Catmint

I was so convinced I would love this scent that I bought a bottle unsniffed. I love all the notes in it, and almost every single reviewer said it smelled like sweet minty tea. How could I go wrong? Gennivre hates me. IMP: Total shock. No tea or mint or lemon or sugar. Much MUCH more "perfumey" than I expected, with a sharp, unpleasant herbal smell. Someone mentioned cedar, and it did have a cedary cleaning product kind of smell to it. WET: Eek. Cloyingly sweet floral with an unpleasant sharp note floating around in there. Once in a while I get the faintest whiff of mint, but there is nothing fresh or light about it, and no tea at all. DRY: Pure baby powder. Husband described it as a slice of lemon buried under a whole cannister of baby powder. After about an hour it morphs back into a very very sweet floral, kind of an "old lady" smell. I smell like a grandmother holding a baby -- old lady perfume mixed with baby powder. An hour or so after that it's just a faint, cloying honeyed floral. Sad panda.

Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone. IMP: Intense, dark bitter cocoa, with a bit of alcohol. Slightly sharp, not sweet or creamy at all. Like cocoa and vodka! WET: Still intense dark cocoa on top, but underneath there's a smoky/woody/incensey/floral thing going on that makes my head spin. My brain is going "Chocolate, flowers, church, whaaaaaa???" I can definitely smell the tones that others have described as "plastic" because there's something powdery and floral that's reminiscent of scented baby dolls, but it doesn't come across as plasticy on me. No sweetness or cream or vanilla either, though. It's like nothing I've ever smelled before. It's AMAZING, and my husband can't stop biting my arm! DRY: Smells the same as when wet for at least an hour or so after it dries. Then the sharpness fades and it gets mellower and rounder. It never gets very sweet on me, and I never get any cream or vanilla or nuttiness. Just this incredible rich chocolatey incense sort of smell. I would love to try layering this, maybe with some cinnamon & orange for me (Terry's Chocolate Orange from Hell) and with something spicy and sandalwoody for my husband. I got this as a frimp from Carmencita (thank you!!!) and I am SO getting a bottle of this. Or maybe a gallon. ETA: I ordered a bottle of this, and now realize that the imp I first tried must have been well aged. The new stuff is a bit more like chocolate and sourish milk, not nearly as rich and warm and mellow as the imp. So I will definitely be aging this bottle, and may order another just to put aside for a year or so.