s wearing well and seems to have good lasting power. Very nice!